I had my first try on Azabu Sabo Hokkaido ice-cream at Takashimaya outlet last week. I had a double scoop ice-cream in a cone : Black Sesame and their new flavour - Tofu. The lady was super generous and gave me 2 big tall towers of ice-creams. The 2 flavours were simply delicious, not too sweet and texture was smooth. I can say it was a little expensive for $6.00 but really worth it!
As I had a good experience, I bought another double scoop ice-cream in a cone at The Central outlet on 14 June 08. I chose black sesame (my favorite!) and pumpkin. The pumpkin has a mild sweet taste which I gave 2 thumbs up. My only disappointment was the lady was not skillful, so my 2 towers became "dwarf" towers, very short~
Overall is a nice dessert. Should give it a try. Something to take note is: You must finish the ice-cream quickly, cos it starts to melt quite fast due to our hot & humid weather.
NOTICE!!!!! MOS IS CLOSED. REFER TO REVIEW OF ZIRCA ___________________________________________
Hmm, Funny, no one reviewed MOS!
Alright. I am going to give 2 perspectives on this review. Both on same day different date, almost same event, same amount of crowd.
General Comment:
Personally I hold due respect for MOS as the birthplace of one of my favourite genres of music: TRANCE (not MOS SG though). To my dismay, MOS Sg's crowd is a R&B, HipHop loving crowd and I was sad to see the crowd literally overcrowding at that area. Seriously they could do better playing those MOS exclusive tracks and start taking Trance seriously and not just to be another corporate sell-out again. This is MOS for heaven's sake. The TRANCE place right? not Hiphop place...argh.
1. As a normal young adult clubber:
My Dressing: Standard Female Clubbing attire.
-Queue is bloody long, waiting time is horrible. -Door b**** is also very rude (pardon my word use, i don't know the other term). -Gives a makes-you-very-pissed face when checking your ID. -Payment bloody long. -Terrible congestion at the entrance. -Coupon/ticket oso can give wrong amounts (I paid for 3pax she gave me 2 pax) -Place is overcrowded and I don't know why they still allow entry. -Baggage counter FULL, and the baggage girl gave a sickening stare and yelled "FULL YOU DONO HOW TO READ ISIT?" -Dancefloor was like a metal concert with jumping space only. -Tons of people trying to touch/dance with you even after you say no to that same person/group. -Straight faced bouncers giving you a GL face as if your forehead says "I AM NOT A VIP SO WHAT?" at the VIP section. -Toilet bloody dirty and smelly, no toilet paper, omfg. -Coupon to drink exchange experience, TOOK FOREVER and damn it bartenders!
2. VIP and Cannery Card member
My Dressing: V neck cleavage tee, Lee Jeans, Birkinstock SLIPPERS, no makeup. Slacker wear.
-at the VIP short or sometimes no queue, fast and efficent entry. -minus payment cos I am VIP/member. -Dancefloor as many people. -Same old lame thick skin gang of people. -Very charismatic bouncers at the VIP/members area opening up the area for you as if you have the word "VIP/member" on your forehead. They even chat with you lol. - Purchasing/ordering a drink at VIP/members area: Charismatic bartenders attentively asking what you need and what is not available politely. Efficient cashiers even remembers to give me a discount. - Area in VIP/members area small, cosy but still have some space for random dancing. -Same toilet.
Seriously I don't know what to say about the double standards. Maybe trying to make their membership worthwhile? And I also don't know how to rate this place.
Last year I tried this branch, after being a fan of ichiban for its service, affordability and standard (not for variety though).
To my dismay, the service was rather sluggish, and they were not attentive at all. Food was not as good as the Plaza Sing one, soft shell crab was not crisp.
I gave it a second chance last week and I am really happy they took my feedback seriously.
I was greeted by a heartwarming and jovial crew, and they looked really busy and always on the look out to top up the tea, none was really slacking off.
Variety wise, it improved with its selection of sushi, but the others were like, any other.
Their waitresses proved to be very sweet and attentive, asking if we don't like anything in the meal, while making great recommendations although we already knew what we wanted...just testing her. She sounded like Ichiban's number one fan as if she tried everything.
As we always order the same old stuff, I was quite impressed that the standard is still there. (Although I wished that it will returned to its old 'atas' standard before it got franchised.)
Afterwhich she cleared everything that we finished, and upon eye contact she got the bill over.
I was an idiot for not asking for her name though.
Not saying Ichiban as best jap restaurant here, but what I meant was I kinda got a little bit more than what I was paying, it's more of a value/quality/standard for money over here. So I am gonna give it an excellent for overall.
I am really thankful of the redeeming and pleasant experience there.
Actually this is my first time eating Ajisen since that one day all my friends said it suck.
One very important friend said it doesn't suck as much as I think. So I decided to give it a second chance.
It's mom's bday month so she signed up to be a member at $5, so as to enjoy future discounts and also bday month's 15% discount.
I ordered some pork ramen set (like those canned braised pork that is expectedly not fresh and hard) and good thing that at $14something it is a set with refillable Green Tea and a side dish which I chose Terriyaki Chicken.
Ramen is hard as hell, soup base was good but a little too oily, pork is inedible, but edible if u like those canned kinds. That piece of half hard boiled egg was as though it got kept for one night...self explanatory. Green Tea is bag kind...
Oh well, I should stop complaining as it's kinda cheap so yea.
My mom order a bento set that has soft shell crab, but she said that it is not as 'smooth' as ichiban...and elsewhere...I guess I kinda get it. Bento's agedashi tofu was, not agedashi-ed, and she ordered a promotional item which was a sotong with glutinous rice in it, as soon as that dish came, my stomach got upset and felt like puking for the rest of my dinning experience as it was so stale, it smelt like a basket of dead sotong. (Probably I exaggerated a little bit) but it really stinks... I can still smell it omg.
Totally not worth it.
Mummy said that though price range very affordable for students (a little lower than ichiban), but she also added that if by add about $5 more dollars to our set we can get fresher and better quality food, she'll gladly stick to ichiban branches.
(cos our neighbourhood is flooded with ichiban lol)
Not likely to patronise again. (probably the whole chain)
Had the opportunity to be part of the Gourmet Safari Tour hosted by SPH at The Central over the weekend. Together with Leslie from ieatishoot fame, we were ushered to 4 different Japanese restaurants within the mall to sample their various specialties, with Wakashachiya being the first stop.
Located on the third floor of Central, Wakashachiya originates from Nagoya city and specialises in Japanese curry udon noodles. The paneled simply done up interior is smallish and can probably squeeze in about 30 pax or so.
Tebasaki - Nagoya city is well known for its Tebasaki, which is essentially deep fried batterless chicken wings with a coating of sweet and spicy sauce and sprinkled with sesame seeds and black pepper. And being from Nagoya, Wakashachiya serves this delicacy as well. The wings, though small, packed a savoury punch from the myriad of different flavours all fused together. Sublimely sweet, salty and spicy. A pity the wings were so small and oily. Its $5 for 4 wings by the way.
Hitsu-mabushi - This dish was seriously a case of aesthetics over taste. Served up in a huge pot lookalike container, the lid went off to reveal neatly sliced pieces of unagi, cooked to a beautiful crisp as evident by the charred bits on the shimmery surface. However taste wise, I personally felt that it could have been better. For one, the unagi was too soft and disintegrated easily, lacking the firm and crisp texture that I personally like. The daishi soup (fish stock made from bonito flakes) and the plump chewy rice was good though.
Curry Udon with sides of Tonkatsu, Chicken, Tomatoes and Ebi Tempura
- The dish that Wakashachiya apparently is known for - Japanese curry udon. Wakashachiya's curry tended towards the bland side and didn't seem coagulated enough for my liking. The udon was good though, thick and chewy without making me feel like I'm chomping down on flour. Some work needs to be done on the sides though, with the Tonkatsu coming across as hard and dry while the batter encrusting the chicken was overly salty and oily. Same goes for the ebi tempura, with the batter leaning towards the thick side. The tomatoes were, well, just diced fresh tomatoes.
Epicurious, located on the banks of Robertson Quay, has been in operations for close to 6 years now. The restaurant is the brainchild of the duo owners, Helena and Sharon. The concept for the restaurant is like a neighbour joint, serving casual food where you can chill out and enjoy a meal without any qualms.
The interior of Epicurious is surprisingly small, from the outside i thought it will be bigger. There are only three tables inside, with most of the seats in the al fresco area.
Unpretentious and comfy, Epicurious is really a place where i can sit down there all day with my friends
The al fresco area offers a view of the river by Robertson Quay, its simple furniture make it seems as though you are having picnic out in the natural.
The food which Epicurious offers are simple and comfort food, like sandwiches, salads, pasta. On weekends from 9am to 1pm, they have the brunch menu which include choices like pancakes, toast, bagel, eggs, ommelette. And i am really tempted by their brunch menu, you’ll be seeing them here in the near future.
At Epicurious, there is the blackboard specials, which is not on the normal menu, and these are changed regularly to allow customers to experience different type of food.
The lunch menu does not have much selection of mains, in fact they only have three to choose from, with mostly sandwiches and pasta otherwise.
For dinner, the menu is a different one all together, with starters like beef carpaccio, smoked salmon tartare, to main course like their signature epicurious burger, and there are also quite a variety of grills to choose from. Price ranges from 10s to 20s.
Turkey Breast Sandwich ($9.50) Turkey Breast with roasted bell pepper and havarti cheese. The sandwiches are all freshly made with lettuce, tomato, and cucumber, with choices of country-style white or wholemeal sunflower bread.
The turkey breast sandwich is fairly good, served with keropok.
Spaghetti vietnamese chicken bolognaise ($14) The chicken bolognaise spaghetti is served with cheese flakes, your good old reliable fix of pasta.
Asian Sloppy Joe ($12) Pork and beef mince with hoisin and lime. The Asian Sloppy Joe is under the blackboard special for sandwich. The unique name caught our attention, and the sandwich does not disappoint.
The pork and beef mince combination creates a rather distinctive taste, slightly sweet and spicy.
Epicurious Burger ($18) House-made beef patty with sautéed onions, mushrooms and fries. The Epicurious Burger is the signature dish of the restaurant, having heard many good things about the burger, it is inevitable that this is a must-try dish when you visit epicurious.
Although i just had burger at Seah Street Deli the previous day, but i have no qualms tasting the epicurious burger. And indeed, the Epicurious Burger is the star of the show, the beef done medium-rare, is tender and retains the juiciness of the meat.
And you can choose to add cheese, bacon or a fried egg for $2 each, or $4 for all three. But i choose to serve my burger the original way without any toppings.
I like the fries too, which comes with cheese flakes, the overall taste is buttery and cheesy!
Apple crumble with vanilla ice cream ($7) The Apple crumble with vanilla ice cream is recommended to us by Helena the owner of Epicurious. Now who can finish a meal without having desserts? Definitely not me! The apple crumble is sour-sweet, and the taste of it together with ice cream does it for us.
Bread and butter pudding with custard ($8) The bread and butter pudding is also another of their more popular desserts, the way to eat it is by dipping the pudding into the custard, but i preferred to taste the bread and butter pudding on its own.
Carrot Cake ($5) A slice of the Carrot cake is enough for anyone to end their meal on a high, and the cake certainly taste good here. With a layer of cheese on top of the carrot cake, the effect is a melt-in-your-month. The cheese is relatively light and does not overwhelms the carrot cake.
Total bill is $82.48 for 4 mains and 3 desserts. However, Helena kindly has the desserts on the house, so the total bill is $64.90 instead.
The owner Helena is friendly and warm, we had a chat and she explain the concept of Epicurious to us. So if you saw her at the restaurant, do not hesitate to have a chat with her!
The current location however is a tad too small, and cannot serve more customer. But then again this can be a double edge sword, more seats serves more customers, but in the process you might just lose the wonderful ambiance of the place.
And by the way, Helena and Sharon have recently opened another fusion western-local restaurant, Persimmion which is located at the Link Hotel. Do give them a try if you pass by Tiong Bahru area.
Epicurious is one place which i’ll gladly return again to try out their brunch and dinner menu. The reason is simple, Epicurious serves casual food, the price will not hurt your wallet, and the ambiance of the place is superb! Despite my usual practice of not repeating visits to a same restaurant, i’ll bend the rule this time, for Epicurious!
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!
Cilantro - a chic modern asian eatery that closed its restaurant doors at Purvis Street to open up outlets in the heartlands, with the outlet at Old Airport Road Food Centre being the first. Prior to the closure, Cilantro had garnered relatively good reviews from the media for its modern asian cuisine. Therefore this new foray into the heartlands came as quite a surprise.
Smoked Duck Steak - $10 got me their signature smoked duck steak, which came highly recommended by a stall affiliate. Served up with rather tasteless rice and a scoop of equally unimpressive coleslaw, the smoked duck tasted to me a little like honey baked ham, albeit with a more distinctive fowl taste. Actually even the texture was similar, relatively smooth and slightly rubbery without any trace of fibre. On the upside, I could taste the smoky undertones and I guess that was the sole saving grace.
Chocolate Lava Cake - The chocolate lava cake was quite small and I could have probably devoured it in one big mouthful if I chose to. But its $4 and I'm sure you can't get something like this elsewhere for the price. The cake was a little too soft and pudding like for my liking but at least there was molten chocolate oozing out when I made a break in the crust. Don't expect thick decadent chocolate though. You get what you pay for. The chocolate is runny and rather weak but for the price, no complains.
I really don't know what to make of Cilantro. For one, the menu looks intriguing enough for me to want to try again but the relatively high prices (for hawker centres) are quite a turn off. Granted that the pastas do seem reasonable at about $5.50 per plate, but $4 for a bowl of mushroom soup doesn't quite cut it.
Balmoral Bakery is a very old-school bakery which is evident from the box they use for their bakes. Located at Sunset way, the bakery offers the type of breads and pastries which we grow up together with, but sadly are slowly disappearing from our sight.
Under the “undue” influence of my food partner, we jogged from our place to Sunset way, and pay the bakery a visit. She introduced me to Balmoral Bakery as she has been munching on their breads since young.
Egg tart ($1) The egg tart at Balmoral is those ‘watery’ type, my food partner love this type of egg tart, but i prefer those with crusty sides and firmer egg-fillings.
Custard Buns ($1.1) The custard buns are the star of the show! Billed as Balmoral Bakery’s signature item, the custard buns are really excellent! There are other customers who brought half a dozen or more at a go. Must try!!
Cake ($1) The cake is the very traditional type where you can only get at such bakeries, nowadays seldom do we still see such cakes around, well maybe if your neighbor still has such old-school bakeries around.
Char-siew Sau ($1) The char-siew sau is cripsy and the char siew inside sweet!
Cake with cream in centre ($1.20) I liked this one! The cake is very soft and fluffy, whipped cream in the center, and sugar white powder spread on top.
Total Bill for 5 items comes up to $5.50. I only brought 5 items as this is my first time there, but my food partner brought about more than 10 items!
The bread and pastries at Balmoral Bakery are mostly in the range of $0.80-$1.50, and there are really a lot of different types of traditional bakes which isn’t so commonly found nowadays. Go, and relieve your childhood memories!
You are always welcome to visit ladyironchef for a full-up on this trip. Whatever written herein are my genuine feelings expressed in words that may be subjected to my personal distortion or biasness. Feel free to furnish me with comments, may it be positive or negative : )
Hankook Rice Cake House is under the same management with the popular Auntie Kim’s Korean Restaurant which is on the same stretch of road at Upper Thomson.
After finishing our meal at Chicken House, and Ritz Apple Strudel, my friend and i saw this shop across the street so we decided to venture there to check the place out.
Hankook Korean Rice Cakes are featured on the Business Times
The interior of the shop is very small and simple, with some Korean decorations
Hankook Rice Cake house sell quite a variety of rice cakes, there are also samples available on the table for tasting. We tried a few of them, but to tell the truth, Korean rice cakes are not really to our liking, or rather we can’t really appreciate the beauty of it.
But because we have tried their samples, we felt rather guilty if we just walk out of the shop, so my friend decided to buy a box of rice cake for take-away.
If i didn’t really remember wrongly, these are pumpkim with nuts, seeds, and raisins fillings. Please correct me if I’m wrong. One box is in the range of 6 bucks.
Hankook Rice Cake sell rather authentic korean rice cakes, even though i’m no fan of it, but to open a shop just to sell rice cake, we should applause the owner for that!
You are always welcome to visit ladyironchef for a full-up on this trip. Whatever written herein are my genuine feelings expressed in words that may be subjected to my personal distortion or biasness. Feel free to furnish me with comments, may it be positive or negative : )
Lerk Thai – a restaurant chain operated by the Select Group. Therefore it is no coincidence that the word 'Lerk' in Thai language means 'Select'.
The Special Prawn Cake was one of my friend’s favourite, but I thought it was evidently soaked with oil, as the leaf of lettuce underneath was drenched thorough. I find it pretty salty as well.
The Pha Thai, or Thai Fried Thai Kway Teow was quite a disaster. Way too salty and kway teow overcooked, every mouthful was quite a torture – this dish was hardly touched.
Exotic Pomelo Salad with Shrimp and Peanut, a supposedly appetiser was served towards the end which was pretty weird as our palates were once again invoked. However, we were told this is because the pomelo is shred fresh from the kitchen only upon receiving orders. As such, the flesh of the pomelo is very fresh and sweet. Prawn was also pretty crunchy. However I believed fish sauce was added to this dish, and as such one might find it salty towards the end.
Thai Pudding with Coconut Jelly Cup (Sago) wraps up the Gourmet Safari. The coconut wasn’t too heavy and the pairing with sago for the dessert was pretty good.
You can view the all photos and other reviews @ His Food Blog.
1=SGD 0.0587
I had my first try on Azabu Sabo Hokkaido ice-cream at Takashimaya outlet last week. I had a double scoop ice-cream in a cone : Black Sesame and their new flavour - Tofu. The lady was super generous and gave me 2 big tall towers of ice-creams. The 2 flavours were simply delicious, not too sweet and texture was smooth. I can say it was a little expensive for $6.00 but really worth it!
As I had a good experience, I bought another double scoop ice-cream in a cone at The Central outlet on 14 June 08. I chose black sesame (my favorite!) and pumpkin. The pumpkin has a mild sweet taste which I gave 2 thumbs up. My only disappointment was the lady was not skillful, so my 2 towers became "dwarf" towers, very short~
Overall is a nice dessert. Should give it a try.
Something to take note is: You must finish the ice-cream quickly, cos it starts to melt quite fast due to our hot & humid weather.
Rating given:
NOTICE!!!!!
MOS IS CLOSED.
REFER TO REVIEW OF ZIRCA
___________________________________________
Hmm, Funny, no one reviewed MOS!
Alright. I am going to give 2 perspectives on this review.
Both on same day different date, almost same event, same amount of crowd.
General Comment:
Personally I hold due respect for MOS as the birthplace of one of my favourite genres of music: TRANCE (not MOS SG though).
To my dismay, MOS Sg's crowd is a R&B, HipHop loving crowd and I was sad to see the crowd literally overcrowding at that area. Seriously they could do better playing those MOS exclusive tracks and start taking Trance seriously and not just to be another corporate sell-out again. This is MOS for heaven's sake.
The TRANCE place right? not Hiphop place...argh.
1. As a normal young adult clubber:
My Dressing: Standard Female Clubbing attire.
-Queue is bloody long, waiting time is horrible.
-Door b**** is also very rude (pardon my word use, i don't know the other term).
-Gives a makes-you-very-pissed face when checking your ID.
-Payment bloody long.
-Terrible congestion at the entrance.
-Coupon/ticket oso can give wrong amounts (I paid for 3pax she gave me 2 pax)
-Place is overcrowded and I don't know why they still allow entry.
-Baggage counter FULL, and the baggage girl gave a sickening stare and yelled "FULL YOU DONO HOW TO READ ISIT?"
-Dancefloor was like a metal concert with jumping space only.
-Tons of people trying to touch/dance with you even after you say no to that same person/group.
-Straight faced bouncers giving you a GL face as if your forehead says "I AM NOT A VIP SO WHAT?" at the VIP section.
-Toilet bloody dirty and smelly, no toilet paper, omfg.
-Coupon to drink exchange experience, TOOK FOREVER and damn it bartenders!
2. VIP and Cannery Card member
My Dressing: V neck cleavage tee, Lee Jeans, Birkinstock SLIPPERS, no makeup. Slacker wear.
-at the VIP short or sometimes no queue, fast and efficent entry.
-minus payment cos I am VIP/member.
-Dancefloor as many people.
-Same old lame thick skin gang of people.
-Very charismatic bouncers at the VIP/members area opening up the area for you as if you have the word "VIP/member" on your forehead. They even chat with you lol.
- Purchasing/ordering a drink at VIP/members area: Charismatic bartenders attentively asking what you need and what is not available politely. Efficient cashiers even remembers to give me a discount.
- Area in VIP/members area small, cosy but still have some space for random dancing.
-Same toilet.
Seriously I don't know what to say about the double standards.
Maybe trying to make their membership worthwhile?
And I also don't know how to rate this place.
Rating given:
Heartwarming :)
Last year I tried this branch, after being a fan of ichiban for its service, affordability and standard (not for variety though).
To my dismay, the service was rather sluggish, and they were not attentive at all.
Food was not as good as the Plaza Sing one, soft shell crab was not crisp.
I gave it a second chance last week and I am really happy they took my feedback seriously.
I was greeted by a heartwarming and jovial crew, and they looked really busy and always on the look out to top up the tea, none was really slacking off.
Variety wise, it improved with its selection of sushi, but the others were like, any other.
Their waitresses proved to be very sweet and attentive, asking if we don't like anything in the meal, while making great recommendations although we already knew what we wanted...just testing her. She sounded like Ichiban's number one fan as if she tried everything.
As we always order the same old stuff, I was quite impressed that the standard is still there. (Although I wished that it will returned to its old 'atas' standard before it got franchised.)
Afterwhich she cleared everything that we finished, and upon eye contact she got the bill over.
I was an idiot for not asking for her name though.
Not saying Ichiban as best jap restaurant here, but what I meant was I kinda got a little bit more than what I was paying, it's more of a value/quality/standard for money over here. So I am gonna give it an excellent for overall.
I am really thankful of the redeeming and pleasant experience there.
Rating given:
Actually this is my first time eating Ajisen since that one day all my friends said it suck.
One very important friend said it doesn't suck as much as I think.
So I decided to give it a second chance.
It's mom's bday month so she signed up to be a member at $5, so as to enjoy future discounts and also bday month's 15% discount.
I ordered some pork ramen set (like those canned braised pork that is expectedly not fresh and hard) and good thing that at $14something it is a set with refillable Green Tea and a side dish which I chose Terriyaki Chicken.
Ramen is hard as hell, soup base was good but a little too oily, pork is inedible, but edible if u like those canned kinds.
That piece of half hard boiled egg was as though it got kept for one night...self explanatory.
Green Tea is bag kind...
Oh well, I should stop complaining as it's kinda cheap so yea.
My mom order a bento set that has soft shell crab, but she said that it is not as 'smooth' as ichiban...and elsewhere...I guess I kinda get it. Bento's agedashi tofu was, not agedashi-ed, and she ordered a promotional item which was a sotong with glutinous rice in it, as soon as that dish came, my stomach got upset and felt like puking for the rest of my dinning experience as it was so stale, it smelt like a basket of dead sotong. (Probably I exaggerated a little bit) but it really stinks...
I can still smell it omg.
Totally not worth it.
Mummy said that though price range very affordable for students (a little lower than ichiban), but she also added that if by add about $5 more dollars to our set we can get fresher and better quality food, she'll gladly stick to ichiban branches.
(cos our neighbourhood is flooded with ichiban lol)
Not likely to patronise again. (probably the whole chain)
Rating given:
Had the opportunity to be part of the Gourmet Safari Tour hosted by SPH at The Central over the weekend. Together with Leslie from ieatishoot fame, we were ushered to 4 different Japanese restaurants within the mall to sample their various specialties, with Wakashachiya being the first stop.
Located on the third floor of Central, Wakashachiya originates from Nagoya city and specialises in Japanese curry udon noodles. The paneled simply done up interior is smallish and can probably squeeze in about 30 pax or so.
Tebasaki - Nagoya city is well known for its Tebasaki, which is essentially deep fried batterless chicken wings with a coating of sweet and spicy sauce and sprinkled with sesame seeds and black pepper. And being from Nagoya, Wakashachiya serves this delicacy as well. The wings, though small, packed a savoury punch from the myriad of different flavours all fused together. Sublimely sweet, salty and spicy. A pity the wings were so small and oily. Its $5 for 4 wings by the way.
Hitsu-mabushi - This dish was seriously a case of aesthetics over taste. Served up in a huge pot lookalike container, the lid went off to reveal neatly sliced pieces of unagi, cooked to a beautiful crisp as evident by the charred bits on the shimmery surface. However taste wise, I personally felt that it could have been better. For one, the unagi was too soft and disintegrated easily, lacking the firm and crisp texture that I personally like. The daishi soup (fish stock made from bonito flakes) and the plump chewy rice was good though.
Curry Udon with sides of Tonkatsu, Chicken, Tomatoes and Ebi Tempura
- The dish that Wakashachiya apparently is known for - Japanese curry udon. Wakashachiya's curry tended towards the bland side and didn't seem coagulated enough for my liking. The udon was good though, thick and chewy without making me feel like I'm chomping down on flour. Some work needs to be done on the sides though, with the Tonkatsu coming across as hard and dry while the batter encrusting the chicken was overly salty and oily. Same goes for the ebi tempura, with the batter leaning towards the thick side. The tomatoes were, well, just diced fresh tomatoes.
See all my pictures here.
Rating given:
Epicurious, located on the banks of Robertson Quay, has been in operations for close to 6 years now. The restaurant is the brainchild of the duo owners, Helena and Sharon. The concept for the restaurant is like a neighbour joint, serving casual food where you can chill out and enjoy a meal without any qualms.
The interior of Epicurious is surprisingly small, from the outside i thought it will be bigger. There are only three tables inside, with most of the seats in the al fresco area.
Unpretentious and comfy, Epicurious is really a place where i can sit down there all day with my friends
The al fresco area offers a view of the river by Robertson Quay, its simple furniture make it seems as though you are having picnic out in the natural.
The food which Epicurious offers are simple and comfort food, like sandwiches, salads, pasta. On weekends from 9am to 1pm, they have the brunch menu which include choices like pancakes, toast, bagel, eggs, ommelette. And i am really tempted by their brunch menu, you’ll be seeing them here in the near future.
At Epicurious, there is the blackboard specials, which is not on the normal menu, and these are changed regularly to allow customers to experience different type of food.
The lunch menu does not have much selection of mains, in fact they only have three to choose from, with mostly sandwiches and pasta otherwise.
For dinner, the menu is a different one all together, with starters like beef carpaccio, smoked salmon tartare, to main course like their signature epicurious burger, and there are also quite a variety of grills to choose from. Price ranges from 10s to 20s.
Turkey Breast Sandwich ($9.50)
Turkey Breast with roasted bell pepper and havarti cheese. The sandwiches are all freshly made with lettuce, tomato, and cucumber, with choices of country-style white or wholemeal sunflower bread.
The turkey breast sandwich is fairly good, served with keropok.
Spaghetti vietnamese chicken bolognaise ($14)
The chicken bolognaise spaghetti is served with cheese flakes, your good old reliable fix of pasta.
Asian Sloppy Joe ($12)
Pork and beef mince with hoisin and lime. The Asian Sloppy Joe is under the blackboard special for sandwich. The unique name caught our attention, and the sandwich does not disappoint.
The pork and beef mince combination creates a rather distinctive taste, slightly sweet and spicy.
Epicurious Burger ($18)
House-made beef patty with sautéed onions, mushrooms and fries. The Epicurious Burger is the signature dish of the restaurant, having heard many good things about the burger, it is inevitable that this is a must-try dish when you visit epicurious.
Although i just had burger at Seah Street Deli the previous day, but i have no qualms tasting the epicurious burger. And indeed, the Epicurious Burger is the star of the show, the beef done medium-rare, is tender and retains the juiciness of the meat.
And you can choose to add cheese, bacon or a fried egg for $2 each, or $4 for all three. But i choose to serve my burger the original way without any toppings.
I like the fries too, which comes with cheese flakes, the overall taste is buttery and cheesy!
Apple crumble with vanilla ice cream ($7)
The Apple crumble with vanilla ice cream is recommended to us by Helena the owner of Epicurious. Now who can finish a meal without having desserts? Definitely not me! The apple crumble is sour-sweet, and the taste of it together with ice cream does it for us.
Bread and butter pudding with custard ($8)
The bread and butter pudding is also another of their more popular desserts, the way to eat it is by dipping the pudding into the custard, but i preferred to taste the bread and butter pudding on its own.
Carrot Cake ($5)
A slice of the Carrot cake is enough for anyone to end their meal on a high, and the cake certainly taste good here. With a layer of cheese on top of the carrot cake, the effect is a melt-in-your-month. The cheese is relatively light and does not overwhelms the carrot cake.
Total bill is $82.48 for 4 mains and 3 desserts. However, Helena kindly has the desserts on the house, so the total bill is $64.90 instead.
The owner Helena is friendly and warm, we had a chat and she explain the concept of Epicurious to us. So if you saw her at the restaurant, do not hesitate to have a chat with her!
The current location however is a tad too small, and cannot serve more customer. But then again this can be a double edge sword, more seats serves more customers, but in the process you might just lose the wonderful ambiance of the place.
And by the way, Helena and Sharon have recently opened another fusion western-local restaurant, Persimmion which is located at the Link Hotel. Do give them a try if you pass by Tiong Bahru area.
Epicurious is one place which i’ll gladly return again to try out their brunch and dinner menu. The reason is simple, Epicurious serves casual food, the price will not hurt your wallet, and the ambiance of the place is superb! Despite my usual practice of not repeating visits to a same restaurant, i’ll bend the rule this time, for Epicurious!
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!
” Epicure epicurious! “
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Cilantro - a chic modern asian eatery that closed its restaurant doors at Purvis Street to open up outlets in the heartlands, with the outlet at Old Airport Road Food Centre being the first. Prior to the closure, Cilantro had garnered relatively good reviews from the media for its modern asian cuisine. Therefore this new foray into the heartlands came as quite a surprise.
Smoked Duck Steak - $10 got me their signature smoked duck steak, which came highly recommended by a stall affiliate. Served up with rather tasteless rice and a scoop of equally unimpressive coleslaw, the smoked duck tasted to me a little like honey baked ham, albeit with a more distinctive fowl taste. Actually even the texture was similar, relatively smooth and slightly rubbery without any trace of fibre. On the upside, I could taste the smoky undertones and I guess that was the sole saving grace.
Chocolate Lava Cake - The chocolate lava cake was quite small and I could have probably devoured it in one big mouthful if I chose to. But its $4 and I'm sure you can't get something like this elsewhere for the price. The cake was a little too soft and pudding like for my liking but at least there was molten chocolate oozing out when I made a break in the crust. Don't expect thick decadent chocolate though. You get what you pay for. The chocolate is runny and rather weak but for the price, no complains.
I really don't know what to make of Cilantro. For one, the menu looks intriguing enough for me to want to try again but the relatively high prices (for hawker centres) are quite a turn off. Granted that the pastas do seem reasonable at about $5.50 per plate, but $4 for a bowl of mushroom soup doesn't quite cut it.
See all my pictures here.
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Balmoral Bakery is a very old-school bakery which is evident from the box they use for their bakes. Located at Sunset way, the bakery offers the type of breads and pastries which we grow up together with, but sadly are slowly disappearing from our sight.
Under the “undue” influence of my food partner, we jogged from our place to Sunset way, and pay the bakery a visit. She introduced me to Balmoral Bakery as she has been munching on their breads since young.
Egg tart ($1)
The egg tart at Balmoral is those ‘watery’ type, my food partner love this type of egg tart, but i prefer those with crusty sides and firmer egg-fillings.
Custard Buns ($1.1)
The custard buns are the star of the show! Billed as Balmoral Bakery’s signature item, the custard buns are really excellent! There are other customers who brought half a dozen or more at a go. Must try!!
Cake ($1)
The cake is the very traditional type where you can only get at such bakeries, nowadays seldom do we still see such cakes around, well maybe if your neighbor still has such old-school bakeries around.
Char-siew Sau ($1)
The char-siew sau is cripsy and the char siew inside sweet!
Cake with cream in centre ($1.20)
I liked this one! The cake is very soft and fluffy, whipped cream in the center, and sugar white powder spread on top.
Total Bill for 5 items comes up to $5.50. I only brought 5 items as this is my first time there, but my food partner brought about more than 10 items!
The bread and pastries at Balmoral Bakery are mostly in the range of $0.80-$1.50, and there are really a lot of different types of traditional bakes which isn’t so commonly found nowadays. Go, and relieve your childhood memories!
You are always welcome to visit ladyironchef for a full-up on this trip. Whatever written herein are my genuine feelings expressed in words that may be subjected to my personal distortion or biasness. Feel free to furnish me with comments, may it be positive or negative : )
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Hankook Rice Cake House is under the same management with the popular Auntie Kim’s Korean Restaurant which is on the same stretch of road at Upper Thomson.
After finishing our meal at Chicken House, and Ritz Apple Strudel, my friend and i saw this shop across the street so we decided to venture there to check the place out.
Hankook Korean Rice Cakes are featured on the Business Times
The interior of the shop is very small and simple, with some Korean decorations
Hankook Rice Cake house sell quite a variety of rice cakes, there are also samples available on the table for tasting. We tried a few of them, but to tell the truth, Korean rice cakes are not really to our liking, or rather we can’t really appreciate the beauty of it.
But because we have tried their samples, we felt rather guilty if we just walk out of the shop, so my friend decided to buy a box of rice cake for take-away.
If i didn’t really remember wrongly, these are pumpkim with nuts, seeds, and raisins fillings. Please correct me if I’m wrong. One box is in the range of 6 bucks.
Hankook Rice Cake sell rather authentic korean rice cakes, even though i’m no fan of it, but to open a shop just to sell rice cake, we should applause the owner for that!
You are always welcome to visit ladyironchef for a full-up on this trip. Whatever written herein are my genuine feelings expressed in words that may be subjected to my personal distortion or biasness. Feel free to furnish me with comments, may it be positive or negative : )
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Lerk Thai – a restaurant chain operated by the Select Group. Therefore it is no coincidence that the word 'Lerk' in Thai language means 'Select'.
The Special Prawn Cake was one of my friend’s favourite, but I thought it was evidently soaked with oil, as the leaf of lettuce underneath was drenched thorough. I find it pretty salty as well.
The Pha Thai, or Thai Fried Thai Kway Teow was quite a disaster. Way too salty and kway teow overcooked, every mouthful was quite a torture – this dish was hardly touched.
Exotic Pomelo Salad with Shrimp and Peanut, a supposedly appetiser was served towards the end which was pretty weird as our palates were once again invoked. However, we were told this is because the pomelo is shred fresh from the kitchen only upon receiving orders. As such, the flesh of the pomelo is very fresh and sweet. Prawn was also pretty crunchy. However I believed fish sauce was added to this dish, and as such one might find it salty towards the end.
Thai Pudding with Coconut Jelly Cup (Sago) wraps up the Gourmet Safari. The coconut wasn’t too heavy and the pairing with sago for the dessert was pretty good.
You can view the all photos and other reviews @ His Food Blog.
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