I seldom take Italian food, thus when the invitation from Bobo came to try out the latest Etna Italian Restaurant & Pizzeria along Upper East Coast Road last weekend, I agreed almost immediately.
It was my first time meeting Bobo and I also managed to meet fellow yebbers like feizhu, andy and susan. Let's take a look at what we had ordered! Let's Mangia (eat!!)
Bruschetta > I think get to taste all of them as we assigned ourselves to one each, I took the tomato one and the tomatoes are very fresh!! Yummy!
Garlic bread (6 pieces) - Toasted bread > Quite bad because it's cold and hard, I meant really very hard!
Quattro Stagioni - Tomato, mozzarella cheese, mushrooms, artichokes, cooked ham, olives > The pizza is very nice, the crust is also not hard! Very good and yummy!!
Insalata di Gamberi - Rocket salad with prawns, dressed with extra virgin olive oil > This is very nice, the tomatoes are sweet and juicy. The prawns are fat and juicy! Eat already, bon appetit!!!
Bistecca al Gorgonzola - Grilled rib-eye steak with gorgonzola cheese in a light cream sauce > the steak is nice, although it tasted like medium rare than medium which we ordered! the light cream does not fit my taste.
Taglierini al Pesto di Bronte - Homemade pasta in a Sicilian pesto sauce (with pistachio from Bronte in Sicily)
Torta al Cioccolato - Chocolate cake > What can be said, it tasted like chocolate cake!!
Tiramisu al Pistacchio - Tiramisu with pistachio flavour (from Bronte in Sicily) > Tasted okay for me, as I'm no cake lover thus I could not comment how it stand, but feizhu seems to think otherwise! I like the green 'thing' as I think it tasted like pork floss! > Nothing special, tasted very normal! ^-^"
Panna Cotta > This tasted nice, yummy! It seems not enough for all of us!!
The restaurant is nicely decorated that provide a good dining atmosphere and good customer service from the staffs!
Overall, it's a good experience dining with the yebbers whom provides good company. Glad to meet all of you! Cin cin (cheers!)
for more photos of what we ordered can be viewed at my blog
The name Tuck Shop rings a bell in your mind doesn’t it? To many of us it is the carefree times during our primary school time, where we run to the tuckshop for our recess break.
Located at the alley of Tanjong Pagar Road (5min walk from Tanjong Pagar MRT), Tuckshop is actually a combination of a cafe and bar, i’ll say more of a place to chill out, but serving food that’s more than just finger food, they whipped out something more for a bar. The indoor decor is quite cool, blue-painted walls, with simple black furnitures, and the draw of the place will be its live music by the Singapore band “The Bandits” every Wed & Thu, and tuckshop residents Dean & J’Manuka every Fri.
My first encounter with Tuckshop didn’t go smoothly, it was during a sat evening with a group of 10, we set off happily to Tuckshop, but to our dismay, the place was fully booked. I didn’t make any prior reservations, so in the end we ended up at New Harbour Cafe.
So this time, i went there during lunch time with my lunch mates. When we arrived at 12, it was still empty, but the crowd starts to come in and i must say the crowd was not too bad considering a weekday lunch period.
Having heard plenty of good things and the hype about Tuckshop given several magazines and ieatishoot have written good comments about the place, i had high expectations about the place, but after the visit, i was disappointed.
Steak Sandwich ($12.50) Caramelised onions and a portobello mushroom mayo on a toasted focaccia. Much rave comments have been said about Tuckshop’s Steak sandwich, such as “tasty steak sandwich starring juicy beef & portobello mushroom”, “a juicy steak sandwich (the meat & mushroom nicely charred)”, “the steak sandwich - a big cut of juicy grilled beef, caramelised onions, and a portobello mushroom on crusty focaccia was highly succulent..”
Unfortunately, the steak sandwich did not give me any of those. I find the beef to be rather on the fat side, nothing special about the steak sandwich really. So much for hypes! I’m sorry if you are a fan of Tuckshop’s steak sandwich, but this is just my personal opinion, no offence taken.
Fish & Chips ($8.50) White fish in a tasty batter, served with rich tata sauce. The portion of the pacific dory was definitely generous, cripsy on the outside, and soft on the inside. I guess given the price and the serving size, there’s nothing much to complain about.
Lemon Butter Pan Fried Fish ($15) Fillet of pan seared cod fish served with lemon butter sauce, mash and a side of green salad. My friend commented that the Lemon Butter Pan Fried Fish was quite average, not really sufficient to warrent another visit. N’uff said already!
Ice Cream Chef single scoop ($3.50) You must be wondering, what’s Ice Cream Chef doing in Tuckshop? Well, Tuckshop thinks that Ice Cream Chef does their ice cream with the same passion as them, so explained the presence of Ice Cream Chef.
Personally i won’t order ice cream chef’s ice cream from tuckshop, i’ll go down to Ice Cream Chef shop to try them. But my friend is craving for some desserts, so here goes, Nutella ice cream single scoop. I had a taste, and i think it isn’t comparable to the nutella flavour that i had at Island Creamery, Daily Scoop, or Haato. (i am a huge fan of nutella just for the record). Tried any of the three and you can get better ice cream. but then again i can be wrong since i never try the ice cream from Ice Cream Chef’s shop.
Total bill was $43.10 for 3 person. Not expensive i’ll say, but mayb not enough to make me do a Tuckshop II review. More needs to be done to the menu, hype alone will only get you that far. Again, no offence, like i always say: Whatever written herein are my geniune feelings about my food adventure, expressed in words that may be subjected to my personal distortion or bias.
But to be fair, it’s a good place for friends to chillout i guess, given the relatively affordably-priced food, and the live music environment, and another plus point will be its just a stone throw away from the Central District Business area, so people working in the area can go for a drink after a work day of stress.
You are always welcome to visit ladyironchef for a full-up on this trip. Whatever written above are my geniune feelings expressed in words that may be subjected to my personal distortion or bias. Please do not feel emotional or distress should you have any violent objections. Kindly click the little X at the upper, extreme right of your screen if negative adjectives would be derived. Otherwise, feel free to furnish me with comments, may it be positive or negative : )
I finally had the chance to dine at Ristorante De Parma, a small family run Italian restaurant, one wet weekday evening. Strangely enough, although its been around for quite a while and I've always gone past it, I never had the urge to try it out, till that fateful evening.
Quietly located towards the end of a row of shophouses at the fringe of the hustle and bustle of Serangoon Gardens, Ristorante De Parma cuts a contrasting figure to the exuberance of the area. Decor is kept simple and no frills with soft, warm lighting and classy table arrangement. Soft easy listening music wafts through the air, setting the tone right for a relaxing meal.
Complimentary Bread - I presume that each person was only entitled to one slice of bread, seeing that we were only served 2 slices. Though served warm, the bread was a tad too dry for my liking and neither the margarine or olive oil helped.
Funchi Triffolati al Moda Dello Chef ($12.90)- This dish is essentially a Portobello mushroom garnished with grilled bell peppers, sun dried tomatoes & olives with the house dressing. And notice I mentioned a mushroom, not mushrooms. The mushroom was huge, bigger than anything I've ever seen before, which of course doesn't say much because I haven't really seen a lot of mushrooms to begin with. Taste wise, it was juicy with a nice chewy texture to boot, but somehow it lacked the oomph factor. Not that it wasn't nice or anything, just not outstanding.
Calzone aka Folded Pizza ($24.90) - According to the menu, the Calzone is a Neapolitan specialty and means 'Trouser Leg', which honestly makes no sense to me. Introductions aside, I had a major grouse with it. The crust was a little too burnt, resulting in a rather hard exterior, which made slicing or chewing through it a chore. The filling of ham, bacon, onions, mushrooms, capsicums and smoked cheddar cheese was decent though.
Filetto Di Mento ($32.90) - For a change, I ordered my steak medium instead of medium rare this time round and it came as per instructions. Italian restaurants certainly aren't known for their steak so I was pleasantly surprised by the juiciness and texture of the meat as well as the beefy flavours which were complemented by the subtle red wine sauce. I would dare say the steak can give some of the more reputable steakhouses a run for their money. On a side note, the potato ball that came with it tasted weird.
Chocolate Fondant ($11.90) - Beautifully presented, the Chocolate Fondant was compact with a slightly hardened exterior, unlike the ones that many Italian restaurants have taken to doing nowadays. This made eating it all the more enjoyable especially when the molten chocolate started oozing out through a break in the crust. Paired with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, it was really quite enjoyable. Pity about its small size though.
Tiramisu ($12.90) - High marks in the aesthetics department for the Tiramisu as well. The sponge to mascarpone cheese ratio was quite balanced and it came across as light and fluffy with a lingering taste of alcohol sans the wetness. Its probably one of the more notable tiramisus I've eaten in a long while.
I am most reluctant to admit, but $105 for 1 appetiser, 2 mains and 2 desserts definitely tends towards the expensive side. Food quality is particularly impressive for a restaurant that utilizes only local chefs and service is attentive yet non intrusive. If prices could drop a notch or two, I'll be more than happy to return for dinner. Until then, I'll have to content myself with their seemingly reasonably priced set lunches (starting from $12.90 I believe).
have anyone ever tried buying pastry from bread talk (just beside toast box) at roughly 8:30am in the morning? you'll be surprised at how grouchy the cashier is, even though it might be different cashiers every day. as i worked mostly morning shift, i would go to bread talk to buy their raisin braid whenever on my way to work. first time, i tried a simple greeting of good morning and some P's and Q's, but all i got is this very sad, grouchy expression, like as if the cashiers wished they were still in bed, not working. despite being a regular morning customer at bread talk for quite a couple of months, i still get the sad, grouchy treatment. at least the good part is that there are always almost no queue in the morning, so i can't complained much either...
my family and i started going there for our nightly coffee fix like almost a year ago and we were not disappointed. previously, we always go to the kopitiam at level 3, but it was disappointing in a sense that those kopi ladies kept adding water despite my parents pleas not to as my parents and i don't like our kopi diluted with water, we like it strong and thick (also like the oriental version of espresso..). and the worst part? those kopi ladies insisted that they have to add water to dilute the kopi as it is too strong, and ironically, their kopi cup is so small that the kopi does not taste anything like kopi after water was added to it. luckily, we chanced upon pick & bite one particular night and decided to try their kopi. as usual, we asked for kopi-o/kopi-gao/kopi dee loh (kopi undiluted with water) and we were served by the lady who is in charge of running the shop. she gave us what we requested and from that night on, we were converts and patronise pick & bite whenever we pop down to BPJ for our kopi fix. (fret not, if you do not like your kopi too strong, as you can request for weaker kopi if you prefer). the lady who is in charge of running the shop actually recommend dim sum to us everytime we go, which are the tastier ones, which ones are not that good, really frank opinion shared to customers.
lately, a few months back, pick & bite customers should be aware of price hikes and their fried version of dim sum (like popiah, yam cake, etc) were sold @ 5 pcs for $3. realising that not much customers might want to buy so much or couldn't finish eating so many, they actually decided to sell it @ 3 pcs for $2, alongside the 5 pcs for $3 strategy, no doubt, by pick & bite boss. i dun know whether other pick & bite outlets are selling 3 pcs for $2 for customers who can't finish their dim sum, but the outlet at BPJ does. all in all, this is still where my family get our nightly kopi fix and i urge dim sum lovers not to miss this pick & bite outlet if good kopi is what you and your friends and family are looking for.
dessert wise, if it's too sweet or thick (undiluted), you can ask the aunties to add in some hot water to make it less thick if you prefer. to them, customer requests are not an issue to be ignored. whatever is possible and can be done for their customers, they will definitely try their best to do it. besides, which outlet actually gives you extra popiah when you are paying only $2 for 3pcs? just one plea: don't say protest vehemently when extra dim sum is given to you at no extra charge even though you only bought 3 pcs hor~ ~ there are nice aunties down there and we shouldn't "sabo" their kindness.
Popped by with Claudia, LIC and Tamago a few weeks (months) ago.. It's my first time at a Tong Shui place despite it having a few outlets at other places.
I loved the decor of the place. The bright colours are so cheery and yet go so well. The places has some of those crockery from old days and the furniture was basically in that style too. The lady who greeted us at the door was nice and polite and showed us to our seat. There weren't many people that night as it was a weekday I guess.
As we were already full, we ordered a dessert to share and it was the Tutti Frutti Summit at $11.90.
I felt that only the Mango was nice enough and that was the first one to finish too. The rest of it, the strawberry and the kiwi flavours were just too weird. The kiwi didn't taste like kiwi at all and I kept feeling as if it had a rubbery smell to it. The strawberry one was the sort with some milk in it and it's just not nice.
Nonetheless there were lots of other things on the menu and I think i would go back to try the others.
I had been on the hunt for jeans for a long long time and went through all my usual places with no luck. I chanced upon Gap and walked right in, not feeling too lucky.
When I went in, the place was organised and it was easy to locate the section I wanted. But that was where I started to get confused. Jeans of different styles were stacked together and they were not arranged according the size. Also there were very few jeans on display, forcing one to unfold the neatly stacked piles.
If there were a store assistant to offer help immediately it wouldn't have been a problem. But the staff were chatting loudly across the store, stacking already neat piles.
The styles were confusing. There were the usual bottleg, flare, straight cut, skinnies... but there were also variations to these with a whole host of descriptions under each heading.
After muddling around for about 20 minutes, I finally got someone to help me and he asked me what size I wanted. Here came an even bigger problem.... The sizes read like 1P, 2, 3... etc... HUH? I asked him what waist size would each of these equate to and he couldn't give me a clear answer. He said something like this is in between 25 and 27 (isn't that 26?) and this is between 27 and 29... THAT got me really confused... anyway I later figured I'm size 1.
I tried on a few pairs and finally found my dream pair. I paid for it. It cost me $75 after a 40% discount. I brought it home, only to realise that my hands turned blue after touching them for a while... the dye was coming off on my hands. I thought that a few washes would solve the problem.. well it's been 3 5 washes and the colour still runs.
I do like the style of the clothing... but they are really a tad too ex for the minimal design.
I had a craving for potato wedges. Not the first time. I love them!
Now, I was passing by the nearly empty Coffee Club and felt that it should be a good place for some finger food and a drink. So, I popped in and more customers came in after that.
Anyway, I digress. I ordered the soup of the day (broccoli) and felt that Ikea had better ones. Can't seem to understand why other places don't taste as good.
I had the $7 wedges but couldn't finish them. They came with sour cream and salsa sauce. I prefer the cream though. They were good.
I like the courteous staff. As for refilling of the ice water, I had to hint that my glass was nearly empty. Do ask for a glass of ice water since they don't automatically get one for you if you have just sat down.
Bollywood Veggies is a 10-acre organic farm owned by Ivy Singh-Lim, past president of Netball Association Singapore, and her husband Lim Ho Seng. There's also a bistro called Poison Ivy which is quite popular for its food. The vegetables and fruits used come straight from its farm.
Ivy Singh-Lim couldn't cook, so the bistro is thus named. But don't worry lah, the food is edible and tastes good, because she employed a qualified cook to cook mah! :)
It was raining heavily when I was there. I ordered tea and a plate of its assorted kuehs. When the rain slowed to a drizzle, we went to explore the farm.
It's a great place not only for the small kids to learn about nature and the vegetables and fruits we put in our mouths, we big kids learn a lot too.
There's an interesting eco toilet for you to leave your poo and a Mr Pee Wee for the little men! Relieve yourselves in a natural, green and free surrounding! hehehe.....
You have to find the lotus pond! Pose for uber sexy pictures or just act silly beside it .... but please don't try to impress the lady by jumping in to grab a lotus flower hor.
Oh.... forgot to mention... please go report to the bistro first if you are going to tour the farm, it costs S$2 per person. If any one is found not complying to the above rule, they will be used to cook Bollywood curry!!! *trembles*
I've seen a dragon fruit tree in Taiwan and was surprised to see a Dragon Fruit Farm in Singapore!
The Dragon fruit plant is a member of the cactus family. It is easy to grow, requires lots of sunlight and can also withstand long period without rain. Its huge, fragrant flowers bloom every 15 days and only a few hours in the night.
This Dragon Fruit farm grows a Taiwan species of Dragon Fruit which has red flesh. The Dragon Fruit sold in Singapore is usually the white flesh ones which come from Vietnam. One seldom finds this red flesh Dragon Fruit in Singapore. They are supposed to taste sweeter. The red flesh variety contains lycopene which is a natural antioxidant known to fight cancer, heart disease and lower blood pressure.
Besides the dragon fruit trees, there are a few rare plants like the Australian Passion Fruit, Thailand Passion Fruit, Red Long Beans (after frying, turn green colour wor!!)..... etc.
You are not allowed to pluck the fruits in this orchard but you can buy them. The day I went, dragon fruits were sold at S$4 a kilo. Expensive hor. The elderly lady seller said it was the cheapest price they had ever set because they had a big harvest then. After haggling, she agreed to sell 3kg for S$10. The fruits had been plucked for a few days and didn't look pretty. hehehe.....
The fruits were very ripe and when I cut them, there was lots of juice.... but not sweet leh. :( Since there were so many, I made Dragon Fruit jam and I'll try to bake a Dragon Fruit cake with it.
Warning : After eating the red dragon fruit, the next day when you go toilet ah, don't panic when you see the toilet bowl all red or the toilet paper stained red.... that's only the colouring from the red dragon fruit!! I almost died of shock the first time I saw 'red' in the toilet bowl!! hahaha.....
1=SGD 0.0587
I seldom take Italian food, thus when the invitation from Bobo came to try out the latest Etna Italian Restaurant & Pizzeria along Upper East Coast Road last weekend, I agreed almost immediately.
It was my first time meeting Bobo and I also managed to meet fellow yebbers like feizhu, andy and susan. Let's take a look at what we had ordered! Let's Mangia (eat!!)
Bruschetta
> I think get to taste all of them as we assigned ourselves to one each, I took the tomato one and the tomatoes are very fresh!! Yummy!
Garlic bread (6 pieces) - Toasted bread
> Quite bad because it's cold and hard, I meant really very hard!
Quattro Stagioni - Tomato, mozzarella cheese, mushrooms, artichokes, cooked ham, olives
> The pizza is very nice, the crust is also not hard! Very good and yummy!!
Insalata di Gamberi - Rocket salad with prawns, dressed with extra virgin olive oil
> This is very nice, the tomatoes are sweet and juicy. The prawns are fat and juicy! Eat already, bon appetit!!!
Bistecca al Gorgonzola - Grilled rib-eye steak with gorgonzola cheese in a light cream sauce
> the steak is nice, although it tasted like medium rare than medium which we ordered! the light cream does not fit my taste.
Taglierini al Pesto di Bronte - Homemade pasta in a Sicilian pesto sauce (with pistachio from Bronte in Sicily)
Torta al Cioccolato - Chocolate cake
> What can be said, it tasted like chocolate cake!!
Tiramisu al Pistacchio - Tiramisu with pistachio flavour (from Bronte in Sicily)
> Tasted okay for me, as I'm no cake lover thus I could not comment how it stand, but feizhu seems to think otherwise! I like the green 'thing' as I think it tasted like pork floss!
> Nothing special, tasted very normal! ^-^"
Panna Cotta
> This tasted nice, yummy! It seems not enough for all of us!!
The restaurant is nicely decorated that provide a good dining atmosphere and good customer service from the staffs!
Overall, it's a good experience dining with the yebbers whom provides good company. Glad to meet all of you! Cin cin (cheers!)
for more photos of what we ordered can be viewed at my blog
Rating given:
The name Tuck Shop rings a bell in your mind doesn’t it? To many of us it is the carefree times during our primary school time, where we run to the tuckshop for our recess break.
Located at the alley of Tanjong Pagar Road (5min walk from Tanjong Pagar MRT), Tuckshop is actually a combination of a cafe and bar, i’ll say more of a place to chill out, but serving food that’s more than just finger food, they whipped out something more for a bar. The indoor decor is quite cool, blue-painted walls, with simple black furnitures, and the draw of the place will be its live music by the Singapore band “The Bandits” every Wed & Thu, and tuckshop residents Dean & J’Manuka every Fri.
My first encounter with Tuckshop didn’t go smoothly, it was during a sat evening with a group of 10, we set off happily to Tuckshop, but to our dismay, the place was fully booked. I didn’t make any prior reservations, so in the end we ended up at New Harbour Cafe.
So this time, i went there during lunch time with my lunch mates. When we arrived at 12, it was still empty, but the crowd starts to come in and i must say the crowd was not too bad considering a weekday lunch period.
Having heard plenty of good things and the hype about Tuckshop given several magazines and ieatishoot have written good comments about the place, i had high expectations about the place, but after the visit, i was disappointed.
Steak Sandwich ($12.50)
Caramelised onions and a portobello mushroom mayo on a toasted focaccia. Much rave comments have been said about Tuckshop’s Steak sandwich, such as “tasty steak sandwich starring juicy beef & portobello mushroom”, “a juicy steak sandwich (the meat & mushroom nicely charred)”, “the steak sandwich - a big cut of juicy grilled beef, caramelised onions, and a portobello mushroom on crusty focaccia was highly succulent..”
Unfortunately, the steak sandwich did not give me any of those. I find the beef to be rather on the fat side, nothing special about the steak sandwich really. So much for hypes! I’m sorry if you are a fan of Tuckshop’s steak sandwich, but this is just my personal opinion, no offence taken.
Fish & Chips ($8.50)
White fish in a tasty batter, served with rich tata sauce. The portion of the pacific dory was definitely generous, cripsy on the outside, and soft on the inside. I guess given the price and the serving size, there’s nothing much to complain about.
Lemon Butter Pan Fried Fish ($15)
Fillet of pan seared cod fish served with lemon butter sauce, mash and a side of green salad. My friend commented that the Lemon Butter Pan Fried Fish was quite average, not really sufficient to warrent another visit. N’uff said already!
Ice Cream Chef single scoop ($3.50)
You must be wondering, what’s Ice Cream Chef doing in Tuckshop? Well, Tuckshop thinks that Ice Cream Chef does their ice cream with the same passion as them, so explained the presence of Ice Cream Chef.
Personally i won’t order ice cream chef’s ice cream from tuckshop, i’ll go down to Ice Cream Chef shop to try them. But my friend is craving for some desserts, so here goes, Nutella ice cream single scoop. I had a taste, and i think it isn’t comparable to the nutella flavour that i had at Island Creamery, Daily Scoop, or Haato. (i am a huge fan of nutella just for the record). Tried any of the three and you can get better ice cream. but then again i can be wrong since i never try the ice cream from Ice Cream Chef’s shop.
Total bill was $43.10 for 3 person. Not expensive i’ll say, but mayb not enough to make me do a Tuckshop II review. More needs to be done to the menu, hype alone will only get you that far. Again, no offence, like i always say: Whatever written herein are my geniune feelings about my food adventure, expressed in words that may be subjected to my personal distortion or bias.
But to be fair, it’s a good place for friends to chillout i guess, given the relatively affordably-priced food, and the live music environment, and another plus point will be its just a stone throw away from the Central District Business area, so people working in the area can go for a drink after a work day of stress.
You are always welcome to visit ladyironchef for a full-up on this trip. Whatever written above are my geniune feelings expressed in words that may be subjected to my personal distortion or bias. Please do not feel emotional or distress should you have any violent objections. Kindly click the little X at the upper, extreme right of your screen if negative adjectives would be derived. Otherwise, feel free to furnish me with comments, may it be positive or negative : )
” Hype will only get you that far “
Rating given:
I finally had the chance to dine at Ristorante De Parma, a small family run Italian restaurant, one wet weekday evening. Strangely enough, although its been around for quite a while and I've always gone past it, I never had the urge to try it out, till that fateful evening.
Quietly located towards the end of a row of shophouses at the fringe of the hustle and bustle of Serangoon Gardens, Ristorante De Parma cuts a contrasting figure to the exuberance of the area. Decor is kept simple and no frills with soft, warm lighting and classy table arrangement. Soft easy listening music wafts through the air, setting the tone right for a relaxing meal.
Complimentary Bread - I presume that each person was only entitled to one slice of bread, seeing that we were only served 2 slices. Though served warm, the bread was a tad too dry for my liking and neither the margarine or olive oil helped.
Funchi Triffolati al Moda Dello Chef ($12.90)- This dish is essentially a Portobello mushroom garnished with grilled bell peppers, sun dried tomatoes & olives with the house dressing. And notice I mentioned a mushroom, not mushrooms. The mushroom was huge, bigger than anything I've ever seen before, which of course doesn't say much because I haven't really seen a lot of mushrooms to begin with. Taste wise, it was juicy with a nice chewy texture to boot, but somehow it lacked the oomph factor. Not that it wasn't nice or anything, just not outstanding.
Calzone aka Folded Pizza ($24.90) - According to the menu, the Calzone is a Neapolitan specialty and means 'Trouser Leg', which honestly makes no sense to me. Introductions aside, I had a major grouse with it. The crust was a little too burnt, resulting in a rather hard exterior, which made slicing or chewing through it a chore. The filling of ham, bacon, onions, mushrooms, capsicums and smoked cheddar cheese was decent though.
Filetto Di Mento ($32.90) - For a change, I ordered my steak medium instead of medium rare this time round and it came as per instructions. Italian restaurants certainly aren't known for their steak so I was pleasantly surprised by the juiciness and texture of the meat as well as the beefy flavours which were complemented by the subtle red wine sauce. I would dare say the steak can give some of the more reputable steakhouses a run for their money. On a side note, the potato ball that came with it tasted weird.
Chocolate Fondant ($11.90) - Beautifully presented, the Chocolate Fondant was compact with a slightly hardened exterior, unlike the ones that many Italian restaurants have taken to doing nowadays. This made eating it all the more enjoyable especially when the molten chocolate started oozing out through a break in the crust. Paired with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, it was really quite enjoyable. Pity about its small size though.
Tiramisu ($12.90) - High marks in the aesthetics department for the Tiramisu as well. The sponge to mascarpone cheese ratio was quite balanced and it came across as light and fluffy with a lingering taste of alcohol sans the wetness. Its probably one of the more notable tiramisus I've eaten in a long while.
I am most reluctant to admit, but $105 for 1 appetiser, 2 mains and 2 desserts definitely tends towards the expensive side. Food quality is particularly impressive for a restaurant that utilizes only local chefs and service is attentive yet non intrusive. If prices could drop a notch or two, I'll be more than happy to return for dinner. Until then, I'll have to content myself with their seemingly reasonably priced set lunches (starting from $12.90 I believe).
See all my pictures here
Rating given:
have anyone ever tried buying pastry from bread talk (just beside toast box) at roughly 8:30am in the morning? you'll be surprised at how grouchy the cashier is, even though it might be different cashiers every day. as i worked mostly morning shift, i would go to bread talk to buy their raisin braid whenever on my way to work. first time, i tried a simple greeting of good morning and some P's and Q's, but all i got is this very sad, grouchy expression, like as if the cashiers wished they were still in bed, not working. despite being a regular morning customer at bread talk for quite a couple of months, i still get the sad, grouchy treatment. at least the good part is that there are always almost no queue in the morning, so i can't complained much either...
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my family and i started going there for our nightly coffee fix like almost a year ago and we were not disappointed. previously, we always go to the kopitiam at level 3, but it was disappointing in a sense that those kopi ladies kept adding water despite my parents pleas not to as my parents and i don't like our kopi diluted with water, we like it strong and thick (also like the oriental version of espresso..). and the worst part? those kopi ladies insisted that they have to add water to dilute the kopi as it is too strong, and ironically, their kopi cup is so small that the kopi does not taste anything like kopi after water was added to it. luckily, we chanced upon pick & bite one particular night and decided to try their kopi. as usual, we asked for kopi-o/kopi-gao/kopi dee loh (kopi undiluted with water) and we were served by the lady who is in charge of running the shop. she gave us what we requested and from that night on, we were converts and patronise pick & bite whenever we pop down to BPJ for our kopi fix. (fret not, if you do not like your kopi too strong, as you can request for weaker kopi if you prefer). the lady who is in charge of running the shop actually recommend dim sum to us everytime we go, which are the tastier ones, which ones are not that good, really frank opinion shared to customers.
lately, a few months back, pick & bite customers should be aware of price hikes and their fried version of dim sum (like popiah, yam cake, etc) were sold @ 5 pcs for $3. realising that not much customers might want to buy so much or couldn't finish eating so many, they actually decided to sell it @ 3 pcs for $2, alongside the 5 pcs for $3 strategy, no doubt, by pick & bite boss. i dun know whether other pick & bite outlets are selling 3 pcs for $2 for customers who can't finish their dim sum, but the outlet at BPJ does. all in all, this is still where my family get our nightly kopi fix and i urge dim sum lovers not to miss this pick & bite outlet if good kopi is what you and your friends and family are looking for.
dessert wise, if it's too sweet or thick (undiluted), you can ask the aunties to add in some hot water to make it less thick if you prefer. to them, customer requests are not an issue to be ignored. whatever is possible and can be done for their customers, they will definitely try their best to do it. besides, which outlet actually gives you extra popiah when you are paying only $2 for 3pcs? just one plea: don't say protest vehemently when extra dim sum is given to you at no extra charge even though you only bought 3 pcs hor~ ~ there are nice aunties down there and we shouldn't "sabo" their kindness.
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Popped by with Claudia, LIC and Tamago a few weeks (months) ago.. It's my first time at a Tong Shui place despite it having a few outlets at other places.
I loved the decor of the place. The bright colours are so cheery and yet go so well. The places has some of those crockery from old days and the furniture was basically in that style too. The lady who greeted us at the door was nice and polite and showed us to our seat. There weren't many people that night as it was a weekday I guess.
As we were already full, we ordered a dessert to share and it was the Tutti Frutti Summit at $11.90.
I felt that only the Mango was nice enough and that was the first one to finish too. The rest of it, the strawberry and the kiwi flavours were just too weird. The kiwi didn't taste like kiwi at all and I kept feeling as if it had a rubbery smell to it. The strawberry one was the sort with some milk in it and it's just not nice.
Nonetheless there were lots of other things on the menu and I think i would go back to try the others.
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I had been on the hunt for jeans for a long long time and went through all my usual places with no luck. I chanced upon Gap and walked right in, not feeling too lucky.
When I went in, the place was organised and it was easy to locate the section I wanted. But that was where I started to get confused. Jeans of different styles were stacked together and they were not arranged according the size. Also there were very few jeans on display, forcing one to unfold the neatly stacked piles.
If there were a store assistant to offer help immediately it wouldn't have been a problem. But the staff were chatting loudly across the store, stacking already neat piles.
The styles were confusing. There were the usual bottleg, flare, straight cut, skinnies... but there were also variations to these with a whole host of descriptions under each heading.
After muddling around for about 20 minutes, I finally got someone to help me and he asked me what size I wanted. Here came an even bigger problem.... The sizes read like 1P, 2, 3... etc... HUH? I asked him what waist size would each of these equate to and he couldn't give me a clear answer. He said something like this is in between 25 and 27 (isn't that 26?) and this is between 27 and 29... THAT got me really confused... anyway I later figured I'm size 1.
I tried on a few pairs and finally found my dream pair. I paid for it. It cost me $75 after a 40% discount. I brought it home, only to realise that my hands turned blue after touching them for a while... the dye was coming off on my hands. I thought that a few washes would solve the problem.. well it's been 3 5 washes and the colour still runs.
I do like the style of the clothing... but they are really a tad too ex for the minimal design.
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I had a craving for potato wedges. Not the first time. I love them!
Now, I was passing by the nearly empty Coffee Club and felt that it should be a good place for some finger food and a drink. So, I popped in and more customers came in after that.
Anyway, I digress. I ordered the soup of the day (broccoli) and felt that Ikea had better ones. Can't seem to understand why other places don't taste as good.
I had the $7 wedges but couldn't finish them. They came with sour cream and salsa sauce. I prefer the cream though. They were good.
I like the courteous staff. As for refilling of the ice water, I had to hint that my glass was nearly empty. Do ask for a glass of ice water since they don't automatically get one for you if you have just sat down.
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Bollywood Veggies is a 10-acre organic farm owned by Ivy Singh-Lim, past president of Netball Association Singapore, and her husband Lim Ho Seng. There's also a bistro called Poison Ivy which is quite popular for its food. The vegetables and fruits used come straight from its farm.
Ivy Singh-Lim couldn't cook, so the bistro is thus named. But don't worry lah, the food is edible and tastes good, because she employed a qualified cook to cook mah! :)
It was raining heavily when I was there. I ordered tea and a plate of its assorted kuehs. When the rain slowed to a drizzle, we went to explore the farm.
It's a great place not only for the small kids to learn about nature and the vegetables and fruits we put in our mouths, we big kids learn a lot too.
There's an interesting eco toilet for you to leave your poo and a Mr Pee Wee for the little men! Relieve yourselves in a natural, green and free surrounding! hehehe.....
You have to find the lotus pond! Pose for uber sexy pictures or just act silly beside it .... but please don't try to impress the lady by jumping in to grab a lotus flower hor.
Oh.... forgot to mention... please go report to the bistro first if you are going to tour the farm, it costs S$2 per person. If any one is found not complying to the above rule, they will be used to cook Bollywood curry!!! *trembles*
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I've seen a dragon fruit tree in Taiwan and was surprised to see a Dragon Fruit Farm in Singapore!
The Dragon fruit plant is a member of the cactus family. It is easy to grow, requires lots of sunlight and can also withstand long period without rain. Its huge, fragrant flowers bloom every 15 days and only a few hours in the night.
This Dragon Fruit farm grows a Taiwan species of Dragon Fruit which has red flesh. The Dragon Fruit sold in Singapore is usually the white flesh ones which come from Vietnam. One seldom finds this red flesh Dragon Fruit in Singapore. They are supposed to taste sweeter. The red flesh variety contains lycopene which is a natural antioxidant known to fight cancer, heart disease and lower blood pressure.
Besides the dragon fruit trees, there are a few rare plants like the Australian Passion Fruit, Thailand Passion Fruit, Red Long Beans (after frying, turn green colour wor!!)..... etc.
You are not allowed to pluck the fruits in this orchard but you can buy them. The day I went, dragon fruits were sold at S$4 a kilo. Expensive hor. The elderly lady seller said it was the cheapest price they had ever set because they had a big harvest then. After haggling, she agreed to sell 3kg for S$10. The fruits had been plucked for a few days and didn't look pretty. hehehe.....
The fruits were very ripe and when I cut them, there was lots of juice.... but not sweet leh. :( Since there were so many, I made Dragon Fruit jam and I'll try to bake a Dragon Fruit cake with it.
Warning : After eating the red dragon fruit, the next day when you go toilet ah, don't panic when you see the toilet bowl all red or the toilet paper stained red.... that's only the colouring from the red dragon fruit!! I almost died of shock the first time I saw 'red' in the toilet bowl!! hahaha.....
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