Black Canyon has been on East Coast Road for the last 5 years and I finally step foot into this place one quiet evening, not knowing what to expect. It was late on a weekday so there were only 2 other tables occupied. In fact when we walked in, they were going to take last orders in 15 minutes. But the staff were still smiling and welcomed us warmly which is rare when one arrives so near closing time.
The place is modern looking, great for friends to hang out, families to gather and casual business meetings. It's quite spacious too with plenty of seats in 3 sections; outside, dining area with proper tables and chilling area with more cushion like seats.
Taking our time ordering (the staff didn't rush us and didn't hover around us) we came up with the following.
Food Ordered: Spicy Glass Noodles Salad $7.95 Our little starter which was delicious. Two of us shared this dish but we were a little full by the time we were done with it. It was certainly spicy but not overly done. The crunchy nuts were a nice addition to the dish. What I liked most was that it wasn't oily despite having all that spice.
Spicy Stir Fried Seafood and Basil with Rice $8.95 This was my friend's order. It was really spicy though he didn't have any other complaints about it. I liked how the rice came in cubes. Fish Fillet Steak $9.95 My dory was served with chips and some toast. The toast was a little dry but it was the wholemeal (wheat) sort which I pretty much liked so that was fine. The outside of the dory was a little dry but still quite tasty.
We spent about $30 for the two of us which included a drink. I think it's pretty reasonable since we were famished when we got in and really full when we staggered out. Worth a try!
*Please excuse the horrid pictures - the perils of using the camera phone when one forgets her cammie*
My family decided to give this place a try after seeing it featured in the newspaper. I rather good experience I must say. They also adopt the food market concept, much like Marche and Vil’age. The place is relatively big, and sits quite a lot of people.
The food’s pretty decent, and you can find Marche-favourites like rosti amongst the other japanese food. The yakitori corner serves up a wide variety of stuff too.
The sashimi platter was quite disappointing actually, costing $15 for 12 slices of sashimi. I quite liked their grilled saba, and some other yakitori stuff like the scallops and mushroom. The mushroom soup ran out by the time I placed my order, but it looked quite good.
The burgers come in really huge portions, costing $9 at most. Think Carls Jr., but bigger. Yes, it’s really worth the size, only that the taste isn’t too fantastic - frozen salmon patties.
Dessert was good. I quite liked their homemade cheesecake, with a soft feel and nice crust below. The raspberry (I think) sauce on top really goes well together. The cake costs about $4, and can satisfy your sweet cravings. Not too rich, not too sweet, and not too large a portion. The other dessert I tasted, the mango slush ice, wasn’t at all worth it. Basically a bowl of crushed ice sprayed with mango juice and topped with very little mango, costing $7 - bad choice.
Overall, the ambience was decent. Service however was a little bad, with long waiting times to collect food - almost 20 min for my yakitori to be ready. Dinner for 4 cost about $150, slightly more costly than what we’d pay if we had dinner at Sushi Tei. But of course, it’s a different experience, even if it came at a higher price. Still, I found it rather expensive, partly because we over-ordered.
There are quite a few more items I have yet to try, and would probably give it a shot again. If you choose the right stuff to eat, you’d probably get a good deal out of it.
Four Leaves, one of the Main Bakeries in Singapore, alongside BreadTalk, Bengawan Solo (not really a bakery though). But my favourite will clearly be Four Leaves. I have supported their bread for a long long time already, and i like their cheese and ham bread. Despite being a supporter, but i think the different type of bread that i tried from Four leaves can be count using one hand five fingers? And all that is going to change, with the Mini World promotion, where great taste comes in small bites
With everything coming in Mini-size, cars, cards, cakes, tarts, ice creams and the list goes on and on. It will be sooner and later before Mini bread come into place (why didn’t i spot the trend?). Hahahah! And Four Leaves launch their mini world promotion, coming out mini breads with a total of 14 flavours. One mini bread cost $0.65, three for $1.80, and 5 for $2.80. If you do your maths, obviously buying more will be cheaper, but not much really.
I thought it was rather creative of Four Leaves to have this map in their shop telling the story of Bread. I’ll have done that too. Not that i am creative, but its a good idea : )
I had three mini bread! Starting from the left one. I can’t remember what the name is, but the appearance certainly looks like a chocolate eclair. The inside is no cream, make of soft soft bread, this is my fav! The top one on the right is good also, almond nuts on the top, with thin layer of chocolate in the middle of the bread, and again, the bread taste suprisingly soft
Have you realise what this new promotions mean? Lets see the before and after effect. Before, one bun cost a dollar plus, buying 5 different type of buns will cut you back by at least $7-8. After, 5 mini buns for $2.80. Ta-ddaa!! Before, $2.80 at most can get you two bun, mayb three, now u can get five. Not too bad huh?
Obviously the main draw is for customers to try more different type of Bread. Without this promotions, we usually wont buy the new flavour of Bread unless we are feeling adventureous, or we really like the flavour right. But with the promotion, Four Leave can test-out new flavours, which can only be good news for you and me.
And its not just that, i believe there will be a BIG market demand for the mini buns simply because they are cute. And its a novelty to customers. Won’t you be tempted to buy them? With the price its quite reasonable. But don’t expect it to be filling, because mini means really small. One bite can finish the bread off. So buy it for fun, or light snack!
Hopefully Four Leave will come out with more variety of Mini Buns, so that we can try many many other flavours!
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 simply loved chinese new year as there is always plenty of goodies for me to eat. hee hee. This year round for the love letter selection, my family decided to buy them from D'Bun.
Ok, this store's love letter is not exactly that famous as most of the friends have not even heard of this store. But, frankly speaking, this store's love letters tasted even better that some other famous store.
Why do i say that their love letter is much better? Well, first is definitely the size of the love letter. Their love letter is rolled into a small diameter thus it appears to be more compact. Well, one may say that if love letter is more compact, it may have a thicker texture. Personnally, i feel that D'Bun love letter still has a rather thin texture even though its more compact now. Simply different from those ordinary love letters that are of a much larger diameter.
Next, its the taste of the love letter, it does not have a super strong coconut smell nor does it taste too sweet. With just the right amount of ingredients, this love letter tasted as fragrant as the rest of the love letters.
Lastly, it the quality of the love letter. I definitely gave them thumb ups for quality wise, as i hardly find one love letter that is 'char ta' - meaning burnt. Rather impressing in their quality check or rather the way that they did the love letters.
Overall, i believe their love letters is pretty special as compared to the rest. A rather good choice if one wants to try something different this festival. :)
During this chinese new year, my friend passed me the festive gift pack from Tung Lok. Although he is not willing to reveal to me the price of this gift pack, but based on the nice packaging and golden colour appearance, i guessed it should not be that cheap.
This rectangle gift pack appears to be rather special. First is definitely due to the shape, as most of the people packs goodie in square boxes of round containers. Hardly will i see rectangular kind of box. Next is definitely the varieties in the goodie pack. Gone is the normal kind single variety goodie, this gift pack has more than five different varieties of goodies.
Some of the goodies include the pineapple tarts, the peanut biscuit, chocolate cookie, mooncakes, fried shrimp rolls and barbeque pork. They basically sealed up each single goodie, most probably is to preserve the goodie for a much longer time.
I tried two of the goodies, one of them is the peanut cookie. Pretty tasty, i can say. With lots of peanut bits sprinkle on top of the cookie, one can easily taste the peanut crunchiness and the fragrance from the peanut.
The next goodie that i have tried is the fish shaped pineapple tarts. I pretty like the pineapple fillings, first is because of pretty decent amount of filling and second is the taste of the filling which issnt too sweet nor too sour. This gives one a very balanced kind of taste. The pastry skin wise, i find them rather thick to my liking.
Overall, i think this gift pack can be a rather decent gift to send to friends and family members. One will not need to worry if the goodie is to the receipent liking as they are so many goodies for the receipent to choose for. :)
Its the annual chinese new year festival again. Besides the spring cleaning, i like every thing about this festival. haha. The best thing that i can look forward to during this festive, is definitely the yummy goodies.
This year, my mum specially bought back one of my favorite goodies --- the almond melts from Takashimaya. Frankly speaking, this almond melts looks nothing fantastic at all. It does not have a extraordinary size nor does it has colourful appearance, whats presented in front of me is just few reasonable sized almond cookies placed in a red lid container.
Just one bite of the almond melts, i immediately fall in love with it. Why, you may ask? This is because, this almond melts really "melt" in my mouth. I have eaten other almond melts before, some simply tasted too crunchy and the better ones will only crumble in my mouth. I have never tasted one that can really melt in my mouth, this is the first time.
Beside the melting mechanism, there is also lots of almond bits in the cookie itself. So much so that, when the almond cookie has complete its melting process, one can still savour on the left over crunching almond bits. Bascially, this almond melts gave you two different types of texture -- soft and melty ; hard and crunchy.
Issnt it wonderful to realize two very different texture can actually be combined together to produce a heavenly cookie? haha. Perhaps,looks is really deceiving. Just how could one know if the almond melts is acutally so good without tasting it?
Yes, its the cheesecake cafe that would drive you back for more. You heard of it, your friends are telling you all about it -and gues what, they're right.
The Cheesecake Cafe is a small shop along East Coast Road. It opens only in the late afternoons (3.30m for Wed - Fri, 4.30 for Sat & Sun.) till late night. They are unfortunately closed on Mondays and Tuesdays.
Upon entering the cafe, you find yourself in a very cosy place, done up nicely with ary pieces and a small water fountain feature inside. The waiters are always warm and attentive, and you should love the whole experience there.
I have not tried any of their food - they serve chips and other snacks - but their cheesecake's a definite must-try. Depending on the day you go, you would be offered to try their different daily specials. So far, they have not been at all disappointing.
The blueberry cheesecake I tried was really good, with a nice crispy crust for it's bottom layer. The berries were not too sweet, and the cheese simply melts in your mouth.
Pray that you get their mango cheesecake for the daily special. It is my biggest favourite of all the cheesecakes I have eaten there. The mango is fresh, sweet, and has a really great texture to it - not the soft kind you get in some cake shops. The mango flavour in the cake is also something to look forward to, espeially if you love mangos.
For non-cheese-lovers, don't fret, because they serve other non-cheese cakes as well. You can try their Belgium Truffle, which has a really thick and rich chocolate taste to it.
Their tiramisu is average, nothing much to shout about, but that's only because the other cakes are just too good. I wouldn't say that their tiramisu's anyway bad, but if you are going there, do try the other cakes first. You won't regret.
The price of cakes at the cafe are around $6 or $7, depending on whether you order a cheese or non-cheese cake (cheesecakes are more expensive, of course). It might be slightly expensive for just a slice of cake, but for the whole experience - the ambience, the service, the nice cold air-con aftr a warm day, it's relly worth it.
And yes, I'm going back there again this coming weekend. I'm hoping for my mango cheesecake.
This trip to Nul Bom Korean Restaurant marks my foray into Korean cuisine, with my prior experiences with Korean food limited to those at food courts and probably the stuff they sell at Seoul's Incheon airport.
Situated amongst a row of shophouses along Telok Ayer street, this nondescript eatery houses a small and simply done up interior. Tables are limited and although there are private rooms available, capacity probably wouldn't exceed 30 pax all in all.
The bean sprouts, Kimchi and anchovies are pretty much staple in any Korean restaurants where the other dishes vary from eatery to eatery. I didn't find any of the sides outstanding but I appreciated the variety as well as the seemingly complimentary gesture (the cost is all factored into the price of the dishes of course).
Kim Chi Chi Gae - Kim Chi with Rice - This dish was quite spicy and looked the part as well. However, it wasn't anything to shout about either. But thats coming from someone who has almost zero knowledge about kim chi or Korean food in general.
So Bul Go Gi - Beef BBQ - I'm at a loss as to how and where to begin describing the averageness of this dish. It tasted exactly like the ones I've have had from pseudo Korean stalls at food courts. This was much sweeter though through the addition of sugar(?) and had golden mushrooms to top it off.
I guess $39 for 2 pax isn't really expensive but I seriously doubt I'll be back in a hurry, especially when the food failed to impress. Did I mention that service wasn't very good as well?
The ambiance of the restaurant is calm and relaxing. Quite a nice place for gathering and hang out with friends. For those who are not a pure vegetarian or like to eat sweet/salty food, you might not really enjoy the food there. The food is quite bland, but to me is nice cos the natural flavor is there. Try the curry and baked tofu. The curry gravy is thick and not too spicy. The baked tofu is served with peanut sauce, very unique. Besides these, the cafe also serve pastas and salads, do try them too. After a hearty dinner, you can enjoy gluten free cakes :) (But don't compare the taste with coffee beans or bakery shop)
To some, the food is a little pricey, about $22 per person if you order a main course, a drink and a cake.
The cafe is joint with a bookstore. There are quite a few merchandise on sale such as aroma therapy essence oils, soap bars, etc.
Made a reservation at for 1930hrs at Imperial Treasure Teochew Cuisine for our yearly reunion dinner. Surprisingly, Imperial Treasure only had 2 seatings, one at 6pm and the other at 730pm, which of course gave us plenty of time to finish up our food.
Stepping into the restaurant, the interior struck me as rather haphazard and cramp. Fortunately for us, we managed to snag a semi private booth seat which was rather cosy with pretty overhanging lights and wooden paneling.
Salmon Yu Sheng - For one, I must admit that I'm not exactly a fan of Yu Sheng but this one was quite well done. Slightly heavy on the sesame taste with fresh thinly sliced salmon and lots of other condiments, it didn't make me cringe like so many other Yu Shengs that I've tried.
Double Boiled Superior Shark's Fin - The quality in this dish was evident. The fins were quite a size (Bao Qi) and held quite a bit of bite while the broth was light and tantalizing. Simple yet tastefully done.
Roasted Crispy Goose - Although I honestly prefer my goose braised Teochew style, the roasted goose was nothing short of excellent. Succulent and tender meat beneath a layer of crispy skin that crackled with every bite. It was sheer goodness.
Poached Live "Soon Hock" Fish with Chinese Rice Wine - The flesh was firm and sweet without the fishy undertones - an indication of freshness. There was a strong, almost overwhelming presence of rice wine in the milky gravy but when drizzled over the fish, it mellowed subtly and complemented the fish very well.
Sauteed Australian Lobster with Ginger & Shallot - I doubt the lobster weighed in more than a kilogram. In fact, I suspect its weight hovered in the range of a mere 600-800 grams. Size aside, execution was commendable with the meat fresh and sweet with a nice and light ginger overtone.
Sweet & Sour Pork - This dish was in addition to our set menu and rather average if I may say. The flour coating was a tad too thick while the sauce was too sweet for our liking. Predictably, there was quite a bit of left over when we were done.
Stewed South African Sliced Abalone with Dried Oyster & Fish Maw - Presentation wise, this dish was awful, with everything looking mashed together under a blanket of really starchy gravy. But as the saying goes, never judge a book by its cover. It was a treasure pot of sorts with a respectable amount of abalone slices, fresh (not the usual dried ones) fish maw and a few dried oysters. The only gripe I had was that the oysters were a tad undercooked.
Stir Fried Vegetables with Mushrooms - Another addition to the menu and a most average dish. True, the mushrooms were nice but the vegetables were lacking in the quintessential wok hei taste.
Fried Glutinous Rice with Dried Meat & Mushroom - This was probably the only low in the otherwise excellent set menu. The rice was tasteless and a tad too dry. Ingredients were minimal as well.
Chinese New Year Pastries & Yam Paste with Pumpkin and Gingko nuts - The cookies were decent whereas the yam paste aka Orh Nee was a tad too watery for my liking. But I guess it all boils down to personal preference as my parents found it quite decent.
With a dinner for 5 hitting $930 without any drinks save for tea, its almost breaching the insanity mark. But well, its Chinese New Year and the food is really quite good. If such standard of food can be attained even during the CNY period where the food quality in most places would dip, then its a reasonable assumption that it would be better on normal days. I'll be eagerly awaiting.
1=SGD 0.0587
Black Canyon has been on East Coast Road for the last 5 years and I finally step foot into this place one quiet evening, not knowing what to expect. It was late on a weekday so there were only 2 other tables occupied. In fact when we walked in, they were going to take last orders in 15 minutes. But the staff were still smiling and welcomed us warmly which is rare when one arrives so near closing time.
The place is modern looking, great for friends to hang out, families to gather and casual business meetings. It's quite spacious too with plenty of seats in 3 sections; outside, dining area with proper tables and chilling area with more cushion like seats.
Taking our time ordering (the staff didn't rush us and didn't hover around us) we came up with the following.
Food Ordered:
Spicy Glass Noodles Salad $7.95
Our little starter which was delicious. Two of us shared this dish but we were a little full by the time we were done with it. It was certainly spicy but not overly done. The crunchy nuts were a nice addition to the dish. What I liked most was that it wasn't oily despite having all that spice.
Spicy Stir Fried Seafood and Basil with Rice $8.95
This was my friend's order. It was really spicy though he didn't have any other complaints about it. I liked how the rice came in cubes.
Fish Fillet Steak $9.95
My dory was served with chips and some toast. The toast was a little dry but it was the wholemeal (wheat) sort which I pretty much liked so that was fine. The outside of the dory was a little dry but still quite tasty.
We spent about $30 for the two of us which included a drink. I think it's pretty reasonable since we were famished when we got in and really full when we staggered out. Worth a try!
*Please excuse the horrid pictures - the perils of using the camera phone when one forgets her cammie*
Rating given:
My family decided to give this place a try after seeing it featured in the newspaper. I rather good experience I must say. They also adopt the food market concept, much like Marche and Vil’age. The place is relatively big, and sits quite a lot of people.
The food’s pretty decent, and you can find Marche-favourites like rosti amongst the other japanese food. The yakitori corner serves up a wide variety of stuff too.
The sashimi platter was quite disappointing actually, costing $15 for 12 slices of sashimi. I quite liked their grilled saba, and some other yakitori stuff like the scallops and mushroom. The mushroom soup ran out by the time I placed my order, but it looked quite good.
The burgers come in really huge portions, costing $9 at most. Think Carls Jr., but bigger. Yes, it’s really worth the size, only that the taste isn’t too fantastic - frozen salmon patties.
Dessert was good. I quite liked their homemade cheesecake, with a soft feel and nice crust below. The raspberry (I think) sauce on top really goes well together. The cake costs about $4, and can satisfy your sweet cravings. Not too rich, not too sweet, and not too large a portion. The other dessert I tasted, the mango slush ice, wasn’t at all worth it. Basically a bowl of crushed ice sprayed with mango juice and topped with very little mango, costing $7 - bad choice.
Overall, the ambience was decent. Service however was a little bad, with long waiting times to collect food - almost 20 min for my yakitori to be ready. Dinner for 4 cost about $150, slightly more costly than what we’d pay if we had dinner at Sushi Tei. But of course, it’s a different experience, even if it came at a higher price. Still, I found it rather expensive, partly because we over-ordered.
There are quite a few more items I have yet to try, and would probably give it a shot again. If you choose the right stuff to eat, you’d probably get a good deal out of it.
Rating given:
Four Leaves, one of the Main Bakeries in Singapore, alongside BreadTalk, Bengawan Solo (not really a bakery though). But my favourite will clearly be Four Leaves. I have supported their bread for a long long time already, and i like their cheese and ham bread. Despite being a supporter, but i think the different type of bread that i tried from Four leaves can be count using one hand five fingers? And all that is going to change, with the Mini World promotion, where great taste comes in small bites
With everything coming in Mini-size, cars, cards, cakes, tarts, ice creams and the list goes on and on. It will be sooner and later before Mini bread come into place (why didn’t i spot the trend?). Hahahah! And Four Leaves launch their mini world promotion, coming out mini breads with a total of 14 flavours. One mini bread cost $0.65, three for $1.80, and 5 for $2.80. If you do your maths, obviously buying more will be cheaper, but not much really.
I thought it was rather creative of Four Leaves to have this map in their shop telling the story of Bread. I’ll have done that too. Not that i am creative, but its a good idea : )
I had three mini bread! Starting from the left one. I can’t remember what the name is, but the appearance certainly looks like a chocolate eclair. The inside is no cream, make of soft soft bread, this is my fav! The top one on the right is good also, almond nuts on the top, with thin layer of chocolate in the middle of the bread, and again, the bread taste suprisingly soft
Have you realise what this new promotions mean? Lets see the before and after effect. Before, one bun cost a dollar plus, buying 5 different type of buns will cut you back by at least $7-8. After, 5 mini buns for $2.80. Ta-ddaa!! Before, $2.80 at most can get you two bun, mayb three, now u can get five. Not too bad huh?
Obviously the main draw is for customers to try more different type of Bread. Without this promotions, we usually wont buy the new flavour of Bread unless we are feeling adventureous, or we really like the flavour right. But with the promotion, Four Leave can test-out new flavours, which can only be good news for you and me.
And its not just that, i believe there will be a BIG market demand for the mini buns simply because they are cute. And its a novelty to customers. Won’t you be tempted to buy them? With the price its quite reasonable. But don’t expect it to be filling, because mini means really small. One bite can finish the bread off. So buy it for fun, or light snack!
Hopefully Four Leave will come out with more variety of Mini Buns, so that we can try many many other flavours!
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 : )
” Mini in size, Great in taste “
Rating given:
I simply loved chinese new year as there is always plenty of goodies for me to eat. hee hee. This year round for the love letter selection, my family decided to buy them from D'Bun.
Ok, this store's love letter is not exactly that famous as most of the friends have not even heard of this store. But, frankly speaking, this store's love letters tasted even better that some other famous store.
Why do i say that their love letter is much better? Well, first is definitely the size of the love letter. Their love letter is rolled into a small diameter thus it appears to be more compact. Well, one may say that if love letter is more compact, it may have a thicker texture. Personnally, i feel that D'Bun love letter still has a rather thin texture even though its more compact now. Simply different from those ordinary love letters that are of a much larger diameter.
Next, its the taste of the love letter, it does not have a super strong coconut smell nor does it taste too sweet. With just the right amount of ingredients, this love letter tasted as fragrant as the rest of the love letters.
Lastly, it the quality of the love letter. I definitely gave them thumb ups for quality wise, as i hardly find one love letter that is 'char ta' - meaning burnt. Rather impressing in their quality check or rather the way that they did the love letters.
Overall, i believe their love letters is pretty special as compared to the rest. A rather good choice if one wants to try something different this festival. :)
Rating given:
During this chinese new year, my friend passed me the festive gift pack from Tung Lok. Although he is not willing to reveal to me the price of this gift pack, but based on the nice packaging and golden colour appearance, i guessed it should not be that cheap.
This rectangle gift pack appears to be rather special. First is definitely due to the shape, as most of the people packs goodie in square boxes of round containers. Hardly will i see rectangular kind of box. Next is definitely the varieties in the goodie pack. Gone is the normal kind single variety goodie, this gift pack has more than five different varieties of goodies.
Some of the goodies include the pineapple tarts, the peanut biscuit, chocolate cookie, mooncakes, fried shrimp rolls and barbeque pork. They basically sealed up each single goodie, most probably is to preserve the goodie for a much longer time.
I tried two of the goodies, one of them is the peanut cookie. Pretty tasty, i can say. With lots of peanut bits sprinkle on top of the cookie, one can easily taste the peanut crunchiness and the fragrance from the peanut.
The next goodie that i have tried is the fish shaped pineapple tarts. I pretty like the pineapple fillings, first is because of pretty decent amount of filling and second is the taste of the filling which issnt too sweet nor too sour. This gives one a very balanced kind of taste. The pastry skin wise, i find them rather thick to my liking.
Overall, i think this gift pack can be a rather decent gift to send to friends and family members. One will not need to worry if the goodie is to the receipent liking as they are so many goodies for the receipent to choose for. :)
Rating given:
Its the annual chinese new year festival again. Besides the spring cleaning, i like every thing about this festival. haha. The best thing that i can look forward to during this festive, is definitely the yummy goodies.
This year, my mum specially bought back one of my favorite goodies --- the almond melts from Takashimaya. Frankly speaking, this almond melts looks nothing fantastic at all. It does not have a extraordinary size nor does it has colourful appearance, whats presented in front of me is just few reasonable sized almond cookies placed in a red lid container.
Just one bite of the almond melts, i immediately fall in love with it. Why, you may ask? This is because, this almond melts really "melt" in my mouth. I have eaten other almond melts before, some simply tasted too crunchy and the better ones will only crumble in my mouth. I have never tasted one that can really melt in my mouth, this is the first time.
Beside the melting mechanism, there is also lots of almond bits in the cookie itself. So much so that, when the almond cookie has complete its melting process, one can still savour on the left over crunching almond bits. Bascially, this almond melts gave you two different types of texture -- soft and melty ; hard and crunchy.
Issnt it wonderful to realize two very different texture can actually be combined together to produce a heavenly cookie? haha. Perhaps,looks is really deceiving. Just how could one know if the almond melts is acutally so good without tasting it?
Rating given:
Yes, its the cheesecake cafe that would drive you back for more. You heard of it, your friends are telling you all about it -and gues what, they're right.
The Cheesecake Cafe is a small shop along East Coast Road. It opens only in the late afternoons (3.30m for Wed - Fri, 4.30 for Sat & Sun.) till late night. They are unfortunately closed on Mondays and Tuesdays.
Upon entering the cafe, you find yourself in a very cosy place, done up nicely with ary pieces and a small water fountain feature inside. The waiters are always warm and attentive, and you should love the whole experience there.
I have not tried any of their food - they serve chips and other snacks - but their cheesecake's a definite must-try. Depending on the day you go, you would be offered to try their different daily specials. So far, they have not been at all disappointing.
The blueberry cheesecake I tried was really good, with a nice crispy crust for it's bottom layer. The berries were not too sweet, and the cheese simply melts in your mouth.
Pray that you get their mango cheesecake for the daily special. It is my biggest favourite of all the cheesecakes I have eaten there. The mango is fresh, sweet, and has a really great texture to it - not the soft kind you get in some cake shops. The mango flavour in the cake is also something to look forward to, espeially if you love mangos.
For non-cheese-lovers, don't fret, because they serve other non-cheese cakes as well. You can try their Belgium Truffle, which has a really thick and rich chocolate taste to it.
Their tiramisu is average, nothing much to shout about, but that's only because the other cakes are just too good. I wouldn't say that their tiramisu's anyway bad, but if you are going there, do try the other cakes first. You won't regret.
The price of cakes at the cafe are around $6 or $7, depending on whether you order a cheese or non-cheese cake (cheesecakes are more expensive, of course). It might be slightly expensive for just a slice of cake, but for the whole experience - the ambience, the service, the nice cold air-con aftr a warm day, it's relly worth it.
And yes, I'm going back there again this coming weekend. I'm hoping for my mango cheesecake.
Rating given:
This trip to Nul Bom Korean Restaurant marks my foray into Korean cuisine, with my prior experiences with Korean food limited to those at food courts and probably the stuff they sell at Seoul's Incheon airport.
Situated amongst a row of shophouses along Telok Ayer street, this nondescript eatery houses a small and simply done up interior. Tables are limited and although there are private rooms available, capacity probably wouldn't exceed 30 pax all in all.
The bean sprouts, Kimchi and anchovies are pretty much staple in any Korean restaurants where the other dishes vary from eatery to eatery. I didn't find any of the sides outstanding but I appreciated the variety as well as the seemingly complimentary gesture (the cost is all factored into the price of the dishes of course).
Kim Chi Chi Gae - Kim Chi with Rice - This dish was quite spicy and looked the part as well. However, it wasn't anything to shout about either. But thats coming from someone who has almost zero knowledge about kim chi or Korean food in general.
So Bul Go Gi - Beef BBQ - I'm at a loss as to how and where to begin describing the averageness of this dish. It tasted exactly like the ones I've have had from pseudo Korean stalls at food courts. This was much sweeter though through the addition of sugar(?) and had golden mushrooms to top it off.
I guess $39 for 2 pax isn't really expensive but I seriously doubt I'll be back in a hurry, especially when the food failed to impress. Did I mention that service wasn't very good as well?
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The ambiance of the restaurant is calm and relaxing. Quite a nice place for gathering and hang out with friends. For those who are not a pure vegetarian or like to eat sweet/salty food, you might not really enjoy the food there. The food is quite bland, but to me is nice cos the natural flavor is there. Try the curry and baked tofu. The curry gravy is thick and not too spicy. The baked tofu is served with peanut sauce, very unique. Besides these, the cafe also serve pastas and salads, do try them too. After a hearty dinner, you can enjoy gluten free cakes :) (But don't compare the taste with coffee beans or bakery shop)
To some, the food is a little pricey, about $22 per person if you order a main course, a drink and a cake.
The cafe is joint with a bookstore. There are quite a few merchandise on sale such as aroma therapy essence oils, soap bars, etc.
Do visit this place if you have not been there!
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Made a reservation at for 1930hrs at Imperial Treasure Teochew Cuisine for our yearly reunion dinner. Surprisingly, Imperial Treasure only had 2 seatings, one at 6pm and the other at 730pm, which of course gave us plenty of time to finish up our food.
Stepping into the restaurant, the interior struck me as rather haphazard and cramp. Fortunately for us, we managed to snag a semi private booth seat which was rather cosy with pretty overhanging lights and wooden paneling.
Salmon Yu Sheng - For one, I must admit that I'm not exactly a fan of Yu Sheng but this one was quite well done. Slightly heavy on the sesame taste with fresh thinly sliced salmon and lots of other condiments, it didn't make me cringe like so many other Yu Shengs that I've tried.
Double Boiled Superior Shark's Fin - The quality in this dish was evident. The fins were quite a size (Bao Qi) and held quite a bit of bite while the broth was light and tantalizing. Simple yet tastefully done.
Roasted Crispy Goose - Although I honestly prefer my goose braised Teochew style, the roasted goose was nothing short of excellent. Succulent and tender meat beneath a layer of crispy skin that crackled with every bite. It was sheer goodness.
Poached Live "Soon Hock" Fish with Chinese Rice Wine - The flesh was firm and sweet without the fishy undertones - an indication of freshness. There was a strong, almost overwhelming presence of rice wine in the milky gravy but when drizzled over the fish, it mellowed subtly and complemented the fish very well.
Sauteed Australian Lobster with Ginger & Shallot - I doubt the lobster weighed in more than a kilogram. In fact, I suspect its weight hovered in the range of a mere 600-800 grams. Size aside, execution was commendable with the meat fresh and sweet with a nice and light ginger overtone.
Sweet & Sour Pork - This dish was in addition to our set menu and rather average if I may say. The flour coating was a tad too thick while the sauce was too sweet for our liking. Predictably, there was quite a bit of left over when we were done.
Stewed South African Sliced Abalone with Dried Oyster & Fish Maw - Presentation wise, this dish was awful, with everything looking mashed together under a blanket of really starchy gravy. But as the saying goes, never judge a book by its cover. It was a treasure pot of sorts with a respectable amount of abalone slices, fresh (not the usual dried ones) fish maw and a few dried oysters. The only gripe I had was that the oysters were a tad undercooked.
Stir Fried Vegetables with Mushrooms - Another addition to the menu and a most average dish. True, the mushrooms were nice but the vegetables were lacking in the quintessential wok hei taste.
Fried Glutinous Rice with Dried Meat & Mushroom - This was probably the only low in the otherwise excellent set menu. The rice was tasteless and a tad too dry. Ingredients were minimal as well.
Chinese New Year Pastries & Yam Paste with Pumpkin and Gingko nuts - The cookies were decent whereas the yam paste aka Orh Nee was a tad too watery for my liking. But I guess it all boils down to personal preference as my parents found it quite decent.
With a dinner for 5 hitting $930 without any drinks save for tea, its almost breaching the insanity mark. But well, its Chinese New Year and the food is really quite good. If such standard of food can be attained even during the CNY period where the food quality in most places would dip, then its a reasonable assumption that it would be better on normal days. I'll be eagerly awaiting.
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