Have you seen the unusual setting in Cafe Cartel? This cafe cartel outlet has a slightly different setting as compared to the others cafe, and that is they actually setup outdoors seats. Well, i find that these outdoors seats make me feel like i having an outdoor pinic. hee hee.
Being one that prefer big cushion seats and strong air condtioned, i choose to seat indoors and savour their good food. One thing that i cannot deny is they served rather big portion of food. Just take a look at the special display at the entrance of the store, and you will know what i mean.
After looking through the menu, i realized that there issn't much varieties for me to choose from. :( In the end, i ordered a main course that served soft shell crabs. Well, eating soft shell crab in a non japanese specialize restuarant may not be really a good idea. However, i guess this is one of the few dishes that are really to my liking.
As this main course comes in a set, you will get an additional soup, drink and free flow of bread. The free flow of bread is actually self serviced. So, i had to use the knife and cut the bread into the size that i like. I find that their bread are rather hard and this makes my fill quite full after eating just three pieces of them.
The soup that i have for that day is their mushroom soup. Its not really fantastic i can say, but lucky the soup is not dilute so i guess its still passable.
The first thing that came to my mind when i saw my main course arriving, is how come they are all coated with oil? Well, i never expect that they can served such oily food. I know that fried stuff tends to have an oily look but shouldn't they at least drip off the oil before serving to customer?
Overall, i find that their food tasted rather average. However, i think that the temptation of the food size and the free flow of bread is rather tempting to me. hee hee. :) One day, if i have to go back again, i think i will order something from the non fried list instead.
Yet another hong kong cafe outlet. Although they all hold the same image (as hong kong cafe), this cafe has its own uniqueness as compare to the rest of the cafe.
Using two very contrasting colour (black and yellow) as their cafe two main colours, it does not give one a 'too much' kind of feel. Instead, they managed to blend these colours well to give it a pretty modern look.
They have a rather wide varieites of food available and these is found in their two menus. The first menu consists of food - main course and snacks.
For their rice varieties, they have fried Rice / Baked Rice / Nissin Noodles / Stone pot rice. As for noodles, it will definitely be their nissin noodles. They also serve western (Pork chop) and chinese (Dim Sum) cruisne. Last but not list, they also served toast - kaya, butter, peanut butter, etc.
Their second menu consists of their home made specially made drinks. Besides the normal milk tea and coffee, they also served quite a number of colourful drinks. You can also asked for addtional serving of ice cream to be added to the drinks.
One of my favourite food that i loved at this outlet, its definitely their pork chop bun. In the rest of the hong kong restuarant, they will serve this dish using the normal bread bun. However, in this outlet they served the pork chop bun using french bread. Rather unique right?
I also like the way that they make the pork chop. Although they used the frying method to cook the pork chop, its does not feel oily at all and you will not find a thick flour coating the pork chop. Instead, covering the pork chop is a thin coating that tasted very crispy upon biting it.
My next favourite food is their macau special fried rice. Beside the usual egg plus rice fried rice, this fried rice has a unique feature and that is...... tomato flavour. This fried rice boosts a slight tomato taste, this which i believe they have added in some tomatos while frying the rice. Due to the additional tomato, the rice become pale red colour, this i think it looks rather attractive and will definitely boost one's appetite.
Overall, i think the food there is really worth trying. Trying reason will definitely be their extra effort used in preparing their food. Take for example, they came out with a tomato fried rice instead of just copying the normal fried rice.
However, they have one rather werid rule that they hold in their shop and that is you will not get a free serve of plain water if you did not order any drinks from them. Perhaps this is the way to 'force' people to buy drinks from them. :(
Sage the restaurant is situated at Robertson Walk. It is a tastefully designed restaurant tucked away in the corner of the 2nd level. Warm cosy lights and soft jazz playing in the background made up a wonderfully romantic ambience. So it was no surprise there were couples enjoying themselves in little corners. There were two other small groups that Friday night. Our group of 10 trotted in happily with our trigger-happy fingers at 8 , ready to attack.
The food…
Amuse Bouche (Complimentary) A small shotglass of minced pork topped with tomato puree. I’m really not a fan of pork and was very apprehensive when this arrived first. But I was pleasantly surprised. The savoury tasteof the meat combined with the tangy tomatoes certainly prepared my stomach for the dishes to come.
Scallops Seared King Scallops on a salad of homemade squid ink capellini, marinated ocean trout and avruga caviar, braised scallop lips and leek & potato vichyssoise First up was the very fresh scallop served with on a creamy soup (potato vichyssoise). The scallop was well-cooked with a slight crisp on the outer layer, while still maintaining its texture inside. The soup that came with it was not too creamy and had many of us grabbing the bread for a good dip.
Foie Gras Pan-seared Duck Foie Gras with pistachio crust and fig compote, Granny Smith apple puree and a dressing of red grape mustard vinegar I have to admit. This is my first time and I’m glad it was here at Sage. The crisp on the outside and the lightness of the inside was a great combination of texture. The foie gras practically melted in my mouth and was definitely far from overwhelming. I loved the apple puree too!
Cod & Bouillabaisse Effeuille of Cod and and grey prawns in a seafood bouillabaisse with ratte potatoes and garden vegetables accompanied with rouille on toast I was so happy that I picked this dish! (There was Beef and Lamb) It’s because it’s not on Sage’s regular menu and if I didn’t pick it, I wouldn’t have tasted such goodness! The cod just melted in my mouth… and the bouillabaisse tasted just right. I can still imagine the taste.
Crème Brûlée Lavender Crème Brûlée with blood orange sorbet on redcurrant jelly and Navel orange meringue When the dessert was served, I was really full and satisfied by the main already and didn’t feel ready to tackle anymore. But the nicely sour sorbet helped a bit. I liked how the jelly and sorbet went together as the jelly was a little bland but gave a different texture to the sourness of the sorbet. I enjoyed the crème brûlée but not the meringue which was too sugary sweet for my liking.
The damage: $1022 for 10 of us (inclusive of a bottle of wine) Individual damage: $96 (I didn’t drink)
It was expensive, but strangely enough I didn’t feel any heartache. Maybe that’s what great food and good ambience does to people.
Whee Fashion Fusion @ Suntec! It was held on the 24th and 25th (which is TODAY) in Room 325. I was there as a Vendor (a mini one) and a shopper!
As a Vendor... I knew that there were some grievances that there was little space, however I liked it that way! It's a bazaar! And I think it should certainly look like one. Everyone managed to place their items somehow in the end so there wasn't much problems. There was sufficient space for people to move about, so that was fine too.
The place is air-conditioned so that's a big plus compared to other places where you'll die in the sweltering heat (like today).
The location is very good and I'm sure everyone knows where Suntec is. So regulars could drop by easily without getting lost. It's also more convenient for people as they could go for a movie or dinner after hopping by for a short shopping spree. So I think that's a motivating factor for people who know about this event beforehand. Also, at times when business was slower, the staff dashed down to give out flyers so that people who were already in the mall would drop by. That helped a lot. Can you imagine if you were in some warehouse flea market? Where are you going to do last minute publicity stunts? So this was a great location.
The team also made efforts to put up posters and banners all over to inform people of the event on the 3rd floor.
I liked how the staff got along with people and are receptive to feedback.
But I think there should have been two mobile dressing rooms in the shopping area itself. Although it was already cramped, but I think it was a little nerve-wrecking for vendors to let customers take the clothing out of the toilet to try without paying first. (Luckily I didn't sell clothing)
As a Shopper I would love to see MORE vendors! But one good thing was that the items sold were not very similiar. Most of the items were for women, if not all... So that's a plus for me. But I think it would be great if there were things that appealed to men too, so that the male companions wouldn't be tapping their feet or looking at their watches.
I think the limiting factor could be.. the theme... Fashion Fusion. If it were ... "THE BAZAAR" there could be car-related items or toys to entertain the men. But that's my two cents.
I liked how many modes of payment were accepted. That really helped some of the customers, so that no one had to walk to find an ATM.
As a Yebber.. the overall experience...
IT WAS FUN! I LOVED IT. I was excited the night before and the whole experience really didn't disappoint. Although I didn't make a lot of money but I managed to let people know about my blogshop and I got to know many friendly nice people! In fact, I got so ecstatic, I started posing for pictures all over (which is a first, mind you.) I wouldn't miss the next one for anything.
Where can i find a large varieties of kuehs in Singapore? Whenever i felt like having some sweet kueh, the first shop that came to my mind is definitely this shop -- Bengawan Solo.
I just loved the varieties of kuehs that are offered there (its quite alot as compared to the normal bakery shop). Whenever, i am near any bengawan solo outlet, i will definitely be there to grab a few pieces of kueh back home.
Recently, i just received a piece of Bengawan solo voucher. Of course, i was extremely happy upon receiving them as this means that i can have more kuehs without paying a cent.
I went down to the bengawan solo outlet near noon as that is the time where the delivery of fresh kuehs will arrived. Sure enough, when i reach there, the staffs are packing the kuehs onto the display plates.
I picked up the following kuehs for my family:
1 ) Kueh Ambon
2 ) Binka Ubi
3 ) Nagasari
4 ) Ongol Ubi
5 ) Kueh Dadar
6 ) Kueh Salat
7 ) Getuk Getuk
8 ) Lapis Sagu
9 ) Harum Manis
10 ) Durian Pukis
Of all the kuehs that i have picked, i loved the Kueh Ambon the best (although their Lapis Sagu is the most popular item). Reason of liking the Ambon is definitely the chewy texture and of course the sweety taste.
However, there are times where i got a Ambon with its bottom in a very black colour (which i do not like it). Usually when the ambon is in that colour, it will taste bitter when eating that particular part. So, what i will do is to cut away the bottom, to avoid having the bitter taste mixing with the sweet taste.
Overall, i think this is not a bad place to fix my craving of kuehs. As for the service skill, i believe the staffs would have fare better if you would put on a smile on their face.
As for the handling of kuehs portion, i like the way that they handle the kuehs themselves rather than letting the customer to choose it themselves. This would highly avoid the kuehs to become soggy after some time.
Unusual shape of Char Siew Pastry? I was waiting for my movie to start when i stumbled onto this shop - Crystal Jade My Bread. Located at the fourth floor in Causeway point, this shop is actually a bakery shop. But, beside selling bread, they also sell 'pao', cakes and some pastry.
Thinking of grabbing something to eat before the movie start, i went into the shop to look at some of their bread. To my surprise, their bread are rather unusual. Take for example, they have black glutionous rice bread and yam, chestnut bread. All these are rather rare in normal bakery shop.
Since i was feeling rather full at that time, i decided to give their bread a miss and start looking at their pastry. They have all their pastry put inside the display shelf with a warmer. I pretty liked the idea of using a warmer to store their pastry. This way, i will bound to eat a warm pastry at any time of the day.
They have quite a few varieties of pastry, which includes egg tart, bbq pork pastry, cheese and ham stick, etc. In the end, i choose their bbq pork pastry which i think it looks rather delicious. Oh yah, the unusual part of the bbq pastry is that it is unlike the normal shape of bbq pork pastry which is in long rectangle shape. They sold their pastry in a trianglular shape!
With a pastry like skin covering the bbq pork, the bbq pork pastry tasted good. The skin has a strong buttery taste and it tasted still as good with the sweety sesame seeds placed right on the top of the skin.
Its filling is of course the bbq pork and i liked the way they have small pieces of pork in the filling instead of mashing it all together. The filling tasted not too bad and they hold a close resemblence of the 'shao la' sold in their Crystal Jade Kitchen store.
A pretty tasty pastry sold in Crystal Jade. They are also having this Christmas promotion where 20 pieces of bbq pork pastry are selling at $20.
Miss ConfidAnce is an online shop that sells exclusive hand-made accessories.
Miss ConfidAnce can set herself apart from other blogshops because the accessories sold there are all intricately designed and pieced together by the site's founder Elaine. The accessories exudes her personal style and has a unique flavour to it, which many other accessories-makers lack. What's also special about her creations is that she is able to merge vintage with modern styles to create a whole new spectrum of stylish and tasteful accessories which really sets the standards for other designers. Miss ConfidAnce also offers customizations for customers who wish to have their very own unique pieces of accessories. Rates of customizations differ according to the types and number of charms that the customer chooses, but rest assure it will still remain affordable and purse-friendly at the end of it! Satisfaction is guaranteed as Elaine would email you a photo of how your custom-made accessories look like, and you are allowed to have your own input (if any) of the final product. Miss ConfidAnce also provides good after sales service. Should the fragile components of your accessories fall off on their own accord, Miss ConfidAnce would be more than happy to take it back and fix it as long as it did not fall apart from mis-use or mis-handling. Materials used are of the best quality.
Miss ConfidAnce will ensure you a good buy which is value for money, and make your online shopping experience a pleasurable one.
Crystal Jade has also jumped into the Hong Kong Cafe Wagon! Currently they only have one outlet in Singapore and that is in Bugis Junction basement. I prefer the varieties of food served in this outlet and it is really different from the normal ones found in Crystal Jade Kitchen and Crystal Jade La Mian. Thus, whenever i am around that area, i am sure to pop in there.
This restuarant is not located right at the side of the pedestrian walkway (located further in than the rest of the shop), so one can easily miss this restuarant.
As we were being leaded into the restuarant, we requested for the cushion seats and the staffs gladly lead us to the seats. However, we almost regret halfway throughout our meal as the place is super cold (just below the air con outlet). :P
The varieties of food sold there are pretty similar found in those hongkong cafe. Nevertheless, we still decided to try out their macau pork bun (one of the most famous food served in macau, i think). Their pork bun is served with an additional serving of salad which i think makes the whole dish more healthy.
I liked the way they roast their pork, the meat tasted real juicy and delicious. I also loved how they used some additional effort to toast the bun and make it taste real crispy.
We also ordered their macau specialty noodles which i think it tastes marvellous. I guess its the special sauce added into the noodles that make it so delicious. But, i still could not figure out what kind of they exactly used (it looks something similar to za jiang mian).
Their read bean ice tasted alright as i feel that their ice is not shaved rather throughly (i find some ice pieces instead). However, i like the taste of milk in the read bean ice -- strongly yet not enpowering.
Overall, i think this is quite a good choice if you are sick of their normal la mian and porridge. They also have dim sum served in the late noon which i think its quite good as a light snack.
Few years ago, my ex colleagues called to order quite a big number of swiss rolls from Rich and Good Cake Shop. Since the number is quite significant to them, they actually offered to send it over to us.
I did not ordered any of them at that time as i have never eaten their swiss rolls before. And when my ex colleagues offered one small slice of swiss roll to me, i fall in love with it almost immediately. Till now, i still can't forget the taste of their swiss roll so here i am searching for their swiss roll.
The only information that i knew it they are located near bugis mrt station. With this bit of information, i began to search for the kanhadar street. I cannot really say the place is easy to find as i have make quite abit of wrong rounds myself but what i can say is that the shop is actually quite near the mrt station (near as in it will take about 5-10 minutes of walking time).
A rather simple and plain shop i can say, without any cake display outside their shop, i cannot really tell if there are still any swiss roll left. Nevertheless, i pushed the door and went right it. The staff was rather friendly and start introduce a few more popular cakes that are available there.
In the end, i choose two flavours of swiss rolls -- durian and kaya. In each box, there are too long rolls of swiss roll. Since, i intend to give one of them as a gift, the staff gladly swop one of the swiss roll for me. So, i get one kaya and one durian swiss rolls per box.
The packaging of the box is very plain and simple, one definitely will not think that they have any nice stuff in it. Well, perhaps its really not that accurate to judge a cake by its box.
The swiss roll are real good! Good because of three things. First, the sponge cake is super soft and it actually will melt in your mouth. It has been a long time since i have tasted such texture of a cake.
Secondly, the spread (durian or kaya) is just nice - not too thin nor too thick. There are a few times whenever i eat swiss rolls, the ends of the sponge cake tend to have less spread. This definitely does not occurs here.
Third and finally, the spread is real nice. Without opening the box, one will be able to smell the rich and strong smell of kaya and durian. Impressing issn't it?
I will definitely go there for more if i am around that area. :)
Had a thing for German food one day so popped down to Werner's Oven for lunch one day. To date, my only experience with German food was the rather good dinner at Magma, which I hoped Werner's Oven could emulate.
Housed in a small shop along East Coast Road in the Siglap area, Werner's has been featured in various television programs as well as articles touting its authentic and tasty German food. The interior is simple yet homely complete with a bar counter and nice Christmas look a like decorations.
Fried Camembert - Interestingly, when I first ordered this dish, I had hoped it would be on par with the one I had at Senso some time back. Unfortunately, it wasn't half as good although I have to admit that the cheese was nice and a little molten in the centre while the exterior was deep fried to a crisp. Would have preferred the core to be a little firmer though as it did seem a little too gooey for my liking.
In all honesty, the calamari was good the first few pieces as the batter tasted like those you would find on onion rings. You might wonder why its only the first few pieces. Well because the batter was way too oily and when eaten with the accompanying Mayonnaise, rendered me nauseous really fast, especially when everything turned cold.
Fleischkase - German Meatloaf with Sauteed Potatoes and Fried Egg - I shall refrain from complaining, but the Fleischkase was a joke! It really tasted like luncheon meat to me, albeit of a more substantial chunk and less salty variation. For the price, I rather eat luncheon meat!
Schmorbraten - Beef Pot Roast with Dumpling, Boiled Potatoes - The Schmorbraten's gravy looked and tasted a little too dense but the beef was still acceptable - nice and tasty but a little too chewy. Nothing fantastic though and I probably wouldn't order this again.
Rote Grutze - Sweet Sour Cherry and Raspberry Sago with Vanilla Sauce - A rather interesting dish and I must admit that I've never tried it before. However, it wasn't as special as I had made it out to be. The sago came submerged under a layer of vanilla sauce and its texture reminded me of jam. So just imagine jam under a layer of creamy tasting sauce. Not something I'll order again as it was a little too weird for me.
Baked Cream Cheese Cake - I wasn't too impressed with the cheesecake as it wasn't as creamy as I would have liked it to be and the accompanying ice cream tasted like king's ice cream! Decent nevertheless.
$78 for lunch for 3 pax is really expensive given the quality of food. I would be hard pressed to find a reason to return, rave reviews in the media or not. On a side note, Werner's operates a bakery just next door as well, which sells some really cool German bread.
1=SGD 0.0587
Have you seen the unusual setting in Cafe Cartel? This cafe cartel outlet has a slightly different setting as compared to the others cafe, and that is they actually setup outdoors seats. Well, i find that these outdoors seats make me feel like i having an outdoor pinic. hee hee.
Being one that prefer big cushion seats and strong air condtioned, i choose to seat indoors and savour their good food. One thing that i cannot deny is they served rather big portion of food. Just take a look at the special display at the entrance of the store, and you will know what i mean.
After looking through the menu, i realized that there issn't much varieties for me to choose from. :( In the end, i ordered a main course that served soft shell crabs. Well, eating soft shell crab in a non japanese specialize restuarant may not be really a good idea. However, i guess this is one of the few dishes that are really to my liking.
As this main course comes in a set, you will get an additional soup, drink and free flow of bread. The free flow of bread is actually self serviced. So, i had to use the knife and cut the bread into the size that i like. I find that their bread are rather hard and this makes my fill quite full after eating just three pieces of them.
The soup that i have for that day is their mushroom soup. Its not really fantastic i can say, but lucky the soup is not dilute so i guess its still passable.
The first thing that came to my mind when i saw my main course arriving, is how come they are all coated with oil? Well, i never expect that they can served such oily food. I know that fried stuff tends to have an oily look but shouldn't they at least drip off the oil before serving to customer?
Overall, i find that their food tasted rather average. However, i think that the temptation of the food size and the free flow of bread is rather tempting to me. hee hee. :) One day, if i have to go back again, i think i will order something from the non fried list instead.
Rating given:
Yet another hong kong cafe outlet. Although they all hold the same image (as hong kong cafe), this cafe has its own uniqueness as compare to the rest of the cafe.
Using two very contrasting colour (black and yellow) as their cafe two main colours, it does not give one a 'too much' kind of feel. Instead, they managed to blend these colours well to give it a pretty modern look.
They have a rather wide varieites of food available and these is found in their two menus. The first menu consists of food - main course and snacks.
For their rice varieties, they have fried Rice / Baked Rice / Nissin Noodles / Stone pot rice. As for noodles, it will definitely be their nissin noodles. They also serve western (Pork chop) and chinese (Dim Sum) cruisne. Last but not list, they also served toast - kaya, butter, peanut butter, etc.
Their second menu consists of their home made specially made drinks. Besides the normal milk tea and coffee, they also served quite a number of colourful drinks. You can also asked for addtional serving of ice cream to be added to the drinks.
One of my favourite food that i loved at this outlet, its definitely their pork chop bun. In the rest of the hong kong restuarant, they will serve this dish using the normal bread bun. However, in this outlet they served the pork chop bun using french bread. Rather unique right?
I also like the way that they make the pork chop. Although they used the frying method to cook the pork chop, its does not feel oily at all and you will not find a thick flour coating the pork chop. Instead, covering the pork chop is a thin coating that tasted very crispy upon biting it.
My next favourite food is their macau special fried rice. Beside the usual egg plus rice fried rice, this fried rice has a unique feature and that is...... tomato flavour. This fried rice boosts a slight tomato taste, this which i believe they have added in some tomatos while frying the rice. Due to the additional tomato, the rice become pale red colour, this i think it looks rather attractive and will definitely boost one's appetite.
Overall, i think the food there is really worth trying. Trying reason will definitely be their extra effort used in preparing their food. Take for example, they came out with a tomato fried rice instead of just copying the normal fried rice.
However, they have one rather werid rule that they hold in their shop and that is you will not get a free serve of plain water if you did not order any drinks from them. Perhaps this is the way to 'force' people to buy drinks from them. :(
Rating given:
Sage the restaurant is situated at Robertson Walk. It is a tastefully designed restaurant tucked away in the corner of the 2nd level. Warm cosy lights and soft jazz playing in the background made up a wonderfully romantic ambience. So it was no surprise there were couples enjoying themselves in little corners. There were two other small groups that Friday night. Our group of 10 trotted in happily with our trigger-happy fingers at 8 , ready to attack.
The food…
Amuse Bouche (Complimentary)
A small shotglass of minced pork topped with tomato puree. I’m really not a fan of pork and was very apprehensive when this arrived first. But I was pleasantly surprised. The savoury tasteof the meat combined with the tangy tomatoes certainly prepared my stomach for the dishes to come.
Scallops
Seared King Scallops on a salad of homemade squid ink capellini, marinated ocean trout and avruga caviar, braised scallop lips and leek & potato vichyssoise
First up was the very fresh scallop served with on a creamy soup (potato vichyssoise). The scallop was well-cooked with a slight crisp on the outer layer, while still maintaining its texture inside. The soup that came with it was not too creamy and had many of us grabbing the bread for a good dip.
Foie Gras
Pan-seared Duck Foie Gras with pistachio crust and fig compote, Granny Smith apple puree and a dressing of red grape mustard vinegar
I have to admit. This is my first time and I’m glad it was here at Sage. The crisp on the outside and the lightness of the inside was a great combination of texture. The foie gras practically melted in my mouth and was definitely far from overwhelming. I loved the apple puree too!
Cod & Bouillabaisse
Effeuille of Cod and and grey prawns in a seafood bouillabaisse with ratte potatoes and garden vegetables accompanied with rouille on toast
I was so happy that I picked this dish! (There was Beef and Lamb) It’s because it’s not on Sage’s regular menu and if I didn’t pick it, I wouldn’t have tasted such goodness! The cod just melted in my mouth… and the bouillabaisse tasted just right. I can still imagine the taste.
Crème Brûlée
Lavender Crème Brûlée with blood orange sorbet on redcurrant jelly and Navel orange meringue
When the dessert was served, I was really full and satisfied by the main already and didn’t feel ready to tackle anymore. But the nicely sour sorbet helped a bit. I liked how the jelly and sorbet went together as the jelly was a little bland but gave a different texture to the sourness of the sorbet. I enjoyed the crème brûlée but not the meringue which was too sugary sweet for my liking.
The damage: $1022 for 10 of us (inclusive of a bottle of wine)
Individual damage: $96 (I didn’t drink)
It was expensive, but strangely enough I didn’t feel any heartache. Maybe that’s what great food and good ambience does to people.
More pictures here
Rating given:
Whee Fashion Fusion @ Suntec! It was held on the 24th and 25th (which is TODAY) in Room 325. I was there as a Vendor (a mini one) and a shopper!
As a Vendor...
I knew that there were some grievances that there was little space, however I liked it that way! It's a bazaar! And I think it should certainly look like one. Everyone managed to place their items somehow in the end so there wasn't much problems. There was sufficient space for people to move about, so that was fine too.
The place is air-conditioned so that's a big plus compared to other places where you'll die in the sweltering heat (like today).
The location is very good and I'm sure everyone knows where Suntec is. So regulars could drop by easily without getting lost. It's also more convenient for people as they could go for a movie or dinner after hopping by for a short shopping spree. So I think that's a motivating factor for people who know about this event beforehand. Also, at times when business was slower, the staff dashed down to give out flyers so that people who were already in the mall would drop by. That helped a lot. Can you imagine if you were in some warehouse flea market? Where are you going to do last minute publicity stunts? So this was a great location.
The team also made efforts to put up posters and banners all over to inform people of the event on the 3rd floor.
I liked how the staff got along with people and are receptive to feedback.
But I think there should have been two mobile dressing rooms in the shopping area itself. Although it was already cramped, but I think it was a little nerve-wrecking for vendors to let customers take the clothing out of the toilet to try without paying first. (Luckily I didn't sell clothing)
As a Shopper
I would love to see MORE vendors! But one good thing was that the items sold were not very similiar. Most of the items were for women, if not all... So that's a plus for me. But I think it would be great if there were things that appealed to men too, so that the male companions wouldn't be tapping their feet or looking at their watches.
I think the limiting factor could be.. the theme... Fashion Fusion. If it were ... "THE BAZAAR" there could be car-related items or toys to entertain the men. But that's my two cents.
I liked how many modes of payment were accepted. That really helped some of the customers, so that no one had to walk to find an ATM.
As a Yebber.. the overall experience...
IT WAS FUN! I LOVED IT. I was excited the night before and the whole experience really didn't disappoint. Although I didn't make a lot of money but I managed to let people know about my blogshop and I got to know many friendly nice people! In fact, I got so ecstatic, I started posing for pictures all over (which is a first, mind you.) I wouldn't miss the next one for anything.
Way to go Yebber!
** I'm happy I'm first!**
Rating given:
Where can i find a large varieties of kuehs in Singapore? Whenever i felt like having some sweet kueh, the first shop that came to my mind is definitely this shop -- Bengawan Solo.
I just loved the varieties of kuehs that are offered there (its quite alot as compared to the normal bakery shop). Whenever, i am near any bengawan solo outlet, i will definitely be there to grab a few pieces of kueh back home.
Recently, i just received a piece of Bengawan solo voucher. Of course, i was extremely happy upon receiving them as this means that i can have more kuehs without paying a cent.
I went down to the bengawan solo outlet near noon as that is the time where the delivery of fresh kuehs will arrived. Sure enough, when i reach there, the staffs are packing the kuehs onto the display plates.
I picked up the following kuehs for my family:
1 ) Kueh Ambon
2 ) Binka Ubi
3 ) Nagasari
4 ) Ongol Ubi
5 ) Kueh Dadar
6 ) Kueh Salat
7 ) Getuk Getuk
8 ) Lapis Sagu
9 ) Harum Manis
10 ) Durian Pukis
Of all the kuehs that i have picked, i loved the Kueh Ambon the best (although their Lapis Sagu is the most popular item). Reason of liking the Ambon is definitely the chewy texture and of course the sweety taste.
However, there are times where i got a Ambon with its bottom in a very black colour (which i do not like it). Usually when the ambon is in that colour, it will taste bitter when eating that particular part. So, what i will do is to cut away the bottom, to avoid having the bitter taste mixing with the sweet taste.
Overall, i think this is not a bad place to fix my craving of kuehs. As for the service skill, i believe the staffs would have fare better if you would put on a smile on their face.
As for the handling of kuehs portion, i like the way that they handle the kuehs themselves rather than letting the customer to choose it themselves. This would highly avoid the kuehs to become soggy after some time.
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Unusual shape of Char Siew Pastry? I was waiting for my movie to start when i stumbled onto this shop - Crystal Jade My Bread. Located at the fourth floor in Causeway point, this shop is actually a bakery shop. But, beside selling bread, they also sell 'pao', cakes and some pastry.
Thinking of grabbing something to eat before the movie start, i went into the shop to look at some of their bread. To my surprise, their bread are rather unusual. Take for example, they have black glutionous rice bread and yam, chestnut bread. All these are rather rare in normal bakery shop.
Since i was feeling rather full at that time, i decided to give their bread a miss and start looking at their pastry. They have all their pastry put inside the display shelf with a warmer. I pretty liked the idea of using a warmer to store their pastry. This way, i will bound to eat a warm pastry at any time of the day.
They have quite a few varieties of pastry, which includes egg tart, bbq pork pastry, cheese and ham stick, etc. In the end, i choose their bbq pork pastry which i think it looks rather delicious. Oh yah, the unusual part of the bbq pastry is that it is unlike the normal shape of bbq pork pastry which is in long rectangle shape. They sold their pastry in a trianglular shape!
With a pastry like skin covering the bbq pork, the bbq pork pastry tasted good. The skin has a strong buttery taste and it tasted still as good with the sweety sesame seeds placed right on the top of the skin.
Its filling is of course the bbq pork and i liked the way they have small pieces of pork in the filling instead of mashing it all together. The filling tasted not too bad and they hold a close resemblence of the 'shao la' sold in their Crystal Jade Kitchen store.
A pretty tasty pastry sold in Crystal Jade. They are also having this Christmas promotion where 20 pieces of bbq pork pastry are selling at $20.
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Miss ConfidAnce is an online shop that sells exclusive hand-made accessories.
Miss ConfidAnce can set herself apart from other blogshops because the accessories sold there are all intricately designed and pieced together by the site's founder Elaine. The accessories exudes her personal style and has a unique flavour to it, which many other accessories-makers lack. What's also special about her creations is that she is able to merge vintage with modern styles to create a whole new spectrum of stylish and tasteful accessories which really sets the standards for other designers.
Miss ConfidAnce also offers customizations for customers who wish to have their very own unique pieces of accessories. Rates of customizations differ according to the types and number of charms that the customer chooses, but rest assure it will still remain affordable and purse-friendly at the end of it! Satisfaction is guaranteed as Elaine would email you a photo of how your custom-made accessories look like, and you are allowed to have your own input (if any) of the final product.
Miss ConfidAnce also provides good after sales service. Should the fragile components of your accessories fall off on their own accord, Miss ConfidAnce would be more than happy to take it back and fix it as long as it did not fall apart from mis-use or mis-handling. Materials used are of the best quality.
Miss ConfidAnce will ensure you a good buy which is value for money, and make your online shopping experience a pleasurable one.
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Crystal Jade has also jumped into the Hong Kong Cafe Wagon! Currently they only have one outlet in Singapore and that is in Bugis Junction basement. I prefer the varieties of food served in this outlet and it is really different from the normal ones found in Crystal Jade Kitchen and Crystal Jade La Mian. Thus, whenever i am around that area, i am sure to pop in there.
This restuarant is not located right at the side of the pedestrian walkway (located further in than the rest of the shop), so one can easily miss this restuarant.
As we were being leaded into the restuarant, we requested for the cushion seats and the staffs gladly lead us to the seats. However, we almost regret halfway throughout our meal as the place is super cold (just below the air con outlet). :P
The varieties of food sold there are pretty similar found in those hongkong cafe. Nevertheless, we still decided to try out their macau pork bun (one of the most famous food served in macau, i think). Their pork bun is served with an additional serving of salad which i think makes the whole dish more healthy.
I liked the way they roast their pork, the meat tasted real juicy and delicious. I also loved how they used some additional effort to toast the bun and make it taste real crispy.
We also ordered their macau specialty noodles which i think it tastes marvellous. I guess its the special sauce added into the noodles that make it so delicious. But, i still could not figure out what kind of they exactly used (it looks something similar to za jiang mian).
Their read bean ice tasted alright as i feel that their ice is not shaved rather throughly (i find some ice pieces instead). However, i like the taste of milk in the read bean ice -- strongly yet not enpowering.
Overall, i think this is quite a good choice if you are sick of their normal la mian and porridge. They also have dim sum served in the late noon which i think its quite good as a light snack.
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Few years ago, my ex colleagues called to order quite a big number of swiss rolls from Rich and Good Cake Shop. Since the number is quite significant to them, they actually offered to send it over to us.
I did not ordered any of them at that time as i have never eaten their swiss rolls before. And when my ex colleagues offered one small slice of swiss roll to me, i fall in love with it almost immediately. Till now, i still can't forget the taste of their swiss roll so here i am searching for their swiss roll.
The only information that i knew it they are located near bugis mrt station. With this bit of information, i began to search for the kanhadar street. I cannot really say the place is easy to find as i have make quite abit of wrong rounds myself but what i can say is that the shop is actually quite near the mrt station (near as in it will take about 5-10 minutes of walking time).
A rather simple and plain shop i can say, without any cake display outside their shop, i cannot really tell if there are still any swiss roll left. Nevertheless, i pushed the door and went right it. The staff was rather friendly and start introduce a few more popular cakes that are available there.
In the end, i choose two flavours of swiss rolls -- durian and kaya. In each box, there are too long rolls of swiss roll. Since, i intend to give one of them as a gift, the staff gladly swop one of the swiss roll for me. So, i get one kaya and one durian swiss rolls per box.
The packaging of the box is very plain and simple, one definitely will not think that they have any nice stuff in it. Well, perhaps its really not that accurate to judge a cake by its box.
The swiss roll are real good! Good because of three things. First, the sponge cake is super soft and it actually will melt in your mouth. It has been a long time since i have tasted such texture of a cake.
Secondly, the spread (durian or kaya) is just nice - not too thin nor too thick. There are a few times whenever i eat swiss rolls, the ends of the sponge cake tend to have less spread. This definitely does not occurs here.
Third and finally, the spread is real nice. Without opening the box, one will be able to smell the rich and strong smell of kaya and durian. Impressing issn't it?
I will definitely go there for more if i am around that area. :)
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Had a thing for German food one day so popped down to Werner's Oven for lunch one day. To date, my only experience with German food was the rather good dinner at Magma, which I hoped Werner's Oven could emulate.
Housed in a small shop along East Coast Road in the Siglap area, Werner's has been featured in various television programs as well as articles touting its authentic and tasty German food. The interior is simple yet homely complete with a bar counter and nice Christmas look a like decorations.
Fried Camembert - Interestingly, when I first ordered this dish, I had hoped it would be on par with the one I had at Senso some time back. Unfortunately, it wasn't half as good although I have to admit that the cheese was nice and a little molten in the centre while the exterior was deep fried to a crisp. Would have preferred the core to be a little firmer though as it did seem a little too gooey for my liking.
In all honesty, the calamari was good the first few pieces as the batter tasted like those you would find on onion rings. You might wonder why its only the first few pieces. Well because the batter was way too oily and when eaten with the accompanying Mayonnaise, rendered me nauseous really fast, especially when everything turned cold.
Fleischkase - German Meatloaf with Sauteed Potatoes and Fried Egg - I shall refrain from complaining, but the Fleischkase was a joke! It really tasted like luncheon meat to me, albeit of a more substantial chunk and less salty variation. For the price, I rather eat luncheon meat!
Schmorbraten - Beef Pot Roast with Dumpling, Boiled Potatoes - The Schmorbraten's gravy looked and tasted a little too dense but the beef was still acceptable - nice and tasty but a little too chewy. Nothing fantastic though and I probably wouldn't order this again.
Rote Grutze - Sweet Sour Cherry and Raspberry Sago with Vanilla Sauce - A rather interesting dish and I must admit that I've never tried it before. However, it wasn't as special as I had made it out to be. The sago came submerged under a layer of vanilla sauce and its texture reminded me of jam. So just imagine jam under a layer of creamy tasting sauce. Not something I'll order again as it was a little too weird for me.
Baked Cream Cheese Cake - I wasn't too impressed with the cheesecake as it wasn't as creamy as I would have liked it to be and the accompanying ice cream tasted like king's ice cream! Decent nevertheless.
$78 for lunch for 3 pax is really expensive given the quality of food. I would be hard pressed to find a reason to return, rave reviews in the media or not. On a side note, Werner's operates a bakery just next door as well, which sells some really cool German bread.
See all my pictures here
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