Golden Peony is a rather small cozy restaurant located on the third floor of Conrad Centennial Singapore. Its supposedly one of the best restaurants in Singapore in terms of its Cantonese food offerings and this is where my foodie friends and i gathered for our monthly binge session.
Everything here looks and feels pretty nice. The lights were rather dim despite how the pictures look, so i had to struggle to find a good light source to get my photos done.
Peking Duck ($52) - First part of the peking duck is obviously its skin. I must say that the portion here is very miserly. 3 really small skins in crepes and it doesn't allow you to get additional items should you have a different preference. I found the skin very normal and not as fragrant as Hai Tien Lou. Still decent though, just not great.
Peking Duck Continued - The second part of the Peking duck was served sliced and diced in lettuce wrap. Taking the meat by itself would have proven too salty but the lettuce wrap did serve to moderate the taste pretty well. However, i simply do not see a the duck here in our 6 portions which is quite a disappointment. If i pay for a duck, i expect to see a duck, and that doesn't seem to be what i'm given.
Salted Yolk Prawns ($39) - This one i found pretty much to my liking. The salted yolk batter was not too thick and i liked it less salty. The prawns were also of a reasonably big size and freshness which made the dish very palatable. The portions were small again though and everyone ended up with 2 prawns max.
Homemade Beancurd with Asparagus & XO sauce ($48 for 6 portions) - I found the beancurd simple and not really fantastic. Texture wise, it doesn't reach the softness and smoothness of good japanese beancurd and the egg taste didn't win it any points with me. After learning further that the beancurd was sold by the grams didn't improve my impression of it one bit. The accompanying sauce was decent but i couldn't taste the XO sauce in this anywhere.
Tea Marinated Pork Ribs ($90 for 6 portions) - This came across as a pretty good item when it reach our table. It was quite a size and i love meat, albeit not pork. The ribs were tender and juicy though and the fatty layer was minimal. However, i wouldn't have known this was 'tea marinate' if i didn't see the receipt. Still, it was rather good and well done if not for its rather exorbitant price.
Lobster Noodles ($120 for 6 portions) - This was $20 a portion and was it worth it? I honestly have to say a resounding No! The noodles taste like almost anything you could find outside and the baby lobster simply didn't come with enough meat nor taste to make it feel like anything except a scam.
Tao Huay ($24 for 6 portions) - Things just keep spiralling downwards i suppose. This tao huay has nothing special i could rant about and it costs $4 a portion. Simply not worth the time nor effort.
Bill: The total bill for this came up to $472.90. Which is a total rip off and simply left me wondering how it was possible for all those prizes displayed on its corridor.
I honestly expected a whole lot more from this place given its reputation and the number of prizes it won to stand testament to its achievements. Yet, i left the place unsatisfied and feeling more then a little sour at blowing a bomb on a place totally not worth the money. I won't be back and i don't think anyone should either, at least until they get a new chef and modus operandi that doesn't make their customers feel ripped off.
When I go to Isetan, I often meet with nice sales person. However, there was one exception when I met with a very unfriendly sales lady and I was truly appalled.
I was there with a whole group of friends, looking for a pair of champagne flukes as gift for someone. We found a really nice one on display that was priced at $12. Not only did we find it unique, it was also cheap! We were all set on it, so we approached the sales lady to ask for 2 new pieces. Initially, they couldn't find and we were so worried that there weren't any stock. But after all that suspension (how thrilling), they got us 2 new pieces!
Then there was a problem. The new glasses were tagged $16 each, which means an additional $8 for a pair, which was a pretty significant amount. So the lady at the cashier told us that we had to purchase the flukes at $16 (in a not very friendly way, as a matter of fact) due to the fact that they made a mistake as they did not change the price of the display unit after the GST hike (notice how a 2 percentage point increase in GST resulted in a $4 increase in a product?). According to our consumer rights *ahem*, we pay the price we see right. So of course we refused to pay an additional $8! She didn't even tell us to hold on (which was really the simplest thing she could do) and she rolled her eyes and turned to pick up the phone to call her manager to ask for more instructions. Eventually, we got the flukes at $12, but one of them was the display piece.
While we were paying up, the manager came down to check on the situation. She had a really unhappy look on her face as well. She could have been unhappy with her staff, that we wouldn't know, but it definitely did not look like it to us at all!
The few of us at the counter were so unhappy with the service we left without saying "thank you". Neither did they say it.
Being such an established company, I feel that the least they could do is have better service. It was an utterly disappointing experience, I still cannot believe it happened.
I was at Esplanade yesterday and was looking for a place to eat. Saw Harry's on the directory and went straight to it, thinking I'd get good steak. I was a little confused between Harry's @ Esplanade and Harry's Steakhouse, but when you see the place you'll know that the former is a pub or something.
So our group of 4 sat at a really small table where the plates were too big for it. We ordered a Fillet Steak, Rib-eye Steak, Fish & Chips and Chicken Burger. I must say everything but the Fish & Chips was disappointing.
Appearance wise, the F&C wasn't fascinating. I think hawker centres can do better, but nonetheless, in comparison to the others we had, the F&C was the best. The breaded fish was crispy and the meat was very soft.
I'd say both steaks were bad. I had the Fillet Steak with pepper sauce and a jacket potato and corn cob as side dish. The corn cob was bad because when you bite into the corn, it tastes very mashed up like the corn isn't fresh. I've never had anything like that before. It was horrible I couldn't bring myself to eat it. The potato itself was all right. At least the potato was soft. But they left out the bacon bits (which I later found out wasn't crispy. It was actually bacon slices cut into small pieces) on my potato and there was very little spring onions and sour cream. The steak had no taste of the pepper sauce at all, which goes the same for the Rib-Eye that my mom ordered - had no taste of the sauce requested.
As for the chicken burger, it was big no doubt. Looked good. But I guess all that would have been good on the burger would be the bread, tomatos, lettuce and nothing else. Realize what's missing? Yes, the chicken. The chicken was dry and tough, it could have been mistaken for yesterday's.
Lastly, they have nice waiter and waitress who tried to attend to all our needs. But I think that was all they had - 2 of them. I must say it did look like they were severly under-staff. They can still function well with 2 of them, but I'm complaining only because they can't. They miss out orders here and there. I hope that's only because it was a public holiday yesterday and they couldn't get people to work.
No matter what it was, I think that was my first and last time there.. I'd give a 1.5/5, but since there's no 1.5, I'll give it a 2 then.
There are so many Haagen-Dazs outlets in Singapore but somehow, I feel particularly comfortable at this outlet. I like this outlet because it is pretty quiet at all times. Most of the time, when I'm there, there seems to be less than 5 other customers there. I have no idea why the place is never full, but I'm not complaining! The place is always quiet, it's wonderful!
I like Haagen-Dazs' ice-cream, especially their Flower Blossom! This is better than those Banana Splits and whatnots. Why? Because it's SIX FLAVOURS in one wafer bowl! And guess what, you get to choose the flavours! This thing is less than $20 and it's big enough for 2 people to eat. I like this the most because you get to try so many flavours and I think it's the most worth it, relative to the other items they have.
Other than their ice cream, things like their coffee isn't really that worth it. What with the GST hike, the prices of their drinks hiked by more than 2 percentage points! Things are so expensive now. I think paying more than $7 for a cup of coffee is really not worth.
Service wise, this place does not have exceptionally good service but it's acceptable. They'd smile once in awhile and stuff. But at least they don't do absurd things that make you angry. Haha.
Try this Haagen Dazs if you're looking for a quiet place to go (:
Walking along orchard road in a bright hot sunny day always make me craved so something cold and yummy. This first thing that came into my mind is definitely ICE CREAM!
Ok, i am quite a fan for ice cream, be it those from the roadside trishaw uncle ones or those from the designers cafe ones. Since this particular outlet is located somewhere in the middle of the orchard road, it is also one of my usual patronised store.
Located right in the enterance, one will never going to miss this store when entering the centerpoint shopping centre. They have a great varieties of ice cream and for those ladies who are afraid of being fat, there are sorbet for you to choose from.
For me, i still prefer ice cream than sorbet as sorbet seems like eating ice rather than ice cream. hee hee. I have tried quite a few flavours from them, but ultimately i still prefer their unique melon flavour.
Why do i say it is unique? That is definitely because of their strong melon taste ( but not over powering) and their real melon bits in their ice cream. Their melon bits is not those super small size kind that can hardly be seen.
I can taste their melon bits in almost every bite of the ice cream. A rather generous amount of melon used, i think. Beside their smooth creamy ice cream, the next nicest thing would definitely be their biscuit waffle cone.
Their waffle cone has a very nice biscuitte taste and seems to make a perfect combi with the ice cream. Strongly recommend to try their ice cream in their waffle cone. However, they now charge an additional one dollar for ice cream in waffle cone. Pretty sad thing for ice cream lovers i can say.
Jurong Hilltop Restaurant was an ad hoc dinner we had due simply because the other venue we had planned has been closed down (oh the horror!!) and so, since i traveled half of Singapore already to be there, I wasn't going to leave till I at least had a semi-decent meal. And since blogger friend FatPig was there to bring us up the hill, we persevered, climbed and conquered huge-O Jurong Hill for our little rendezvous.
I'll be honest, i would almost never have found the place had it not been for my friend. There was a long winding dark road up to the restaurant which simply isn't the kind of road i would willingly drive up for fun. And when we found it, i was surprised to see many people already there, which was quite a surprise as this location was, to me at least, an extremely ulu place. So maybe it serves good food @ a reasonable price?
Appetisers - The appetizers were pretty normal but served its intended purpose of whetting my appetite.
Stir Fried Venison with ginger and pepper ($16) - The venison was tender and sweet but i suppose its possible to have almost the same quality at normal zhi ca outside minus the show and having a lot more msg and oil. So, in light of health concerns, i'd prefer this one.
Pork ($14) - I found the pork a tad dry at first but later discovered some parts to be more evenly cooked than others. Still, a pretty nicely done dish (that means alot mind you, i'm not a pork lover)
Tofu ($8 for 2 servings) - A must-have staple dish for me. The tofu they have is of the egg bean curd variety which is decent, smooth and soft in texture but i can't help feeling its possible to get this from any grocery store outside. It certainly doesn't look or taste like it was made in-house nor does it feel imported but i may be wrong. Still, tofu is something i must have whenever its offered and this is passable.
Fresh Mushroom ($10 for 2 servings) - As the name implies, fresh mushroom is indeed fresh. Nicely done, succulent and tasty. Pity about the portion though, which was rather small after being split into 3 portions.
Bean sprouts Aka Dao gay - The filler section for the menu. You can't expect to be full after eating only the meats do you? And also, which teppenyaki would be complete without a good healthy serving of bean sprouts? This one was good as it didn't have the 'greenish' vegetable taste that happens when bean sprouts are not cooked properly. It was neither too salty nor too oily either which is very good.
Sirloin Steak Completed ($22) - From what i understand about the fire procedure, its very dangerous for the chef as his hands may have residue of oil and catch fire during the process resulting in severe burns. However, its supposed to be a necessary process to cook the beef to a suitable level of 'doneness'? Correct me if i'm wrong please.
For the sirloin, the initial reaction is that its still a little tough maybe because it was slightly overcooked. It thus lacked the juiciness of whole steaks which i liked but in its cube form, this is still quite good. FatPig did comment that the meat wasn't really fresh though.
The meal came up to be about $85 for 3 people.
The place was pretty nice despite being found in an out-of-the-way location and i'm pretty sure its been there for quite some time given the number of people who willingly trekked there to eat. The food is pretty good and portion size was reasonable since it could be split by 3 people filling us up reasonably well. Its worth a visit for the experience and some nice Japanese Teppenyaki. The peace and quiet is also very much appreciated after the hustle and bustle of everyday life.
Best for take-aways, and killing yoshinoya's business. The food is way cheaper than Yoshinoya, and TONS better than Yoshinoya. Looking at the Japanese couple cooking 'zenly' for us is pure....japanese...lol...
One thing I cannot stand about this place is that they take their own time to place your food nicely on the bowls, cook neatly slowly, hygienically...like everything seemed to be very zen about it. The kitchen is just like any home kitchen, you can look at what kind of condiments they use, nothing is not Japanese... I always have cravings for their food...and it's always worth the wait...food ranges from $4 to $9...if you are hungry on waiting, go get some fresh sushi from Meidi-Ya Supermarket, fresher than marketplace sushi.
Just go and try. You'll get what I mean. (But don't bring your girl there cos it is SUPER not romantic...just a take-out counter...)
There seems to be a growing trend of opening what used to be deemed more exclusive food (Italian, French etc) in food/hawker centres with competitive prices to boot. Ragazzi the Italian Kitchen is one such outlet to jump on the bandwagon to offer quality Italian food at coffeeshop prices.
Located at a rather obscure coffeeshop under a block of flats in the Ghim Moh estate, Ragazzi is owned and run by Gabriel Cher, ex chef-de partie of The Oriental's Dolce Vita (Interestingly, Dolce Vita serves Mediterranean food now, not Italian). Business was rather slow on a wet Saturday evening and one can only wonder if its the lack of publicity, wet weather or quality of food thats keeping the crowds at bay.
Zuppa alla Funghi - For $2.50 a pop, I certainly wasn't expecting much. But I was pleasantly surprised to find out that the soup was made from grounded mushrooms and onions, which was evident from the taste and texture. Only thing that could been improved was its thickness. It did come across as a little too watery but hey, its definitely value for money.
The bruschetta ($3) could have been good but was let down by a few factors. The good things first. Well toasted with the sides a little charred but soft and warm within. Now for the bad part. There was an way too much olive oil on the middle portion of the bread, which made it a little too soggy. Tomatoes on the top didn't look very fresh but did provide the necessary texture and zest.
Melanzane al Forno - I've never been a fan of eggplants and this wasn't about to change anything. The eggplant was a little too soft for my liking but I did like the layer of grilled cheese on top.
Carbonara ($7) - Being a cream based pasta lover, I naturally ordered the Carbonara to be on the safe side. The pasta was a tad too overcooked and the gravy did come across as a little too thick, rendering me nauseous after a while. However I would still say its very decent with the respectable bacon toppings and definitely better than anything pasta mania or the likes can whip up.
Del Bosco ($6) - As with the Carbonara, the Del Bosco's pasta was a tad too overcooked as well but what won me over were the sausages, which tasted thoroughly smoked but was a tad too salty. The tomato sauce wasn't outstanding, being average at best.
Tiramisu ($4.50) - I would be lying if I said that the Tiramisu was decent. To be honest, it was terrible. For one, the sponge fingers weren't soaked in Kahlua. It tasted more like fruit essence or something. Also, the mascarpone cheese was a little too dense and the whole thing was rather watery(water logged would have been appropriate too) at the bottom. It definitely didn't help that too much Cocoa powder was added as well.
All in all, a very filling dinner for 2 pax cost $27.50, which is very pricey by hawker standards but cheap by restaurant standards. Overall food quality is still decent so you might want to give this place a shot if you are craving for Italian food but not willing to fork out the dough for it.
Yet again, i brought my gf for dinner on this day. This time at a location much closer to home. This restaurant has been featured on television before for its unique location and quality of its food. The program raved about its food but i've never been a believer of commercial reviews so its more or less my own thoughts right here.
For starters, i liked the environment and the view. The location is quiet and though there were quite a few people there, it didn't come across as packed as there were plenty of leg space for everyone which is what i like.
(Bliss Special) Crab meat soup - My gf ordered a bliss special meal which consisted of a soup, main course and a dessert. All for $13.90 which was quite a shock for me as the price was rather low for what i envisioned to be a medium priced location. I was however, soon to realise why it could come at such a price.
The crab meat soup they served was not unlike the broth used in shark's fin soup. It had little pieces of carrot, radish, some crab meat and quite a bit of pepper. Nothing amazing but what do you expect for the price eh?
Stella Artois ($7.50) - Our drink for the day. A word of caution, the place DOES NOT SERVE cold water. So you MUST buy a drink. On further notice, i realise the place serves a pretty decent selection of wine, mostly old world wines at a pretty hefty price. If my memory serves me well, it does not serve wine by the glass. @ $7.50 a bottle, it does strike me as rather expensive for a simple beer but i may just be a miser. =P
Baked Seafood Rice ($14.90) - My main course of the day. It was a rather large serving so that earns it plus points. Beneath the thick layer of cheese contains 2 medium sized prawns, 2 huge mussels and assorted pieces of fish interlaced with the rice. Not to mention the 2 squid rings you see on top.
To be honest, i was rather excited when i got my dish. It smelled great and i love tomato based stuff, be it pasta or rice. And looking at the huge serving with the ingredients they offered just made my mouth water. However, it looks better then it tastes honestly, so that really disappointed me. Don't get me wrong, the rice was great and so was the cheese layer but the crucial part of its seafood just didn't quite cute it for me. The prawns were moderately fresh but the mussel and squid ring couldn't be called good which is such a waste considering the nicely done rice. Overall, this is passable but the seafood alone was not worth the money.
(Bliss Special) Smoked Salmon Pasta - Once again, the presentation of the dish is excellent. The serving of salmon it came with was quite generous i must say. However, the salmon didn't taste fresh yet again, just like the seafood in my baked rice. I would have really liked if they could give reasonably fresh seafood for their dishes, because the pasta tasted pretty well done as did the rice. Maybe the chef's specialty is actually in these instead of seafood? Because it sure tasted that way. The pasta was springy and had enough seasoning to make it taste slightly salty yet not overbearing. Needless to say, the pasta was finished but the salmon remained.
Tiramisu ($5.90) - This disappointed me to no end. I wanted a good dessert to end the rather mundane dinner offering but it just didn't do the dessert justice. The top layer was way too soft and watery as was the bottom layer. The rum soaked and completely destroyed the cake layer beneath and worse, the rum didn't taste like rum at all! This has got to be the worst tiramisu i've had thus far. Do NOT try it.
Not shown is my gf's dessert which is also equally bad. Mango ice cream from a really bad manufacturer i suspect. Not worth mentioning as well.
Total bill for 2 came up to $42.20
I like the place and the lack of service charge and GST. I also like the rice and spaghetti but the seafood really didn't do anything for me in the meal except make me sigh in disappointment. The dessert served was outrageously bad as well and the lack of iced water is simply a sin. Service was nice but difficult to get and given the bad seafood, the price to pay for this 'Blissful' meal simply wasn't worth it.
1=SGD 0.0587
Golden Peony is a rather small cozy restaurant located on the third floor of Conrad Centennial Singapore. Its supposedly one of the best restaurants in Singapore in terms of its Cantonese food offerings and this is where my foodie friends and i gathered for our monthly binge session.
Everything here looks and feels pretty nice. The lights were rather dim despite how the pictures look, so i had to struggle to find a good light source to get my photos done.
Peking Duck ($52) - First part of the peking duck is obviously its skin. I must say that the portion here is very miserly. 3 really small skins in crepes and it doesn't allow you to get additional items should you have a different preference. I found the skin very normal and not as fragrant as Hai Tien Lou. Still decent though, just not great.
Peking Duck Continued - The second part of the Peking duck was served sliced and diced in lettuce wrap. Taking the meat by itself would have proven too salty but the lettuce wrap did serve to moderate the taste pretty well. However, i simply do not see a the duck here in our 6 portions which is quite a disappointment. If i pay for a duck, i expect to see a duck, and that doesn't seem to be what i'm given.
Salted Yolk Prawns ($39) - This one i found pretty much to my liking. The salted yolk batter was not too thick and i liked it less salty. The prawns were also of a reasonably big size and freshness which made the dish very palatable. The portions were small again though and everyone ended up with 2 prawns max.
Homemade Beancurd with Asparagus & XO sauce ($48 for 6 portions) - I found the beancurd simple and not really fantastic. Texture wise, it doesn't reach the softness and smoothness of good japanese beancurd and the egg taste didn't win it any points with me. After learning further that the beancurd was sold by the grams didn't improve my impression of it one bit. The accompanying sauce was decent but i couldn't taste the XO sauce in this anywhere.
Tea Marinated Pork Ribs ($90 for 6 portions) - This came across as a pretty good item when it reach our table. It was quite a size and i love meat, albeit not pork. The ribs were tender and juicy though and the fatty layer was minimal. However, i wouldn't have known this was 'tea marinate' if i didn't see the receipt. Still, it was rather good and well done if not for its rather exorbitant price.
Lobster Noodles ($120 for 6 portions) - This was $20 a portion and was it worth it? I honestly have to say a resounding No! The noodles taste like almost anything you could find outside and the baby lobster simply didn't come with enough meat nor taste to make it feel like anything except a scam.
Tao Huay ($24 for 6 portions) - Things just keep spiralling downwards i suppose. This tao huay has nothing special i could rant about and it costs $4 a portion. Simply not worth the time nor effort.
Bill: The total bill for this came up to $472.90. Which is a total rip off and simply left me wondering how it was possible for all those prizes displayed on its corridor.
I honestly expected a whole lot more from this place given its reputation and the number of prizes it won to stand testament to its achievements. Yet, i left the place unsatisfied and feeling more then a little sour at blowing a bomb on a place totally not worth the money. I won't be back and i don't think anyone should either, at least until they get a new chef and modus operandi that doesn't make their customers feel ripped off.
Rating given:
QQ Rice finally set up a shop at Plaza Singapura. I wanted to try this ever since they were introduced on channel 8.
Here's how you order.
1) Get an order form from the staff.
2) Chose the type of Rice to go along.
There's 3 types of rice to chose from. Brown rice, Mix Grain Rice and one more which I couldn't remember.
3) Chose your fillings.
There are lots of fillings to chose from. You could pick 5 different fillings from the list.
Just hand the order form back to the staff after you are done. You can make it a full meal by ordering their tea or mango pudding.
It is a healthier choice if you are looking for a quick light snack.
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When I go to Isetan, I often meet with nice sales person. However, there was one exception when I met with a very unfriendly sales lady and I was truly appalled.
I was there with a whole group of friends, looking for a pair of champagne flukes as gift for someone. We found a really nice one on display that was priced at $12. Not only did we find it unique, it was also cheap! We were all set on it, so we approached the sales lady to ask for 2 new pieces. Initially, they couldn't find and we were so worried that there weren't any stock. But after all that suspension (how thrilling), they got us 2 new pieces!
Then there was a problem. The new glasses were tagged $16 each, which means an additional $8 for a pair, which was a pretty significant amount. So the lady at the cashier told us that we had to purchase the flukes at $16 (in a not very friendly way, as a matter of fact) due to the fact that they made a mistake as they did not change the price of the display unit after the GST hike (notice how a 2 percentage point increase in GST resulted in a $4 increase in a product?). According to our consumer rights *ahem*, we pay the price we see right. So of course we refused to pay an additional $8! She didn't even tell us to hold on (which was really the simplest thing she could do) and she rolled her eyes and turned to pick up the phone to call her manager to ask for more instructions. Eventually, we got the flukes at $12, but one of them was the display piece.
While we were paying up, the manager came down to check on the situation. She had a really unhappy look on her face as well. She could have been unhappy with her staff, that we wouldn't know, but it definitely did not look like it to us at all!
The few of us at the counter were so unhappy with the service we left without saying "thank you". Neither did they say it.
Being such an established company, I feel that the least they could do is have better service. It was an utterly disappointing experience, I still cannot believe it happened.
Rating given:
I was at Esplanade yesterday and was looking for a place to eat. Saw Harry's on the directory and went straight to it, thinking I'd get good steak. I was a little confused between Harry's @ Esplanade and Harry's Steakhouse, but when you see the place you'll know that the former is a pub or something.
So our group of 4 sat at a really small table where the plates were too big for it. We ordered a Fillet Steak, Rib-eye Steak, Fish & Chips and Chicken Burger. I must say everything but the Fish & Chips was disappointing.
Appearance wise, the F&C wasn't fascinating. I think hawker centres can do better, but nonetheless, in comparison to the others we had, the F&C was the best. The breaded fish was crispy and the meat was very soft.
I'd say both steaks were bad. I had the Fillet Steak with pepper sauce and a jacket potato and corn cob as side dish. The corn cob was bad because when you bite into the corn, it tastes very mashed up like the corn isn't fresh. I've never had anything like that before. It was horrible I couldn't bring myself to eat it. The potato itself was all right. At least the potato was soft. But they left out the bacon bits (which I later found out wasn't crispy. It was actually bacon slices cut into small pieces) on my potato and there was very little spring onions and sour cream. The steak had no taste of the pepper sauce at all, which goes the same for the Rib-Eye that my mom ordered - had no taste of the sauce requested.
As for the chicken burger, it was big no doubt. Looked good. But I guess all that would have been good on the burger would be the bread, tomatos, lettuce and nothing else. Realize what's missing? Yes, the chicken. The chicken was dry and tough, it could have been mistaken for yesterday's.
Lastly, they have nice waiter and waitress who tried to attend to all our needs. But I think that was all they had - 2 of them. I must say it did look like they were severly under-staff. They can still function well with 2 of them, but I'm complaining only because they can't. They miss out orders here and there. I hope that's only because it was a public holiday yesterday and they couldn't get people to work.
No matter what it was, I think that was my first and last time there.. I'd give a 1.5/5, but since there's no 1.5, I'll give it a 2 then.
Rating given:
There are so many Haagen-Dazs outlets in Singapore but somehow, I feel particularly comfortable at this outlet. I like this outlet because it is pretty quiet at all times. Most of the time, when I'm there, there seems to be less than 5 other customers there. I have no idea why the place is never full, but I'm not complaining! The place is always quiet, it's wonderful!
I like Haagen-Dazs' ice-cream, especially their Flower Blossom! This is better than those Banana Splits and whatnots. Why? Because it's SIX FLAVOURS in one wafer bowl! And guess what, you get to choose the flavours! This thing is less than $20 and it's big enough for 2 people to eat. I like this the most because you get to try so many flavours and I think it's the most worth it, relative to the other items they have.
Other than their ice cream, things like their coffee isn't really that worth it. What with the GST hike, the prices of their drinks hiked by more than 2 percentage points! Things are so expensive now. I think paying more than $7 for a cup of coffee is really not worth.
Service wise, this place does not have exceptionally good service but it's acceptable. They'd smile once in awhile and stuff. But at least they don't do absurd things that make you angry. Haha.
Try this Haagen Dazs if you're looking for a quiet place to go (:
Rating given:
Walking along orchard road in a bright hot sunny day always make me craved so something cold and yummy. This first thing that came into my mind is definitely ICE CREAM!
Ok, i am quite a fan for ice cream, be it those from the roadside trishaw uncle ones or those from the designers cafe ones. Since this particular outlet is located somewhere in the middle of the orchard road, it is also one of my usual patronised store.
Located right in the enterance, one will never going to miss this store when entering the centerpoint shopping centre. They have a great varieties of ice cream and for those ladies who are afraid of being fat, there are sorbet for you to choose from.
For me, i still prefer ice cream than sorbet as sorbet seems like eating ice rather than ice cream. hee hee. I have tried quite a few flavours from them, but ultimately i still prefer their unique melon flavour.
Why do i say it is unique? That is definitely because of their strong melon taste ( but not over powering) and their real melon bits in their ice cream. Their melon bits is not those super small size kind that can hardly be seen.
I can taste their melon bits in almost every bite of the ice cream. A rather generous amount of melon used, i think. Beside their smooth creamy ice cream, the next nicest thing would definitely be their biscuit waffle cone.
Their waffle cone has a very nice biscuitte taste and seems to make a perfect combi with the ice cream. Strongly recommend to try their ice cream in their waffle cone. However, they now charge an additional one dollar for ice cream in waffle cone. Pretty sad thing for ice cream lovers i can say.
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Jurong Hilltop Restaurant was an ad hoc dinner we had due simply because the other venue we had planned has been closed down (oh the horror!!) and so, since i traveled half of Singapore already to be there, I wasn't going to leave till I at least had a semi-decent meal. And since blogger friend FatPig was there to bring us up the hill, we persevered, climbed and conquered huge-O Jurong Hill for our little rendezvous.
I'll be honest, i would almost never have found the place had it not been for my friend. There was a long winding dark road up to the restaurant which simply isn't the kind of road i would willingly drive up for fun. And when we found it, i was surprised to see many people already there, which was quite a surprise as this location was, to me at least, an extremely ulu place. So maybe it serves good food @ a reasonable price?
Appetisers - The appetizers were pretty normal but served its intended purpose of whetting my appetite.
Stir Fried Venison with ginger and pepper ($16) - The venison was tender and sweet but i suppose its possible to have almost the same quality at normal zhi ca outside minus the show and having a lot more msg and oil. So, in light of health concerns, i'd prefer this one.
Pork ($14) - I found the pork a tad dry at first but later discovered some parts to be more evenly cooked than others. Still, a pretty nicely done dish (that means alot mind you, i'm not a pork lover)
Tofu ($8 for 2 servings) - A must-have staple dish for me. The tofu they have is of the egg bean curd variety which is decent, smooth and soft in texture but i can't help feeling its possible to get this from any grocery store outside. It certainly doesn't look or taste like it was made in-house nor does it feel imported but i may be wrong. Still, tofu is something i must have whenever its offered and this is passable.
Fresh Mushroom ($10 for 2 servings) - As the name implies, fresh mushroom is indeed fresh. Nicely done, succulent and tasty. Pity about the portion though, which was rather small after being split into 3 portions.
Bean sprouts Aka Dao gay - The filler section for the menu. You can't expect to be full after eating only the meats do you? And also, which teppenyaki would be complete without a good healthy serving of bean sprouts? This one was good as it didn't have the 'greenish' vegetable taste that happens when bean sprouts are not cooked properly. It was neither too salty nor too oily either which is very good.
Sirloin Steak Completed ($22) - From what i understand about the fire procedure, its very dangerous for the chef as his hands may have residue of oil and catch fire during the process resulting in severe burns. However, its supposed to be a necessary process to cook the beef to a suitable level of 'doneness'? Correct me if i'm wrong please.
For the sirloin, the initial reaction is that its still a little tough maybe because it was slightly overcooked. It thus lacked the juiciness of whole steaks which i liked but in its cube form, this is still quite good. FatPig did comment that the meat wasn't really fresh though.
The meal came up to be about $85 for 3 people.
The place was pretty nice despite being found in an out-of-the-way location and i'm pretty sure its been there for quite some time given the number of people who willingly trekked there to eat. The food is pretty good and portion size was reasonable since it could be split by 3 people filling us up reasonably well. Its worth a visit for the experience and some nice Japanese Teppenyaki. The peace and quiet is also very much appreciated after the hustle and bustle of everyday life.
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EXCELLENT!!!
Best for take-aways, and killing yoshinoya's business.
The food is way cheaper than Yoshinoya, and TONS better than Yoshinoya. Looking at the Japanese couple cooking 'zenly' for us is pure....japanese...lol...
One thing I cannot stand about this place is that they take their own time to place your food nicely on the bowls, cook neatly slowly, hygienically...like everything seemed to be very zen about it.
The kitchen is just like any home kitchen, you can look at what kind of condiments they use, nothing is not Japanese...
I always have cravings for their food...and it's always worth the wait...food ranges from $4 to $9...if you are hungry on waiting, go get some fresh sushi from Meidi-Ya Supermarket, fresher than marketplace sushi.
Just go and try. You'll get what I mean. (But don't bring your girl there cos it is SUPER not romantic...just a take-out counter...)
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There seems to be a growing trend of opening what used to be deemed more exclusive food (Italian, French etc) in food/hawker centres with competitive prices to boot. Ragazzi the Italian Kitchen is one such outlet to jump on the bandwagon to offer quality Italian food at coffeeshop prices.
Located at a rather obscure coffeeshop under a block of flats in the Ghim Moh estate, Ragazzi is owned and run by Gabriel Cher, ex chef-de partie of The Oriental's Dolce Vita (Interestingly, Dolce Vita serves Mediterranean food now, not Italian). Business was rather slow on a wet Saturday evening and one can only wonder if its the lack of publicity, wet weather or quality of food thats keeping the crowds at bay.
Zuppa alla Funghi - For $2.50 a pop, I certainly wasn't expecting much. But I was pleasantly surprised to find out that the soup was made from grounded mushrooms and onions, which was evident from the taste and texture. Only thing that could been improved was its thickness. It did come across as a little too watery but hey, its definitely value for money.
The bruschetta ($3) could have been good but was let down by a few factors. The good things first. Well toasted with the sides a little charred but soft and warm within. Now for the bad part. There was an way too much olive oil on the middle portion of the bread, which made it a little too soggy. Tomatoes on the top didn't look very fresh but did provide the necessary texture and zest.
Melanzane al Forno - I've never been a fan of eggplants and this wasn't about to change anything. The eggplant was a little too soft for my liking but I did like the layer of grilled cheese on top.
Carbonara ($7) - Being a cream based pasta lover, I naturally ordered the Carbonara to be on the safe side. The pasta was a tad too overcooked and the gravy did come across as a little too thick, rendering me nauseous after a while. However I would still say its very decent with the respectable bacon toppings and definitely better than anything pasta mania or the likes can whip up.
Del Bosco ($6) - As with the Carbonara, the Del Bosco's pasta was a tad too overcooked as well but what won me over were the sausages, which tasted thoroughly smoked but was a tad too salty. The tomato sauce wasn't outstanding, being average at best.
Tiramisu ($4.50) - I would be lying if I said that the Tiramisu was decent. To be honest, it was terrible. For one, the sponge fingers weren't soaked in Kahlua. It tasted more like fruit essence or something. Also, the mascarpone cheese was a little too dense and the whole thing was rather watery(water logged would have been appropriate too) at the bottom. It definitely didn't help that too much Cocoa powder was added as well.
All in all, a very filling dinner for 2 pax cost $27.50, which is very pricey by hawker standards but cheap by restaurant standards. Overall food quality is still decent so you might want to give this place a shot if you are craving for Italian food but not willing to fork out the dough for it.
See all my pictures here
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Yet again, i brought my gf for dinner on this day. This time at a location much closer to home. This restaurant has been featured on television before for its unique location and quality of its food. The program raved about its food but i've never been a believer of commercial reviews so its more or less my own thoughts right here.
For starters, i liked the environment and the view. The location is quiet and though there were quite a few people there, it didn't come across as packed as there were plenty of leg space for everyone which is what i like.
(Bliss Special) Crab meat soup - My gf ordered a bliss special meal which consisted of a soup, main course and a dessert. All for $13.90 which was quite a shock for me as the price was rather low for what i envisioned to be a medium priced location. I was however, soon to realise why it could come at such a price.
The crab meat soup they served was not unlike the broth used in shark's fin soup. It had little pieces of carrot, radish, some crab meat and quite a bit of pepper. Nothing amazing but what do you expect for the price eh?
Stella Artois ($7.50) - Our drink for the day. A word of caution, the place DOES NOT SERVE cold water. So you MUST buy a drink. On further notice, i realise the place serves a pretty decent selection of wine, mostly old world wines at a pretty hefty price. If my memory serves me well, it does not serve wine by the glass. @ $7.50 a bottle, it does strike me as rather expensive for a simple beer but i may just be a miser. =P
Baked Seafood Rice ($14.90) - My main course of the day. It was a rather large serving so that earns it plus points. Beneath the thick layer of cheese contains 2 medium sized prawns, 2 huge mussels and assorted pieces of fish interlaced with the rice. Not to mention the 2 squid rings you see on top.
To be honest, i was rather excited when i got my dish. It smelled great and i love tomato based stuff, be it pasta or rice. And looking at the huge serving with the ingredients they offered just made my mouth water. However, it looks better then it tastes honestly, so that really disappointed me. Don't get me wrong, the rice was great and so was the cheese layer but the crucial part of its seafood just didn't quite cute it for me. The prawns were moderately fresh but the mussel and squid ring couldn't be called good which is such a waste considering the nicely done rice. Overall, this is passable but the seafood alone was not worth the money.
(Bliss Special) Smoked Salmon Pasta - Once again, the presentation of the dish is excellent. The serving of salmon it came with was quite generous i must say. However, the salmon didn't taste fresh yet again, just like the seafood in my baked rice. I would have really liked if they could give reasonably fresh seafood for their dishes, because the pasta tasted pretty well done as did the rice. Maybe the chef's specialty is actually in these instead of seafood? Because it sure tasted that way. The pasta was springy and had enough seasoning to make it taste slightly salty yet not overbearing. Needless to say, the pasta was finished but the salmon remained.
Tiramisu ($5.90) - This disappointed me to no end. I wanted a good dessert to end the rather mundane dinner offering but it just didn't do the dessert justice. The top layer was way too soft and watery as was the bottom layer. The rum soaked and completely destroyed the cake layer beneath and worse, the rum didn't taste like rum at all! This has got to be the worst tiramisu i've had thus far. Do NOT try it.
Not shown is my gf's dessert which is also equally bad. Mango ice cream from a really bad manufacturer i suspect. Not worth mentioning as well.
Total bill for 2 came up to $42.20
I like the place and the lack of service charge and GST. I also like the rice and spaghetti but the seafood really didn't do anything for me in the meal except make me sigh in disappointment. The dessert served was outrageously bad as well and the lack of iced water is simply a sin. Service was nice but difficult to get and given the bad seafood, the price to pay for this 'Blissful' meal simply wasn't worth it.
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