I remember patronising Miss Clarity Cafe when it was still a small obscure cafe at Purvis Street back in 2005/2006. What drew me to this cafe was the reasonably priced set meals (for its location). Fast forward 4-5 years and the eatery has expanded to include an outlet along Upper Thomson Road.
The interior at the Thomson outlet is reminiscent of the original shop at Purvis, with its predominantly pink theme and girlish intonations. Even the menu is pink! And for all the eatery's success, it was empty on a Saturday evening (maybe standards have dropped or the crowds are limited to the outlet at Purvis).
Chicken Ballotine - One of the apparently popular and signature dish of the eatery, the Chicken Ballotine was essentially boneless thigh meat stuffed with mushrooms and roasted. Personally I thought the idea was good but the execution was terrible. For starters, the meat was very dry and rubbery. I could make out the mushrooms but the chicken itself didn't have much inherent taste. Disappointing as compared to what I had many years back.
Soft Shell Crab Linguine - If my Chicken Ballotine was bad, the soft shell crab linguine was a total disaster. Limp pasta swimming in artificial tasting cream based sauce and topped with crisp but flour laden soft shell crab pieces. This is as bad as it gets.
Blueberry Pie - Any hopes of dessert salvaging the meal was torn to shreds as soon as I had the first bite of the blueberry pie. First please allow me to qualify that I personally am not used to having warm blueberry pies. I prefer my blueberry pies chilled. So it came as quite a bummer when mine came served warm with a gooey, seemingly mass produced blueberry filling, sandwiched between 2 layers of hard, dry and tasteless biscuit. The sad fact of the matter is, even Han's blueberry pie, at just over 2 bucks for a slice, enjoys a better standing in my books.
A ruined dinner for 2 wasn't expensive, at almost $27. But seriously, I'll rather stuff myself with 3 big mac meals than step foot into Miss Clarity ever again. Did I mention that I have a weakness for fast food? ;)
If you have ever tried out Ban Heng's buffet selection, you might probably agree that it's skewed pretty much to the quantity and not so much the quality aspect of things. However we decided to give Ban Heng's ala carte menu a chance, to see how it would stack up against the likes of Liang Kee and Guan Hin, both reputable Teochew restaurants which were mere minutes walk away. And failing to make prior reservations, we were "relegated" to the corridor seats to dine amongst the fumes of vehicles attempting to snare a parking lot right in front of the restaurant.
Broccoli with Dried Scallops - Nice crunchy texture from the broccoli meant that it wasn't overcooked. Coupled with a not so generous serving of dried scallop, this dish was decent. Well at least it wasn't bland and the lightly salty/starchy gravy went well with rice.
Braised Goose - Ban Heng's rendition of this classic Teochew dish was simple yet appetising (portions were miserable though). Tender meat with a nice roughness that was complemented by the flavourful gravy. Very good! And for once I can actually say that the accompanying beancurd was good. Soft and silky unlike the dry and much firmer species that usually plonk themselves alongside this dish.
Braised Beancurd with Seafood - I was actually quite surprised to find scallops, pacific clams, sea cucumber, fish slices and the likes in this dish. In most places (high end restaurants are the exception) you honestly wouldn't expect to see anything close to sea cucumber or scallops served up with beancurd. The word "seafood" usually just entails fish slices, a couple of mushrooms, a tiny prawn or two and that's it. Technicalities aside, everything in the pot was well simmered in the rich gravy, resulting in a wonderful seafood feast.
Orh Nee - Another hallmark of Teochew cuisine, the simple yet notoriously tedious to make, yam paste aka Orh Nee. Blanketed under a layer of coconut milk, the paste was a little moist and very smooth without being overly sweet. Personally I still prefer the drier variants but this one was undoubtedly good.
Apart from the long waiting time for our food, we had no real complains. Food quality was above average but price (almost $66 for 3 pax) was a wee bit on the high side. Service was decent but only from a couple of wait staff. If they can improve on their kitchen turn around time, I'll sign on as a regular customer.
ps: Remember not to try their buffet unless quantity, not quality, is what you are looking for.
I went twice to have dinner because it's the only place with a more affordable price for steamboat in the area. There are a few soup bases to choose from and I saw a couple choose 3 soup bases.
The first time, the place wasn't crowded as it was still too early for the dinner crowd. The second time, it was nearly full from the dinner crowd. What I like is the individual tongs or scoops for each ingredient. It's cleaner. The aircon is cold enough to prevent one from perspiring just from eating hotpot.
I feel that a table for 2 people to with an induction cooker is too small for the big plates that the restaurant provide.
The clearing of the empty or dirty plates can be faster so that we can continue to add other ingredients with the cleared space.
It's easy to walk between tables although some tables are too close to pass through.
Ice Cream Kingdom is one of the new Ice Cream places in Singapore. The owner of the 8 month old Ice Cream Parlor at Holland Grove, is Stella, who quit her HR job in exchange for the impressive title CICO: Chief Ice-Cream Officer.
With so many ice cream places in Singapore, it can be quite a thwarting experience trying to decide on a place to satisfy the ice cream craving. I like Ice Cream Kingdom (ICK) and I am going to tell you why.
Unlike the other ice cream parlours in Singapore, it’s an one-woman-show at Ice Cream Kingdom. From making the ice cream to serving them – everything is done by Stella. Having ice cream in ICK, it makes you feel right at home.
Ice Cream Kingdom has 15 ice cream flavors – some are essentials like vanilla, chocolate and cookie & cream, while there are other unique flavors like kaya, green tea brown rice, and honey wheat crunch.
We were like kids in an ice cream shop, there’s so many flavors and we wanted to try all of them! For ‘research purposes’, we had 8 different scoops: Nutella Nutella, Vanilla Bean, Sticky Chewy Chocolate, Earl of Grey, Honey Wheat Crunch, Green Tea Brown Rice, Toasty Kaya, and Rasping for Raspberry.
Vanilla > Chocolate
When it comes to ice cream, Vanilla ice cream always win hands down – especially so when there’s speckle of vanilla beans in it. But that’s not to say that the Sticky Chewy Chocolate isn’t good. Before this visit, a dear friend brought me the chocolate flavor from Ice Cream Kingdom (ICK) and I had a whole pint of it for dinner.
Besides Vanilla bean, another of my all time favorite is definitely Nutella! I’m not sure about you, but I like nutella very very much. Since I’m not a tea lover, the Earl of Grey didn’t really appealed to me, but most of the rest raved about it as one of the better earl grey ice cream.
The Green Tea Brown Rice sounded a little too healthy for my liking; there was green tea, and there was brown rice – there you go – Green Tea Brown Rice ice cream! I know it’s not my best description – try it for yourself if you are curious. Among the different options, Toasty Kaya caught our attention with the catchy name and familiar taste, while the playful Rasping for Raspberry was sweet but not overly sweet, sour and not too much so, with an intense raspberry tinge.
Have you ever fantasized about having ice cream for breakfast? With the Honey Wheat Crunch, I think your little fetish can actually come true. Tasting it for the first time, it’s like having tiny bits of wheat cereal – in an ice cream. Ho ho, lets have ice cream for breakfast!
I did not exercise, but I only had a taste of everything instead of having eight scoops.
Rainy days are the perfect weather for having ice cream. But the same goes for a hot day too. There’s nothing more gratifying than to have a cold melting ice cream under the scorching sun. I’d also go for warm fluffy waffles, topped with a single scoop of cold vanilla ice cream and drizzled with hot chocolate.
I like the idea of ice cream: be it on a cone or in a cup, the sight of the melting ice cream always proved to be irresistible, I mean, who doesn’t like ice cream? It’s like the best creation (other than nutella) in this world!
Special for ladyironchef readers:
Mention that you are a reader of ladyironchef to Stella, get an additional scoop of ice cream when you ordered the Waffle with Single Scoop OR 1-for-1 deal on scoops. Promotion is valid for one month till 24th April 2010.
For directions please click here, and you can give a call to ICK before going down. What are you waiting for? Drop by Ice Cream Kingdom and say hi to Stella for me!
Long story short, if you like my review please do come by ladyironchef . . . for the delicious in you
Its been ages since I've KTVed again.. and on this exciting evening, we decided to Sing Till our Eyes pop out again!!! Well this time, we hope we don't dance around like the past.... "the young ones... Oh darling we're the young ones...."
My pals RAVE about this PARTY WORLD chain of KTVs.. and I always wondered why. with the dangerously reducing prices of the growing sizes LCD screen and booming sound systems that can blast your ears out of your head.. I cannot imagine how much more exciting can a KTV get... But i was sorely wrong.... and at the end of the night.. I swear.. I will come back again, bringing my huge family and external families along.
When we reached the lobby, I was pretty surprised at the comfort level of the place. There were nice comfy leather couches as well as a massage chair... I really don't mind waiting.....
We were issued a room shortly.. Well, Its friday night and peak hour, but we still get a room and the prices of the rooms are great.. We managed to block 4 hours at $57 which i think is a great price for 3.... While being led to our room prepared.... I could feel the excitement of this places.. Many waitresses and waiters providing ample attention and the place was clean, no sticky or soggy carpets on the floor...
The room was beautiful.. Deco fantastically fun to be in with LED and Disco lights everywhere creating excitement and fun. The selection of songs were great and there are other stuffs to place as well as instead of just singing.. There are dices, a cheese boards and some party stuffs for us to clown around with.
We ordered a bottle of red wine.. but to our dismay, the wine totally sucks and is very pricey.. So a word of warning... stick to the nomalities... if you want to drink... drink at the drinking places..... However, its a KTV, and alcohol hurts your throat, so if you don't want to squeal and shreek while singing your favourite song, stick to the non-alc drinks.
The toilet is great too... at least there are toilet paper... they refill them frequent enough.. and that is important for me. While walking to the toilet, i actually saw a smoking room... Like a fish tank.... its cute, innovative and friendly... All in all, this a wonderful place to PARTY.. not just for singing only:)
It was a mad rush trying to find a nice restaurant back in December for Christmas Eve dinner since most places were already packed. Rather than having traditional Christmas food like turkey, log-cake and ham, we decided to go for some exotic Vietnamese food instead.
Located at Orchard Central’s Sky Garden, NUOC is a relatively new Vietnamese restaurant in the Singapore food scene. It’s positioned as a semi-fine dining Vietnamese restaurant, and naturally prices are slightly steeper.
I always have problems when it comes to ordering. It was a hard decision trying to choose from the deep-fried and the Fresh Vietnamese Spring roll ($18 for 4 rolls), so we went for the easy way out and ordered both.
Fresh prawns, sliced pork, lettuce, Vietnamese herbs & vermicelli rolled with traditional Vietnamese rice paper. That’s what inside the spring roll. Or rather, that’s what the menu says. And there’s mint inside too. The mint was somewhat like the final touch to enhance the freshness of the rolls. Crisp, and sharp, every bite was delightful – unless you don’t like mint.
Which is better? The Fresh Spring roll or the Deep-fried Vietnamese Spring Roll ($12 for 8 pieces)? I’m a sucker for deep-fried food. As much as I know that deep-fried food is unhealthy, but it always makes the food taste so much better.
We also ordered the Egg plant ($12) and Stir-fried lemon grass and ginger chicken ($16). The former was mashy, and it kinds of resembled fish rather than egg plant, while the latter was mediocre.
When it comes to soup, I only like hot soup. Somehow I never like cold soup, I mean, soup should always be hot, otherwise it’s not soup right? At least, that’s my definition of soup. Even when it’s hot soup, I only like home-cooked Chinese soup. Which is why, you seldom see me ordering soup in restaurants. I’m not against soup, but I’d rather spend the money having another appetizer, or even better – an extra dessert. The intriguing name of Fresh Prawn in young coconut ($20 for 6 pieces) caught our attention, and the soup base was probably prepared for hours; it was rich, and intense and sweet.
* * *
NUOC is a very new restaurant, and they are still sorting out all the teething problems. When we went in December, the signature Vietnamese Pho (I remembered it as fur) was not even offered on the menu, I mean how can a Vietnamese restaurant not serve Pho right? Hopefully they should be serving Pho by now. Anyway, the view is gorgeous, if you want Vietnamese food in a nice ambience and do not mind paying more, NUOC might just be the place.
Long story short, if you like my review please do come by ladyironchef . . . for the delicious in you
Had lunch at The Dining Room at Raffles Town Club, which shares the same name as a Chinese restaurant in the upclass Crockford Towers at Resort World Sentosa, though the former has been in existence long before RWS made its foray Singapore. On a side note, Sheraton Towers Hotel has a restaurant named The Dining Room as well. Is the name generic or what?
Hidden in one corner of the club (the whole clubhouse is quite a maze actually), The Dining Room features a modernly styled interior with touches of classic European grandeur, giving rise to an understated luxurious yet cozy setting.
Lobster Risotto - Though this came as an appetiser (very small portions), the risotto was al dente, with a nice overall smooth and creamy feel to it. I could make out a whiff of truffle oil as well. Lobster portions were minimal of course and I thought that there was a mild overdose of salt. But other than that, it was a good starter.
Pan Fried Goose Liver - Nicely pan fried with little charred bits, the foie gras was smooth but not exactly what I would term as silky. And check out the copious amounts of oil in this tiny piece of liver. I'm not sure the 2 sticks of asparagus did any good in making this dish "healthier" so to speak.
Prime Rib of Beef - Deviating a little from my request, my prime rib was done medium well instead of medium rare and didn't carry much natural sweetness. On the upside, it was nicely grilled with a dash of salt for seasoning. Overall still quite decent.
Tiramisu - I certainly wasn't expecting a lychee in my tiramisu but I'm not complaining as I have a certain penchant for lychees, rambutans and the likes. I like the generous serving of mascarpone cheese but that's just about it. The sponge was a little hard but not dry, reminding me more of moist brownie, which isn't too bad if you can get past the psychological expectations part. If you like coffee, you will definitely appreciate the apparent coffee taste.
We had a leisurely and filling lunch in the comfort of an empty restaurant. Food in general hovered around the average to slightly above average level, which didn't quite justify the price tag ($173 for 4 pax) in my humble opinion. Still, brownie points for excellent service and professionalism. And it beats both the Japanese and Chinese restaurant at the club.
It was meant to be a Chinese New Year dim sum gathering with a couple of my makan kakis at Taste Paradise Ion. Unfortunately, only the ala carte menu was available because it was still within the CNY period. Which was fine with me, considering that I had a great meal at Taste Paradise Mosque Street 2 years back.
It must be posh interior fatigue that I was suffering from because the dim lighted luxurious interior with huge paintings of past Chinese emperors certainly didn't impress me much. But I must say it's definitely nicer than alot of the Chinese restaurants out there.
Crispy Silver Bait - We got off to a great start with the crispy silver bait, as recommended by our waitress. The silver fish was crisp and sweet with a touch of sour. Portion size was quite small so get more to share if you have a big group.
XO Carrot Cake - What used to wow me back then turned out to be sheer disappointment this time round. It was overly soft and I couldn't make out any savoury aftertaste. The only thing I could make out was the spice from the chilli, if you consider that a taste. I reckon your local hawker centre could do a much better job at a less than half the price for the same portion size.
Roasted Pork - This dish of roasted pork takes edibility to a new low and I'm not kidding. Each tiny cube was literally one layer skin, one layer lean meat and two layers of fats. Sure, the skin was crisp but the pork taste was just too overwhelming (they probably didn't blanch it long enough) and they tried to mask it by seasoning it with more salt. Someone commented it was akin to literally biting into a raw pig and I can't help but agree. Gross.
Peking Duck - At least the peking duck didn't suffer the same fate as the roast pork. It was decently crisp but overall could have been better. The crepes were a little too thick and could have done with less sweet sauce. Oh and the crackers that came alongside were just plain bland. We opted to have the meat fried with rice and it was average at best. Rather tasteless and a tad too moist with an evident fowl smell. Poor duck.
Yuan Yang Prawn Ball - Finally a dish that presented a glimmer of hope - the yuan yang prawn ball, comprising of one wasabi prawn and one laksa prawn, served up in a martini glass. While both were big and crunchy, I personally favoured the wasabi prawn over the latter as the laksa seasoning did seem a little bland and lacklustre as compared to the more provocative wasabi.
Garoupa in Two Ways - This was apparently the special for the day and it honestly didn't look or taste as great as what our waitress had described to us. Presentation wise, it looked haphazard at best with the steamed garoupa and asparagus occupying the centre and flanked by fried pieces of garoupa. Generally speaking, the fish meat was fresh but sticky (too much corn flour!) and not very sweet. I couldn't quite make out the delicateness of the fish.
Tofu with Crab Roe - Another bordering on average dish. I appreciated the generous serving of crab meat shreds in the gravy but could have done with a little more flavour. ie. crab taste. Same goes for the tofu as well, which was barely in existence. One interesting/weird thing about the gravy was that it had a sourish overtone that didn't sit too well with either of us.
The bill dealt a $360 blow to the 7 of us. Food quality was average but service was decent. I cannot fathom how an excellent dinner at Taste Paradise Mosque Street could culminate in such a poor showing at the Ion outlet. Looks like I'll be placing my trust elsewhere in future.
And my pursuit of a great burger continues, with a visit to Fat Boys, which has recently been voted by "users" as the best burger joint in a popular local food website. I am skeptical about the validity of the data but no harm giving Fat Boys a try anyways, seeing that it's about a 15 min drive from my place and prices seem reasonable enough.
The place is casual and laid back, with bench seats and high bar tables accommodating about 20-30 pax or so. If it's only you and your partner, sharing a table during meal periods might be the norm rather than the exception. The menu is rather simple and the main focus is on the burgers where you can choose from existing options or have your burger customised.
DIY Burger - This burger was customised to include a chicken patty topped with sauteed mushrooms, drizzled with their homemade BBQ sauce on a white sesame bun. First looks, the huge patty oozed appetising with evident grill streaks running the breadth of the patty. Now came the bummer(s). The patty was made up from minced chicken and wasn't the whole piece of meat I was expecting. That meant a loss in texture and taste. The mushrooms were a little dry while the bun was merely average. And to be honest, the BBQ sauce tasted, well, like bottled BBQ sauce.
Fat Bastard - Apparently one of the respresentative dish of Fat Boys, the Fat Bastard was a mean double beef patty with an egg sandwiched between and topped with bacon strips. Greedy me opted for extra sauteed mushrooms with that and the end result was a humongous burger that threatened to burst my belly. That would have been an ideal scenario if the burger had been good. Unfortunately, the converse was true. The beef patty was overcooked but was surprisingly "juicy", which led to the conclusion that it was frozen patty. Also, the texture was very fine, probably machine chopped. Most disappointing!
After a 15% discount, the bill stood at about $23 ($27 before discount). In absolute terms, that price isn't too expensive but factor in quality and there seems to be some disparity. In short, inexpensive but average burgers at best. Service was decent though, if that's any consolation.
Right on the heels of a romantic dinner at Forlino, I had another amazing Italian feast – the following day. The original plan was to have a simple lunch somewhere else.
“Why don’t we go to Valentino?” I asked jokingly.
Apparently, my lunch date took it very seriously. To cut the story short, we ended up at Valentino’s after calling to confirm a table. Stepping inside Ristorante Da Valentino, it feels like we are in our charming Italian neighbours’ house for dinner.
Most squid ink pasta, or at least the ones that I’ve tried, had the quirky and murky flavor. This one tasted like squid ink. It tasted like fresh ink extracted on the spot.
Like the one that I’ve at Forlino the night before, the Fettucine al Granchio ($23.9) here was also infused with squid ink. Huge chunks of crab meat with the fettucine, tossed with the creamy tomato sauce – it was absolutely wicked!
Now we have a problem. I want every slurp of the pasta. No, I do not want to share.
Option A: Finish everything and re-order before my partner returns from the washroom. Option B: Try to convince her that the mushroom risotto is better than the squid ink pasta. I could see no Option C, even though I was secretly praying that she’d not like the pasta.
Unfortunately not. In case you are wondering, we wiped the plate clean. I’d die for the squid ink pasta, or less dramatically, save up and come here every week – just for this.
I want Risotto. My dear Seafood linguine, it doesn’t mean I don’t like you anymore. It just means right now, I’m craving for risotto more.
Mushroom risotto has a very important place in my heart. I don’t always order it, but when I do – it has to be good. Maybe subconsciously, we wanted more of the squid ink pasta, or maybe we had small appetite that day. Either way, just a word of caution: see the plate of Porcini Mushroom Risotto ($23.9) up there? It might not look like a lot, but trust me, both of us couldn’t finish it.
Sweetie, it’s desserts, and Perla’s Pastry Boutique is calling!
Right beside the restaurant, there is Perla’s patisserie by Valentino’s sister. There’s no dine-in area for the patisserie, but the desserts are available if you are dining in the restaurant. It was an agonizing choice between the tiramisu, panna cotta, frutti bosco and their signature chantilly cake. But the sight of the gorgeous mixed berries were simply irresistible.
There’s a wise saying that goes like this: never trust a beautiful woman, and if I can add on to it, never trust the beautiful berries to taste sweet. Call me shallow, but I actually fall for it. Oh well, what to do, I’m superficial. Anyway I believe there’s blackberries, raspberries and strawberries in the Frutti Bosco ($8.80).
* * *
A romantic dinner for two is not necessary just about fantastic view or fanciful cuisine. Lovely, lovely place. Valentino is my definition of a romantic restaurant, it is all about us having good food in a cozy ambiance. Here’s a restaurant for Valentine’s day, reservations are definitely a must for dinner.
I’m going to bring all my friends to Ristorante Da Valentino for their homely, authentic Italian food. Rifle range road is directly opposite King’s Albert Park & Bukit Timah Plaza. Pick up your phone, and dial the eight digit numbers. Get on with it.
Long story short, if you like my review please do come by ladyironchef . . . for the delicious in you
1=SGD 0.0587
I remember patronising Miss Clarity Cafe when it was still a small obscure cafe at Purvis Street back in 2005/2006. What drew me to this cafe was the reasonably priced set meals (for its location). Fast forward 4-5 years and the eatery has expanded to include an outlet along Upper Thomson Road.
The interior at the Thomson outlet is reminiscent of the original shop at Purvis, with its predominantly pink theme and girlish intonations. Even the menu is pink! And for all the eatery's success, it was empty on a Saturday evening (maybe standards have dropped or the crowds are limited to the outlet at Purvis).
Chicken Ballotine - One of the apparently popular and signature dish of the eatery, the Chicken Ballotine was essentially boneless thigh meat stuffed with mushrooms and roasted. Personally I thought the idea was good but the execution was terrible. For starters, the meat was very dry and rubbery. I could make out the mushrooms but the chicken itself didn't have much inherent taste. Disappointing as compared to what I had many years back.
Soft Shell Crab Linguine - If my Chicken Ballotine was bad, the soft shell crab linguine was a total disaster. Limp pasta swimming in artificial tasting cream based sauce and topped with crisp but flour laden soft shell crab pieces. This is as bad as it gets.
Blueberry Pie - Any hopes of dessert salvaging the meal was torn to shreds as soon as I had the first bite of the blueberry pie. First please allow me to qualify that I personally am not used to having warm blueberry pies. I prefer my blueberry pies chilled. So it came as quite a bummer when mine came served warm with a gooey, seemingly mass produced blueberry filling, sandwiched between 2 layers of hard, dry and tasteless biscuit. The sad fact of the matter is, even Han's blueberry pie, at just over 2 bucks for a slice, enjoys a better standing in my books.
A ruined dinner for 2 wasn't expensive, at almost $27. But seriously, I'll rather stuff myself with 3 big mac meals than step foot into Miss Clarity ever again. Did I mention that I have a weakness for fast food? ;)
See all my pictures here.
Rating given:
If you have ever tried out Ban Heng's buffet selection, you might probably agree that it's skewed pretty much to the quantity and not so much the quality aspect of things. However we decided to give Ban Heng's ala carte menu a chance, to see how it would stack up against the likes of Liang Kee and Guan Hin, both reputable Teochew restaurants which were mere minutes walk away. And failing to make prior reservations, we were "relegated" to the corridor seats to dine amongst the fumes of vehicles attempting to snare a parking lot right in front of the restaurant.
Broccoli with Dried Scallops - Nice crunchy texture from the broccoli meant that it wasn't overcooked. Coupled with a not so generous serving of dried scallop, this dish was decent. Well at least it wasn't bland and the lightly salty/starchy gravy went well with rice.
Braised Goose - Ban Heng's rendition of this classic Teochew dish was simple yet appetising (portions were miserable though). Tender meat with a nice roughness that was complemented by the flavourful gravy. Very good! And for once I can actually say that the accompanying beancurd was good. Soft and silky unlike the dry and much firmer species that usually plonk themselves alongside this dish.
Braised Beancurd with Seafood - I was actually quite surprised to find scallops, pacific clams, sea cucumber, fish slices and the likes in this dish. In most places (high end restaurants are the exception) you honestly wouldn't expect to see anything close to sea cucumber or scallops served up with beancurd. The word "seafood" usually just entails fish slices, a couple of mushrooms, a tiny prawn or two and that's it. Technicalities aside, everything in the pot was well simmered in the rich gravy, resulting in a wonderful seafood feast.
Orh Nee - Another hallmark of Teochew cuisine, the simple yet notoriously tedious to make, yam paste aka Orh Nee. Blanketed under a layer of coconut milk, the paste was a little moist and very smooth without being overly sweet. Personally I still prefer the drier variants but this one was undoubtedly good.
Apart from the long waiting time for our food, we had no real complains. Food quality was above average but price (almost $66 for 3 pax) was a wee bit on the high side. Service was decent but only from a couple of wait staff. If they can improve on their kitchen turn around time, I'll sign on as a regular customer.
ps: Remember not to try their buffet unless quantity, not quality, is what you are looking for.
See all my pictures here.
Rating given:
I went twice to have dinner because it's the only place with a more affordable price for steamboat in the area. There are a few soup bases to choose from and I saw a couple choose 3 soup bases.
The first time, the place wasn't crowded as it was still too early for the dinner crowd. The second time, it was nearly full from the dinner crowd. What I like is the individual tongs or scoops for each ingredient. It's cleaner. The aircon is cold enough to prevent one from perspiring just from eating hotpot.
I feel that a table for 2 people to with an induction cooker is too small for the big plates that the restaurant provide.
The clearing of the empty or dirty plates can be faster so that we can continue to add other ingredients with the cleared space.
It's easy to walk between tables although some tables are too close to pass through.
Rating given:
Ice Cream Kingdom is one of the new Ice Cream places in Singapore. The owner of the 8 month old Ice Cream Parlor at Holland Grove, is Stella, who quit her HR job in exchange for the impressive title CICO: Chief Ice-Cream Officer.
With so many ice cream places in Singapore, it can be quite a thwarting experience trying to decide on a place to satisfy the ice cream craving. I like Ice Cream Kingdom (ICK) and I am going to tell you why.
Unlike the other ice cream parlours in Singapore, it’s an one-woman-show at Ice Cream Kingdom. From making the ice cream to serving them – everything is done by Stella. Having ice cream in ICK, it makes you feel right at home.
Ice Cream Kingdom has 15 ice cream flavors – some are essentials like vanilla, chocolate and cookie & cream, while there are other unique flavors like kaya, green tea brown rice, and honey wheat crunch.
We were like kids in an ice cream shop, there’s so many flavors and we wanted to try all of them! For ‘research purposes’, we had 8 different scoops: Nutella Nutella, Vanilla Bean, Sticky Chewy Chocolate, Earl of Grey, Honey Wheat Crunch, Green Tea Brown Rice, Toasty Kaya, and Rasping for Raspberry.
Vanilla > Chocolate
When it comes to ice cream, Vanilla ice cream always win hands down – especially so when there’s speckle of vanilla beans in it. But that’s not to say that the Sticky Chewy Chocolate isn’t good. Before this visit, a dear friend brought me the chocolate flavor from Ice Cream Kingdom (ICK) and I had a whole pint of it for dinner.
Besides Vanilla bean, another of my all time favorite is definitely Nutella! I’m not sure about you, but I like nutella very very much. Since I’m not a tea lover, the Earl of Grey didn’t really appealed to me, but most of the rest raved about it as one of the better earl grey ice cream.
The Green Tea Brown Rice sounded a little too healthy for my liking; there was green tea, and there was brown rice – there you go – Green Tea Brown Rice ice cream! I know it’s not my best description – try it for yourself if you are curious. Among the different options, Toasty Kaya caught our attention with the catchy name and familiar taste, while the playful Rasping for Raspberry was sweet but not overly sweet, sour and not too much so, with an intense raspberry tinge.
Have you ever fantasized about having ice cream for breakfast? With the Honey Wheat Crunch, I think your little fetish can actually come true. Tasting it for the first time, it’s like having tiny bits of wheat cereal – in an ice cream. Ho ho, lets have ice cream for breakfast!
I did not exercise, but I only had a taste of everything instead of having eight scoops.
Rainy days are the perfect weather for having ice cream. But the same goes for a hot day too. There’s nothing more gratifying than to have a cold melting ice cream under the scorching sun. I’d also go for warm fluffy waffles, topped with a single scoop of cold vanilla ice cream and drizzled with hot chocolate.
I like the idea of ice cream: be it on a cone or in a cup, the sight of the melting ice cream always proved to be irresistible, I mean, who doesn’t like ice cream? It’s like the best creation (other than nutella) in this world!
Special for ladyironchef readers:
Mention that you are a reader of ladyironchef to Stella, get an additional scoop of ice cream when you ordered the Waffle with Single Scoop OR 1-for-1 deal on scoops. Promotion is valid for one month till 24th April 2010.
For directions please click here, and you can give a call to ICK before going down. What are you waiting for? Drop by Ice Cream Kingdom and say hi to Stella for me!
Long story short, if you like my review please do come by ladyironchef . . . for the delicious in you
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Its been ages since I've KTVed again.. and on this exciting evening, we decided to Sing Till our Eyes pop out again!!! Well this time, we hope we don't dance around like the past.... "the young ones... Oh darling we're the young ones...."
My pals RAVE about this PARTY WORLD chain of KTVs.. and I always wondered why. with the dangerously reducing prices of the growing sizes LCD screen and booming sound systems that can blast your ears out of your head.. I cannot imagine how much more exciting can a KTV get... But i was sorely wrong.... and at the end of the night.. I swear.. I will come back again, bringing my huge family and external families along.
When we reached the lobby, I was pretty surprised at the comfort level of the place. There were nice comfy leather couches as well as a massage chair... I really don't mind waiting.....
We were issued a room shortly.. Well, Its friday night and peak hour, but we still get a room and the prices of the rooms are great.. We managed to block 4 hours at $57 which i think is a great price for 3.... While being led to our room prepared.... I could feel the excitement of this places.. Many waitresses and waiters providing ample attention and the place was clean, no sticky or soggy carpets on the floor...
The room was beautiful.. Deco fantastically fun to be in with LED and Disco lights everywhere creating excitement and fun. The selection of songs were great and there are other stuffs to place as well as instead of just singing.. There are dices, a cheese boards and some party stuffs for us to clown around with.
We ordered a bottle of red wine.. but to our dismay, the wine totally sucks and is very pricey.. So a word of warning... stick to the nomalities... if you want to drink... drink at the drinking places..... However, its a KTV, and alcohol hurts your throat, so if you don't want to squeal and shreek while singing your favourite song, stick to the non-alc drinks.
The toilet is great too... at least there are toilet paper... they refill them frequent enough.. and that is important for me. While walking to the toilet, i actually saw a smoking room... Like a fish tank.... its cute, innovative and friendly... All in all, this a wonderful place to PARTY.. not just for singing only:)
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It was a mad rush trying to find a nice restaurant back in December for Christmas Eve dinner since most places were already packed. Rather than having traditional Christmas food like turkey, log-cake and ham, we decided to go for some exotic Vietnamese food instead.
Located at Orchard Central’s Sky Garden, NUOC is a relatively new Vietnamese restaurant in the Singapore food scene. It’s positioned as a semi-fine dining Vietnamese restaurant, and naturally prices are slightly steeper.
I always have problems when it comes to ordering. It was a hard decision trying to choose from the deep-fried and the Fresh Vietnamese Spring roll ($18 for 4 rolls), so we went for the easy way out and ordered both.
Fresh prawns, sliced pork, lettuce, Vietnamese herbs & vermicelli rolled with traditional Vietnamese rice paper. That’s what inside the spring roll. Or rather, that’s what the menu says. And there’s mint inside too. The mint was somewhat like the final touch to enhance the freshness of the rolls. Crisp, and sharp, every bite was delightful – unless you don’t like mint.
Which is better? The Fresh Spring roll or the Deep-fried Vietnamese Spring Roll ($12 for 8 pieces)? I’m a sucker for deep-fried food. As much as I know that deep-fried food is unhealthy, but it always makes the food taste so much better.
We also ordered the Egg plant ($12) and Stir-fried lemon grass and ginger chicken ($16). The former was mashy, and it kinds of resembled fish rather than egg plant, while the latter was mediocre.
When it comes to soup, I only like hot soup. Somehow I never like cold soup, I mean, soup should always be hot, otherwise it’s not soup right? At least, that’s my definition of soup. Even when it’s hot soup, I only like home-cooked Chinese soup. Which is why, you seldom see me ordering soup in restaurants. I’m not against soup, but I’d rather spend the money having another appetizer, or even better – an extra dessert. The intriguing name of Fresh Prawn in young coconut ($20 for 6 pieces) caught our attention, and the soup base was probably prepared for hours; it was rich, and intense and sweet.
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NUOC is a very new restaurant, and they are still sorting out all the teething problems. When we went in December, the signature Vietnamese Pho (I remembered it as fur) was not even offered on the menu, I mean how can a Vietnamese restaurant not serve Pho right? Hopefully they should be serving Pho by now. Anyway, the view is gorgeous, if you want Vietnamese food in a nice ambience and do not mind paying more, NUOC might just be the place.
Long story short, if you like my review please do come by ladyironchef . . . for the delicious in you
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Had lunch at The Dining Room at Raffles Town Club, which shares the same name as a Chinese restaurant in the upclass Crockford Towers at Resort World Sentosa, though the former has been in existence long before RWS made its foray Singapore. On a side note, Sheraton Towers Hotel has a restaurant named The Dining Room as well. Is the name generic or what?
Hidden in one corner of the club (the whole clubhouse is quite a maze actually), The Dining Room features a modernly styled interior with touches of classic European grandeur, giving rise to an understated luxurious yet cozy setting.
Lobster Risotto - Though this came as an appetiser (very small portions), the risotto was al dente, with a nice overall smooth and creamy feel to it. I could make out a whiff of truffle oil as well. Lobster portions were minimal of course and I thought that there was a mild overdose of salt. But other than that, it was a good starter.
Pan Fried Goose Liver - Nicely pan fried with little charred bits, the foie gras was smooth but not exactly what I would term as silky. And check out the copious amounts of oil in this tiny piece of liver. I'm not sure the 2 sticks of asparagus did any good in making this dish "healthier" so to speak.
Prime Rib of Beef - Deviating a little from my request, my prime rib was done medium well instead of medium rare and didn't carry much natural sweetness. On the upside, it was nicely grilled with a dash of salt for seasoning. Overall still quite decent.
Tiramisu - I certainly wasn't expecting a lychee in my tiramisu but I'm not complaining as I have a certain penchant for lychees, rambutans and the likes. I like the generous serving of mascarpone cheese but that's just about it. The sponge was a little hard but not dry, reminding me more of moist brownie, which isn't too bad if you can get past the psychological expectations part. If you like coffee, you will definitely appreciate the apparent coffee taste.
We had a leisurely and filling lunch in the comfort of an empty restaurant. Food in general hovered around the average to slightly above average level, which didn't quite justify the price tag ($173 for 4 pax) in my humble opinion. Still, brownie points for excellent service and professionalism. And it beats both the Japanese and Chinese restaurant at the club.
See all my pictures here.
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It was meant to be a Chinese New Year dim sum gathering with a couple of my makan kakis at Taste Paradise Ion. Unfortunately, only the ala carte menu was available because it was still within the CNY period. Which was fine with me, considering that I had a great meal at Taste Paradise Mosque Street 2 years back.
It must be posh interior fatigue that I was suffering from because the dim lighted luxurious interior with huge paintings of past Chinese emperors certainly didn't impress me much. But I must say it's definitely nicer than alot of the Chinese restaurants out there.
Crispy Silver Bait - We got off to a great start with the crispy silver bait, as recommended by our waitress. The silver fish was crisp and sweet with a touch of sour. Portion size was quite small so get more to share if you have a big group.
XO Carrot Cake - What used to wow me back then turned out to be sheer disappointment this time round. It was overly soft and I couldn't make out any savoury aftertaste. The only thing I could make out was the spice from the chilli, if you consider that a taste. I reckon your local hawker centre could do a much better job at a less than half the price for the same portion size.
Roasted Pork - This dish of roasted pork takes edibility to a new low and I'm not kidding. Each tiny cube was literally one layer skin, one layer lean meat and two layers of fats. Sure, the skin was crisp but the pork taste was just too overwhelming (they probably didn't blanch it long enough) and they tried to mask it by seasoning it with more salt. Someone commented it was akin to literally biting into a raw pig and I can't help but agree. Gross.
Peking Duck - At least the peking duck didn't suffer the same fate as the roast pork. It was decently crisp but overall could have been better. The crepes were a little too thick and could have done with less sweet sauce. Oh and the crackers that came alongside were just plain bland.
We opted to have the meat fried with rice and it was average at best. Rather tasteless and a tad too moist with an evident fowl smell. Poor duck.
Yuan Yang Prawn Ball - Finally a dish that presented a glimmer of hope - the yuan yang prawn ball, comprising of one wasabi prawn and one laksa prawn, served up in a martini glass. While both were big and crunchy, I personally favoured the wasabi prawn over the latter as the laksa seasoning did seem a little bland and lacklustre as compared to the more provocative wasabi.
Garoupa in Two Ways - This was apparently the special for the day and it honestly didn't look or taste as great as what our waitress had described to us. Presentation wise, it looked haphazard at best with the steamed garoupa and asparagus occupying the centre and flanked by fried pieces of garoupa. Generally speaking, the fish meat was fresh but sticky (too much corn flour!) and not very sweet. I couldn't quite make out the delicateness of the fish.
Tofu with Crab Roe - Another bordering on average dish. I appreciated the generous serving of crab meat shreds in the gravy but could have done with a little more flavour. ie. crab taste. Same goes for the tofu as well, which was barely in existence. One interesting/weird thing about the gravy was that it had a sourish overtone that didn't sit too well with either of us.
The bill dealt a $360 blow to the 7 of us. Food quality was average but service was decent. I cannot fathom how an excellent dinner at Taste Paradise Mosque Street could culminate in such a poor showing at the Ion outlet. Looks like I'll be placing my trust elsewhere in future.
See all my pictures here.
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And my pursuit of a great burger continues, with a visit to Fat Boys, which has recently been voted by "users" as the best burger joint in a popular local food website. I am skeptical about the validity of the data but no harm giving Fat Boys a try anyways, seeing that it's about a 15 min drive from my place and prices seem reasonable enough.
The place is casual and laid back, with bench seats and high bar tables accommodating about 20-30 pax or so. If it's only you and your partner, sharing a table during meal periods might be the norm rather than the exception. The menu is rather simple and the main focus is on the burgers where you can choose from existing options or have your burger customised.
DIY Burger - This burger was customised to include a chicken patty topped with sauteed mushrooms, drizzled with their homemade BBQ sauce on a white sesame bun. First looks, the huge patty oozed appetising with evident grill streaks running the breadth of the patty. Now came the bummer(s). The patty was made up from minced chicken and wasn't the whole piece of meat I was expecting. That meant a loss in texture and taste. The mushrooms were a little dry while the bun was merely average. And to be honest, the BBQ sauce tasted, well, like bottled BBQ sauce.
Fat Bastard - Apparently one of the respresentative dish of Fat Boys, the Fat Bastard was a mean double beef patty with an egg sandwiched between and topped with bacon strips. Greedy me opted for extra sauteed mushrooms with that and the end result was a humongous burger that threatened to burst my belly. That would have been an ideal scenario if the burger had been good. Unfortunately, the converse was true. The beef patty was overcooked but was surprisingly "juicy", which led to the conclusion that it was frozen patty. Also, the texture was very fine, probably machine chopped. Most disappointing!
After a 15% discount, the bill stood at about $23 ($27 before discount). In absolute terms, that price isn't too expensive but factor in quality and there seems to be some disparity. In short, inexpensive but average burgers at best. Service was decent though, if that's any consolation.
See all my pictures here.
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Right on the heels of a romantic dinner at Forlino, I had another amazing Italian feast – the following day. The original plan was to have a simple lunch somewhere else.
“Why don’t we go to Valentino?” I asked jokingly.
Apparently, my lunch date took it very seriously. To cut the story short, we ended up at Valentino’s after calling to confirm a table. Stepping inside Ristorante Da Valentino, it feels like we are in our charming Italian neighbours’ house for dinner.
Most squid ink pasta, or at least the ones that I’ve tried, had the quirky and murky flavor. This one tasted like squid ink. It tasted like fresh ink extracted on the spot.
Like the one that I’ve at Forlino the night before, the Fettucine al Granchio ($23.9) here was also infused with squid ink. Huge chunks of crab meat with the fettucine, tossed with the creamy tomato sauce – it was absolutely wicked!
Now we have a problem. I want every slurp of the pasta. No, I do not want to share.
Option A: Finish everything and re-order before my partner returns from the washroom. Option B: Try to convince her that the mushroom risotto is better than the squid ink pasta. I could see no Option C, even though I was secretly praying that she’d not like the pasta.
Unfortunately not. In case you are wondering, we wiped the plate clean. I’d die for the squid ink pasta, or less dramatically, save up and come here every week – just for this.
I want Risotto. My dear Seafood linguine, it doesn’t mean I don’t like you anymore. It just means right now, I’m craving for risotto more.
Mushroom risotto has a very important place in my heart. I don’t always order it, but when I do – it has to be good. Maybe subconsciously, we wanted more of the squid ink pasta, or maybe we had small appetite that day. Either way, just a word of caution: see the plate of Porcini Mushroom Risotto ($23.9) up there? It might not look like a lot, but trust me, both of us couldn’t finish it.
Sweetie, it’s desserts, and Perla’s Pastry Boutique is calling!
Right beside the restaurant, there is Perla’s patisserie by Valentino’s sister. There’s no dine-in area for the patisserie, but the desserts are available if you are dining in the restaurant. It was an agonizing choice between the tiramisu, panna cotta, frutti bosco and their signature chantilly cake. But the sight of the gorgeous mixed berries were simply irresistible.
There’s a wise saying that goes like this: never trust a beautiful woman, and if I can add on to it, never trust the beautiful berries to taste sweet. Call me shallow, but I actually fall for it. Oh well, what to do, I’m superficial. Anyway I believe there’s blackberries, raspberries and strawberries in the Frutti Bosco ($8.80).
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A romantic dinner for two is not necessary just about fantastic view or fanciful cuisine. Lovely, lovely place. Valentino is my definition of a romantic restaurant, it is all about us having good food in a cozy ambiance. Here’s a restaurant for Valentine’s day, reservations are definitely a must for dinner.
I’m going to bring all my friends to Ristorante Da Valentino for their homely, authentic Italian food. Rifle range road is directly opposite King’s Albert Park & Bukit Timah Plaza. Pick up your phone, and dial the eight digit numbers. Get on with it.
Long story short, if you like my review please do come by ladyironchef . . . for the delicious in you
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