Nihon Mura is part of the Sakura group of restaurants dominating the buffet lanes in Singapore.
My first impression of the Tampines outlet has since been altered recently in my subsequent visits to this restaurant.
The Cathay outlet is similar to the other outlets in terms of its decor and food offerings but the entire place is almost always packed with people and the queues are quite amazing.
The food has improved a whole lot since i've last been here and the quality of sushi is also a step above the last visit with new $1.99 plates of premium sushi that usually would have cost about $5.99 at a rival restuarant.
The salmon sashimi here is definitely worth a try. I'm not sure why but its very tender, cold and sweet as compared to other places. Including my favorite Wasabi Tei. @ $5.99 for 6 pieces of reasonable size, this place has stolen my heart for salmon sashimi to eat. The rest of the sashimi i've tried are ho hum though. So just go for the salmon sashimi.
All said and done, the new offerings and good salmon sashimi has won me over and i will indeed be returning for more.
Le Grenier a Pain originated from Paris France under the leadership of Michel Galloyer. The bakery has since accumulated multiple accolades before being franchised into Singapore by Ms Ellis Noval in an attempt to bring authentic French pastries into Singapore.
The pastry on sale has taken up a decidedly Singaporean flair with local favorites such as ham, bacon and even chicken curry flavors to appeal to the locals. Within it, you will find fancy named breads and cakes along with a rather high end price tag. In terms of the pastry, i bought about $15 worth of bread with a Chocolate fondant being the more expensive item. Tastewise, its mostly above average with the bread being soft and crusty and the chocolate being of better quality then usual. Cream and custard were both light and airy without impacting its taste. The fondant came across as average because we overbaked it and it turned out to be more chocolate sponge cake then an actual fondant.
Overall score: 6/10
Last word: I love eating bread but i simply am not able to stomach the cost thats levied on them by this bakery. In fact, when i saw how much the bread cost, i was rather shocked that 5 pieces of bread with a chocolate fondant could cause $15. I was also unable to ascertain the reason for the cost through taste but maybe thats just a personal issue of not understanding quality bread when i have one. For me, i'll probably stick with the local brands for now.
I need some chocolate, I need some sweets; to cure my oh-so-painful-heartache. I need a patissier to cheer me up: Tiramisu, mont blanc, creme brulee, macaron, le royale; give it to me, give it all to me.
“A slice of everything on display, and a cup of hot chocolate with extra chocolate.” “Everything?” “Yes! Which part of every-thing do you not understand?”
The patissier is my best friend, he will know how to make this go away. Stepping into the patisserie, a tiny part of the gloominess was lifted, at the sight of the so-many-pretty-and-petite desserts.
I sunk my teeth into it, and oh-boy, it was good, I already felt better! The richness of the cake was soaked and immersed in the essence of the espresso, brandy & white rum, I was literally intoxicated.
Bittersweet. It’s all about chocolate. The first taste, so sweet and rosy, followed by the slightly bitter taste from the dark chocolate; the perfect analogy to life, the bitterness, the happy times, it depends on which part you want to taste - I want sweet now!
* * *
(1) The above is a largely exaggerated story on my part, no doubt sweets and chocolates helps when you are feeling down, but it is only a temporary measure. A heart-to-heart chat with a good friend does wonders, and the best part: we had it over desserts.
(2) The two slices of cake are Tiramisu and Chocolate Amer. The latter was a half-price promotional item for Bakerzin in the month of May. The current dessert that is on half-price is the New York cheesecake.
(3) As much as I do not really fancy Bakerzin, and the fact that I’ve tried almost every cakes there, the half-price promotion on a slice of cake was too tempting.
You are always welcome to visit ladyironchef for a full-up on this trip. Whatever written herein are my genuine feelings expressed in words. Food, my dear, is what they call an adventure!
I've always had a thing for reclusive enclaves like that of Portsdown, with its lush greenery and quaint little restaurants that lead you away from the hustle and bustle of everyday life. And the area welcomes its newest tenant, an Italian restaurant specializing in pastas going by the name of Soprano (which in singing terms is a voice that has a vocal range that spans 2 octaves - roughly middle C to Soprano C) that opened just 2 weeks ago. Maybe the restaurant aspires to soar to great heights?
Located along Portsdown Road just opposite the building that houses Pietrasanta and cooking academy Palate Sensations, Soprano's sizeable compound comes with its own mini carpark, lawn and pool (not sure if it belongs to Soprano though). There is an option of al fresco seating or indoor seating, with the former perfect for chilling out on a cooling/windy afternoon or evening and the latter a life saver on warm days (the air conditioning seemed to be at a minimum when I was there that afternoon though).
The appetisers consisted of baby onions, onions and a mixture of button mushrooms, olives and capsicums - all of which provided a nice way to start off the meal. The bread on the other hand, wasn't served warm and tasted like ordinary baguette, albeit much denser in the center. Nothing impressive.
Bruschetta - I am actually quite perplexed by the amount of salad that came with the bruschetta. It formed the bulk of this dish save for generous helpings of halved cherry tomatoes atop 2 slices of ciabatta bread. Shouldn't the bread take center stage here? That aside, the ciabatta was toasted to a crisp and sprinkled with olive oil and fine salt granules, giving it a nice resounding texture marrying the sweetness and plumpness of the cherry tomatoes. Given the price ($9), not something I would order again though.
Linguine Aragostina - For $15 a pop, this was a steal honestly. You get 2 halves of a baby lobster served with al dente linguine in a robust and spicy (check out the cut chillis) tomato base sauce. If you prefer other sorts of pasta besides linguine, the aragostina option is also open to spaghetti. They need to fix the problem with the baby lobster though. It wasn't stale but it wasn't exactly fresh either, coming across as a little fishy.
Ravioli Ai Funghi Porcini e Tartufo - This was a cream based pasta and tended to be rather overwhelming after a few mouthfuls. But that wasn't to say that it wasn't good. The ravioli skin was not too thick and came with cheese and spinach stuffing (you can choose what stuffing you would like) in a sea of thick fragrant creamy gravy. I personally thought that the porcini mushrooms tasted great as well - crunchy with a nice woody taste.
Tiramisu - There was something different about this tiramisu. The mascarpone cheese was really yellowish in colour, probably due to the excess addition of egg yolks. I couldn't quite make out any substantial difference though except it being more dense then usual. The sponge to mascarpone ratio was rather lopsided in favour of the cheese. Whatever sponge fingers there were at the bottom was soaked in weak coffee, which meant that this was a teetotaler's rendition. Overall a decent dessert.
Profiterole - The profiterole was complimentary of Soprano and came stuffed with milk chocolate mousse drenched in chilled liquid white chocolate. I am a sucker for such stuff and honestly this is the first time I'm seeing a restaurant in Singapore serving profiteroles drenched in chocolate, which is the way they do it in France. Simple decadent! I wonder how much this goes for though because desserts are not listed on the menu.
$52.80 for 2 pax isn't expensive given the portions of food and decent quality (save for the baby lobster). Throw in reasonably good service and a charming environment and you have a serious contender in the portsdown dining scene. Prices for most pastas hover around the $15-$16 range and lets hope they keep it that way. There is also no GST, only service charge, which is definitely a plus and don't be shy to ask for tap water.
So what is nice at Yantra? Absolutely everything. The ambience is dark, but appealing. The food is normal but exquisite. Sounds contradictory? Unless you have dined in Yantra you will not know what I am blabbling forth.
Food is normal because what you get is chicken, naan and papadum. Almost what you can get at any Indian eatery. But exquisite because I do not know what they did with the chicken! The Chicken Bharta was curry without the overwhelming curry taste but had a tinge of sweetness and spiced up herbal flavour. Together with the garlic naan, which was warm, fluffy and just right garlic taste made it stand out for the evening. Just like eating pita bread with hummus or so it seems.
There seems to be different kinds of bread that we could eat here, much like the prata place serving up different kinds of prata. So what did we order next? The Rumali Roti if I could remember clearly. It was paper thin and reminded me of unleavened bread... I learned later that Rumali means handkerchief and the name comes from the fact that this roti was rolled up as thin as possible to resemble handkerchief. Just hope the chef does not mistaken it as handkerchief and start to sneeze into it...oops.
It was a light dinner and did not consider ourselves too hungry to try other things but this was satisfying for the moment. Maybe will try the desserts another time. Nice place, nice food but not too nice price.
Rainy days are good for sleeping in, but if you are not, the weather makes you sleepy and gloomy. Sunny days are best if you are at the beach, otherwise you probably will be cursing at the blazing sun! I like windy & cloudy day, the breeze simply cheers me up; just like a slice of that very delicious cake.
It took a while before the first of the lot arrived on our table, and everybody focused on the pretty decorations before returning our gaze back to the beautiful cake. The patissier’s hands must be a gift from god - they make everything so pretty!
Honey, would you like some honey? Oh yes honey, I’ll like your honey!
One particular word stood out in the description, “layers of HONEY chiboust cream and strawberry jelly sandwiched within crispy almond dacquoise.” Baby, I was attracted to you, just like bees to honey. And lovely name too, Nid d’abeilles ($7.90).
Why is a black forest call a black forest? Is it because the cake was first created in a forest so black and depressing that it was a shining beacon that brightened up everything? This, was my kind of black forest cake ($7.90); it had very little kirsch soaked cherries. I always wondered why nobody did a black forest without any cherries.
My dear, would you do one for me, pretty please?
The red velvet ($7.90) was completely opposite from its name, it was red but nowhere velvety; the cake was overly-dry. It was definitely a bimbo; pretty to look at, but no substance inside. A real pity - I was eyeing the cherry ganache with much interest.
I always had a thing for rose, you know she’s pretty, cute and even her name sounds so sexy! Even though she got together with lychee, but I’m happy for the sweet couple. They tasted good together, so dreamy, blissful and pleasant! And Oh, how I wish there’s more of the Valrhona ivory chocolate glaze; I’m on cloud nine after having the Lychee rose ($7.90)!
Mango cakes are typically the type of cake that I used to have for my childhood birthdays. For the Mango Mascarpone ($8.90), there was hardly any cake since the composition was made up mostly of the mascarpone cheese cream. It came slightly disfigured, personally I felt that it would taste better if not for the addition of the coconut crumble.
And I will like the cake to have a bit of cake.
And this, was totally my-kind-of-cake! The breathtaking of her beauty seemed to suck the air out of the room, and to complete this vision of perfectness, there was the cute chocolate-film decoration. It would be divine if there’s more of the hazelnut praline feuilletine; I just couldn’t get enough of it!
If there’s a dessert to define me, this would be it, the chocolate praline cake ($7.90).
When the dessert-holics come out to play, there’s only sweets and more sweets! I love desserts outing, we get to try so many cakes just by paying one slice of cake each! Are you a dessert-holic? Join us for more sweets next time!
You are always welcome to visit ladyironchef for a full-up on this trip. Whatever written herein are my genuine feelings expressed in words. Food, my dear, is what they call an adventure!
How often do you get a big bowl of noodles cooked by a handsome and macho hawker? Chances are not very high, although HFB spotted one located at Kovan Hougang Market & Food Centre.
It always makes me wonder why there is always such a long queue outside Fa Ji Noodles stall – are the noodles really that great-tasting or are they simply adoring fans of the hawker himself?
If you don’t believe, you can see it for yourself (In fact HFB thought he distinctively like look an older, more macho copy of Krisandro – are you guys related?).
At $3.00 for a bowl or Minced Pork Noodle Dry, HFB thought the noodles and ingredients were really generous – Minced pork, Fishcake, Pig Liver, Meatball, and dash of Braised Mushrooms!
Although HFB did felt that the Vinegar was slightly overpowering, the Chilli within more than made up for it. Noodles were cooked just right, thus making the whole bowl of minced pork noodles an instant gratification!
Being a glutton, HFB wouldn’t stop at just a bowl of noodles (of course). A bowl of Meatball Soup ($3.00) was added to the order, but somehow it kinda missed the mark. The meatballs are the softer, none the chewy, meatier type.
Somehow HFB is more of a sucker for those supermarkets off-the-shelf meatballs (tip: look out for the ones with the lion dance packaging, they taste really awesome!!!).
Spring Ju Chun Yuan - a collaboration between Far East Hospitality and Ju Chun Yuan, which is known for its Fuzhou cuisine in China. Apparently the boss of Far East ate at the restaurant in China and was so impressed by the food that he decided to bring it to Singapore, lock, stock and barrel with no modifications done to suit the Singaporean palate. And Ju Chun Yuan's claim to fame? It's purportedly the birth place of the extremely pricey and decadent "Buddha Jumps Over The Wall" (佛跳墙).
Aptly located at Far East Square, Ju Chun Yuan is housed in a conserved Chinese courtyard complete with traditional frontage and a tiled roof from ancient Chinese times as well as bamboo shoots flanking the walkway that leads to the restaurant. The interior however, is modern Chinese with a touch of class and sophistication.
Three Delicacies "Min Appetizers" Combination - The first of the three delicacies - Cashew nuts lightly coated with sugar to give it a mild sweetness and sheen. Nice and crunchy and I happen to have a weakness for cashews so this suited me just fine. The second delicacy was essentially winter melon strips dipped into orange syrup. The strips had a nice crunch and tasted mildy sweet with a zesty tinge of orange. Great as a snack. Third was the cucumber slices that had a mild and sharp spicy taste to it. Not a big fan of cucumbers though, so I didn't venture past my first piece.
Pan Fried Cod Fish with House Recipes - According to the waitress, the house recipe contained about 10 different spices in it and I was sold, especially when you throw cod fish into the equation. But honestly, it didn't quite pan out as expected. Sure, the sauce was mildly sweet and very light but the batter coating on the fish slices was a little too thick and I couldn't quite make out the texture of the cod nor the sweetness of the flesh. Disappointing.
Braised Beancurd with Vegetables Served in Fuzhou Style - Beancurd is comfort food to me and I like it done in any way, well almost. I don't exactly know what fuzhou style tofu entails but this dish tasted like normal braised beancurd (红烧豆府) to me. Average but edible.
Braised "Lychee" Minced Pork with Water Chestnut - I opted for this dish because I was intrigued by lychee, water chestnut and minced pork together in 1 dish. It turned out to be a most unwise decision. For starters, the minced pork comprised mostly fatty pork and carried an overwhelming pork taste. The lump of chestnut in the center of the meat ball added a nice crunch to it while the drizzled sauce tasted sweet, very much like those you would find on sweet and sour pork (咕噜肉). There was no taste of lychee whatsoever.
Fried Rice with Minced Shrimp and Egg White Served in Fuzhou Style - As aesthetically pleasing as the fried rice looked with its homogeneously egg coated grains of rice, it fell short in taste. There was no discernible wok hei taste and the whole dish lacked any flavour to the extent of being bland. Still edible though as the rice was soft and moist with reasonable servings of chopped prawns and other condiments. One thing I realised was that the rice seemed more steamed then fried. The restaurant probably steamed it for quite a bit before doing a fast fry with minimal oil.
Cold White Fungus with Osmanthus Syrup - A light and sweet cold white fungus dessert with floral connotations from the osmanthus to end off the disappointing meal. As average as it gets.
Fuzhou Yam Pudding - I had been dying to try out Ju Chun Yuan's rendition of my favourite dessert, yam pudding, ever since it was billed as one of the best by local media sometime back. On hindsight, I should have known about the overhyping that plagues most local media these days. Though the yam pudding was smooth, it retained little moisture, making it a tad dry. It wasn't fragrant either, probably due to the minimal or lack of lard. What was different was the addition of sesame seeds, which really boils down to personal preference.
Dinner for 2 cost to the tune of $71, which isn't expensive for the quantity and variety of food. However, quality is suspect, which does make $71 seem a little over the top. To be fair, it may be because I am not used to authentic Fuzhou cuisine like the way they do it in China? Either that, or they really need to work on their food.
Went to this place for lunch before going for a performance. Being a dessert lover, was attracted here by the replicas of the desserts outside the store. This place is noisy, being an enclosed area and people around talking loudly and a constant flow of customers.
I ordered Beef Stew and Ichigo Milk Parfait. While my friends ordered the Beef curry rice and some mushroom pasta which I forgot the name.
Soup base for the beef stew was tomato which was too sour for my liking. Though I will give a thumbs up for the beefy taste of the beef and its great texture. Other ingredients in the bowl are brocoli and carrots cooked just right to retain some crunchiness. I did not finish my bowl of pasta though, as the portion of pasta was too large with comparatively small portion of other ingredients.
Beef curry was too sweet and taste just like any other curried rice. Nothing special.
I did try some of the soup for the clear mushroom base pasta. Salty was the word and nothing else to it. Though the portion was upsized, it doesn't look like much cept for the taller bowl that made eating difficult.
Ichigo Milk Parfait saved the day with the Milky ice cream not too sweet, creamily smooth (yum yum~~) and blended well with the sweet ichigo lined on top. However, the pool of ichigo sauce at the bottom of the cup spoils a little for me as the concentration was too sweet to eat with the cornflakes. Without this, this dessert would be perfect~
Service of the restaurant was not so desired though. The male service crew kept appearing behind me (towered over me) though he could have stood at the side of our table and we could hear him well (vice versa). Got a shocked from him on several occasions plus the fact I was wearing a dress with low V cutting added to the annoyance.
Nevertheless, menu was quite extensive and we were spoiled for choices. Will definitely visit again to try its other kinds of pasta and of course the ichigo milk parfait ;D
It was quite some time ago that i had a go trying out Vientai and the results were less then spectacular.
The food was lacklustre due to a lack of identity.
I had the Vietnam hor fun which came with some fried crisps and beef balls in a dark transparent soup base. It wasn't totally bad since the soup itself was rather thick with taste reminiscent of prawn soup. But its the feeling after the noodles were finished that you feel rather disappointed. After all, paying $10 for a bowl of prawn soup hor fun isn't exactly a value for money event.
The other item we had was something akin to phad thai. Slightly spicy and rank with peanut taste. The prawns were pretty good as is the rice noodles itself. But its still the aftertaste of receiving the bill that really ticks it off.
In the end, if this was a normal coffee shop set up and price. I would have recommended it to no end. But as it stands now, i'd have to say no thanks.
1=SGD 0.0587
Nihon Mura is part of the Sakura group of restaurants dominating the buffet lanes in Singapore.
My first impression of the Tampines outlet has since been altered recently in my subsequent visits to this restaurant.
The Cathay outlet is similar to the other outlets in terms of its decor and food offerings but the entire place is almost always packed with people and the queues are quite amazing.
The food has improved a whole lot since i've last been here and the quality of sushi is also a step above the last visit with new $1.99 plates of premium sushi that usually would have cost about $5.99 at a rival restuarant.
The salmon sashimi here is definitely worth a try. I'm not sure why but its very tender, cold and sweet as compared to other places. Including my favorite Wasabi Tei. @ $5.99 for 6 pieces of reasonable size, this place has stolen my heart for salmon sashimi to eat. The rest of the sashimi i've tried are ho hum though. So just go for the salmon sashimi.
All said and done, the new offerings and good salmon sashimi has won me over and i will indeed be returning for more.
Rating given:
Le Grenier a Pain originated from Paris France under the leadership of Michel Galloyer. The bakery has since accumulated multiple accolades before being franchised into Singapore by Ms Ellis Noval in an attempt to bring authentic French pastries into Singapore.
The pastry on sale has taken up a decidedly Singaporean flair with local favorites such as ham, bacon and even chicken curry flavors to appeal to the locals. Within it, you will find fancy named breads and cakes along with a rather high end price tag.
In terms of the pastry, i bought about $15 worth of bread with a Chocolate fondant being the more expensive item. Tastewise, its mostly above average with the bread being soft and crusty and the chocolate being of better quality then usual. Cream and custard were both light and airy without impacting its taste.
The fondant came across as average because we overbaked it and it turned out to be more chocolate sponge cake then an actual fondant.
Overall score: 6/10
Last word:
I love eating bread but i simply am not able to stomach the cost thats levied on them by this bakery. In fact, when i saw how much the bread cost, i was rather shocked that 5 pieces of bread with a chocolate fondant could cause $15. I was also unable to ascertain the reason for the cost through taste but maybe thats just a personal issue of not understanding quality bread when i have one. For me, i'll probably stick with the local brands for now.
Rating given:
I need some chocolate, I need some sweets; to cure my oh-so-painful-heartache. I need a patissier to cheer me up: Tiramisu, mont blanc, creme brulee, macaron, le royale; give it to me, give it all to me.
“A slice of everything on display, and a cup of hot chocolate with extra chocolate.”
“Everything?”
“Yes! Which part of every-thing do you not understand?”
The patissier is my best friend, he will know how to make this go away. Stepping into the patisserie, a tiny part of the gloominess was lifted, at the sight of the so-many-pretty-and-petite desserts.
I sunk my teeth into it, and oh-boy, it was good, I already felt better! The richness of the cake was soaked and immersed in the essence of the espresso, brandy & white rum, I was literally intoxicated.
Bittersweet. It’s all about chocolate. The first taste, so sweet and rosy, followed by the slightly bitter taste from the dark chocolate; the perfect analogy to life, the bitterness, the happy times, it depends on which part you want to taste - I want sweet now!
* * *
(1) The above is a largely exaggerated story on my part, no doubt sweets and chocolates helps when you are feeling down, but it is only a temporary measure. A heart-to-heart chat with a good friend does wonders, and the best part: we had it over desserts.
(2) The two slices of cake are Tiramisu and Chocolate Amer. The latter was a half-price promotional item for Bakerzin in the month of May. The current dessert that is on half-price is the New York cheesecake.
(3) As much as I do not really fancy Bakerzin, and the fact that I’ve tried almost every cakes there, the half-price promotion on a slice of cake was too tempting.
You are always welcome to visit ladyironchef for a full-up on this trip. Whatever written herein are my genuine feelings expressed in words. Food, my dear, is what they call an adventure!
Rating given:
I've always had a thing for reclusive enclaves like that of Portsdown, with its lush greenery and quaint little restaurants that lead you away from the hustle and bustle of everyday life. And the area welcomes its newest tenant, an Italian restaurant specializing in pastas going by the name of Soprano (which in singing terms is a voice that has a vocal range that spans 2 octaves - roughly middle C to Soprano C) that opened just 2 weeks ago. Maybe the restaurant aspires to soar to great heights?
Located along Portsdown Road just opposite the building that houses Pietrasanta and cooking academy Palate Sensations, Soprano's sizeable compound comes with its own mini carpark, lawn and pool (not sure if it belongs to Soprano though). There is an option of al fresco seating or indoor seating, with the former perfect for chilling out on a cooling/windy afternoon or evening and the latter a life saver on warm days (the air conditioning seemed to be at a minimum when I was there that afternoon though).
The appetisers consisted of baby onions, onions and a mixture of button mushrooms, olives and capsicums - all of which provided a nice way to start off the meal. The bread on the other hand, wasn't served warm and tasted like ordinary baguette, albeit much denser in the center. Nothing impressive.
Bruschetta - I am actually quite perplexed by the amount of salad that came with the bruschetta. It formed the bulk of this dish save for generous helpings of halved cherry tomatoes atop 2 slices of ciabatta bread. Shouldn't the bread take center stage here? That aside, the ciabatta was toasted to a crisp and sprinkled with olive oil and fine salt granules, giving it a nice resounding texture marrying the sweetness and plumpness of the cherry tomatoes. Given the price ($9), not something I would order again though.
Linguine Aragostina - For $15 a pop, this was a steal honestly. You get 2 halves of a baby lobster served with al dente linguine in a robust and spicy (check out the cut chillis) tomato base sauce. If you prefer other sorts of pasta besides linguine, the aragostina option is also open to spaghetti. They need to fix the problem with the baby lobster though. It wasn't stale but it wasn't exactly fresh either, coming across as a little fishy.
Ravioli Ai Funghi Porcini e Tartufo - This was a cream based pasta and tended to be rather overwhelming after a few mouthfuls. But that wasn't to say that it wasn't good. The ravioli skin was not too thick and came with cheese and spinach stuffing (you can choose what stuffing you would like) in a sea of thick fragrant creamy gravy. I personally thought that the porcini mushrooms tasted great as well - crunchy with a nice woody taste.
Tiramisu - There was something different about this tiramisu. The mascarpone cheese was really yellowish in colour, probably due to the excess addition of egg yolks. I couldn't quite make out any substantial difference though except it being more dense then usual. The sponge to mascarpone ratio was rather lopsided in favour of the cheese. Whatever sponge fingers there were at the bottom was soaked in weak coffee, which meant that this was a teetotaler's rendition. Overall a decent dessert.
Profiterole - The profiterole was complimentary of Soprano and came stuffed with milk chocolate mousse drenched in chilled liquid white chocolate. I am a sucker for such stuff and honestly this is the first time I'm seeing a restaurant in Singapore serving profiteroles drenched in chocolate, which is the way they do it in France. Simple decadent! I wonder how much this goes for though because desserts are not listed on the menu.
$52.80 for 2 pax isn't expensive given the portions of food and decent quality (save for the baby lobster). Throw in reasonably good service and a charming environment and you have a serious contender in the portsdown dining scene. Prices for most pastas hover around the $15-$16 range and lets hope they keep it that way. There is also no GST, only service charge, which is definitely a plus and don't be shy to ask for tap water.
See all my pictures here.
Rating given:
So what is nice at Yantra? Absolutely everything. The ambience is dark, but appealing. The food is normal but exquisite. Sounds contradictory? Unless you have dined in Yantra you will not know what I am blabbling forth.
Food is normal because what you get is chicken, naan and papadum. Almost what you can get at any Indian eatery. But exquisite because I do not know what they did with the chicken! The Chicken Bharta was curry without the overwhelming curry taste but had a tinge of sweetness and spiced up herbal flavour. Together with the garlic naan, which was warm, fluffy and just right garlic taste made it stand out for the evening. Just like eating pita bread with hummus or so it seems.
There seems to be different kinds of bread that we could eat here, much like the prata place serving up different kinds of prata. So what did we order next? The Rumali Roti if I could remember clearly. It was paper thin and reminded me of unleavened bread... I learned later that Rumali means handkerchief and the name comes from the fact that this roti was rolled up as thin as possible to resemble handkerchief. Just hope the chef does not mistaken it as handkerchief and start to sneeze into it...oops.
It was a light dinner and did not consider ourselves too hungry to try other things but this was satisfying for the moment. Maybe will try the desserts another time. Nice place, nice food but not too nice price.
Rating given:
Rainy days are good for sleeping in, but if you are not, the weather makes you sleepy and gloomy. Sunny days are best if you are at the beach, otherwise you probably will be cursing at the blazing sun! I like windy & cloudy day, the breeze simply cheers me up; just like a slice of that very delicious cake.
It took a while before the first of the lot arrived on our table, and everybody focused on the pretty decorations before returning our gaze back to the beautiful cake. The patissier’s hands must be a gift from god - they make everything so pretty!
Honey, would you like some honey? Oh yes honey, I’ll like your honey!
One particular word stood out in the description, “layers of HONEY chiboust cream and strawberry jelly sandwiched within crispy almond dacquoise.” Baby, I was attracted to you, just like bees to honey. And lovely name too, Nid d’abeilles ($7.90).
Why is a black forest call a black forest? Is it because the cake was first created in a forest so black and depressing that it was a shining beacon that brightened up everything? This, was my kind of black forest cake ($7.90); it had very little kirsch soaked cherries. I always wondered why nobody did a black forest without any cherries.
My dear, would you do one for me, pretty please?
The red velvet ($7.90) was completely opposite from its name, it was red but nowhere velvety; the cake was overly-dry. It was definitely a bimbo; pretty to look at, but no substance inside. A real pity - I was eyeing the cherry ganache with much interest.
I always had a thing for rose, you know she’s pretty, cute and even her name sounds so sexy! Even though she got together with lychee, but I’m happy for the sweet couple. They tasted good together, so dreamy, blissful and pleasant! And Oh, how I wish there’s more of the Valrhona ivory chocolate glaze; I’m on cloud nine after having the Lychee rose ($7.90)!
Mango cakes are typically the type of cake that I used to have for my childhood birthdays. For the Mango Mascarpone ($8.90), there was hardly any cake since the composition was made up mostly of the mascarpone cheese cream. It came slightly disfigured, personally I felt that it would taste better if not for the addition of the coconut crumble.
And I will like the cake to have a bit of cake.
And this, was totally my-kind-of-cake! The breathtaking of her beauty seemed to suck the air out of the room, and to complete this vision of perfectness, there was the cute chocolate-film decoration. It would be divine if there’s more of the hazelnut praline feuilletine; I just couldn’t get enough of it!
If there’s a dessert to define me, this would be it, the chocolate praline cake ($7.90).
When the dessert-holics come out to play, there’s only sweets and more sweets! I love desserts outing, we get to try so many cakes just by paying one slice of cake each! Are you a dessert-holic? Join us for more sweets next time!
You are always welcome to visit ladyironchef for a full-up on this trip. Whatever written herein are my genuine feelings expressed in words. Food, my dear, is what they call an adventure!
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How often do you get a big bowl of noodles cooked by a handsome and macho hawker? Chances are not very high, although HFB spotted one located at Kovan Hougang Market & Food Centre.
It always makes me wonder why there is always such a long queue outside Fa Ji Noodles stall – are the noodles really that great-tasting or are they simply adoring fans of the hawker himself?
If you don’t believe, you can see it for yourself (In fact HFB thought he distinctively like look an older, more macho copy of Krisandro – are you guys related?).
At $3.00 for a bowl or Minced Pork Noodle Dry, HFB thought the noodles and ingredients were really generous – Minced pork, Fishcake, Pig Liver, Meatball, and dash of Braised Mushrooms!
Although HFB did felt that the Vinegar was slightly overpowering, the Chilli within more than made up for it. Noodles were cooked just right, thus making the whole bowl of minced pork noodles an instant gratification!
Being a glutton, HFB wouldn’t stop at just a bowl of noodles (of course). A bowl of Meatball Soup ($3.00) was added to the order, but somehow it kinda missed the mark. The meatballs are the softer, none the chewy, meatier type.
Somehow HFB is more of a sucker for those supermarkets off-the-shelf meatballs (tip: look out for the ones with the lion dance packaging, they taste really awesome!!!).
You can view all the photos here.
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Spring Ju Chun Yuan - a collaboration between Far East Hospitality and Ju Chun Yuan, which is known for its Fuzhou cuisine in China. Apparently the boss of Far East ate at the restaurant in China and was so impressed by the food that he decided to bring it to Singapore, lock, stock and barrel with no modifications done to suit the Singaporean palate. And Ju Chun Yuan's claim to fame? It's purportedly the birth place of the extremely pricey and decadent "Buddha Jumps Over The Wall" (佛跳墙).
Aptly located at Far East Square, Ju Chun Yuan is housed in a conserved Chinese courtyard complete with traditional frontage and a tiled roof from ancient Chinese times as well as bamboo shoots flanking the walkway that leads to the restaurant. The interior however, is modern Chinese with a touch of class and sophistication.
Three Delicacies "Min Appetizers" Combination - The first of the three delicacies - Cashew nuts lightly coated with sugar to give it a mild sweetness and sheen. Nice and crunchy and I happen to have a weakness for cashews so this suited me just fine. The second delicacy was essentially winter melon strips dipped into orange syrup. The strips had a nice crunch and tasted mildy sweet with a zesty tinge of orange. Great as a snack. Third was the cucumber slices that had a mild and sharp spicy taste to it. Not a big fan of cucumbers though, so I didn't venture past my first piece.
Pan Fried Cod Fish with House Recipes - According to the waitress, the house recipe contained about 10 different spices in it and I was sold, especially when you throw cod fish into the equation. But honestly, it didn't quite pan out as expected. Sure, the sauce was mildly sweet and very light but the batter coating on the fish slices was a little too thick and I couldn't quite make out the texture of the cod nor the sweetness of the flesh. Disappointing.
Braised Beancurd with Vegetables Served in Fuzhou Style - Beancurd is comfort food to me and I like it done in any way, well almost. I don't exactly know what fuzhou style tofu entails but this dish tasted like normal braised beancurd (红烧豆府) to me. Average but edible.
Braised "Lychee" Minced Pork with Water Chestnut - I opted for this dish because I was intrigued by lychee, water chestnut and minced pork together in 1 dish. It turned out to be a most unwise decision. For starters, the minced pork comprised mostly fatty pork and carried an overwhelming pork taste. The lump of chestnut in the center of the meat ball added a nice crunch to it while the drizzled sauce tasted sweet, very much like those you would find on sweet and sour pork (咕噜肉). There was no taste of lychee whatsoever.
Fried Rice with Minced Shrimp and Egg White Served in Fuzhou Style - As aesthetically pleasing as the fried rice looked with its homogeneously egg coated grains of rice, it fell short in taste. There was no discernible wok hei taste and the whole dish lacked any flavour to the extent of being bland. Still edible though as the rice was soft and moist with reasonable servings of chopped prawns and other condiments. One thing I realised was that the rice seemed more steamed then fried. The restaurant probably steamed it for quite a bit before doing a fast fry with minimal oil.
Cold White Fungus with Osmanthus Syrup - A light and sweet cold white fungus dessert with floral connotations from the osmanthus to end off the disappointing meal. As average as it gets.
Fuzhou Yam Pudding - I had been dying to try out Ju Chun Yuan's rendition of my favourite dessert, yam pudding, ever since it was billed as one of the best by local media sometime back. On hindsight, I should have known about the overhyping that plagues most local media these days. Though the yam pudding was smooth, it retained little moisture, making it a tad dry. It wasn't fragrant either, probably due to the minimal or lack of lard. What was different was the addition of sesame seeds, which really boils down to personal preference.
Dinner for 2 cost to the tune of $71, which isn't expensive for the quantity and variety of food. However, quality is suspect, which does make $71 seem a little over the top. To be fair, it may be because I am not used to authentic Fuzhou cuisine like the way they do it in China? Either that, or they really need to work on their food.
See all my pictures here.
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Went to this place for lunch before going for a performance. Being a dessert lover, was attracted here by the replicas of the desserts outside the store. This place is noisy, being an enclosed area and people around talking loudly and a constant flow of customers.
I ordered Beef Stew and Ichigo Milk Parfait. While my friends ordered the Beef curry rice and some mushroom pasta which I forgot the name.
Soup base for the beef stew was tomato which was too sour for my liking. Though I will give a thumbs up for the beefy taste of the beef and its great texture. Other ingredients in the bowl are brocoli and carrots cooked just right to retain some crunchiness. I did not finish my bowl of pasta though, as the portion of pasta was too large with comparatively small portion of other ingredients.
Beef curry was too sweet and taste just like any other curried rice. Nothing special.
I did try some of the soup for the clear mushroom base pasta. Salty was the word and nothing else to it. Though the portion was upsized, it doesn't look like much cept for the taller bowl that made eating difficult.
Ichigo Milk Parfait saved the day with the Milky ice cream not too sweet, creamily smooth (yum yum~~) and blended well with the sweet ichigo lined on top. However, the pool of ichigo sauce at the bottom of the cup spoils a little for me as the concentration was too sweet to eat with the cornflakes. Without this, this dessert would be perfect~
Service of the restaurant was not so desired though. The male service crew kept appearing behind me (towered over me) though he could have stood at the side of our table and we could hear him well (vice versa). Got a shocked from him on several occasions plus the fact I was wearing a dress with low V cutting added to the annoyance.
Nevertheless, menu was quite extensive and we were spoiled for choices. Will definitely visit again to try its other kinds of pasta and of course the ichigo milk parfait ;D
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It was quite some time ago that i had a go trying out Vientai and the results were less then spectacular.
The food was lacklustre due to a lack of identity.
I had the Vietnam hor fun which came with some fried crisps and beef balls in a dark transparent soup base. It wasn't totally bad since the soup itself was rather thick with taste reminiscent of prawn soup. But its the feeling after the noodles were finished that you feel rather disappointed. After all, paying $10 for a bowl of prawn soup hor fun isn't exactly a value for money event.
The other item we had was something akin to phad thai. Slightly spicy and rank with peanut taste. The prawns were pretty good as is the rice noodles itself. But its still the aftertaste of receiving the bill that really ticks it off.
In the end, if this was a normal coffee shop set up and price. I would have recommended it to no end. But as it stands now, i'd have to say no thanks.
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