You know in life, there’s usually only one opportunity, and like they say, if you missed the train, it’s gonna be gone forever. That is why, gracious and forgiving, as cliché as it may sound, is important. Second chance.
Making the wrong choices once is bad enough, this time, we are going for the safe option. What better than their signature Le Royale ($7). If I’m to be a scientist, all the cures and breakthrough will never occur. But call me a mathematician, the cake had 64% of dark chocolate mousse. Of hazelnut feullitine and praline, I could never differentiate them apart. But I love them both, yes I do. So it doesn’t matter, anything with hazelnut & feullitine works for me. You know I love you, xoxo Le Royale.
Some of the female companions that I know, does not like to drink coffee. Yet they always frequent Starbucks, well just for their green tea frapp. Yes, call it irresistible, healthy, or whatever, our ladies love their macha. The lovely light shade of green tea mascarpone mousse was appealing. I’m no expert when it comes to green tea, but what I do know, the macha was very subtle. And the chestnut cremeuex was an interesting choice for the middle layer. Not that i’m a fan of chestnut. Oh yes, simply named, the macha ($7)
Oh dear, if looks can kill, so can Tarte Citron ($5.50). The beautifully burnt effects from the blow torch was a sight to behold. Italian meringue with lemon cream on almond tart. My, my. This really is a beauty. And if you think she is a bimbo, the taste was as good as the looks too.
I never know Canelé has good ice cream. Well, they are known for their cakes, and chocolates, but ice cream! I love surprises. And Nougatine ($8) is all about that. Praline ice cream with hazelnut nougatine was always my beloved. But it was the salty caramel dripped alongside the ice cream, which really made it so good.
Total bill was $33 for three cakes and one ice cream. Well I thought that the ice cream was pretty decent even at eight dollars per pop since it was more than the size of two scoops elsewhere. The raffles city branch is canelé restaurant instead of patisserie, since they offered main course as well. But I resisted putting the word restaurant on my title since we didn’t try any of their main course. That will be another time of course.
Usually opportunities only come knocking once, but I’m gonna knock on the door a few more times.
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!
A big man with a big reputation, Damian De Silva, formerly chef cum owner of Soul Kitchen at Purvis Street, relocated Big D’s Grill from Bedok South to Holland Drive. Located near the bus interchange at the same coffeeshop of the famous Fishhead Beehoon stall, chef Damian “western food stall” is well known for serving restaurant quality Black Angus Beef Steaks and Kurobuta Pork Chops, as well as his limited Peranakan Specialties e.g. Ayam Buah Keluak – think Astons, before he got his chain restaurants going, added to scale down version of Soul Kitchen.
Mr De Silva insisted on using fresh Snapper and not frozen Dory for his Beer-Battered Fish & Chips ($8.90). At that price, the serving was pretty value for money and the fish tasted fresh. One could also surely take pleasure in a hint of beer aftertaste from the exterior of the fish – seasoning was slightly uneven though with parts being overly salty. But snapper or not, there was hardly any taste to the flesh of the fish. HFB would prefer the fish meat to be lightly marinated. Homemade Chips were well fried and vastly addictive!
One of his signatured dishes, the dazzling Crabmeat Linguine ($10.90) was immensely under-priced and overly extravagant with Shredded Crabmeat. HFB would advise one to go for the spicy version, as crabmeat is pretty heavy for the palate and tanginess brings it down by a notch. The linguine was done al-dente and the ingredients harmonised perfectly – the sour from the tomato base sauce, spiciness from the chilli, and the sweetness from the crabmeat really complements each other very well. This coffeeshop adaptation triumphed convincingly against the supposedly fine-dining standard – dollar for value in HFB’s opinion. This is one dish HFB will return for it.
Weighed at least 200 grams, if not more, the US Kurabuta Pork Loin ($28.00) was something that HFB was looking forward to. Indeed seeing is believing, but tasting it truly convinced HFB that the fuss and the hearsay was spot on about how wickedly mouth-watering this piece of meat is. The glistening layer of fats gave the famed meat its luscious and moist consistency – the spurt of juicy goodness with every nibble testify to this. With the exterior charred grilled to perfection, the hint of pink in the centre also gave it a tender bite. Coupled with their homemade applesauce that is reasonably flavoursome, this dish is definitely a hearty no-no for the weak heart, but surely a treasured find for the brave!
Went there to celebrate a friend's birthday and had an absolute unsatisfying meal. We ordered Set Shabu Shabu for 4 as we had 6 persons and the waitress told us that the Set can serve 6 too. Yeah, I think she meant can serve 6 but not necessary enough for 6. As can be seen on the picture, there's an absolute total or 1 mushroom for a Set for 4?? Or 2 small pieces of Toufu for 4?? In the end, we saw the table besides us ordered ala cart Shabu Shabu for 1 person and the serving was like about the same as ours.
Food quality wise, the freshness and taste was good and the soup base was just nice after we cooked the ingredients. This slightly appeased our anger over the portion of Set for 4.
Service was quite good, it was service with a smile from the servers and request for fillings of tea was met quite fast.
Would recommend this place if you don't look at the Shabu Shabu Set menu.
After enjoying a wonderful plate of Escargots during my holiday, I've been wondering if it's actually possible to find reasonably-priced Escargots in Singapore. And when I saw Ma Maison, and how cheap the Escargots actually were, I couldn't wait to go there!
So when I got there, there was a rather short but slow-moving queue, so people: do remember to make reservations!
However, if you didn't mind sitting at the bar, they'd allow you to do that just so you don't have to wait too long. And that was what I did. Nothing unpleasant nor special about that experience.
I understand that the place is a French-Jap fusion restaurant, but I personally didn't quite like the decor of the place. The dark lightings and wooden furnishing gave it a french/ country-style indeed, perhaps that explains the "French" part. However, I thought everything you see didn't quite blend well with the atmosphere and cuisine (so to speak) served.
Service was not too bad there, people were rather friendly and prompt in bringing up your food. We didn't have to wait too long for our orders. Additional plates and appropriate utensils were also provided to make it easier to eat the Escargots and anything else we ordered. We were also given this giant brass key that we would need when making payment. It was a rather cool idea and it was so huge that you can't lose it. But that chunky thing was kinda in the way too, considering how bar-tops were not made for big plates.
I can't remember the exact name of the things I ordered, but I remember there being a plate of Escargots, some Mexican (or spanish?) seafood rice and a bowl of Omu rice.
The Escargots had a fairly strong garlic and butter taste, and was very oily. Did not taste very fresh to me either.
The seafood rice, too, had the similar garlic and butter taste. Makes me wonder if they use the exact same wok/pan to cook everything. I didn't like the appearance of the dish. It gave me the feeling of being full upon looking at it. But apart from the abovementioned, taste-wise, it was still fairly decent.
My favourite was probably the simple tomato sauce-based Omu rice. I would advise anyone who orders that to finish it while it's still hot and tasting good.
In general, I have one comment for almost everything I had: being the worse fan of garlic, everything in the food had to have such strong garlic taste! So I guess I didn't really enjoy everything.. Nonetheless, I am sure if you share the exact opposite sentiments as I do, this place could be a place worth trying! And if you're on some sort of a budget, try to limit yourself to just one dish per person because the bill can come up to quite abit, including the GST and all. We paid $90 for two, unfortunately.
In Singapore, Victoria's Secret is currently only available at Changi Airport. For someone like me who stays in the central area of the island, it is obviously rather inconvenient for me to travel all the way to the airport just to get myself Victoria's Secret products.
Thankfully, online shopping exists! Apart from victoriassecret.com, there are a few other blogshops that are being run by several Singaporean ladies who are also fans of Victoria's Secret products. Some of the prices of the products are slightly more expensive than if you buy it directly from the main website itself, but it definitely beats having to wait for 2 weeks for your items to arrive from the States!
Also, if you find yourself eyeing items from past seasons and you can no longer find it on victoriassecret.com, these blogshops are also able to get those items for you. When asked, a blogshop owner revealed to me that some items (only SOME, not all) are obtained via eBay.
While it is true that you can get it yourself from eBay, I just feel that it's safer to buy it through the blogshop owners because you never know if a swindler is behind an account, and these blogshop owners regularly deal with specific sellers on eBay so they would know who is trustworthy. That's why I feel that its better to buy it through them since in a way, I'm paying for them to do the toughest part of it.
Afterall, if they order an item and they pay for it before you pay them (which is usually the case for instocks since they have to possess the items before selling it to you) and if they get cheated of it, you lose nothing. So I feel that letting them earn that bit more money is rather reasonable.
However, there are a few blogshops that raise their prices very steeply, so its always good to check out as many blogshops as you can find and compare the prices of items for the best deal! Some times the difference can be up to 50%! So do watch your own back regarding that unless you really have a fair bit of spare cash to spend!
It was the usual weekly dinner with my folks again and the venue of choice was The Chinese Restaurant at Raffles Town Club. Apparently this is a members only restaurant so I didn't harbour any hopes of a fantastic meal even though prices aren't exactly the cheapest around.
In the glossy pages of the club magazine, the restaurant looked like a blast. However reality is harsh and the interior turned out looking more dreary then glam. What was rather amusing was that the restaurant required us (the customers) to switch off our cell phones during our meal. Fortunately, it wasn't strictly enforced though.
Smoked Salmon with Passion Fruit & Vegetable Salad - There were only 2 slices of the smoked salmon, which was quite pathetic if you ask me. And the salmon was way too salty but I guess not having the overwhelmingly raw taste is a plus.
Braised Superior Shark's Fin with Bean Sprout - The broth was a tad too starchy but the fins were relatively generous, though of the mediocre variant. Adding to the woes was the overdose of salt, which made the soup rather heavy.
Braised Seasonal Vegetables with Bean Curd Stick & Conpoy in Chicken Stock - This dish was a major turn off. The spinach wasn't properly washed and I could hear the resounding crunch of sand/sediment with every bite. The bean curd stick tasted like flour but to give it credit, it was well deep fried and topped with shreds of deep fried dried scallops.
Sauteed Scallop & Fresh Prawn in Sichuan Sauce - This was probably the best dish of the evening as the scallops were crunchy and sweet while the prawns fresh but a tad small. The bed of broccoli wasn't over or undercooked but the sichuan sauce came across as mildly spicy and very normal.
Steamed Sea Perch with Chilli - I couldn't quite make out the chilli in this dish. What I could taste was black bean sauce. And lots of it. The meat was firm, a tad too firm actually, from being overcooked.
Braised Vermicelli & Mian Xian with Dried Seafood - This dish was well fried with a discernible wok hei taste and the noodles weren't too soggy. However too much of it rendered me nauseous.
I thought $215 for an unsatisfactory meal for 4 was expensive and if given a choice, I would never return, ever again. There is a strict dress code as well, which adds to the annoyance.
Four. I wasted three opportunities before I got to know you. On our brief initial encounter, we brushed past each other as I was going somewhere else. On the subsequent two occasions, I wasn’t fully prepared, not when I’m in running attire. Despite all that, I’m glad we finally met, this time prim and proper, Hello Riders, my name is Brad.
Here is the place where you can look at horsies galloping freely on the greens. Here is the place where you can escape from the hectic city life. Here is the place where you can have brunch at a tranquil and serene environment amidst the lush greeneries. Riders Cafe.
Nothing beats having morning pancakes ($10) to start off your day. There was berries compote, there was whipped cream, and there was maple syrup on the pancakes of course. Who can resist the smiley pancakes, certainly not me. Well, we should have asked for more butter!
In my dictionary, eggs and brunch are synonymous with each other. A hearty brunch won’t be completed without any Egg Benedicts ($12). Instead of the smoked salmon, we decided to have ham with eggs. And personally, I felt that hams complimented eggs better. I still loved the latter though. Poached eggs, with hams on a toasted muffins, and breakfast potatoes to go along with. This is brunch.
The Riders Breakfast ($13) was supposed to be very reasonable. But we heard the waitress wrongly, so we said we wanted smoked ham, bacon and sausage. All three of them, instead of just choosing one. The damage was $8 more for the two additional sides. Well it’s quite a heartache getting the bill in the aftermaths, to pay the money for 2 tiny sausages and 2 strip of bacons. The money would be more well-spend if we got another dish instead. But this was solely our own mistake, and there’s no denying the breakfast was excellent, all of my favourite. Scrambled eggs, ham, bacon, sausages, beans, potatoes and toast.
Total bill was $56 for three breakfast items, and 1 drink. Well it would be around ten bucks lesser if we had not added the extra sides, so I say brunch at Rider’s is really value and excellent for the superb ambience of the place. But, fairways drive is hardly a place where you will call accessible unless you got transport, or cab.
I will definitely come back again, for brunch, or even for lunch. Their lunch and diner menu looks very affordable too! But another thing to note, I went on a weekday morning, so it was relatively peaceful. If you were to go on a weekend for brunch, the result might not be the same. See you there!
ps: if you had noticed, I had also included my signature See you there! tag for my previous two post on Graze and Patisserie Glace as well. It just so happened I went to four fabulous place within this two weeks!
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 think the smell of the fuel they used for the individual pot should change as the burning fuel did reduced my appetite greatly.
Soup:
Taste of soup too strong hence masking the taste of the food. Especially the Laksa soup base. Quoting my friend... "Everything tasted like Laksa..."
Food Variety:
Fresh, especially the vegetables but we don't see much meat though. Variety of cooked food and raw food is wide though I don't know why there are so many spicy cooked dishes on the menu. The Douhu Goreng is not bad if they did not overcooked it till its (very) hard. The black pepper (I think) beef is good too. I liked the spring onions and other condiments provided.
Dessert:
Poor and I must agree the chocolate of the fondue saved the dessert section as without it, there will only be mashmellow, fruits and some banana walnut cakes.
Service:
Except for some no-smile-policy people from China, the service is quite fast considering the place was packed when we went there.
Can go again. However, do not wait till too late to order the chocolate fondue as there won't be much things left to go with it. (We had only banana, strawberry and mashmellows)
Like Trumpat, we went there for the first time because a colleague wanted to eat the mango pudding. ;D Went there 2 more times after.
At $26 per person, the place require additional charge for drinks other than cold water (and the water dispenser was like hidden in one corner). 3 kinds of soup base to choose from alternating between Winter Melon, Laksa (very sweet), Herbal Chicken (a bit too bitter) and pork base (this is the best I feel). (Refillable of the same kind, $3 for additional pot of soup)
Variety of raw food for cooking and cooked food to choose from. Raw food kinds are quite fresh though there's variety, its not reall~~~y wide. Haven't really tried the cooked food cept for the Po Piah which tasted quite good but need thinner skin and more garlic.
Service was ok, empty plates cleared quite fast and the "aunties" are very friendly too.
However, the desserts are not as good comparative to the food stuffs. Most probably because I only ate the western desserts which will taste nice if they are cold (but left out in the open, they are not cold). So we had room temperature Choc Eclaire etc. However the mango pudding is a MUST try. The taste of Mango thick but not too sweet. Texture great, elastic, not too watery. (Best!)
HFB had the opportunity to dine and wine at Chen Fu Ji Sing’s Sensation, nested at the 2nd level of Riverside Point. For those who yet know, two sisters founded Chen Fu Ji 50 years ago and were dishing out their signatured $25.00 Fried Rice that came with Crab Meat in the 80s!! So it was with much expectancy when HFB arrived at the restuarant.
The complimentary Cod Fish snack was nothing fanciful – but it did keep HFB’s hands and mouth busy. It was pretty addictive.
The Seafood Doufu in Hot Plate ($18.00) came sizzling hot and rather generous with ingredients. However, with the sauce being rather starchy and salty on its own, a bowl of steam rice to complement it would be an ideal choice. Wow factor was sorely lacking though – HFB had tried many better ones elsewhere.
The Braised Japanese Shiitake with Seasonal Vegetables ($24.00 for medium serving) was much welcomed with its thick and juicy mushrooms. Vegetables were fresh and crunchy.
What’s a trip to Chen Fu Ji without sampling the legendary Imperial Fried Rice ($25.00 for medium serving)? Each grain of rice, believed to be selected for its size, texture and moisture content, was also said to be conditioned prior to frying. Nevertheless, what really distinct itself from the normal fried rice was the fusing of beaten eggs with each grain of rice that gave it a smooth texture, golden hue and aromatic fragrance. With a stack of freshly peeled Crab Meat and unique Egg Floss, the dish came with heighten expectations. It was good all right, with the non-greasy aftertaste and aromatic egg flavour, but it wasn’t great. There was a distinct lacked of ‘Wok Hei’ flavour that HFB would preferred in his fried rice though. Also the serving portion was only sufficient for a small bowl each.
Surprisingly, the best dish that night was the Peking Roast Duck ($35.00 for half portion). The roasted duck skin was deftly curved into thin slices and it was crunchy and full of taste.
The thick juicy duck meat, accompanied with condiments like scallions and cucumber, along with a coat of Hoisin Sauce wrapped with Chinese Pancake was also delightful.
1=SGD 0.0587
You know in life, there’s usually only one opportunity, and like they say, if you missed the train, it’s gonna be gone forever. That is why, gracious and forgiving, as cliché as it may sound, is important. Second chance.
Making the wrong choices once is bad enough, this time, we are going for the safe option. What better than their signature Le Royale ($7). If I’m to be a scientist, all the cures and breakthrough will never occur. But call me a mathematician, the cake had 64% of dark chocolate mousse. Of hazelnut feullitine and praline, I could never differentiate them apart. But I love them both, yes I do. So it doesn’t matter, anything with hazelnut & feullitine works for me. You know I love you, xoxo Le Royale.
Some of the female companions that I know, does not like to drink coffee. Yet they always frequent Starbucks, well just for their green tea frapp. Yes, call it irresistible, healthy, or whatever, our ladies love their macha. The lovely light shade of green tea mascarpone mousse was appealing. I’m no expert when it comes to green tea, but what I do know, the macha was very subtle. And the chestnut cremeuex was an interesting choice for the middle layer. Not that i’m a fan of chestnut. Oh yes, simply named, the macha ($7)
Oh dear, if looks can kill, so can Tarte Citron ($5.50). The beautifully burnt effects from the blow torch was a sight to behold. Italian meringue with lemon cream on almond tart. My, my. This really is a beauty. And if you think she is a bimbo, the taste was as good as the looks too.
I never know Canelé has good ice cream. Well, they are known for their cakes, and chocolates, but ice cream! I love surprises. And Nougatine ($8) is all about that. Praline ice cream with hazelnut nougatine was always my beloved. But it was the salty caramel dripped alongside the ice cream, which really made it so good.
Total bill was $33 for three cakes and one ice cream. Well I thought that the ice cream was pretty decent even at eight dollars per pop since it was more than the size of two scoops elsewhere. The raffles city branch is canelé restaurant instead of patisserie, since they offered main course as well. But I resisted putting the word restaurant on my title since we didn’t try any of their main course. That will be another time of course.
Usually opportunities only come knocking once, but I’m gonna knock on the door a few more times.
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:
A big man with a big reputation, Damian De Silva, formerly chef cum owner of Soul Kitchen at Purvis Street, relocated Big D’s Grill from Bedok South to Holland Drive. Located near the bus interchange at the same coffeeshop of the famous Fishhead Beehoon stall, chef Damian “western food stall” is well known for serving restaurant quality Black Angus Beef Steaks and Kurobuta Pork Chops, as well as his limited Peranakan Specialties e.g. Ayam Buah Keluak – think Astons, before he got his chain restaurants going, added to scale down version of Soul Kitchen.
Mr De Silva insisted on using fresh Snapper and not frozen Dory for his Beer-Battered Fish & Chips ($8.90). At that price, the serving was pretty value for money and the fish tasted fresh. One could also surely take pleasure in a hint of beer aftertaste from the exterior of the fish – seasoning was slightly uneven though with parts being overly salty. But snapper or not, there was hardly any taste to the flesh of the fish. HFB would prefer the fish meat to be lightly marinated. Homemade Chips were well fried and vastly addictive!
One of his signatured dishes, the dazzling Crabmeat Linguine ($10.90) was immensely under-priced and overly extravagant with Shredded Crabmeat. HFB would advise one to go for the spicy version, as crabmeat is pretty heavy for the palate and tanginess brings it down by a notch. The linguine was done al-dente and the ingredients harmonised perfectly – the sour from the tomato base sauce, spiciness from the chilli, and the sweetness from the crabmeat really complements each other very well. This coffeeshop adaptation triumphed convincingly against the supposedly fine-dining standard – dollar for value in HFB’s opinion. This is one dish HFB will return for it.
Weighed at least 200 grams, if not more, the US Kurabuta Pork Loin ($28.00) was something that HFB was looking forward to. Indeed seeing is believing, but tasting it truly convinced HFB that the fuss and the hearsay was spot on about how wickedly mouth-watering this piece of meat is. The glistening layer of fats gave the famed meat its luscious and moist consistency – the spurt of juicy goodness with every nibble testify to this. With the exterior charred grilled to perfection, the hint of pink in the centre also gave it a tender bite. Coupled with their homemade applesauce that is reasonably flavoursome, this dish is definitely a hearty no-no for the weak heart, but surely a treasured find for the brave!
You can view all the photos here.
Rating given:
Went there to celebrate a friend's birthday and had an absolute unsatisfying meal. We ordered Set Shabu Shabu for 4 as we had 6 persons and the waitress told us that the Set can serve 6 too. Yeah, I think she meant can serve 6 but not necessary enough for 6. As can be seen on the picture, there's an absolute total or 1 mushroom for a Set for 4?? Or 2 small pieces of Toufu for 4?? In the end, we saw the table besides us ordered ala cart Shabu Shabu for 1 person and the serving was like about the same as ours.
Food quality wise, the freshness and taste was good and the soup base was just nice after we cooked the ingredients. This slightly appeased our anger over the portion of Set for 4.
Service was quite good, it was service with a smile from the servers and request for fillings of tea was met quite fast.
Would recommend this place if you don't look at the Shabu Shabu Set menu.
Rating given:
After enjoying a wonderful plate of Escargots during my holiday, I've been wondering if it's actually possible to find reasonably-priced Escargots in Singapore. And when I saw Ma Maison, and how cheap the Escargots actually were, I couldn't wait to go there!
So when I got there, there was a rather short but slow-moving queue, so people: do remember to make reservations!
However, if you didn't mind sitting at the bar, they'd allow you to do that just so you don't have to wait too long. And that was what I did. Nothing unpleasant nor special about that experience.
I understand that the place is a French-Jap fusion restaurant, but I personally didn't quite like the decor of the place. The dark lightings and wooden furnishing gave it a french/ country-style indeed, perhaps that explains the "French" part. However, I thought everything you see didn't quite blend well with the atmosphere and cuisine (so to speak) served.
Service was not too bad there, people were rather friendly and prompt in bringing up your food. We didn't have to wait too long for our orders. Additional plates and appropriate utensils were also provided to make it easier to eat the Escargots and anything else we ordered. We were also given this giant brass key that we would need when making payment. It was a rather cool idea and it was so huge that you can't lose it. But that chunky thing was kinda in the way too, considering how bar-tops were not made for big plates.
I can't remember the exact name of the things I ordered, but I remember there being a plate of Escargots, some Mexican (or spanish?) seafood rice and a bowl of Omu rice.
The Escargots had a fairly strong garlic and butter taste, and was very oily. Did not taste very fresh to me either.
The seafood rice, too, had the similar garlic and butter taste. Makes me wonder if they use the exact same wok/pan to cook everything. I didn't like the appearance of the dish. It gave me the feeling of being full upon looking at it. But apart from the abovementioned, taste-wise, it was still fairly decent.
My favourite was probably the simple tomato sauce-based Omu rice. I would advise anyone who orders that to finish it while it's still hot and tasting good.
In general, I have one comment for almost everything I had: being the worse fan of garlic, everything in the food had to have such strong garlic taste! So I guess I didn't really enjoy everything.. Nonetheless, I am sure if you share the exact opposite sentiments as I do, this place could be a place worth trying! And if you're on some sort of a budget, try to limit yourself to just one dish per person because the bill can come up to quite abit, including the GST and all. We paid $90 for two, unfortunately.
Rating given:
In Singapore, Victoria's Secret is currently only available at Changi Airport. For someone like me who stays in the central area of the island, it is obviously rather inconvenient for me to travel all the way to the airport just to get myself Victoria's Secret products.
Thankfully, online shopping exists! Apart from victoriassecret.com, there are a few other blogshops that are being run by several Singaporean ladies who are also fans of Victoria's Secret products. Some of the prices of the products are slightly more expensive than if you buy it directly from the main website itself, but it definitely beats having to wait for 2 weeks for your items to arrive from the States!
Also, if you find yourself eyeing items from past seasons and you can no longer find it on victoriassecret.com, these blogshops are also able to get those items for you. When asked, a blogshop owner revealed to me that some items (only SOME, not all) are obtained via eBay.
While it is true that you can get it yourself from eBay, I just feel that it's safer to buy it through the blogshop owners because you never know if a swindler is behind an account, and these blogshop owners regularly deal with specific sellers on eBay so they would know who is trustworthy. That's why I feel that its better to buy it through them since in a way, I'm paying for them to do the toughest part of it.
Afterall, if they order an item and they pay for it before you pay them (which is usually the case for instocks since they have to possess the items before selling it to you) and if they get cheated of it, you lose nothing. So I feel that letting them earn that bit more money is rather reasonable.
However, there are a few blogshops that raise their prices very steeply, so its always good to check out as many blogshops as you can find and compare the prices of items for the best deal! Some times the difference can be up to 50%! So do watch your own back regarding that unless you really have a fair bit of spare cash to spend!
Rating given:
It was the usual weekly dinner with my folks again and the venue of choice was The Chinese Restaurant at Raffles Town Club. Apparently this is a members only restaurant so I didn't harbour any hopes of a fantastic meal even though prices aren't exactly the cheapest around.
In the glossy pages of the club magazine, the restaurant looked like a blast. However reality is harsh and the interior turned out looking more dreary then glam. What was rather amusing was that the restaurant required us (the customers) to switch off our cell phones during our meal. Fortunately, it wasn't strictly enforced though.
Smoked Salmon with Passion Fruit & Vegetable Salad - There were only 2 slices of the smoked salmon, which was quite pathetic if you ask me. And the salmon was way too salty but I guess not having the overwhelmingly raw taste is a plus.
Braised Superior Shark's Fin with Bean Sprout - The broth was a tad too starchy but the fins were relatively generous, though of the mediocre variant. Adding to the woes was the overdose of salt, which made the soup rather heavy.
Braised Seasonal Vegetables with Bean Curd Stick & Conpoy in Chicken Stock - This dish was a major turn off. The spinach wasn't properly washed and I could hear the resounding crunch of sand/sediment with every bite. The bean curd stick tasted like flour but to give it credit, it was well deep fried and topped with shreds of deep fried dried scallops.
Sauteed Scallop & Fresh Prawn in Sichuan Sauce - This was probably the best dish of the evening as the scallops were crunchy and sweet while the prawns fresh but a tad small. The bed of broccoli wasn't over or undercooked but the sichuan sauce came across as mildly spicy and very normal.
Steamed Sea Perch with Chilli - I couldn't quite make out the chilli in this dish. What I could taste was black bean sauce. And lots of it. The meat was firm, a tad too firm actually, from being overcooked.
Braised Vermicelli & Mian Xian with Dried Seafood -
This dish was well fried with a discernible wok hei taste and the noodles weren't too soggy. However too much of it rendered me nauseous.
I thought $215 for an unsatisfactory meal for 4 was expensive and if given a choice, I would never return, ever again. There is a strict dress code as well, which adds to the annoyance.
See all my pictures here.
Rating given:
Four. I wasted three opportunities before I got to know you. On our brief initial encounter, we brushed past each other as I was going somewhere else. On the subsequent two occasions, I wasn’t fully prepared, not when I’m in running attire. Despite all that, I’m glad we finally met, this time prim and proper, Hello Riders, my name is Brad.
Here is the place where you can look at horsies galloping freely on the greens. Here is the place where you can escape from the hectic city life. Here is the place where you can have brunch at a tranquil and serene environment amidst the lush greeneries. Riders Cafe.
Nothing beats having morning pancakes ($10) to start off your day. There was berries compote, there was whipped cream, and there was maple syrup on the pancakes of course. Who can resist the smiley pancakes, certainly not me. Well, we should have asked for more butter!
In my dictionary, eggs and brunch are synonymous with each other. A hearty brunch won’t be completed without any Egg Benedicts ($12). Instead of the smoked salmon, we decided to have ham with eggs. And personally, I felt that hams complimented eggs better. I still loved the latter though. Poached eggs, with hams on a toasted muffins, and breakfast potatoes to go along with. This is brunch.
The Riders Breakfast ($13) was supposed to be very reasonable. But we heard the waitress wrongly, so we said we wanted smoked ham, bacon and sausage. All three of them, instead of just choosing one. The damage was $8 more for the two additional sides. Well it’s quite a heartache getting the bill in the aftermaths, to pay the money for 2 tiny sausages and 2 strip of bacons. The money would be more well-spend if we got another dish instead. But this was solely our own mistake, and there’s no denying the breakfast was excellent, all of my favourite. Scrambled eggs, ham, bacon, sausages, beans, potatoes and toast.
Total bill was $56 for three breakfast items, and 1 drink. Well it would be around ten bucks lesser if we had not added the extra sides, so I say brunch at Rider’s is really value and excellent for the superb ambience of the place. But, fairways drive is hardly a place where you will call accessible unless you got transport, or cab.
I will definitely come back again, for brunch, or even for lunch. Their lunch and diner menu looks very affordable too! But another thing to note, I went on a weekday morning, so it was relatively peaceful. If you were to go on a weekend for brunch, the result might not be the same. See you there!
ps: if you had noticed, I had also included my signature See you there! tag for my previous two post on Graze and Patisserie Glace as well. It just so happened I went to four fabulous place within this two weeks!
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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Went there recently in Mar 09.
I think the smell of the fuel they used for the individual pot should change as the burning fuel did reduced my appetite greatly.
Soup:
Taste of soup too strong hence masking the taste of the food. Especially the Laksa soup base. Quoting my friend... "Everything tasted like Laksa..."
Food Variety:
Fresh, especially the vegetables but we don't see much meat though. Variety of cooked food and raw food is wide though I don't know why there are so many spicy cooked dishes on the menu. The Douhu Goreng is not bad if they did not overcooked it till its (very) hard. The black pepper (I think) beef is good too. I liked the spring onions and other condiments provided.
Dessert:
Poor and I must agree the chocolate of the fondue saved the dessert section as without it, there will only be mashmellow, fruits and some banana walnut cakes.
Service:
Except for some no-smile-policy people from China, the service is quite fast considering the place was packed when we went there.
Can go again. However, do not wait till too late to order the chocolate fondue as there won't be much things left to go with it. (We had only banana, strawberry and mashmellows)
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Like Trumpat, we went there for the first time because a colleague wanted to eat the mango pudding. ;D Went there 2 more times after.
At $26 per person, the place require additional charge for drinks other than cold water (and the water dispenser was like hidden in one corner). 3 kinds of soup base to choose from alternating between Winter Melon, Laksa (very sweet), Herbal Chicken (a bit too bitter) and pork base (this is the best I feel). (Refillable of the same kind, $3 for additional pot of soup)
Variety of raw food for cooking and cooked food to choose from. Raw food kinds are quite fresh though there's variety, its not reall~~~y wide. Haven't really tried the cooked food cept for the Po Piah which tasted quite good but need thinner skin and more garlic.
Service was ok, empty plates cleared quite fast and the "aunties" are very friendly too.
However, the desserts are not as good comparative to the food stuffs. Most probably because I only ate the western desserts which will taste nice if they are cold (but left out in the open, they are not cold). So we had room temperature Choc Eclaire etc. However the mango pudding is a MUST try. The taste of Mango thick but not too sweet. Texture great, elastic, not too watery. (Best!)
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HFB had the opportunity to dine and wine at Chen Fu Ji Sing’s Sensation, nested at the 2nd level of Riverside Point. For those who yet know, two sisters founded Chen Fu Ji 50 years ago and were dishing out their signatured $25.00 Fried Rice that came with Crab Meat in the 80s!! So it was with much expectancy when HFB arrived at the restuarant.
The complimentary Cod Fish snack was nothing fanciful – but it did keep HFB’s hands and mouth busy. It was pretty addictive.
The Seafood Doufu in Hot Plate ($18.00) came sizzling hot and rather generous with ingredients. However, with the sauce being rather starchy and salty on its own, a bowl of steam rice to complement it would be an ideal choice. Wow factor was sorely lacking though – HFB had tried many better ones elsewhere.
The Braised Japanese Shiitake with Seasonal Vegetables ($24.00 for medium serving) was much welcomed with its thick and juicy mushrooms. Vegetables were fresh and crunchy.
What’s a trip to Chen Fu Ji without sampling the legendary Imperial Fried Rice ($25.00 for medium serving)? Each grain of rice, believed to be selected for its size, texture and moisture content, was also said to be conditioned prior to frying. Nevertheless, what really distinct itself from the normal fried rice was the fusing of beaten eggs with each grain of rice that gave it a smooth texture, golden hue and aromatic fragrance. With a stack of freshly peeled Crab Meat and unique Egg Floss, the dish came with heighten expectations. It was good all right, with the non-greasy aftertaste and aromatic egg flavour, but it wasn’t great. There was a distinct lacked of ‘Wok Hei’ flavour that HFB would preferred in his fried rice though. Also the serving portion was only sufficient for a small bowl each.
Surprisingly, the best dish that night was the Peking Roast Duck ($35.00 for half portion). The roasted duck skin was deftly curved into thin slices and it was crunchy and full of taste.
The thick juicy duck meat, accompanied with condiments like scallions and cucumber, along with a coat of Hoisin Sauce wrapped with Chinese Pancake was also delightful.
You can view all the photos here.
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