Being a dessert (chocolate) fan, no one could stop me from Melvados once I knew they were famous for their brownies. Totally psyched, I travelled all the way to the other end of Singapore for a lazy Sunday afternoon tea with a friend.
Situated in King's Arcade, I couldn't help but notice that the exterior is a little run-down looking. But I guess what was more important to me was the inside since it was a really hot day and I needed a good dose of cool air....
..which I didn't get... for the first time I actually asked my companion if he felt hot. I'm usually the one who doesn't complain about the temperature of the place but this one is an exception. There's a first to everything right? We were sitting pretty far from the window so we weren't subjected to the heat from outside. So it really must be the lack of air-conditioning.
That aside, I found the decor alright. Just a little sparse though. They could have more seats to make the place look more full. But as my companion pointed out, two more tables (like I suggested) could make it look crammed. But I guess they could switch to smaller tables. Nonetheless the tables and chairs didn't quite match though the sofas looked nice. I say look cos there were very few and we didn't get a chance to sit on them.
After much pondering, we ordered:
Mixed Platter Your usual mix of fried calamari, fries, onion rings and seafood cakes. I didn't like any of it. The fries were the thin sort which is pretty much oil and little potato. The onion rings lacked onion flavour. The calamari are the sort straight from the freezer and the seafood cakes were just weird. The batter used wasn't tasty and honestly I was quite sick of it after the first two pieces. And yes they seemed to have used the same batter (or at least similiar) for all 3 items, except the fries.
Black & White Kisses This is the recommended brownie on the menu. It's a brownie topped with dark and white chocolate Hershey's kisses. This brownie was the more moist one of the two we had but it's still not rich enough in my opinion. It was still a little crumbly (like a cake) and I prefer brownies which are more on the sticky side. There is a good bit of flavour though.
Sizzling Brownies Sensation This is the brownie above, served on a hot plate with your choice of ice-cream. We had expected something more and certainly didn't expect to be served the same brownie. Also the hot plate was just heated up in the microwave and cooled down pretty fast after it arrived. I guess that's just as well since the ice cream was melting at super speed, resulting in a brownish puddle around the brownie after a while. Just a novelty but nothing to rave about really.
Chocolate Madness This was your regular brownie, just much drier. My little mistake.
We paid $25 in total I think and although it wasn't very much but I didn't find it worth my while after all. Service was alright and the staff wasn't exceptionally alert despite the fact that there were so few tables occupied.
Had lunch at Sweet Salty Spicy Food Market & Thai Canteen (SSS for short), a newly opened modern Thai restaurant in the western regions of Singapore. Set up by Chef Christopher Miller of Poppi and helmed by Chef Richards, who trained under Chef Peter Bowyer from Sailors Thai in Sydney Rocks district fame, SSS aims to fill the gap between Thai fine dining restaurants and Thai chain outlets.
Located along serene Upper Bukit Timah Road, SSS, which is one of the new kids on the block, resides towards the end of a row of shops also known as The Rail Mall. The interior is simply done up with shelves of Thai sauces and condiments on display together with fresh local produce of herbs and vegetables. Hanging fruits at the entrance add to the down to earth market feel of the place.
Hot and Sour Soup with Prawns, Straw Mushrooms and Aromatics - Notice that the name mentioned prawns. However, there was only 1 prawn, albeit of a rather large size. Bone picking aside, the soup was light yet sourish and hits you before you even know it. Its not so much the chilli kind of spicy but the wasabi kind of 呛, which has been known to reduce grown men to tears. Although I'm not one for spicy stuff, I liked this soup quite a bit.
Wagyu Beef Skewer - At $5.50 a skewer and 2 mouthfuls, this is one expensive piece of beef. However I must admit that the beef was excellent. Tender and succulent with a tinge of sourish herbs taste complementing the natural beefy flavours of the meat - all these without being done medium rare.
Sweet Barbeque Pork in Thai Spices with Fresh Vegetables - This dish is very much akin to our local char siew except that it was much drier with an unidentifiable lightly sweet yet salty spice taste. With the meat being dry, it naturally got tougher and more chewy, which isn't necessarily a good thing, especially for people with weak teeth like myself. Still a relatively decent dish overall.
Roast Duck with Flat Rice Noodles in a Fragrant Thai Herb Broth with Bean Sprouts and Fried Garlic - First impression, this dish looked like a typical bowl of duck meat kway teow. Interestingly, the broth reminded me of the gravy used in lor mee, albeit of a much sweeter version. The duck slices were nice and chewy but the rice noodles, though silky and smooth, tended to clump together.
'Pat Thai' Stir Fried Thai Rice Noodles - This has got to be one of the best Pat Thai I've eaten in a long long while. A tad chewy and moist, the Pat Thai was fried with dried shrimps, beansprouts and huge prawns, exuding a nice fragrant aroma when served. Another plus point was that the noodles didn't clump together even when the dish turned cold. Probably the only gripe I had was the sweetness of the dish, which was a little excessive for me personally.
Black Sticky Rice with Caramelised Coconut and Coconut Cream - For those who have eaten enough of such dishes, you would probably know that this is essentially Pulot/Burbur Hitam. And although I dont really fancy it, I must say that this one was quite appetising, not too starchy but could do with a lot less sugar.
Coconut Custard Tart - Served up with a dollop of fresh cream, the tart looked limp and tired, much to my disappointment. However it wasn't half as bad as it looked, tasting pretty much like egg tart with a layer of sweetened coconut. To be fair, it was actually quite nice but it might have been better if served chilled.
Honestly, $50 for the spread and quality isn't expensive. However portions aren't big so hearty eaters might need to order something extra from the ala carte menu. I'm not sure about the portions come dinner time but prices tend towards the higher end during that period. Think $12 for a plate of Pat Thai. SSS isn't the cheapest Thai food place nor the best, but for the prices, its worth it.
Playground @ Big splash is the revamped and much hyped about location these days for its semi chic food offering which can be found surrounding the defunct location. The list of restaurants to try there is quite extensive and its important thus, to start somewhere. Having had Sushi Tei close to a year back, i was once again goaded to try it out at its new location.
The exterior of the restaurant is simply a refurbishment of the old big splash building with an additional signboard. The interior consists of a oval kitchen set in the middle of the restaurant with glass panels to allow a full view of the kitchen and sushi making counter. A conveyor belt which taxis the usual sushi plates run through the restaurant as well. Seats are a mesh of wooden and minimal cushioned seats for the customers to choose from while the lighting within is rather dim as opposed to the bright interiors of Genki or Sakae sushi.
Unagi and Tamago Sushi (Yellow plate $6) - Looking at the shot, its obvious that the unagi is huge! I picked this from the conveyor because i was dead hungry and because the portion seemed too good to be true for a sushi plate. Taste wise, the unagi was soft and sweet while the tamago and sushi rice held firm. It wasn't until i learned the actual price of a yellow plate before i regretted as this was $6 which is really expensive by my standards.
Chawan Mushi (2 for $8) - Soft and sweet summarizes this up pretty well. Pieces of chicken meat and shark's fin can be found closer to the bottom but the one thing that irked me was that the dish was not piping hot when served. It was lukewarm at best and that took alot of enjoyment away.
Age Dashi Tofu ($4) - Another dish that should be served hot but made it to our tables only slightly warm. The age dashi tofu has to be the worst of its kind i've had to eat thus far. The skin had a sticky and unbreakable quality to it while the bland tofu inside simply didn't help. Also deserving a mention is how cool the sauce it came with was as well. An overall badly done item.
The above plates were basically tasteless. The tuna sushi had a rather fishy aftertaste that did not agree with me while the tamago and crab meat simple tasted like bland sushi rice. The unagi pieces were extremely thin and came with no sauce whatsoever. Disappointing.
Yakiniku Don ($10) - I had a bite of this dish and the meat was hard and overdone while the rice was once again lukewarm.
Curry Katsudon ($8) - A simple dish which i ordered for filling purposes. The curry was not spicy as Japanese curry itself is never known for being spicy. The chicken pieces were miserly and hard while the curry tasted very much like those that could be bought from NTUC. Somehow, i was hoping for more but that was never satisfied.
Sukiyaki (3 for $36) - The sukiyaki beef came in 4 long slices and the fats were readily apparent on each piece. Some call it marbling but it doesn't sit well with me as i prefer sukiyaki with minimal fat and more meat. The hotpot that came was miso based and is of the sweet variety. Its filled with mushrooms, onions, vermicelli and tofu for good measure but none decreases the sweetness of the broth (this can be good or bad depending on your tastes). Regardless, this is one of the more affordable and value for money items i've found in the place. Still not exceedingly good though.
Cha Soba ($6.50) - Another item i did not get to try but comments were that it was good.
Total damage for 6 people came to $112.39. Averaging less then $20 per person.
Although Japanese food is one of my favorite cuisines and i've tried Sushi Tei in the past. This branch needs work before its worthy of the name. From my friends, i understand that they have eaten at other branches where the standard was much higher and better then the items we've had here. Service was better as well. Either way, i did not enjoy paying at the counter, did not enjoy eating lukewarm and suspiciously "unfresh" food and did not enjoy the air con dripping down on me as i signed the cheque. Maybe this is the new business jitters i've heard so much about regarding new entrants to the field but still, i don't think i'll be coming back to this branch. Take your chances.
Things didn’t get off to a good start when my name was not found on the reservation list. Thankfully it wasn’t a big issue as the crowd have not set in and they managed to find us a table. It so happen that it was Friends “First Ever Barbecue Party” @ Chomps that evening, and we were told that they were only serving Barbecue Platter for mains and only the appetisers and desserts are available from the regular menu.
As we were scrutinising the menu on what is available, one thing we did realise was that the tables were a little too close for comfort. Despite the classy décor and nice lighting to create a lovely ambience, the strident environment that evening marred it - in fact it stayed raucous throughout the whole occasion.
Upon ordering, we were served the bread and butter almost immediately – it didn’t came cold but it wasn’t exactly warm either (I was actually looking forward to it as I clearly remember her mentioning “Enjoy your warm bread!”). Other than being soft, there wasn’t anything else noteworthy to mention about it.
Soon after, the Assorted Salad Platter with Condiments and Dressing came – straight forward dish as well and nothing much to compliment or picked on.
Then came the ½ dozen of Seasonal Oysters ($29.40), and I have flattering remarks for them – they were big, the flesh were plump and it was very fresh, although personally I would prefer them to arrive more chilled – and if they were any cheaper, I could have easily gulp down another dozen.
We waited a little while more before our platter arrived. For a platter for 2 ($49.90), diners have a choice of 3 items from the Hot Items (Roast Potatoes, Corn on the Cob, Grilled Tomatoes, Grilled Pumpkins, Grilled Peppers) and 2 items from the Grilled Items (Rib eye Steak, Lamb Shoulder Chops, Assorted Sausage (veal or course pork), Grilled Chicken, Grilled Fish Fillet). A platter for 3 will set you back another $20 with an additional item from the grilled section. We opted for the potatoes, corn and peppers from the hot items list and rib eye steak and lamb shoulder chops from the grilled items.
The platter didn’t exactly impress me when it was served to be honest. Aesthetics wise, it didn’t look appetising, furthermore the whole plate was drenched with the meat’s natural juices that only signifies that the chef did not rest the meat before it was served. But at least the chef did managed to get his medium rare this time round for the steak.
Special mention also goes to the lamb chops, as it was char grilled nicely on the outside and succulent on the inside – and what’s best was the layer of marbling fats that was ever so flavoursome. We wrapped up the dinner with a similar dessert I had the last time – Warm Valrhona Chocolate Cake served with Vanilla Ice Cream ($12.90).
And my mate who was not present at the previous outing gave the same conclusion that the aftertaste of the molten chocolate lava could be better (compared to this one, which she had tried with me).
Overall, this wasn’t as bad an experience as the previous one, but there are definitely rooms for improvement. Also, considering that this was the first time they are running this sort of operations, perhaps I could be more forgiving. Nevertheless, I feel that serving barbecue fare is displacing the original business model, which prides itself as a semi-fine dining place – where you do not need to dig deep into your pockets for good food.
You can view more photos and other reviews @ His Food Blog.
What is the most terrible thing that can happen to a food blogger?
Encountered bad service at a restaurant?
No, thats part of the dining experience.
Taste lousy and not up-to-the-mark food?
Nah, thats also part of the dining experience.
Entering the restaurant and the waitress told you the place is full?
Blame it on yourself who did not make any reservations.
The worst thing, that can ever, ever happen to a food blogger . . .
Is having no camera to take shots of the delicacy displayed upon you.
Thunder never strikes at the same spot, indeed. The last time to The French Stall, LIC forgotten to bring his camera along, and that was an awful feeling. LIC didn’t expect to encounter the same problem, this time LIC did bring the camera, only to arrive happily at the entrance of the restaurant and found out that there was no battery inside!?!
Tsk tsk! LIC shouldn’t taken out the battery to charge and forgot to put it back. A dreadful mistake which must be avoid at all cost next time.
Beware! Warning! The following photos may look awful, terrible, shocking, ghastly, and lousy to you. If you cannot take any of the experience, please DO NOT click on “Read the rest of this entry“
The fatal spot where LIC wanted to take a pot-shot of the entrance and to his horror, discovered that the absence of the battery!
Alas, this post on Kuishin-bo will be short due to obvious reasons, LIC was actually working on Absolute Haven but due to time constraint, this post shall appear before your eyes first. Too many post pending for LIC to write, even OT can’t really help : )
The only “slightly more decent” photo, sushi selections The sushi are all right i guess, nothing to shout about. Quite a wide selections to choose from though.
Prawn Tempura The tempura section is most probably one of the place where i consume more, with the exception of desserts (which LIC can’t live without!) The prawn tempura is your normal fried prawn with tempura-flour, it works for me although i pretty much suspect its only decent in the eyes of Japanese food experts (LIC self-proclaimed he isn’t a avid Jap food eater)
Kaminabe paper steamboat Like what i mention during my visit to Waraku, Kaminabe sounds like a foul-word, it still brings back memories from the last visit, hence the mention. Paper pot, the vegetables, are all there to absorb the otherwise oily chicken and soup. Thinking back now, Beef should have been a better option for Kaminabe.
Desserts - Fruit Tarts Fruit tarts are LIC favorite! I can pop ten easily into my mouth. The tarts here are pretty standard i guess, but still give them to me!
There are also some miniature cakes around, chocolate ones, mini oreo cheesecakes (really tiny), mini doughnuts in different flavors, quite a variety available.
The chocolate fondue craze might have die down already, but that does not means they are not good. Its just that people forgets easily, before long another new craze will appear and the common folks will start to go after the new hype. Think donut, bubble-tea, luo-han fish, chocolate fondue, well just to name a few.
Total Bill for 2 person during weekday lunch comes up to $46.61 after tax and service charge. Weekday lunch is $24.80 for adult, and if you Op for the 60 minutes express lunch, it is $19.80 , which we did. I guess the 60 minutes strategy is more to attract office working people, but we took it since we are really full after an hour anyway.
Actually the difference in price is only 5 bucks, if you go for the normal price, you got the luxury to enjoy the buffet from 1130am-3pm, which big-appetite eaters should go for. Otherwise if you are working near Suntec, or like us where you can finish the meal in an hour, the discount of $5 although not much, is still rather substantial.
To be honest, the one hour buffet is rather rushed, and if you are the type that refuse to rush while tasting your food, it is not advisable to take it. But if you know what you are looking for, well just attack those areas and your effort will be paid off for the $19.80.
Kuishi-bo proclaimed itself to be the Authenthic Japanese Buffet Restaurant, which i highly doubted it. Authentic hardly feeds into what they are offering. Nevertheless i believe one sentence should sums it all for Kuishi-bo. Quantity, not quality!
Taste is subjective, if you are not looking for very excellent food, i say the ones at Kuishi-bo are quite decent, and definitely value-for-money since its only $19.80. But if you are into Japanese food, i’m afraid the visit will disappoint you greatly. Nonetheless, comparing Kuishi-bo to Sakura International Buffet, and Sakae Sushi Buffet, i still say Kuishi-bo slightly edged out both the latter.
Many acquaintance mentioned that Kuishi-bo’s standard has vastly dropped from last time, a pale shadow of what it used to be. Well, sometimes you have to experience it for yourself to conclude. I did, which is the reason for my visit to Kuishi-bo. Thus, Yay or Nah, make a trip down.
You are always welcome to visit ladyironchef for a full-up on this trip. Whatever written above are my geniune feelings expressed in words that may be subjected to my personal distortion or bias. Please do not feel emotional or distress should you have any violent objections. Kindly click the little X at the upper, extreme right of your screen if negative adjectives would be derived. Otherwise, feel free to furnish me with comments, may it be positive or negative : )
Read quite a bit about Melvados and its famous brownies so dropped by one sunny afternoon to try them out.
Opened just slightly over a year ago in end 2006, Melvados is located within the upmarket residential enclave of Bukit Timah, playing neighbours to only a clinic and a pub. The decor is simple, with cheap looking wooden tables and chairs sparsely populating the granite floor. There are cosy sofas too but those are of the limited variety. The entire place is small, probably fitting in about 20 pax at most. With huge floor to ceiling windows, the place exudes a nice cosy feeling, just perfect for a lazy afternoon tea session.
Seafood Platter - I'm not exactly a fan of seafood platters as they usually consist of alot of deep fried stuff that tend to make me nauseous after a while. This one was no exception. Served with onion rings, fries, calamari and fish/prawn cakes, the platter was, if I may say, off the charts. Not that I mean it in a good way though. Everything (save for the fries) was rather tasteless and too filled with thick batter that tasted exactly like deep fried flour.
Black & White Kisses - Billed as Melvados's signature brownie, the Black & White Kisses was actually quite good. Moist and not too rich with a nice wholesome baked taste and topped with black and white hershey's kisses. The only bone I had was the consistently smooth homogeneous texture of the brownie, which made it seem a little weird. However such gripes are forgotten when the brownie is paired with the vanilla ice cream, making for a sweet and delightful dessert without the chocolate overload.
Sizzling Brownies Sensation - Ever heard of hotplate brownie? No? Neither have I. It was that curiosity that prompted us to order this dessert. In retrospect, it wasn't such a good idea after all. A brownie served on a hot plate with a scoop of rapidly melting ice cream. How special is that? I did a quick calculation and the novelty of a hotplate cost us an additional $2.10 with the exact same ingredients as their signature Black & White Kisses. There's another problem with serving brownies on a hotplate. The underside of the brownie will harden and stick to the base and the ice cream melts so fast that its a little more than just flavoured cream after a while.
Chocolate Madness - I didn't quite take to this brownie as it was a tad hard and dry when served. Not exactly my cup of tea. And for the record, it didn't really taste that strongly of chocolate as inferred by its name.
I'm really not sure about the going prices for brownies because I don't eat enough of them to know but I'm guessing $18.50 for 3 brownies is a wee bit on the high side. Meldavos serves mains like pasta and sandwiches as well but sticking to just the brownies might just be a safer bet.
Shokudo is a name that you can get familiar with in a hurry. Why? Firstly, it has 2 branches already counting this one, being a Marche-like concept and the other located nearby in CityLink which specialized in Pizza and Pasta. We'll be reviewing the Marche lookalike this time around on the food quality.
Upon queuing and entering the premises, you'll be greeted by friendly serving staff who'll provide you with 2 items. Firstly, you'll receive a card thats basically your best friend, losing the card results in a penalty fee of $100 which is rather absurd if you ask me. The second item you'll receive is a round wooden placeholder thats supposed to reserve a seat for you whereever you put it. However, this simply did not work because our first reservation chip was stolen from our table and some other lady managed to get in our reserved seat... So i'm saying the system may work elsewhere, but apparently not in Singapore. The interior of the Bazaar is split into several different themes with a food court like design in the middle, more colorful lighting and cushy seats in other areas. Rather pleasing and different from an aesthetic perspective. The food preparation areas resemble Marche with the exception of everything being Japanese food or fusion in some instances. The only problem i had with the arrangement is the waiting time for each order. Its pretty ridiculous to wait 20 mins for a beef burger but i'll get to that later. The service staff were alright and courteous but can be improved for sure.
Wasabi Toro Cheese Burger ($7.80) - The name is nice, wasabi toro burger. Whatever that means i'm not too sure but to me, its a beef burger with a supremely small patty of beef wrapped in an extremely bad tasting and oversized bun. I had to wait close to 20 minutes for the above. Can you see where the time went into preparing it? I certainly couldn't unless they mashed and prepared the patty on the spot but i highly doubt that. The bun is fused to an egg which thankfully made it bearable but the miserly portion of beef was terrible visually. Not to mention that when tasted, it simply wasn't up to par, being dry and too hard. Simply terrible.
Bacon and cheese Omelette ($5.80) - My gf ordered this and the next item. Thankfully they were more palatable then my horrible choice but even then, not by much. The bacon and cheese omelet was a really small portion which could be finished in 4 spoonfuls. The omelet itself was served warm and with bacon and cheese melting within it. A little too salty however.
Rosti with Sausages ($9.80) - Since when did rosti become a Japanese item? Nonetheless, in a world of below average food, this managed to be a cut above the rest. Fragrant, hot and crispy with a soft interior. This took the crown that day but thats certainly not saying much. The sausage that came with it was your run-of-the-mill sausage with cheese in it. It wasn't bad per se but nothing exciting about it as well. The one thing about this dish is, its oily to a fault. You'll notice it the moment you have your first bite until your nausea inducing ending.
A mediocre and sub par meal came up to $27.50 for 2 people. If i'm ever in the vicinity again, i'll stay far far away.
I don't know what the matter is. The food portions were pathetic. The service was slow. The true japanese items were price sky high and the seats were only moderately comfortable. Why would i pay to eat here when there are so many better places out there? Good for people who want to see what the buzz is about but if the quality and portion size doesn't improve, i fear a quick exit will be the order of the day.
One of the more belated posts, this was taken during the Yebber gathering for the New Year...Yes its very late in fact. Nonetheless, HotPot culture was the choice of the day with its everyday prices and rather extensive selection of food, both cooked and raw. Knowing next to nothing of the place, me and my gf braved the cold hard night and thronged towards the defunct location where maniacal cameras and loud speech is a norm.
The location was rather odd because it was situated in the middle of a large number of competitors ranging from Secret Recipe, Kenny Rogers to Genki Sushi and some chinese restaurant. Talk about a "hostile location" and "friendly competition". Still, i have to say the place was simplistically clean in a good way and though filled with normal furniture, managed to hover between boring and acceptable.
The service is simple. Once you have settled in, the immediate step is to be acquainted to your own personal mini pot. This pot will stay with you till the end of your meal until dessert is served so it is prudent to ensure you pick the best pot for your needs. For my case, i picked the herbal ginseng hot pot and it was a good choice in my opinion as the stock definitely adds taste to the food and simply tastes good. A little on the salty side though. The other complaint would have to be the fumes emitted from the pot, it stings your eyes and noses for the first....10 minutes or so until you get used it but these are small grouses in the scale of things.
In terms of food selection for the uncooked portion where you get to pick and choose whatever you like, it was sufficient. There are upwards of 30 different items you can cook in your hotpot and each item was, to my impression, treated with equal cleanliness and hygiene. To me, its extremely important that the food looks and is clean and this they have managed to convey. On the items, there are lots of greens, vermicelli, bean related items, eggs, chicken meat, dory fish, fish cakes, crab meat and fish balls to choose from. Each are chilled with ice and tasted pretty good in each respect. Springy fishballs, reasonably fresh meat and fish round out the experience. In short, the items on selection may be rather small portioned but does not disappoint. This brings us to the next point which is the 'distinct' difference between HotPot Culture and other would be restaurants, they also serve a selection of close to 40 cooked food items.
Prawns and Bacon Wrap - This was our first order for the day in the cooked food section and to be honest, it was rather disappointing but its not the fault of the chef in this case, it was the ingredients. Prawns and bacon wraps are as easy as one, two, three in making it good. Simple have a nicely sauteed king prawn, wrap it in quality salty bacon, slap on a layer or 2 of additional garnishes while grilling and its basically a winner. What went wrong here, was the rather small prawn used which failed to bring out its true flavor. In retrospect, even Eden Cafe didn't get this right...maybe it isn't as easy as i though after all.
Tahu Goreng - A favorite dish of mine which hearkens back to my army days. This rendition was pleasing to the eye but did not live up to expectations in the taste department. The nuts and garnishing is definitely spot on but the tahu (beancurd) itself was just a little too hard. The skin took quite and effort to break and the beancurd within needed to be softer to be palatable.
Chicken Wings - Chicken wings, what could go wrong with it? Over frying apparently. There was some marinate used on the wings which rendered it too salty but the nail in the coffin was how dry the wings were. The only saving grace was that it was not oily, which was perplexing in a good way. The newest update i had was that the owner got my comment through the video yebber made with me commenting on the items out loud, and have since improved on the wings and other items.
Pan fried battered fish - Didn't get to try this but i was told it was pretty good by KK and his gf. So i'll take it as it was good.
Chicken and mushroom wrap - I had only a piece of this and its was a little dry but the mushroom sauce managed to compensate that little problem. This was salty as well though.
Ngor Hiang - One of my favorite dishes when done right. This was below average by me but maybe my views are biased on this dish. This was rather thin and actually over fried with the paste inside lacking much taste nor ingredients. Needs improvement.
Stir Fried Bean Sprouts - You just can't go wrong with this dish. Its easy enough with the only thing to look out for being to stir fry it long enough to rid it of the "greenish" taste and short enough to retain the crunchiness. Once again, it was a tad too salty for me.
Golden Mushroom - Sukiyaki Beef - Fish Paste - The above are 3 items which needed to be ordered before it can be cooked. The beef was fresh and succulent enough to be ordered a minimal of 3 times, the golden mushrooms need to be cooked thoroughly before being eaten but gets the job done while the fish paste is a weird combination of tastes in its own right but simply didn't sit well with me.
Sweet and sour fish - Sweet and Sour Chicken - Both these dishes taste the same to me. With the exception of the fish being more tender while the chicken being more chewy, the overall taste is the same. Not to say that its bad but the sauce certainly overwhelms after awhile.
Deep Fried Meat Balls - Remember the mushroom chicken? Well, the sauce is the same while the meat balls were unfortunately too dry yet again.
The final course of the day was the chocolate fondue which comes in its own little hotpot for each person. Choices to go with the fondue range from marshmallows to fruits like papayas, apples, pears, watermelons and honeydews. The fondue is of the bitter sweet variety which means its more bitter and has a higher cocoa content then some other such fondues offered in similar places. A good ending i'd say.
A decent place for a buffet hotpot meal with a rather extensive variety of of items to choose from. The owner's willingness to listen to feedback and improve is a plus. I'd recommend visiting it as the overall experience has not been a bad one.
Social Media Breakfast Singapore
March 29, 2008 (Saturday)
9 am — 12:30pm
Frujch @ SMU (Basement 1, School of Information Systems)
50 Stamford Road
The whole event was super fun, we mingled around talking with each other, a total of 40 people turned up for SMB! All righty, first we have to use the big sticker to write our name and blog address, or whatever website of stuff you want to let others know.
Anyway being a foodie, or rather I’ll coined myself as Gourmet Analyst, it is my moral obligation to present to you the food for the breakfast!
The “main course” for the breakfast. Sandwiches! There are not type of sandwich, one of which is ham, and the other being tuna. There are also the mini Choclate cakes
There were also orange juice to go along with the ’snacks’, and if you wanted any hot drink, you could always get it from the counter at Frujch (have to pay separately of course!)
See you all at the next SMB!
Btw, the 5 star rating is thumbs up for the Social Media Breakfast Event, not the food : )
You are always welcome to visit ladyironchef for a full-up on this trip. Whatever written above are my geniune feelings expressed in words that may be subjected to my personal distortion or bias. Please do not feel emotional or distress should you have any violent objections. Kindly click the little X at the upper, extreme right of your screen if negative adjectives would be derived. Otherwise, feel free to furnish me with comments, may it be positive or negative : )
Social Media Breakfast
” Where everything comes from online to offline “
I think everyone knows this lone building standing in the field next to the huge balloon in Bugis area. It has a pretty famous alfresco steamboat joint too.
I had the chance to go to this budget hotel when my friend from the US stayed there. Despite the exterior looking a little run-down, the inside was fine.
The walls of the small lobby were adorned with old photographs and old newspaper clippings about the hotel. The room my friend is staying in costs SGD60 a night. It is a little small but still comfortable with its double bed. However for that price he had to use the common bath which he found to be rather clean. (He's an expert when it comes to budget accomodation.)
In fact, he had so much confidence in the place, he told us that he wanted to switch to the SGD18 per night room where he would have to share with 3 other people. They had two bunk beds there and it's still very clean.
What he was most impressed with was the good condition of the lockers and the hot and cold showers in all the bathrooms. The service was also friendly and we had a good chat with the staff whilst we were visiting.
With the good location and reasonable prices, I really find this hostel worthwhile. Moreover, it wasn't sleazy and felt very safe to live there.
1=SGD 0.0587
Being a dessert (chocolate) fan, no one could stop me from Melvados once I knew they were famous for their brownies. Totally psyched, I travelled all the way to the other end of Singapore for a lazy Sunday afternoon tea with a friend.
Situated in King's Arcade, I couldn't help but notice that the exterior is a little run-down looking. But I guess what was more important to me was the inside since it was a really hot day and I needed a good dose of cool air....
..which I didn't get... for the first time I actually asked my companion if he felt hot. I'm usually the one who doesn't complain about the temperature of the place but this one is an exception. There's a first to everything right? We were sitting pretty far from the window so we weren't subjected to the heat from outside. So it really must be the lack of air-conditioning.
That aside, I found the decor alright. Just a little sparse though. They could have more seats to make the place look more full. But as my companion pointed out, two more tables (like I suggested) could make it look crammed. But I guess they could switch to smaller tables. Nonetheless the tables and chairs didn't quite match though the sofas looked nice. I say look cos there were very few and we didn't get a chance to sit on them.
After much pondering, we ordered:
Mixed Platter
Your usual mix of fried calamari, fries, onion rings and seafood cakes. I didn't like any of it. The fries were the thin sort which is pretty much oil and little potato. The onion rings lacked onion flavour. The calamari are the sort straight from the freezer and the seafood cakes were just weird. The batter used wasn't tasty and honestly I was quite sick of it after the first two pieces. And yes they seemed to have used the same batter (or at least similiar) for all 3 items, except the fries.
Black & White Kisses
This is the recommended brownie on the menu. It's a brownie topped with dark and white chocolate Hershey's kisses. This brownie was the more moist one of the two we had but it's still not rich enough in my opinion. It was still a little crumbly (like a cake) and I prefer brownies which are more on the sticky side. There is a good bit of flavour though.
Sizzling Brownies Sensation
This is the brownie above, served on a hot plate with your choice of ice-cream. We had expected something more and certainly didn't expect to be served the same brownie. Also the hot plate was just heated up in the microwave and cooled down pretty fast after it arrived. I guess that's just as well since the ice cream was melting at super speed, resulting in a brownish puddle around the brownie after a while. Just a novelty but nothing to rave about really.
Chocolate Madness
This was your regular brownie, just much drier. My little mistake.
We paid $25 in total I think and although it wasn't very much but I didn't find it worth my while after all. Service was alright and the staff wasn't exceptionally alert despite the fact that there were so few tables occupied.
I don't think I would be back.
Rating given:
Had lunch at Sweet Salty Spicy Food Market & Thai Canteen (SSS for short), a newly opened modern Thai restaurant in the western regions of Singapore. Set up by Chef Christopher Miller of Poppi and helmed by Chef Richards, who trained under Chef Peter Bowyer from Sailors Thai in Sydney Rocks district fame, SSS aims to fill the gap between Thai fine dining restaurants and Thai chain outlets.
Located along serene Upper Bukit Timah Road, SSS, which is one of the new kids on the block, resides towards the end of a row of shops also known as The Rail Mall. The interior is simply done up with shelves of Thai sauces and condiments on display together with fresh local produce of herbs and vegetables. Hanging fruits at the entrance add to the down to earth market feel of the place.
Hot and Sour Soup with Prawns, Straw Mushrooms and Aromatics - Notice that the name mentioned prawns. However, there was only 1 prawn, albeit of a rather large size. Bone picking aside, the soup was light yet sourish and hits you before you even know it. Its not so much the chilli kind of spicy but the wasabi kind of 呛, which has been known to reduce grown men to tears. Although I'm not one for spicy stuff, I liked this soup quite a bit.
Wagyu Beef Skewer - At $5.50 a skewer and 2 mouthfuls, this is one expensive piece of beef. However I must admit that the beef was excellent. Tender and succulent with a tinge of sourish herbs taste complementing the natural beefy flavours of the meat - all these without being done medium rare.
Sweet Barbeque Pork in Thai Spices with Fresh Vegetables - This dish is very much akin to our local char siew except that it was much drier with an unidentifiable lightly sweet yet salty spice taste. With the meat being dry, it naturally got tougher and more chewy, which isn't necessarily a good thing, especially for people with weak teeth like myself. Still a relatively decent dish overall.
Roast Duck with Flat Rice Noodles in a Fragrant Thai Herb Broth with Bean Sprouts and Fried Garlic - First impression, this dish looked like a typical bowl of duck meat kway teow. Interestingly, the broth reminded me of the gravy used in lor mee, albeit of a much sweeter version. The duck slices were nice and chewy but the rice noodles, though silky and smooth, tended to clump together.
'Pat Thai' Stir Fried Thai Rice Noodles - This has got to be one of the best Pat Thai I've eaten in a long long while. A tad chewy and moist, the Pat Thai was fried with dried shrimps, beansprouts and huge prawns, exuding a nice fragrant aroma when served. Another plus point was that the noodles didn't clump together even when the dish turned cold. Probably the only gripe I had was the sweetness of the dish, which was a little excessive for me personally.
Black Sticky Rice with Caramelised Coconut and Coconut Cream - For those who have eaten enough of such dishes, you would probably know that this is essentially Pulot/Burbur Hitam. And although I dont really fancy it, I must say that this one was quite appetising, not too starchy but could do with a lot less sugar.
Coconut Custard Tart - Served up with a dollop of fresh cream, the tart looked limp and tired, much to my disappointment. However it wasn't half as bad as it looked, tasting pretty much like egg tart with a layer of sweetened coconut. To be fair, it was actually quite nice but it might have been better if served chilled.
Honestly, $50 for the spread and quality isn't expensive. However portions aren't big so hearty eaters might need to order something extra from the ala carte menu. I'm not sure about the portions come dinner time but prices tend towards the higher end during that period. Think $12 for a plate of Pat Thai. SSS isn't the cheapest Thai food place nor the best, but for the prices, its worth it.
See all my pictures here
Rating given:
Playground @ Big splash is the revamped and much hyped about location these days for its semi chic food offering which can be found surrounding the defunct location. The list of restaurants to try there is quite extensive and its important thus, to start somewhere. Having had Sushi Tei close to a year back, i was once again goaded to try it out at its new location.
The exterior of the restaurant is simply a refurbishment of the old big splash building with an additional signboard. The interior consists of a oval kitchen set in the middle of the restaurant with glass panels to allow a full view of the kitchen and sushi making counter. A conveyor belt which taxis the usual sushi plates run through the restaurant as well. Seats are a mesh of wooden and minimal cushioned seats for the customers to choose from while the lighting within is rather dim as opposed to the bright interiors of Genki or Sakae sushi.
Unagi and Tamago Sushi (Yellow plate $6) - Looking at the shot, its obvious that the unagi is huge! I picked this from the conveyor because i was dead hungry and because the portion seemed too good to be true for a sushi plate. Taste wise, the unagi was soft and sweet while the tamago and sushi rice held firm. It wasn't until i learned the actual price of a yellow plate before i regretted as this was $6 which is really expensive by my standards.
Chawan Mushi (2 for $8) - Soft and sweet summarizes this up pretty well. Pieces of chicken meat and shark's fin can be found closer to the bottom but the one thing that irked me was that the dish was not piping hot when served. It was lukewarm at best and that took alot of enjoyment away.
Age Dashi Tofu ($4) - Another dish that should be served hot but made it to our tables only slightly warm. The age dashi tofu has to be the worst of its kind i've had to eat thus far. The skin had a sticky and unbreakable quality to it while the bland tofu inside simply didn't help. Also deserving a mention is how cool the sauce it came with was as well. An overall badly done item.
The above plates were basically tasteless. The tuna sushi had a rather fishy aftertaste that did not agree with me while the tamago and crab meat simple tasted like bland sushi rice. The unagi pieces were extremely thin and came with no sauce whatsoever. Disappointing.
Yakiniku Don ($10) - I had a bite of this dish and the meat was hard and overdone while the rice was once again lukewarm.
Curry Katsudon ($8) - A simple dish which i ordered for filling purposes. The curry was not spicy as Japanese curry itself is never known for being spicy. The chicken pieces were miserly and hard while the curry tasted very much like those that could be bought from NTUC. Somehow, i was hoping for more but that was never satisfied.
Sukiyaki (3 for $36) - The sukiyaki beef came in 4 long slices and the fats were readily apparent on each piece. Some call it marbling but it doesn't sit well with me as i prefer sukiyaki with minimal fat and more meat. The hotpot that came was miso based and is of the sweet variety. Its filled with mushrooms, onions, vermicelli and tofu for good measure but none decreases the sweetness of the broth (this can be good or bad depending on your tastes). Regardless, this is one of the more affordable and value for money items i've found in the place. Still not exceedingly good though.
Cha Soba ($6.50) - Another item i did not get to try but comments were that it was good.
Total damage for 6 people came to $112.39. Averaging less then $20 per person.
Although Japanese food is one of my favorite cuisines and i've tried Sushi Tei in the past. This branch needs work before its worthy of the name. From my friends, i understand that they have eaten at other branches where the standard was much higher and better then the items we've had here. Service was better as well. Either way, i did not enjoy paying at the counter, did not enjoy eating lukewarm and suspiciously "unfresh" food and did not enjoy the air con dripping down on me as i signed the cheque. Maybe this is the new business jitters i've heard so much about regarding new entrants to the field but still, i don't think i'll be coming back to this branch. Take your chances.
Rating given:
I was invited to Friends @ Serangoon Gardens after my not so pleasant dining experience at their Jelita outlet.
Things didn’t get off to a good start when my name was not found on the reservation list. Thankfully it wasn’t a big issue as the crowd have not set in and they managed to find us a table. It so happen that it was Friends “First Ever Barbecue Party” @ Chomps that evening, and we were told that they were only serving Barbecue Platter for mains and only the appetisers and desserts are available from the regular menu.
As we were scrutinising the menu on what is available, one thing we did realise was that the tables were a little too close for comfort. Despite the classy décor and nice lighting to create a lovely ambience, the strident environment that evening marred it - in fact it stayed raucous throughout the whole occasion.
Upon ordering, we were served the bread and butter almost immediately – it didn’t came cold but it wasn’t exactly warm either (I was actually looking forward to it as I clearly remember her mentioning “Enjoy your warm bread!”). Other than being soft, there wasn’t anything else noteworthy to mention about it.
Soon after, the Assorted Salad Platter with Condiments and Dressing came – straight forward dish as well and nothing much to compliment or picked on.
Then came the ½ dozen of Seasonal Oysters ($29.40), and I have flattering remarks for them – they were big, the flesh were plump and it was very fresh, although personally I would prefer them to arrive more chilled – and if they were any cheaper, I could have easily gulp down another dozen.
We waited a little while more before our platter arrived. For a platter for 2 ($49.90), diners have a choice of 3 items from the Hot Items (Roast Potatoes, Corn on the Cob, Grilled Tomatoes, Grilled Pumpkins, Grilled Peppers) and 2 items from the Grilled Items (Rib eye Steak, Lamb Shoulder Chops, Assorted Sausage (veal or course pork), Grilled Chicken, Grilled Fish Fillet). A platter for 3 will set you back another $20 with an additional item from the grilled section. We opted for the potatoes, corn and peppers from the hot items list and rib eye steak and lamb shoulder chops from the grilled items.
The platter didn’t exactly impress me when it was served to be honest. Aesthetics wise, it didn’t look appetising, furthermore the whole plate was drenched with the meat’s natural juices that only signifies that the chef did not rest the meat before it was served. But at least the chef did managed to get his medium rare this time round for the steak.
Special mention also goes to the lamb chops, as it was char grilled nicely on the outside and succulent on the inside – and what’s best was the layer of marbling fats that was ever so flavoursome. We wrapped up the dinner with a similar dessert I had the last time – Warm Valrhona Chocolate Cake served with Vanilla Ice Cream ($12.90).
And my mate who was not present at the previous outing gave the same conclusion that the aftertaste of the molten chocolate lava could be better (compared to this one, which she had tried with me).
Overall, this wasn’t as bad an experience as the previous one, but there are definitely rooms for improvement. Also, considering that this was the first time they are running this sort of operations, perhaps I could be more forgiving. Nevertheless, I feel that serving barbecue fare is displacing the original business model, which prides itself as a semi-fine dining place – where you do not need to dig deep into your pockets for good food.
You can view more photos and other reviews @ His Food Blog.
Rating given:
What is the most terrible thing that can happen to a food blogger?
Encountered bad service at a restaurant?
No, thats part of the dining experience.
Taste lousy and not up-to-the-mark food?
Nah, thats also part of the dining experience.
Entering the restaurant and the waitress told you the place is full?
Blame it on yourself who did not make any reservations.
The worst thing, that can ever, ever happen to a food blogger . . .
Is having no camera to take shots of the delicacy displayed upon you.
Thunder never strikes at the same spot, indeed. The last time to The French Stall, LIC forgotten to bring his camera along, and that was an awful feeling. LIC didn’t expect to encounter the same problem, this time LIC did bring the camera, only to arrive happily at the entrance of the restaurant and found out that there was no battery inside!?!
Tsk tsk! LIC shouldn’t taken out the battery to charge and forgot to put it back. A dreadful mistake which must be avoid at all cost next time.
Beware! Warning! The following photos may look awful, terrible, shocking, ghastly, and lousy to you. If you cannot take any of the experience, please DO NOT click on “Read the rest of this entry“
The fatal spot where LIC wanted to take a pot-shot of the entrance and to his horror, discovered that the absence of the battery!
Alas, this post on Kuishin-bo will be short due to obvious reasons, LIC was actually working on Absolute Haven but due to time constraint, this post shall appear before your eyes first. Too many post pending for LIC to write, even OT can’t really help : )
The only “slightly more decent” photo, sushi selections
The sushi are all right i guess, nothing to shout about. Quite a wide selections to choose from though.
Prawn Tempura
The tempura section is most probably one of the place where i consume more, with the exception of desserts (which LIC can’t live without!) The prawn tempura is your normal fried prawn with tempura-flour, it works for me although i pretty much suspect its only decent in the eyes of Japanese food experts (LIC self-proclaimed he isn’t a avid Jap food eater)
Kaminabe paper steamboat
Like what i mention during my visit to Waraku, Kaminabe sounds like a foul-word, it still brings back memories from the last visit, hence the mention. Paper pot, the vegetables, are all there to absorb the otherwise oily chicken and soup. Thinking back now, Beef should have been a better option for Kaminabe.
Desserts - Fruit Tarts
Fruit tarts are LIC favorite! I can pop ten easily into my mouth. The tarts here are pretty standard i guess, but still give them to me!
There are also some miniature cakes around, chocolate ones, mini oreo cheesecakes (really tiny), mini doughnuts in different flavors, quite a variety available.
The chocolate fondue craze might have die down already, but that does not means they are not good. Its just that people forgets easily, before long another new craze will appear and the common folks will start to go after the new hype. Think donut, bubble-tea, luo-han fish, chocolate fondue, well just to name a few.
Total Bill for 2 person during weekday lunch comes up to $46.61 after tax and service charge. Weekday lunch is $24.80 for adult, and if you Op for the 60 minutes express lunch, it is $19.80 , which we did. I guess the 60 minutes strategy is more to attract office working people, but we took it since we are really full after an hour anyway.
Actually the difference in price is only 5 bucks, if you go for the normal price, you got the luxury to enjoy the buffet from 1130am-3pm, which big-appetite eaters should go for. Otherwise if you are working near Suntec, or like us where you can finish the meal in an hour, the discount of $5 although not much, is still rather substantial.
To be honest, the one hour buffet is rather rushed, and if you are the type that refuse to rush while tasting your food, it is not advisable to take it. But if you know what you are looking for, well just attack those areas and your effort will be paid off for the $19.80.
Kuishi-bo proclaimed itself to be the Authenthic Japanese Buffet Restaurant, which i highly doubted it. Authentic hardly feeds into what they are offering. Nevertheless i believe one sentence should sums it all for Kuishi-bo. Quantity, not quality!
Taste is subjective, if you are not looking for very excellent food, i say the ones at Kuishi-bo are quite decent, and definitely value-for-money since its only $19.80. But if you are into Japanese food, i’m afraid the visit will disappoint you greatly. Nonetheless, comparing Kuishi-bo to Sakura International Buffet, and Sakae Sushi Buffet, i still say Kuishi-bo slightly edged out both the latter.
Many acquaintance mentioned that Kuishi-bo’s standard has vastly dropped from last time, a pale shadow of what it used to be. Well, sometimes you have to experience it for yourself to conclude. I did, which is the reason for my visit to Kuishi-bo. Thus, Yay or Nah, make a trip down.
You are always welcome to visit ladyironchef for a full-up on this trip. Whatever written above are my geniune feelings expressed in words that may be subjected to my personal distortion or bias. Please do not feel emotional or distress should you have any violent objections. Kindly click the little X at the upper, extreme right of your screen if negative adjectives would be derived. Otherwise, feel free to furnish me with comments, may it be positive or negative : )
" Quantity, not quality! "
Rating given:
Read quite a bit about Melvados and its famous brownies so dropped by one sunny afternoon to try them out.
Opened just slightly over a year ago in end 2006, Melvados is located within the upmarket residential enclave of Bukit Timah, playing neighbours to only a clinic and a pub. The decor is simple, with cheap looking wooden tables and chairs sparsely populating the granite floor. There are cosy sofas too but those are of the limited variety. The entire place is small, probably fitting in about 20 pax at most. With huge floor to ceiling windows, the place exudes a nice cosy feeling, just perfect for a lazy afternoon tea session.
Seafood Platter - I'm not exactly a fan of seafood platters as they usually consist of alot of deep fried stuff that tend to make me nauseous after a while. This one was no exception. Served with onion rings, fries, calamari and fish/prawn cakes, the platter was, if I may say, off the charts. Not that I mean it in a good way though. Everything (save for the fries) was rather tasteless and too filled with thick batter that tasted exactly like deep fried flour.
Black & White Kisses - Billed as Melvados's signature brownie, the Black & White Kisses was actually quite good. Moist and not too rich with a nice wholesome baked taste and topped with black and white hershey's kisses. The only bone I had was the consistently smooth homogeneous texture of the brownie, which made it seem a little weird. However such gripes are forgotten when the brownie is paired with the vanilla ice cream, making for a sweet and delightful dessert without the chocolate overload.
Sizzling Brownies Sensation - Ever heard of hotplate brownie? No? Neither have I. It was that curiosity that prompted us to order this dessert. In retrospect, it wasn't such a good idea after all. A brownie served on a hot plate with a scoop of rapidly melting ice cream. How special is that? I did a quick calculation and the novelty of a hotplate cost us an additional $2.10 with the exact same ingredients as their signature Black & White Kisses. There's another problem with serving brownies on a hotplate. The underside of the brownie will harden and stick to the base and the ice cream melts so fast that its a little more than just flavoured cream after a while.
Chocolate Madness - I didn't quite take to this brownie as it was a tad hard and dry when served. Not exactly my cup of tea. And for the record, it didn't really taste that strongly of chocolate as inferred by its name.
I'm really not sure about the going prices for brownies because I don't eat enough of them to know but I'm guessing $18.50 for 3 brownies is a wee bit on the high side. Meldavos serves mains like pasta and sandwiches as well but sticking to just the brownies might just be a safer bet.
See all my pictures here.
Rating given:
Shokudo is a name that you can get familiar with in a hurry. Why? Firstly, it has 2 branches already counting this one, being a Marche-like concept and the other located nearby in CityLink which specialized in Pizza and Pasta. We'll be reviewing the Marche lookalike this time around on the food quality.
Upon queuing and entering the premises, you'll be greeted by friendly serving staff who'll provide you with 2 items. Firstly, you'll receive a card thats basically your best friend, losing the card results in a penalty fee of $100 which is rather absurd if you ask me. The second item you'll receive is a round wooden placeholder thats supposed to reserve a seat for you whereever you put it. However, this simply did not work because our first reservation chip was stolen from our table and some other lady managed to get in our reserved seat... So i'm saying the system may work elsewhere, but apparently not in Singapore.
The interior of the Bazaar is split into several different themes with a food court like design in the middle, more colorful lighting and cushy seats in other areas. Rather pleasing and different from an aesthetic perspective. The food preparation areas resemble Marche with the exception of everything being Japanese food or fusion in some instances. The only problem i had with the arrangement is the waiting time for each order. Its pretty ridiculous to wait 20 mins for a beef burger but i'll get to that later. The service staff were alright and courteous but can be improved for sure.
Wasabi Toro Cheese Burger ($7.80) - The name is nice, wasabi toro burger. Whatever that means i'm not too sure but to me, its a beef burger with a supremely small patty of beef wrapped in an extremely bad tasting and oversized bun. I had to wait close to 20 minutes for the above. Can you see where the time went into preparing it? I certainly couldn't unless they mashed and prepared the patty on the spot but i highly doubt that. The bun is fused to an egg which thankfully made it bearable but the miserly portion of beef was terrible visually. Not to mention that when tasted, it simply wasn't up to par, being dry and too hard. Simply terrible.
Bacon and cheese Omelette ($5.80) - My gf ordered this and the next item. Thankfully they were more palatable then my horrible choice but even then, not by much. The bacon and cheese omelet was a really small portion which could be finished in 4 spoonfuls. The omelet itself was served warm and with bacon and cheese melting within it. A little too salty however.
Rosti with Sausages ($9.80) - Since when did rosti become a Japanese item? Nonetheless, in a world of below average food, this managed to be a cut above the rest. Fragrant, hot and crispy with a soft interior. This took the crown that day but thats certainly not saying much. The sausage that came with it was your run-of-the-mill sausage with cheese in it. It wasn't bad per se but nothing exciting about it as well. The one thing about this dish is, its oily to a fault. You'll notice it the moment you have your first bite until your nausea inducing ending.
A mediocre and sub par meal came up to $27.50 for 2 people. If i'm ever in the vicinity again, i'll stay far far away.
I don't know what the matter is. The food portions were pathetic. The service was slow. The true japanese items were price sky high and the seats were only moderately comfortable. Why would i pay to eat here when there are so many better places out there? Good for people who want to see what the buzz is about but if the quality and portion size doesn't improve, i fear a quick exit will be the order of the day.
Rating given:
One of the more belated posts, this was taken during the Yebber gathering for the New Year...Yes its very late in fact. Nonetheless, HotPot culture was the choice of the day with its everyday prices and rather extensive selection of food, both cooked and raw. Knowing next to nothing of the place, me and my gf braved the cold hard night and thronged towards the defunct location where maniacal cameras and loud speech is a norm.
The location was rather odd because it was situated in the middle of a large number of competitors ranging from Secret Recipe, Kenny Rogers to Genki Sushi and some chinese restaurant. Talk about a "hostile location" and "friendly competition". Still, i have to say the place was simplistically clean in a good way and though filled with normal furniture, managed to hover between boring and acceptable.
The service is simple. Once you have settled in, the immediate step is to be acquainted to your own personal mini pot. This pot will stay with you till the end of your meal until dessert is served so it is prudent to ensure you pick the best pot for your needs. For my case, i picked the herbal ginseng hot pot and it was a good choice in my opinion as the stock definitely adds taste to the food and simply tastes good. A little on the salty side though. The other complaint would have to be the fumes emitted from the pot, it stings your eyes and noses for the first....10 minutes or so until you get used it but these are small grouses in the scale of things.
In terms of food selection for the uncooked portion where you get to pick and choose whatever you like, it was sufficient. There are upwards of 30 different items you can cook in your hotpot and each item was, to my impression, treated with equal cleanliness and hygiene. To me, its extremely important that the food looks and is clean and this they have managed to convey. On the items, there are lots of greens, vermicelli, bean related items, eggs, chicken meat, dory fish, fish cakes, crab meat and fish balls to choose from. Each are chilled with ice and tasted pretty good in each respect. Springy fishballs, reasonably fresh meat and fish round out the experience. In short, the items on selection may be rather small portioned but does not disappoint. This brings us to the next point which is the 'distinct' difference between HotPot Culture and other would be restaurants, they also serve a selection of close to 40 cooked food items.
Prawns and Bacon Wrap - This was our first order for the day in the cooked food section and to be honest, it was rather disappointing but its not the fault of the chef in this case, it was the ingredients. Prawns and bacon wraps are as easy as one, two, three in making it good. Simple have a nicely sauteed king prawn, wrap it in quality salty bacon, slap on a layer or 2 of additional garnishes while grilling and its basically a winner. What went wrong here, was the rather small prawn used which failed to bring out its true flavor. In retrospect, even Eden Cafe didn't get this right...maybe it isn't as easy as i though after all.
Tahu Goreng - A favorite dish of mine which hearkens back to my army days. This rendition was pleasing to the eye but did not live up to expectations in the taste department. The nuts and garnishing is definitely spot on but the tahu (beancurd) itself was just a little too hard. The skin took quite and effort to break and the beancurd within needed to be softer to be palatable.
Chicken Wings - Chicken wings, what could go wrong with it? Over frying apparently. There was some marinate used on the wings which rendered it too salty but the nail in the coffin was how dry the wings were. The only saving grace was that it was not oily, which was perplexing in a good way. The newest update i had was that the owner got my comment through the video yebber made with me commenting on the items out loud, and have since improved on the wings and other items.
Pan fried battered fish - Didn't get to try this but i was told it was pretty good by KK and his gf. So i'll take it as it was good.
Chicken and mushroom wrap - I had only a piece of this and its was a little dry but the mushroom sauce managed to compensate that little problem. This was salty as well though.
Ngor Hiang - One of my favorite dishes when done right. This was below average by me but maybe my views are biased on this dish. This was rather thin and actually over fried with the paste inside lacking much taste nor ingredients. Needs improvement.
Stir Fried Bean Sprouts - You just can't go wrong with this dish. Its easy enough with the only thing to look out for being to stir fry it long enough to rid it of the "greenish" taste and short enough to retain the crunchiness. Once again, it was a tad too salty for me.
Golden Mushroom - Sukiyaki Beef - Fish Paste - The above are 3 items which needed to be ordered before it can be cooked. The beef was fresh and succulent enough to be ordered a minimal of 3 times, the golden mushrooms need to be cooked thoroughly before being eaten but gets the job done while the fish paste is a weird combination of tastes in its own right but simply didn't sit well with me.
Sweet and sour fish - Sweet and Sour Chicken - Both these dishes taste the same to me. With the exception of the fish being more tender while the chicken being more chewy, the overall taste is the same. Not to say that its bad but the sauce certainly overwhelms after awhile.
Deep Fried Meat Balls - Remember the mushroom chicken? Well, the sauce is the same while the meat balls were unfortunately too dry yet again.
The final course of the day was the chocolate fondue which comes in its own little hotpot for each person. Choices to go with the fondue range from marshmallows to fruits like papayas, apples, pears, watermelons and honeydews. The fondue is of the bitter sweet variety which means its more bitter and has a higher cocoa content then some other such fondues offered in similar places. A good ending i'd say.
A decent place for a buffet hotpot meal with a rather extensive variety of of items to choose from. The owner's willingness to listen to feedback and improve is a plus. I'd recommend visiting it as the overall experience has not been a bad one.
Rating given:
Social Media Breakfast Singapore
March 29, 2008 (Saturday)
9 am — 12:30pm
Frujch @ SMU (Basement 1, School of Information Systems)
50 Stamford Road
The whole event was super fun, we mingled around talking with each other, a total of 40 people turned up for SMB! All righty, first we have to use the big sticker to write our name and blog address, or whatever website of stuff you want to let others know.
Anyway being a foodie, or rather I’ll coined myself as Gourmet Analyst, it is my moral obligation to present to you the food for the breakfast!
The “main course” for the breakfast. Sandwiches! There are not type of sandwich, one of which is ham, and the other being tuna. There are also the mini Choclate cakes
There were also orange juice to go along with the ’snacks’, and if you wanted any hot drink, you could always get it from the counter at Frujch (have to pay separately of course!)
See you all at the next SMB!
Btw, the 5 star rating is thumbs up for the Social Media Breakfast Event, not the food : )
You are always welcome to visit ladyironchef for a full-up on this trip. Whatever written above are my geniune feelings expressed in words that may be subjected to my personal distortion or bias. Please do not feel emotional or distress should you have any violent objections. Kindly click the little X at the upper, extreme right of your screen if negative adjectives would be derived. Otherwise, feel free to furnish me with comments, may it be positive or negative : )
Social Media Breakfast
” Where everything comes from online to offline “
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I think everyone knows this lone building standing in the field next to the huge balloon in Bugis area. It has a pretty famous alfresco steamboat joint too.
I had the chance to go to this budget hotel when my friend from the US stayed there. Despite the exterior looking a little run-down, the inside was fine.
The walls of the small lobby were adorned with old photographs and old newspaper clippings about the hotel. The room my friend is staying in costs SGD60 a night. It is a little small but still comfortable with its double bed. However for that price he had to use the common bath which he found to be rather clean. (He's an expert when it comes to budget accomodation.)
In fact, he had so much confidence in the place, he told us that he wanted to switch to the SGD18 per night room where he would have to share with 3 other people. They had two bunk beds there and it's still very clean.
What he was most impressed with was the good condition of the lockers and the hot and cold showers in all the bathrooms. The service was also friendly and we had a good chat with the staff whilst we were visiting.
With the good location and reasonable prices, I really find this hostel worthwhile. Moreover, it wasn't sleazy and felt very safe to live there.
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