American brownie It’s just your regular brownie. There’s nothing special about it at all. I found it a bit dry even.
American carrot cake It was light and fluffy but the cream on top is not enough. The taste of the cake is not strong enough for my liking. Dark chocolate truffle This is the most recommended cake in the shop. Indeed it is the best out of all the 3 cakes I tasted that day. It is soft and was made with rich dark chocolate. However it wasn’t extraordinary.
Shepherd’s pie (beef) It would have been one of the best if it were hot enough. When it was served it was warm, lukewarm I should call it. Thus, it turns cold very fast. While eating the pie, the top part of the pie turn hard and stiff. The filling tasted good on the 1st bite but it wasn’t nice after that.
2 scoops of ice cream – banana chocolate & nutty nuts They say the ice cream is made of natural ingredients, but it didn’t taste that way.
The service was fantastic. The staff was nice enough to let me try a lot of the flavours of the ice cream. I tried the royal chocolate-it reminds me of the old magnolia ice cream before it was revamped. I tried many man flavours. In the end I chose the above flavours, the combination I chose was quite nice in fact.
We didn’t really have a great time sitting there as we were disturb by the 2 little flies bugging us as we were enjoying our cakes. The price was really reasonable. We paid $10.60 for the above.
Big Fish is a restaurant serving up fresh seafood dishes situated in the popular Siglap area. It’s been around for a few years and my family and I decided to try it out this CNY season.
We made reservations, as there were 6 of us and were promptly seated in the centre of the restaurant that night. The interior design of the place was comfortable with nice music and suitable lighting. It wasn’t too bright and yet just enough to take photos. The staff were friendly and served us iced water as we were ordering. They were also patient to explain the various dishes, though they had to repeat a few times as we had trouble understanding them (due to their accent).
The complimentary bread had herbs in it and was fresh. It was soft and fluffy. Too bad they gave only one for every person at the table.
Food Ordered:
Set Dinner - $29.95 This is a 4-course set that consisted of Corn Soup, Mahi-mahi, Chocolate Mousse and Coffee. The soup was pretty thick but not much ingredients in it. It IS corn soup after all.
Live Oysters - $2.60 per piece These were very fresh, served on ice. No fishy smell at all and it was quite sizeable. But even so it’s still expensive at this price… Well at least it was good. We ordered 6 which were finished in a jiffy. Softshell Crab - $12.95 I was a little disappointed by the quantity when it arrived. It’s lightly coated with some spices and served with mango salsa and a homemade dipping sauce. There was a lot of sauce but little crab. Nonetheless the crab was very tasty and not oily which is a big plus for me. Seafood Platter - $51.95 There were grilled scallops, Morton Bay Bug, fish skewers, BBQ squid, NZ mussels, chargrilled prawns, served with butter rice and chips. If you order this alone, it’s probably enough for 3 people to share. 5 of us shared this along with all the other stuff we ordered. The seafood was very fresh and not over done though it looked like it at first glance. But the juices are still retained so it wasn’t dry the way it looked. The fries were very nice and they are the fat sort I liked. The butter rice was not very tasty though, it could have been more fragrant. Fish and Chips - $15.95 I loved the fish! But I’m pretty sure it wouldn’t appeal to most people. The batter was light and the two pieces of fish were quite big. The fish was smooth and didn’t have any fishy smell even without lemon. But the batter wasn’t very heavy in taste which is why I said it probably wouldn’t appeal to most. There weren’t enough fries. (I’m a Fry lover)
Yu Sheng - $22.95 The restaurant’s version of the Raw Fish Salad gave us a nice surprise. This is the smallest serving, and they were not kidding when they said that it was SMALL. One mouthful for each of us and the plate was empty. Nonetheless there was a nice combination of different fish slices, though I’m not sure what fish was used. Obviously this is only available during the CNY season. Spaghetti Vongole- $18.95 I didn’t get the description for this dish but this was a spicy pasta dish served with clams. My mom was all praises for this dish, until she realised how much it cost. It is barely enough for one person really. If eaten alone, it’s definitely not enough. It would be, if it were part of a set. The clams were nicely seasoned and cooked and the pasta was just right.
Beef Tenderloin - $29.95 We were asked if how we wanted the steak so we were very curious how it would turn out…. It came in slices! A nice surprise indeed when the people eating it found that it was not overdone despite being cut up. But the serving was quite small too, certainly not enough for my brother. Raspberry Soda - $4.95 I didn’t order this but ended up drinking it as the person didn’t like sourish drinks. I liked how the ice was crushed up inside, so that it would melt quickly to dilute the drink and made it ice-cold throughout. Green Apple Soda - $4.95 This was not sourish as one would expect.. it was actually sweet. Really odd don’t you think?
We spent a total of $229 for the 6 of us. Honestly speaking, we weren’t very full. The amount of food was just right but not over the top. Which makes this meal a little expensive. But for the freshness of the food good taste good service, I’d say it was pretty worth it J
The once popular water theme park at East Coast known as Big Splash has recently been redeveloped as Big Splash @ Playground and is home to a handful of dining outlets, one of which is Mingles La' Brassarie.
Occupying a premise which can roughly seat about 60 people (estimate), Mingles's interior is simple and clean, tending towards a more casual setting. I personally found the cute half egg shell seats (or whatever you call them) rather appealing, especially for after dinner drinks or dessert.
Cheese Fries - A side order at $5.90, the portions were somewhat pathetic if you ask me. What was interesting about the fries was that the cheese had BBQ sauce in it, which made the whole concoction cheesy and BBQish at the same time - a nausea inducing combination for me. It didn't help that the fries weren't exactly very fantastic, coming in as average.
Bangers & Mash - You get to choose your sausages with this order so we had the Swiss Cheese Pork Sausage and Black Pepper Chicken Sausage. I thought that the black pepper sausage was quite good, bursting with flavour with sufficient amount of bite in every mouth. The cheese pork sausage, though not lousy, was a tad disappointing as the taste of the cheese threatened to overwhelm the sausage taste.
Mingles Ribeye Steak - Weighing in at just over 250g, the ribeye was done up medium rare according to specifications and boasted a saliva inducing lightly charred exterior. However the meat was a little disappointing, a tad lacking in firmness and chewiness. The red wine sauce it was topped with had no inkling of red wine and instead tasted like berry sauce - sweet and fruity. The same sauce overwhelmed the raw taste of the beef at times, which shouldn't be the case really.
Baked Alaska - The Baked Alaska is essentially ice cream and sponge cake encased within a thick layer of meringue which is then briefly placed in an extremely hot oven to firm the meringue. Mingles's rendition opted to omit the sponge cake which was a mistake in my humble opinion. It tasted exactly like ice cream with whipped cream on top! Give me Borshch's version anytime!
Dinner for 2 cost about $62 after a 10% credit card discount. I wouldn't call it expensive but it certainly isn't cheap for the average quality of food. Service is excellent though and thats a definite plus.
At OChaCha, they specialise in matcha, the premium green tea served in traditional Japanese Tea Ceremony. O-Cha means green tea in Japanese and Cha is tea in Chinese, as tea orginates from the chinese. Hence OChaCha is the coming together of different cultures & they hope that there will be many coming together of friends over cups of matcha latte.
OChaCha quest for good tea brought them all over the world, they found that while tea is very much part of our eastern culture, it is not considered cool or hip. Yet tea is part of our heritage - tea was first discovered by the Chinese emperor Shen Nong in the year 2700 B.C! What’s more, the health benefits of C-Cha are simply amazing. OChaCha is determined to make it fun and cool to drink O-Cha!
So OChaCha is all about marrying tradition and modern technology; of great tastes & healthy drinks; of simply being different. So be cool, be hip, be discerning, be kind to your body. Be one of the Matcha Latte People!
The new basement of Raffles City saw many additional of tenants to the place, one of which is OChaCha. My buddy & I were wandering around when we saw OChaCha, it was rather empty, but being kaypoh people, we ventured into the cafe and did not regret ever since.
A chat with the friendly female boss Miss Lee Yin Siau (or rather she call herself everybody’s boss) we find out that OChaCha just opened for business at Raffles City for two weeks only, thus the emptiness of the place.
After we got seated a while, customers start to come in, i guess its only human nature, people are afraid to go into a place that has no one, but starts to rush into the place when there is crowd.
My buddy made his orders while i did not have anything partly because i was full from my lunch at Tuckshop, and partly I must admit green tea does not appeals to me. Miss Lee chatted with us and explained her concept for OChaCha, which impressed me, and i decided to support her by ordering food to try out.
There are many types of different matcha, from the Matcha Latte Hot, to Matcha On the rock which is chilled latted as well as the ice-blended Matcha Freezzie. There is also two chocolate drinks for anti-matcha people. To go with these great drinks, there are also savoury sandwiches, quiches & pies, matcha slices, matcha cakes and many more.
OChaCha Mond ($5.35) This is the main character of the show. OChaCha matcha latte almond, there isn’t a very strong green tea taste, but the fragrance of the matcha is evident in the smell of it. I don’t really fancy drinking green tea, but after drinking it, i feel that its rather good, not like the usual green tea. Well, OChaCha is great news for non-green tea lovers like me.
Furitake Salmon Sandwich ($5.90) Furitake gives an added crunch to the taste. The Furitake Salmon Sandwich comes with fresh garden salad topped with Japanese citrus dressing & nori-flavoured chips. I like the bread, it was suprisingly soft when we make the bite into it. Even without any ingredient, i think the bread can be eaten on its own. Nevertheless, this makes a good meal for the Salmon lovers out there.
Sakura Egg Sandwich ($4.80) I like this one! Sakura denbu perks up the dish. Similarly as of the other sandwich, there is salad greens and chips as sides. The Sakura Egg Sandwich may look ordinary, but eaten together, it is very yummy. Who says ordinary dish can’t be extraordinary in taste?
For sandwiches, there are only three different types of sandwiches, with the other being wasabi tuna sandwich. When asked why isn’t there more variety, Miss Lee simply replied, “we do what we are best at, Matcha! ” That certainly make a impression on me, the direction of OChaCha is not just to make money, they want to bring good tea to the public.
Spong Cotton ($2.90) This is on the house, courtesy of Miss Lee. However, being a free item should not affect the judgement of the food, the green tea spongcake was extremely soft, there is a layer of cream within the centre of the cake. I can’t have enough of the cake! A trip back to try the other cakes look to be high on the priority list.
Total Bill comes up to $15.05 (excluding the $2.90 for the spong cake). There is no GST or service charge, and the warm welcome by Miss Lee and her staff do shows that there is hope for the falling-standards of the service industry in Singapore.
Initially, i was skeptical about the place because I’m not a fan of green tea. Despite that, OChaCha won me over, and I must say my perception of green tea has been changed greatly. The next time in a cafe, rather than a cup of coffee or soft drink, drink OChaCha Matcha instead!
Both of us sat inside the cafe for roughly two hours, sipping matcha latte and savouring the sandwiches, OChaCha is a great place to hang out and chill with your friends. The next time you go to Raffles City, rather than the coffee cafes, give OChaCha a try!
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 : )
” The Green Tea of Starbucks “
Second Visit 8th May
A friend and I went down to O Cha Cha last week after i got my DSLR, we went to discuss the menu with Ochacha’s boss Miss Lee Yin Siau.
From left anticlockwise, is Mr.Ochacha Mondo, on its right is our friend Miss Matcha Panna Cotta, and followed by Ochacha Rocks, and the top is Gyokuro.
Gyokuro uses the same tea leave made into Matcha, just that the whole tea leave is being use for Gyokuro which is evident inside the tea.
Say hello to Ochacha Rocks! He rocks all righty! There’s also Matcha Azuki at the left background of the picture!
And Miss Matcha Panna Cotta!
Please click here to see the pictures for my second visit
Third Visit 13th May ladyironchef’s Food Event Outing at Ochacha!
A total of 20 people graced the event, with bloggers, readers of LIC’s blog, and their friends joining us for the green tea appreciation at Ochacha.
There was supposed to be more, about 15 more, but they all last minute had something on, anyway 20’s a big number, considering it’s LIC first time organising an event.
Dinner was supposed to start at 730pm, but you know Singaporeans tend to come late, so we actually started the ball rolling at 8pm.
Ochacha’s boss Miss lee arranged her cafe and gave us half the space, so thankful for that.
The menu is as follow :
Drinks: Matcha Rocks, Azuki Freezie, Ochacha Rocks, Ochacha latte or ochacha silk (3 cold and choice of 1 warm)
Desserts: Matcha Cotton, Matcha Azuki, Financier, Matcha Panna Cotta
Its $17.50 per person to try the wide range of items in this menu. For all the food i’ll be putting the normal price beside it.
And apparently our ladies like green tea more than guys, hence the bigger differential in the numbers.
Complimentary chips
The chips were on the house, for our hungry guests before everyone turned up
Salad The salad was also not included in our original menu. Miss lee thought that it will be better if there are some greens to go along with.
From left to right: Matcha Rocks, Ochacha Rocks, Azuki Freezie
Matcha Rocks ($4.95)
Chilled Matcha with sugar (no milk). I think most people preferred the Matcha Rocks one to Ochacha rocks which has milk
Ochacha Rocks ($4.95)
Chilled Matcha Latte. The Ochacha rocks is the middle one, coming with milk, its a lighter shade of green than the Matcha Rocks
Azuki Freezie ($6.50)
Ice blended matcha with azuki (Jap red beans). I believe the Azuki Freezie won quite a number of fan tonight, it stood out with the matcha taste on ice blend.
Please be reminded that what you are seeing are shooters, not the actual size of the drinks. The prices indicated are for the normal size.
Shiitake Mushroom soup I think quite a number of people found the shiitake mushroom soup to be a tad too salty for their tastebuds.
Tomato soup The tomato soup is more on the sweet and soup side. It really depends whether you are a fan of tomato and soup or not. I’m not a soup person though.
Sakura Egg Sandwich ($4.80) The sakura egg sandwich is still my favourite among the three sandwiches at Ochacha. See here for the picture of the normal size sandwich on my last visit.
Wasabi Tuna Sandwich ($5,90) Wasabi (spicy!!) tuna mayo fills up the delicious bread. This is my first time trying this, on the previous visit i had only the egg and the salmon ones.
For the wasabi tuna sandwich, i like tuna, but i don’t like wasabi.
Furikake Salmon Sandwich ($5.90) Smoked salmon with Japanese seaweed. I had the Furikake Salmon sandwich on my previous visit too.
The Japanese seaweed added the salty aspect to flavor the salmon, but i found it to be a tad on the salty side.
Matcha Financier ($2.90) French cake named after its shape like gold bar. The Matcha Financier did not disappoint, but then again i could be bias as i’m totally a dessert person.
Matcha Azuki ($4.90) Layered matcha cake with azuki beans & cream. The Matcha Azuki totally rock my world, the usage of azuki red beans gave the matcha cake a sweet twist.
I had this on my second visit too!
Matcha Cotton ($2.90) Fluffy Japanese souffle cake with fresh cream in the center. The extremly soft sponge matcha cake simply melts in the mouth!
Matcha Panna Cotta ($4.90) Italian creamy dessert with matcha flavor. This dessert had mixed reviews, some didn’t like it and found it to be too soft for a panna cotta, while others adored it and find the soft texture, coupled with the matcha flavor a delight to have.
Again this shows that taste is subjective, what some might like, others might not like.
Ochacha Latte ($4.80) or Ochacha Silk ($4.80) Hot matcha latte & soy milk with matcha. We had the choice of either one for our warm green tea.
Total Bill was $350 for 20 people ($17.50 fixed price for each person). For $17.50, i think its definitely a very good price as we got to try out a whole wide range of green tea, sandwiches and desserts.
Please click here to see ALL the pictures taken during LIC food outing on the third visit
See you all at the next LIC food outing, it’ll be soon : )
Sweet Indulgence, the petite cafe at Stanley Street is as charming as its name. From the decorations, to the food, to the service, everything just made you feels at home. Your cosy corner, in the hearts of the city. My female companion and i arrive at the place at 530pm, but the restaurant was not opened yet as their kitchen starts at 6. However the staff warmly welcome us in to the place. Being early-birds, we were the only diners there, and we enjoyed every moment there. The feeling was though we had booked the restaurant, and had the whole place to ourselves.
Stepping into the restaurant, I felt as if I had transported into another world all together. The bar counter, the simple yet comfortable furnitures under the dim spot-light made us feel totally at ease. The staff was very friendly, and he told us to make ourselves at home. So we heed his words, and literally make it our home.
Pretty is the word to describe the place, cozy is the word to describe the feeling, and indulgencing in the sweetness basically sums up everything else. We took photos, every shot and angles of the whole restaurant. While being overly engrossed in taking pictures, we even forgot to take our orders until we saw the chef sitting behind us.
The menu ranges from appetizer, salad, tapas, to the main course like pasta, fish & seafood, meats, to desserts and wine. Although under each category there might not have a wide range of selections, but for what it lack in variety, it made up for it in the pure quality and the presentation of the food.
And just for your information, the restaurant starts its lunch menu from 1145 to 230pm, dinner is served from 6 to 10pm. Indulge in a sumptuous three course set lunch at an additional $6.80 on top of the main course’s price.
As we were in quite a rush for time, we didn’t have any appetizer or tapas to start the delightful meal, so we proceed on and begin with our main course. A peek into the menu, we immediately know what we wanted. As my female companion is a fan of spaghetti & also a lover of fish, the spaghetti salmon & mushroom seems to be tailor-made for her. To complete the fish-lover experience, i had the pan-sauteèd salmon steak.
The spaghetti selections come in the price range of $13.90 to $17.90, while the main course starts from $14.90 to $23.90 for its beef tenderloin.
Spaghetti Salmon & Mushroom ($15.90) Spaghetti tossed with fresh salmon, mushrooms & seasonal vegetables in cream sauce. Being the fan of cream base rather than tomato base, the Spaghetti Salmon & Mushroom suits the tastebud of my companion perfectly. The sauce isn’t very strong, therefore it doesn’t overwhelm the overall taste of the dish. Coupled with the generous helping of fresh salmon & mushroom, every slurp of the pasta seems to exist for your savour of it.
Pan-sauteèd Salmon Steak ($19.90)Pan-grilled salmon accompany with daily vegetables, serve with vanilla infused cream sauce, finished with balsamic reduction & caramelised cherry tomatoes. First taste into the Pan-sauteèd Salmon steak tell me this is something special, the second bite confirms the truth. The salmon is pan-grilled perfectly, where pan-grilled salmon in the hands of less-skillful chef will becomes hard and dry, this is definitely not the case at Sweet Indulgence.
The grilled skin did not prevent me for tasting the soft and freshness of the juicy salmon. Some pepper and salt are sprinkled to add additional flavouring to the salmon, not that it is necessary, the salmon is so good that it can be eaten on its own.
The daily vegetables of broccoli and carrot helps to balance the meal, and the mashed potato together with the vanilla infused cream sauce certainly taste specially good. The only thing that i have to add will be the serving could be better, but i guess good food comes in appropriate serving, too much of a good thing spoils the taste.
Warm Choco Lava Indulgence ($8.90) To end off our delightful meal, there is no doubt desserts are a must at such a sweet place like Sweet Indulgence. Warm chocolate cake filled with melted dark chocolate, served with tropical fruits and a scoop of ice cream.
Warm Choco Lava Indulgence’s filling very much satisfied the chocoholic in me. As our spoon cuts into the chocolate cake, the melted dark chocolate ooshed out and filled our spoon. Eaten separately, the warm dark chocolate taste like dark chocolate, and the ice cream like any other ordinary ice cream, but combine both together, the result is totally different. The warm dark chocolate seems to fuse perfectly with the cold vanilla ice cream, and the effect is a yummy sensation.
Tiramisu ($7.90) Dessert couldn’t have been more satisfying than in the form of the popular Tiramisu. Original Italian tiramisu made with mascarpone cheese and Italian sponge fingers soaked in espresso and lots of kahlua, rum & brandy.
In my personal opinion, this ought to be one of my favourite Tiramisu. The first moment the tiramisu goes inside my mouth, I fell in love with it. Touching the tip of my tongue, the super soft texture of the cake immediately melt and touch my heart. Beautiful is the word, heavenly is the feeling, and falling in love with it concludes the tiramisu. I’ll be back for this one, watch out for it yeah!
Total bill for 2 main 2 desserts for 2 person comes up to $52.60 which is definitely not expensive, given the quality and presentation of the food, the excellent service, the comfy environment, which makes our dinner perfect. Also please be reminded that the restaurant is currently opened during weekdays only, there are plans to open on Sat in the near future.
After we finish our dinner, the boss of the restaurant, Christopher came and we had a friendly conservation, and the restaurant even gave us two complimentary orange juice on the house. The orange juice are some of the ones that they are looking to bring in from new suppliers and are not on the menu as yet.
If you visit the place and may not agree with me that the place is that good even its a small restaurant, hidden in the heart of the city. But the fact is I enjoyed the place very much indeed, and that is enough. We received dining vouchers in the form of $15 discount for every $60 spend in the dinner menu for our next visit. I will definitely be back for more. memorable dining experience - Sweet 2 Indulge
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 : )
Was deciding on a place to eat along Orchard road one weekday evening and the only place that didn't seem to be spilling with people was Crystal Jade Golden Palace (CJGP). From what I know, CJGP hovers around the top tier of the Crystal Jade chain, which includes Crystal Jade Xiao Long Bao, Crystal Jade Kitchen etc.
Located on the 5th floor of the high end The Paragon shopping mall, CJGP appeals with its sombre yet elegant entrance walkway and posh/classy interior complete with ambient lighting. Padded walls and carpets, thick cushioned chairs all give the impression of comfort at its finesse.
Shark's Fin in Coconut - This dish is out of the menu so please pardon my literal translation from Chinese to English. Served up in a coconut husk, the fins were of decent quality and in abundance together with stuff like prawns and fish maw in a nice and light broth which hinted of coconut towards the bottom.
Crystal Jade Suckling Pig - A rather impressive dish I must say, with the skin crackling crispy and the meat harbouring a light smoky taste. I liked the strings of jellyfish that came with it as well, springy with lots of bite. Not the least bit worth the price($23) though, with only a few slices of skin and meat.
Sauteed Scallop with Broccoli - Yet another dish of small proportions. Cooked just right, the broccoli was crunchy and tasty with the scallops slightly firm and not overwhelming.
Golden Palace Signature Fried Rice - I naturally had a certain level of expectation as this came billed as one of the restaurant's signature dish. Regrettably, it wasn't quite what I was looking for, coming across as decent but not outstanding. Probably the only highlight to it was the presence of salted egg yolk which gave the rice a slightly rough texture.
Mashed Taro with Gingko Nuts - The mashed taro aka Orh Nee, was smooth and light without being too moist or dry. However portions are really miserable and I can easily eat 2 bowls of equally satisfying Orh Nee for the same price.
Dinner for 2 didn't come cheap at about $128, especially with the small portions. However I can't deny that the quality of food is there and service is more than adequate. I guess that does provide some justification for the high prices. What do you think?
Tao’s Restaurant was established by Mr Huang Yen Kun in June 2003. During a date with his girlfriend while still in college, they came across a famous French restaurant that was serving 7-course set meal. Mr Huang really wanted to dine in, but at $100 per set, the price was beyond what he could afford at that moment. This incident sparked off his idea of opening a restaurant that serves full 7-courses set meals at a price that will be affordable for everyone.
To further value-add the concept, the price for the set-meal is fixed. This means that customers can choose the dish of their preference for each category, without worrying about the price. In addition, there will be new dishes available for customers to choose from every 2 – 3 months.
Another special concept that Mr Huang added, was to present all dishes in specially designed “Tao Tzu” (pottery) plates (thus the name Tao’s). Tao Tzu plates in itself is a fine art, and most importantly, “Tao Tzu” has a high heat withstanding level which will help to preserve the temperature of the food in a very natural way. All these make up the unique restaurant that Tao’s currently is, and why it is well received by all its customers around Singapore
Tao’s serve a 6 course set lunch for $19.80 , and a 7 course set dinner for $28.80 . From the starters, salads, soups, to the Main entrees, desserts, until the beverages, you can pick your choice from the menu. Ordering was definitely easy for the 3 of us since under each category there isn’t that much of a option.
What we did was we look at each category and decided on the dish that we DO NOT want, for example there are four salads, we give a pass on huai san salad, and took the other 3 salad to share. That will make the whole process simpler and hassle-free isn’t it?
Bacon & Mushroom Gratin To kick-start our meal at Tao’s, we had the Bacon & mushroom gratin. At first we were unsure about the dish, because it doesn’t look appetizing to us, but to our surprise this came out really well, coupled with the soft yet fluffy bread (below), both combine together give a unique taste.
Toasted Bread Like mention above, the toasted bread is soft and fluffy, and it comes free-flow. Seriously we could just eat the bread, its so good it can be eaten on its own! No doubt the bread is free-flow, don’t gorge yourself silly, there’s more to come.
Fruit Salad The first of the three salad, the fruit salad was pretty decent, i guess out of the three salad this will be my pick. If you like fruits then this is the one for you.
Ham & Spud salad I have no idea what’s spud, i guess its refering to the potato since there is only ham, potato, and lettuce. I don’t really like the ham & spud salad so much as i find the potato to be pretty tasteless. However my dining companion is a potato-person, so she finish the whole thing without much problem
Farm Boy Splendor The name’s definitely a eye-catcher, having no idea what the salad is, i guess most people will order this one. Thats what we did. But the farm boy splendor came out quite flat, first the presence of peanut has an overwhelming effect on the lettuce and the chicken. The taste of lettuce and chicken is covered by the peanut, but we like the sour-plum dressing.
Cream of mushroom The cream of mushroom was quite similar to the one i had at Friends@Jelita. The mushroom soup has small bits of mushroom among the creamy soup. I find the soup to be quite balanced, not too creamy, not too diluted. Well, if you like your mushroom soup, this will be the one.
Shark-fin melon herbal soup One thing is for sure, there is certainly no shark-fin inside, stop looking for it. Otherwise, i find the shark-fin melon herbal soup quite similar to my mother’s home-cooked soup, thumbs up.
Fish soup The fish soup is unlike other soup you will find. First thing first, it is served not in a bowl, but in a teapot. Pouring out the soup onto a teacup, and you appreciate the soup just like you appreciate tea. Only thing is its not tea, its soup. The innovative is surely there, and the soup isn’t too fishy which makes it a good appetizer.
Baby lobster pasta in white wine sauce My favourite lobster! Unfortunately we got to be realistic, they cant possibly serve a whole lobster in a meal like this, so the baby lobster. Even so, the baby lobster still stands out, baked with cheese, the meal no doubt little, but is good.
The pasta is not my cup of tea, i found it to be too creamy, and there isn’t really the taste of white wine sauce. Nevertheless, the spaghetti is chewy, and comes in a generous helping.
Tao’s oven roasted steak We were debating what’s the yellow colour thing, at first we though it was sorbet, but after tasting, it is not. And we still haven’t figure out what is it. Anyway, Tao’s oven roasted steak is medium-rare, quite tender i will say, but then somehow that something is missing from the steak. Not excellent, but not too bad either.
Baked Atlantic flounder with cheese The presentation of the baked atlantic flounder looks nice, the cheese after baked, looks golden on the fish. Having the first bite into the fish with a layer of cheese on top, the combination is good one, as the melted cheese and the soft taste of the fish goes down well together. However, we were discussing whether there is egg used, because we do experience a very strong egg taste. Mayb a tad too much eggs used.
Ice grape mallow tea You know what? I think this is ribena, no kidding. Like ribena, the tea has grapes. hence the taste of ribena. But the ice grape mallow tea is really good, somewhat like tea, yet not like tea. If you don’t wan a strong tea smell, this one will do the job finely.
Ice rose apple tea There is the scent of rose, and the taste of apple. Blend together and you got the ice rose apple tea
lavander tea Actually we were eating our main course happily, before they served us our three teas. Then for about a few minutes or so, savouring the different tea we completely forgot about our main course. The lavander tea is all about lavander. N’uff said already.
home-made chocolate Mousse Even after a filling meal, there’s always room for dessert, and this instance was no exception. Three small cubes of home-made chocolate mousse, pop one into your mouth, and it melts instantly
Creme Brulee Compared it with the one i had at Al Dente Pronto, the creme brulee was cold while the other one is warm. Given the two, i say i will prefer the one at Al Dente Pronto, warm egg custard does taste better.
Sesame Pudding I’m not really a big fan of sesame, but the Sesame pudding turns out to be all right.
Total bill for 3 set lunch comes up to $69.90 which i must say isn’t expensive considering the fact that we are having a six course meal. The food isn’t outstanding, but its not too bad also. Located at Paradiz centre, its convenient to reach the place. The staffs are friendly, the service and the waiting time in between the different courses is fast.
However, i believe Tao's must update their menu more regularly if they wants to attract me to go back. Simply the fact that three of us share and tried most of their dishes, except for their main entries. And oh ya, please go to Tao's for their set lunch rather than set dinner, because set dinner has only one course more, grilled mango and mushroom sorbet, but it cost $9 more. Nonetheless, for the sheer variety Tao's offers, it is certainly good value if you have not been there before.
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 : )
” For the sheer variety Tao’s offer, its certainly good value “
I remember frequently patronising the now defunct Dolphins Restaurant around the Macpherson area when I was still a secondary school student for its value for money set lunches and dinners. Fast forward a decade and the only hint of Dolphins existence is its flagship outlet along Genting Lane.
Oddly located on the 7th floor of an aging industrial building, it is so obscure that you would have to actually know that such a place existed. The interior is homely and reminiscent of steak houses of yesteryear (think Jack's place in the early 90s), made complete with nice booth seats in one corner.
Cream of Mushroom - The soup came with my set lunch and was rather starchy. Beats a watered down version I guess. And I'm pretty sure it came straight out of a can.
Tenderloin with Slipper Lobster - Done up medium rare, the tenderloin was decent but not outstanding. The meat tasted a little flat and could have done with some seasoning. On the up side, the slipper lobster was relatively big and sweet. But as with all lobsters, meat is always limited.
Pasta with Beef - Surprisingly, the pasta was al dente and the addition of capsicum gave this dish a very interesting twist - one that did not sit too well with me however. The beef cubes were plentiful though but lacking in taste and texture.
I guess $47 for 2 for lunch isn't exactly cheap or value for money, but I would say its still decent and definitely a nice quiet place to have a meal. That, plus the nostalgic factor and decent service, is enough for a revisit.
I have a confession to make, i’ll have to admit New Harbour Cafe wasn’t my first choice for dinner. My initial preference for our gathering was at Tuckshop (also on the same stretch of road at Tanjong Pagar).
Well, the catastrophe occurs like this, i din make any reservation because i wasn’t sure whether my friends wanted to go to Tuckshop, so we just happily set off there. It was a long 15-20 min walk from Outram MRT, please be smart and take the Tanjong Pagar MRT instead. When we finally reach Tuckshop, the whole place was empty, right at 7pm. To our dismay, the waiteress told us the cafe is fully booked at 730pm and there was NO WAY she can make space for us. Ten of us.
Now its my turn to panic, since i was the organiser and i din have a back-up plan because i thought Tuckshop will be available. We walk around (not easy to bring a big group around looking for a dining place), and finally settled on New Harbour Cafe, simply because i have no other alternatives.
At any rate, you might be wondering whether you should continue reading through this entry since i already said New Harbour cafe was because there was no other selection, well you should, don’t write off the place, just yet.
New Harbour Cafe is located at Tanjong Pagar, a whole stretch of road that houses many pubs, & wedding bridal shops. A Cafe & Bar theme concept, New Harbour Cafe was rather empty when we got there, but after we got seated the other diners soon fill up the seats.
One of the minus point of the place was the dim lighting. Definitely not a good place for food bloggers to be, well unless you got superb cameras, which i do not have as you can see from the pictures : (
N.Z Sirloin Steak & Mash ($17.90) My friend had the N.Z Sirloin Steak well done. Gosh, i was thinking can a well done steak even be eaten? To my suprise, the steak isn’t perfectly well done, there are still blood stains within.
Black Pepper Chicken Chop ($11.90) Chicken chop with black pepper sauce, accompanied with sides of mushrooms and mashed potatos
Crackling Roast Pork ($14.90) Roast Pork with crispy crackling served with daily vegetables and mashed potatos. Onion gravy topped with apple sauce. On first look, i though it looks like Roast pork (cos i didn’t see the menu), and to my astonish it really is. Now now, when did you see a cafe serve roast pork as a main before? Mayb i am not yet a experience diner around, but from what i can remember i didn’t see roast pork as main course in all my previous dining experience.
On first bite, the crackling roast pork was crispy, and the apple sauce was a refreshing change to the usual roast pork taste. The apple sauce provided little touches of tangy sweetness with each cut of roast pork. However, this is only good for people with a sweet tooth, or for sharing because the sweetness of the apple sauce does slightly overwhelm your palette. Nevertheless, it is a pleasant experience because the next time i will be able to say i got see Roast Pork as main course before!
Special Chinese New Year Pork Chop ($15.90)
We intially wanted to order Pork Chop with apple sauce, but the waitress highly recommend this instead. Personally i find the pork chop to be all right, but my friend commented that it was too tough.
Harbour Fish & Chips ($12.90) New Harbour Cafe has a column under its menu titled black board & daily special. There is something special everyday, roast leg of lamb on Mon, Madras curry being on tue, and on wed we have oxtail stew, there is the Hainanese pork chop available on thu, and of course our harbour fish & chips on the friday that we patronise the place.
The crispy exterior was complemented with the soft and fresh interior of the fish, with a faint flavouring of spices. The chips in new harbour cafe was cut in huge wedges shape which i must compliment was quite good.
Grilled Dory Fish Fillet ($12.90) We had two of this, and the result was rather pleasing. The Grilled dory fish fillet was fresh, together with a squeeze of the lemon, adds a freshing twist to the fish. The serving was generous as well, with a huge cut of fish fillet which two person can actually share.
Spaghetti Alfredo with ham & mushroom ($11.90) The spaghetti was a nice change with ham & mushroom. Now here, not that my knowledge fails me again, but i don’t remember seeing ham use frequently together with spaghetti? Or am i wrong here? But the usage of ham and mushroom gives me the feeling of pizza rather than spaghetti.
Harbour 1/2 lb beef burger ($12.90) One word for the burger, Humongous! The Harbour 1/2 lb beef burger was huge, large, enormous, and whatever word you can think of. The beef patty was definitely bigger than the one i had at Botak Jones. If you were to compare both beef burger, the one at Botak there is cheese added which gives the burger another flavouring, but harbour’s one allows the taste of the beef patty without any disturbance as there is no other extra ingredient.
The beef patty was made like all good beef patty, juicy and tender. And the serving of the burger certainly fills one up. With the harbour fries, its tough to finish up the meal.
Brownie with ice cream ($5.80) As sweet notes to end off the meal, we had the brownie with ice cream. The brownie alone is $3.80 while an additional scope of ice cream makes it $5.80. We only ordered one dessert because most of us are too full after our main course. The brownie was soft and chocolate-ly.
The total bill (10 person) for 9 mains, 7 drinks and 1 desserts comes up to $158.30, which i must say is rather reasonable. The drinks add up quite a fair bit of damages to the bill, $28 for 7 drinks. Otherwise it will even be cheaper. The one positive thing that i’ll like to highlight will be New Harbour Cafe does not charge any GST & service charge. For a large group of us, no extra charges mean easier calculation of the bill. hahahah!
However, the negative aspects of the place will be they do not serve ice water. which leads to us ordering drinks. And like what i mentioned earlier, their cafe has poor lighting, not suitable for taking photos. Service wise not much, the staff there are all foreign workers.
We saw this while we were about to leave, Makansutra salutes them in recognition of their culinary standards & quality. So they can’t be that bad after all, so give them a visit if you are in the area. Even if you don’t like the food, damages will be reduced as their prices are all in the 10s range.
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 : )
” Nothing beats eating with your mates, nothing! “
My parents had lunch at Boon Tong Kee, half a chicken at $13, and buy back a packet for me @ $3.80.
I'll say the chicken from Boon Tong Kee is quite good, but mayb not good until i will pay $13 for half a chicken. There are better one out there in other neighbour coffee shops really.
1=SGD 0.0587
American brownie
It’s just your regular brownie. There’s nothing special about it at all. I found it a bit dry even.
American carrot cake
It was light and fluffy but the cream on top is not enough. The taste of the cake is not strong enough for my liking.
Dark chocolate truffle
This is the most recommended cake in the shop. Indeed it is the best out of all the 3 cakes I tasted that day. It is soft and was made with rich dark chocolate. However it wasn’t extraordinary.
Shepherd’s pie (beef)
It would have been one of the best if it were hot enough. When it was served it was warm, lukewarm I should call it. Thus, it turns cold very fast. While eating the pie, the top part of the pie turn hard and stiff. The filling tasted good on the 1st bite but it wasn’t nice after that.
2 scoops of ice cream – banana chocolate & nutty nuts
They say the ice cream is made of natural ingredients, but it didn’t taste that way.
The service was fantastic. The staff was nice enough to let me try a lot of the flavours of the ice cream. I tried the royal chocolate-it reminds me of the old magnolia ice cream before it was revamped. I tried many man flavours. In the end I chose the above flavours, the combination I chose was quite nice in fact.
We didn’t really have a great time sitting there as we were disturb by the 2 little flies bugging us as we were enjoying our cakes.
The price was really reasonable. We paid $10.60 for the above.
Rating given:
Big Fish is a restaurant serving up fresh seafood dishes situated in the popular Siglap area. It’s been around for a few years and my family and I decided to try it out this CNY season.
We made reservations, as there were 6 of us and were promptly seated in the centre of the restaurant that night. The interior design of the place was comfortable with nice music and suitable lighting. It wasn’t too bright and yet just enough to take photos. The staff were friendly and served us iced water as we were ordering. They were also patient to explain the various dishes, though they had to repeat a few times as we had trouble understanding them (due to their accent).
The complimentary bread had herbs in it and was fresh. It was soft and fluffy. Too bad they gave only one for every person at the table.
Food Ordered:
Set Dinner - $29.95
This is a 4-course set that consisted of Corn Soup, Mahi-mahi, Chocolate Mousse and Coffee. The soup was pretty thick but not much ingredients in it. It IS corn soup after all.
Live Oysters - $2.60 per piece
These were very fresh, served on ice. No fishy smell at all and it was quite sizeable. But even so it’s still expensive at this price… Well at least it was good. We ordered 6 which were finished in a jiffy.
Softshell Crab - $12.95
I was a little disappointed by the quantity when it arrived. It’s lightly coated with some spices and served with mango salsa and a homemade dipping sauce. There was a lot of sauce but little crab. Nonetheless the crab was very tasty and not oily which is a big plus for me.
Seafood Platter - $51.95
There were grilled scallops, Morton Bay Bug, fish skewers, BBQ squid, NZ mussels, chargrilled prawns, served with butter rice and chips. If you order this alone, it’s probably enough for 3 people to share. 5 of us shared this along with all the other stuff we ordered. The seafood was very fresh and not over done though it looked like it at first glance. But the juices are still retained so it wasn’t dry the way it looked. The fries were very nice and they are the fat sort I liked. The butter rice was not very tasty though, it could have been more fragrant.
Fish and Chips - $15.95
I loved the fish! But I’m pretty sure it wouldn’t appeal to most people. The batter was light and the two pieces of fish were quite big. The fish was smooth and didn’t have any fishy smell even without lemon. But the batter wasn’t very heavy in taste which is why I said it probably wouldn’t appeal to most. There weren’t enough fries. (I’m a Fry lover)
Yu Sheng - $22.95
The restaurant’s version of the Raw Fish Salad gave us a nice surprise. This is the smallest serving, and they were not kidding when they said that it was SMALL. One mouthful for each of us and the plate was empty. Nonetheless there was a nice combination of different fish slices, though I’m not sure what fish was used. Obviously this is only available during the CNY season.
Spaghetti Vongole- $18.95
I didn’t get the description for this dish but this was a spicy pasta dish served with clams. My mom was all praises for this dish, until she realised how much it cost. It is barely enough for one person really. If eaten alone, it’s definitely not enough. It would be, if it were part of a set. The clams were nicely seasoned and cooked and the pasta was just right.
Beef Tenderloin - $29.95
We were asked if how we wanted the steak so we were very curious how it would turn out…. It came in slices! A nice surprise indeed when the people eating it found that it was not overdone despite being cut up. But the serving was quite small too, certainly not enough for my brother.
Raspberry Soda - $4.95
I didn’t order this but ended up drinking it as the person didn’t like sourish drinks. I liked how the ice was crushed up inside, so that it would melt quickly to dilute the drink and made it ice-cold throughout.
Green Apple Soda - $4.95
This was not sourish as one would expect.. it was actually sweet. Really odd don’t you think?
We spent a total of $229 for the 6 of us. Honestly speaking, we weren’t very full. The amount of food was just right but not over the top. Which makes this meal a little expensive. But for the freshness of the food good taste good service, I’d say it was pretty worth it J
Rating given:
The once popular water theme park at East Coast known as Big Splash has recently been redeveloped as Big Splash @ Playground and is home to a handful of dining outlets, one of which is Mingles La' Brassarie.
Occupying a premise which can roughly seat about 60 people (estimate), Mingles's interior is simple and clean, tending towards a more casual setting. I personally found the cute half egg shell seats (or whatever you call them) rather appealing, especially for after dinner drinks or dessert.
Cheese Fries - A side order at $5.90, the portions were somewhat pathetic if you ask me. What was interesting about the fries was that the cheese had BBQ sauce in it, which made the whole concoction cheesy and BBQish at the same time - a nausea inducing combination for me. It didn't help that the fries weren't exactly very fantastic, coming in as average.
Bangers & Mash - You get to choose your sausages with this order so we had the Swiss Cheese Pork Sausage and Black Pepper Chicken Sausage. I thought that the black pepper sausage was quite good, bursting with flavour with sufficient amount of bite in every mouth. The cheese pork sausage, though not lousy, was a tad disappointing as the taste of the cheese threatened to overwhelm the sausage taste.
Mingles Ribeye Steak - Weighing in at just over 250g, the ribeye was done up medium rare according to specifications and boasted a saliva inducing lightly charred exterior. However the meat was a little disappointing, a tad lacking in firmness and chewiness. The red wine sauce it was topped with had no inkling of red wine and instead tasted like berry sauce - sweet and fruity. The same sauce overwhelmed the raw taste of the beef at times, which shouldn't be the case really.
Baked Alaska - The Baked Alaska is essentially ice cream and sponge cake encased within a thick layer of meringue which is then briefly placed in an extremely hot oven to firm the meringue. Mingles's rendition opted to omit the sponge cake which was a mistake in my humble opinion. It tasted exactly like ice cream with whipped cream on top! Give me Borshch's version anytime!
Dinner for 2 cost about $62 after a 10% credit card discount. I wouldn't call it expensive but it certainly isn't cheap for the average quality of food. Service is excellent though and thats a definite plus.
See all my pictures here
Rating given:
First Visit 25th Feb
OChaCha, the matcha latte people
At OChaCha, they specialise in matcha, the premium green tea served in traditional Japanese Tea Ceremony. O-Cha means green tea in Japanese and Cha is tea in Chinese, as tea orginates from the chinese. Hence OChaCha is the coming together of different cultures & they hope that there will be many coming together of friends over cups of matcha latte.
OChaCha quest for good tea brought them all over the world, they found that while tea is very much part of our eastern culture, it is not considered cool or hip. Yet tea is part of our heritage - tea was first discovered by the Chinese emperor Shen Nong in the year 2700 B.C! What’s more, the health benefits of C-Cha are simply amazing. OChaCha is determined to make it fun and cool to drink O-Cha!
So OChaCha is all about marrying tradition and modern technology; of great tastes & healthy drinks; of simply being different. So be cool, be hip, be discerning, be kind to your body. Be one of the Matcha Latte People!
The new basement of Raffles City saw many additional of tenants to the place, one of which is OChaCha. My buddy & I were wandering around when we saw OChaCha, it was rather empty, but being kaypoh people, we ventured into the cafe and did not regret ever since.
A chat with the friendly female boss Miss Lee Yin Siau (or rather she call herself everybody’s boss) we find out that OChaCha just opened for business at Raffles City for two weeks only, thus the emptiness of the place.
After we got seated a while, customers start to come in, i guess its only human nature, people are afraid to go into a place that has no one, but starts to rush into the place when there is crowd.
My buddy made his orders while i did not have anything partly because i was full from my lunch at Tuckshop, and partly I must admit green tea does not appeals to me. Miss Lee chatted with us and explained her concept for OChaCha, which impressed me, and i decided to support her by ordering food to try out.
There are many types of different matcha, from the Matcha Latte Hot, to Matcha On the rock which is chilled latted as well as the ice-blended Matcha Freezzie. There is also two chocolate drinks for anti-matcha people. To go with these great drinks, there are also savoury sandwiches, quiches & pies, matcha slices, matcha cakes and many more.
OChaCha Mond ($5.35)
This is the main character of the show. OChaCha matcha latte almond, there isn’t a very strong green tea taste, but the fragrance of the matcha is evident in the smell of it. I don’t really fancy drinking green tea, but after drinking it, i feel that its rather good, not like the usual green tea. Well, OChaCha is great news for non-green tea lovers like me.
Furitake Salmon Sandwich ($5.90)
Furitake gives an added crunch to the taste. The Furitake Salmon Sandwich comes with fresh garden salad topped with Japanese citrus dressing & nori-flavoured chips. I like the bread, it was suprisingly soft when we make the bite into it. Even without any ingredient, i think the bread can be eaten on its own. Nevertheless, this makes a good meal for the Salmon lovers out there.
Sakura Egg Sandwich ($4.80)
I like this one! Sakura denbu perks up the dish. Similarly as of the other sandwich, there is salad greens and chips as sides. The Sakura Egg Sandwich may look ordinary, but eaten together, it is very yummy. Who says ordinary dish can’t be extraordinary in taste?
For sandwiches, there are only three different types of sandwiches, with the other being wasabi tuna sandwich. When asked why isn’t there more variety, Miss Lee simply replied, “we do what we are best at, Matcha! ” That certainly make a impression on me, the direction of OChaCha is not just to make money, they want to bring good tea to the public.
Spong Cotton ($2.90)
This is on the house, courtesy of Miss Lee. However, being a free item should not affect the judgement of the food, the green tea spongcake was extremely soft, there is a layer of cream within the centre of the cake. I can’t have enough of the cake! A trip back to try the other cakes look to be high on the priority list.
Total Bill comes up to $15.05 (excluding the $2.90 for the spong cake). There is no GST or service charge, and the warm welcome by Miss Lee and her staff do shows that there is hope for the falling-standards of the service industry in Singapore.
Initially, i was skeptical about the place because I’m not a fan of green tea. Despite that, OChaCha won me over, and I must say my perception of green tea has been changed greatly. The next time in a cafe, rather than a cup of coffee or soft drink, drink OChaCha Matcha instead!
Both of us sat inside the cafe for roughly two hours, sipping matcha latte and savouring the sandwiches, OChaCha is a great place to hang out and chill with your friends. The next time you go to Raffles City, rather than the coffee cafes, give OChaCha a try!
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 : )
” The Green Tea of Starbucks “
Second Visit 8th May
A friend and I went down to O Cha Cha last week after i got my DSLR, we went to discuss the menu with Ochacha’s boss Miss Lee Yin Siau.
From left anticlockwise, is Mr.Ochacha Mondo, on its right is our friend Miss Matcha Panna Cotta, and followed by Ochacha Rocks, and the top is Gyokuro.
Gyokuro uses the same tea leave made into Matcha, just that the whole tea leave is being use for Gyokuro which is evident inside the tea.
Say hello to Ochacha Rocks! He rocks all righty! There’s also Matcha Azuki at the left background of the picture!
And Miss Matcha Panna Cotta!
Please click here to see the pictures for my second visit
Third Visit 13th May
ladyironchef’s Food Event Outing at Ochacha!
A total of 20 people graced the event, with bloggers, readers of LIC’s blog, and their friends joining us for the green tea appreciation at Ochacha.
There was supposed to be more, about 15 more, but they all last minute had something on, anyway 20’s a big number, considering it’s LIC first time organising an event.
Dinner was supposed to start at 730pm, but you know Singaporeans tend to come late, so we actually started the ball rolling at 8pm.
Ochacha’s boss Miss lee arranged her cafe and gave us half the space, so thankful for that.
The menu is as follow :
Drinks: Matcha Rocks, Azuki Freezie, Ochacha Rocks, Ochacha latte or ochacha silk (3 cold and choice of 1 warm)
Soup: Shiitake Mushroom or tomato soup
Sandwiches: Sakura Egg, Wasabi Tuna, Furikake Salmon
Desserts: Matcha Cotton, Matcha Azuki, Financier, Matcha Panna Cotta
Its $17.50 per person to try the wide range of items in this menu. For all the food i’ll be putting the normal price beside it.
And apparently our ladies like green tea more than guys, hence the bigger differential in the numbers.
Complimentary chips
The chips were on the house, for our hungry guests before everyone turned up
Salad
The salad was also not included in our original menu. Miss lee thought that it will be better if there are some greens to go along with.
From left to right: Matcha Rocks, Ochacha Rocks, Azuki Freezie
Matcha Rocks ($4.95)
Chilled Matcha with sugar (no milk). I think most people preferred the Matcha Rocks one to Ochacha rocks which has milk
Ochacha Rocks ($4.95)
Chilled Matcha Latte. The Ochacha rocks is the middle one, coming with milk, its a lighter shade of green than the Matcha Rocks
Azuki Freezie ($6.50)
Ice blended matcha with azuki (Jap red beans). I believe the Azuki Freezie won quite a number of fan tonight, it stood out with the matcha taste on ice blend.
Please be reminded that what you are seeing are shooters, not the actual size of the drinks. The prices indicated are for the normal size.
Shiitake Mushroom soup
I think quite a number of people found the shiitake mushroom soup to be a tad too salty for their tastebuds.
Tomato soup
The tomato soup is more on the sweet and soup side. It really depends whether you are a fan of tomato and soup or not. I’m not a soup person though.
Sakura Egg Sandwich ($4.80)
The sakura egg sandwich is still my favourite among the three sandwiches at Ochacha. See here for the picture of the normal size sandwich on my last visit.
Wasabi Tuna Sandwich ($5,90)
Wasabi (spicy!!) tuna mayo fills up the delicious bread. This is my first time trying this, on the previous visit i had only the egg and the salmon ones.
For the wasabi tuna sandwich, i like tuna, but i don’t like wasabi.
Furikake Salmon Sandwich ($5.90)
Smoked salmon with Japanese seaweed. I had the Furikake Salmon sandwich on my previous visit too.
The Japanese seaweed added the salty aspect to flavor the salmon, but i found it to be a tad on the salty side.
Matcha Financier ($2.90)
French cake named after its shape like gold bar. The Matcha Financier did not disappoint, but then again i could be bias as i’m totally a dessert person.
Matcha Azuki ($4.90)
Layered matcha cake with azuki beans & cream. The Matcha Azuki totally rock my world, the usage of azuki red beans gave the matcha cake a sweet twist.
I had this on my second visit too!
Matcha Cotton ($2.90)
Fluffy Japanese souffle cake with fresh cream in the center. The extremly soft sponge matcha cake simply melts in the mouth!
Matcha Panna Cotta ($4.90)
Italian creamy dessert with matcha flavor. This dessert had mixed reviews, some didn’t like it and found it to be too soft for a panna cotta, while others adored it and find the soft texture, coupled with the matcha flavor a delight to have.
Again this shows that taste is subjective, what some might like, others might not like.
Ochacha Latte ($4.80) or Ochacha Silk ($4.80)
Hot matcha latte & soy milk with matcha. We had the choice of either one for our warm green tea.
Total Bill was $350 for 20 people ($17.50 fixed price for each person). For $17.50, i think its definitely a very good price as we got to try out a whole wide range of green tea, sandwiches and desserts.
Please click here to see ALL the pictures taken during LIC food outing on the third visit
See you all at the next LIC food outing, it’ll be soon : )
Rating given:
Sweet Indulgence, the petite cafe at Stanley Street is as charming as its name. From the decorations, to the food, to the service, everything just made you feels at home. Your cosy corner, in the hearts of the city. My female companion and i arrive at the place at 530pm, but the restaurant was not opened yet as their kitchen starts at 6. However the staff warmly welcome us in to the place. Being early-birds, we were the only diners there, and we enjoyed every moment there. The feeling was though we had booked the restaurant, and had the whole place to ourselves.
Stepping into the restaurant, I felt as if I had transported into another world all together. The bar counter, the simple yet comfortable furnitures under the dim spot-light made us feel totally at ease. The staff was very friendly, and he told us to make ourselves at home. So we heed his words, and literally make it our home.
Pretty is the word to describe the place, cozy is the word to describe the feeling, and indulgencing in the sweetness basically sums up everything else. We took photos, every shot and angles of the whole restaurant. While being overly engrossed in taking pictures, we even forgot to take our orders until we saw the chef sitting behind us.
The menu ranges from appetizer, salad, tapas, to the main course like pasta, fish & seafood, meats, to desserts and wine. Although under each category there might not have a wide range of selections, but for what it lack in variety, it made up for it in the pure quality and the presentation of the food.
And just for your information, the restaurant starts its lunch menu from 1145 to 230pm, dinner is served from 6 to 10pm. Indulge in a sumptuous three course set lunch at an additional $6.80 on top of the main course’s price.
As we were in quite a rush for time, we didn’t have any appetizer or tapas to start the delightful meal, so we proceed on and begin with our main course. A peek into the menu, we immediately know what we wanted. As my female companion is a fan of spaghetti & also a lover of fish, the spaghetti salmon & mushroom seems to be tailor-made for her. To complete the fish-lover experience, i had the pan-sauteèd salmon steak.
The spaghetti selections come in the price range of $13.90 to $17.90, while the main course starts from $14.90 to $23.90 for its beef tenderloin.
Spaghetti Salmon & Mushroom ($15.90)
Spaghetti tossed with fresh salmon, mushrooms & seasonal vegetables in cream sauce. Being the fan of cream base rather than tomato base, the Spaghetti Salmon & Mushroom suits the tastebud of my companion perfectly. The sauce isn’t very strong, therefore it doesn’t overwhelm the overall taste of the dish. Coupled with the generous helping of fresh salmon & mushroom, every slurp of the pasta seems to exist for your savour of it.
Pan-sauteèd Salmon Steak ($19.90)Pan-grilled salmon accompany with daily vegetables, serve with vanilla infused cream sauce, finished with balsamic reduction & caramelised cherry tomatoes. First taste into the Pan-sauteèd Salmon steak tell me this is something special, the second bite confirms the truth. The salmon is pan-grilled perfectly, where pan-grilled salmon in the hands of less-skillful chef will becomes hard and dry, this is definitely not the case at Sweet Indulgence.
The grilled skin did not prevent me for tasting the soft and freshness of the juicy salmon. Some pepper and salt are sprinkled to add additional flavouring to the salmon, not that it is necessary, the salmon is so good that it can be eaten on its own.
The daily vegetables of broccoli and carrot helps to balance the meal, and the mashed potato together with the vanilla infused cream sauce certainly taste specially good. The only thing that i have to add will be the serving could be better, but i guess good food comes in appropriate serving, too much of a good thing spoils the taste.
Warm Choco Lava Indulgence ($8.90)
To end off our delightful meal, there is no doubt desserts are a must at such a sweet place like Sweet Indulgence. Warm chocolate cake filled with melted dark chocolate, served with tropical fruits and a scoop of ice cream.
Warm Choco Lava Indulgence’s filling very much satisfied the chocoholic in me. As our spoon cuts into the chocolate cake, the melted dark chocolate ooshed out and filled our spoon. Eaten separately, the warm dark chocolate taste like dark chocolate, and the ice cream like any other ordinary ice cream, but combine both together, the result is totally different. The warm dark chocolate seems to fuse perfectly with the cold vanilla ice cream, and the effect is a yummy sensation.
Tiramisu ($7.90)
Dessert couldn’t have been more satisfying than in the form of the popular Tiramisu. Original Italian tiramisu made with mascarpone cheese and Italian sponge fingers soaked in espresso and lots of kahlua, rum & brandy.
In my personal opinion, this ought to be one of my favourite Tiramisu. The first moment the tiramisu goes inside my mouth, I fell in love with it. Touching the tip of my tongue, the super soft texture of the cake immediately melt and touch my heart. Beautiful is the word, heavenly is the feeling, and falling in love with it concludes the tiramisu. I’ll be back for this one, watch out for it yeah!
Total bill for 2 main 2 desserts for 2 person comes up to $52.60 which is definitely not expensive, given the quality and presentation of the food, the excellent service, the comfy environment, which makes our dinner perfect. Also please be reminded that the restaurant is currently opened during weekdays only, there are plans to open on Sat in the near future.
After we finish our dinner, the boss of the restaurant, Christopher came and we had a friendly conservation, and the restaurant even gave us two complimentary orange juice on the house. The orange juice are some of the ones that they are looking to bring in from new suppliers and are not on the menu as yet.
If you visit the place and may not agree with me that the place is that good even its a small restaurant, hidden in the heart of the city. But the fact is I enjoyed the place very much indeed, and that is enough. We received dining vouchers in the form of $15 discount for every $60 spend in the dinner menu for our next visit. I will definitely be back for more. memorable dining experience - Sweet 2 Indulge
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 : )
” I fell in love with you “
Rating given:
Was deciding on a place to eat along Orchard road one weekday evening and the only place that didn't seem to be spilling with people was Crystal Jade Golden Palace (CJGP). From what I know, CJGP hovers around the top tier of the Crystal Jade chain, which includes Crystal Jade Xiao Long Bao, Crystal Jade Kitchen etc.
Located on the 5th floor of the high end The Paragon shopping mall, CJGP appeals with its sombre yet elegant entrance walkway and posh/classy interior complete with ambient lighting. Padded walls and carpets, thick cushioned chairs all give the impression of comfort at its finesse.
Shark's Fin in Coconut - This dish is out of the menu so please pardon my literal translation from Chinese to English. Served up in a coconut husk, the fins were of decent quality and in abundance together with stuff like prawns and fish maw in a nice and light broth which hinted of coconut towards the bottom.
Crystal Jade Suckling Pig - A rather impressive dish I must say, with the skin crackling crispy and the meat harbouring a light smoky taste. I liked the strings of jellyfish that came with it as well, springy with lots of bite. Not the least bit worth the price($23) though, with only a few slices of skin and meat.
Sauteed Scallop with Broccoli - Yet another dish of small proportions. Cooked just right, the broccoli was crunchy and tasty with the scallops slightly firm and not overwhelming.
Golden Palace Signature Fried Rice - I naturally had a certain level of expectation as this came billed as one of the restaurant's signature dish. Regrettably, it wasn't quite what I was looking for, coming across as decent but not outstanding. Probably the only highlight to it was the presence of salted egg yolk which gave the rice a slightly rough texture.
Mashed Taro with Gingko Nuts - The mashed taro aka Orh Nee, was smooth and light without being too moist or dry. However portions are really miserable and I can easily eat 2 bowls of equally satisfying Orh Nee for the same price.
Dinner for 2 didn't come cheap at about $128, especially with the small portions. However I can't deny that the quality of food is there and service is more than adequate. I guess that does provide some justification for the high prices. What do you think?
See all my pictures here
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Tao’s Restaurant was established by Mr Huang Yen Kun in June 2003. During a date with his girlfriend while still in college, they came across a famous French restaurant that was serving 7-course set meal. Mr Huang really wanted to dine in, but at $100 per set, the price was beyond what he could afford at that moment. This incident sparked off his idea of opening a restaurant that serves full 7-courses set meals at a price that will be affordable for everyone.
To further value-add the concept, the price for the set-meal is fixed. This means that customers can choose the dish of their preference for each category, without worrying about the price. In addition, there will be new dishes available for customers to choose from every 2 – 3 months.
Another special concept that Mr Huang added, was to present all dishes in specially designed “Tao Tzu” (pottery) plates (thus the name Tao’s). Tao Tzu plates in itself is a fine art, and most importantly, “Tao Tzu” has a high heat withstanding level which will help to preserve the temperature of the food in a very natural way. All these make up the unique restaurant that Tao’s currently is, and why it is well received by all its customers around Singapore
Tao’s serve a 6 course set lunch for $19.80 , and a 7 course set dinner for $28.80 . From the starters, salads, soups, to the Main entrees, desserts, until the beverages, you can pick your choice from the menu. Ordering was definitely easy for the 3 of us since under each category there isn’t that much of a option.
What we did was we look at each category and decided on the dish that we DO NOT want, for example there are four salads, we give a pass on huai san salad, and took the other 3 salad to share. That will make the whole process simpler and hassle-free isn’t it?
Bacon & Mushroom Gratin
To kick-start our meal at Tao’s, we had the Bacon & mushroom gratin. At first we were unsure about the dish, because it doesn’t look appetizing to us, but to our surprise this came out really well, coupled with the soft yet fluffy bread (below), both combine together give a unique taste.
Toasted Bread
Like mention above, the toasted bread is soft and fluffy, and it comes free-flow. Seriously we could just eat the bread, its so good it can be eaten on its own! No doubt the bread is free-flow, don’t gorge yourself silly, there’s more to come.
Fruit Salad
The first of the three salad, the fruit salad was pretty decent, i guess out of the three salad this will be my pick. If you like fruits then this is the one for you.
Ham & Spud salad
I have no idea what’s spud, i guess its refering to the potato since there is only ham, potato, and lettuce. I don’t really like the ham & spud salad so much as i find the potato to be pretty tasteless. However my dining companion is a potato-person, so she finish the whole thing without much problem
Farm Boy Splendor
The name’s definitely a eye-catcher, having no idea what the salad is, i guess most people will order this one. Thats what we did. But the farm boy splendor came out quite flat, first the presence of peanut has an overwhelming effect on the lettuce and the chicken. The taste of lettuce and chicken is covered by the peanut, but we like the sour-plum dressing.
Cream of mushroom
The cream of mushroom was quite similar to the one i had at Friends@Jelita. The mushroom soup has small bits of mushroom among the creamy soup. I find the soup to be quite balanced, not too creamy, not too diluted. Well, if you like your mushroom soup, this will be the one.
Shark-fin melon herbal soup
One thing is for sure, there is certainly no shark-fin inside, stop looking for it. Otherwise, i find the shark-fin melon herbal soup quite similar to my mother’s home-cooked soup, thumbs up.
Fish soup
The fish soup is unlike other soup you will find. First thing first, it is served not in a bowl, but in a teapot. Pouring out the soup onto a teacup, and you appreciate the soup just like you appreciate tea. Only thing is its not tea, its soup. The innovative is surely there, and the soup isn’t too fishy which makes it a good appetizer.
Baby lobster pasta in white wine sauce
My favourite lobster! Unfortunately we got to be realistic, they cant possibly serve a whole lobster in a meal like this, so the baby lobster. Even so, the baby lobster still stands out, baked with cheese, the meal no doubt little, but is good.
The pasta is not my cup of tea, i found it to be too creamy, and there isn’t really the taste of white wine sauce. Nevertheless, the spaghetti is chewy, and comes in a generous helping.
Tao’s oven roasted steak
We were debating what’s the yellow colour thing, at first we though it was sorbet, but after tasting, it is not. And we still haven’t figure out what is it. Anyway, Tao’s oven roasted steak is medium-rare, quite tender i will say, but then somehow that something is missing from the steak. Not excellent, but not too bad either.
Baked Atlantic flounder with cheese
The presentation of the baked atlantic flounder looks nice, the cheese after baked, looks golden on the fish. Having the first bite into the fish with a layer of cheese on top, the combination is good one, as the melted cheese and the soft taste of the fish goes down well together. However, we were discussing whether there is egg used, because we do experience a very strong egg taste. Mayb a tad too much eggs used.
Ice grape mallow tea
You know what? I think this is ribena, no kidding. Like ribena, the tea has grapes. hence the taste of ribena. But the ice grape mallow tea is really good, somewhat like tea, yet not like tea. If you don’t wan a strong tea smell, this one will do the job finely.
Ice rose apple tea
There is the scent of rose, and the taste of apple. Blend together and you got the ice rose apple tea
lavander tea
Actually we were eating our main course happily, before they served us our three teas. Then for about a few minutes or so, savouring the different tea we completely forgot about our main course. The lavander tea is all about lavander. N’uff said already.
home-made chocolate Mousse
Even after a filling meal, there’s always room for dessert, and this instance was no exception. Three small cubes of home-made chocolate mousse, pop one into your mouth, and it melts instantly
Creme Brulee
Compared it with the one i had at Al Dente Pronto, the creme brulee was cold while the other one is warm. Given the two, i say i will prefer the one at Al Dente Pronto, warm egg custard does taste better.
Sesame Pudding
I’m not really a big fan of sesame, but the Sesame pudding turns out to be all right.
Total bill for 3 set lunch comes up to $69.90 which i must say isn’t expensive considering the fact that we are having a six course meal. The food isn’t outstanding, but its not too bad also. Located at Paradiz centre, its convenient to reach the place. The staffs are friendly, the service and the waiting time in between the different courses is fast.
However, i believe Tao's must update their menu more regularly if they wants to attract me to go back. Simply the fact that three of us share and tried most of their dishes, except for their main entries. And oh ya, please go to Tao's for their set lunch rather than set dinner, because set dinner has only one course more, grilled mango and mushroom sorbet, but it cost $9 more. Nonetheless, for the sheer variety Tao's offers, it is certainly good value if you have not been there before.
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 : )
” For the sheer variety Tao’s offer, its certainly good value “
Rating given:
I remember frequently patronising the now defunct Dolphins Restaurant around the Macpherson area when I was still a secondary school student for its value for money set lunches and dinners. Fast forward a decade and the only hint of Dolphins existence is its flagship outlet along Genting Lane.
Oddly located on the 7th floor of an aging industrial building, it is so obscure that you would have to actually know that such a place existed. The interior is homely and reminiscent of steak houses of yesteryear (think Jack's place in the early 90s), made complete with nice booth seats in one corner.
Cream of Mushroom - The soup came with my set lunch and was rather starchy. Beats a watered down version I guess. And I'm pretty sure it came straight out of a can.
Tenderloin with Slipper Lobster - Done up medium rare, the tenderloin was decent but not outstanding. The meat tasted a little flat and could have done with some seasoning. On the up side, the slipper lobster was relatively big and sweet. But as with all lobsters, meat is always limited.
Pasta with Beef - Surprisingly, the pasta was al dente and the addition of capsicum gave this dish a very interesting twist - one that did not sit too well with me however. The beef cubes were plentiful though but lacking in taste and texture.
I guess $47 for 2 for lunch isn't exactly cheap or value for money, but I would say its still decent and definitely a nice quiet place to have a meal. That, plus the nostalgic factor and decent service, is enough for a revisit.
See all my pictures here
Rating given:
I have a confession to make, i’ll have to admit New Harbour Cafe wasn’t my first choice for dinner. My initial preference for our gathering was at Tuckshop (also on the same stretch of road at Tanjong Pagar).
Well, the catastrophe occurs like this, i din make any reservation because i wasn’t sure whether my friends wanted to go to Tuckshop, so we just happily set off there. It was a long 15-20 min walk from Outram MRT, please be smart and take the Tanjong Pagar MRT instead. When we finally reach Tuckshop, the whole place was empty, right at 7pm. To our dismay, the waiteress told us the cafe is fully booked at 730pm and there was NO WAY she can make space for us. Ten of us.
Now its my turn to panic, since i was the organiser and i din have a back-up plan because i thought Tuckshop will be available. We walk around (not easy to bring a big group around looking for a dining place), and finally settled on New Harbour Cafe, simply because i have no other alternatives.
At any rate, you might be wondering whether you should continue reading through this entry since i already said New Harbour cafe was because there was no other selection, well you should, don’t write off the place, just yet.
New Harbour Cafe is located at Tanjong Pagar, a whole stretch of road that houses many pubs, & wedding bridal shops. A Cafe & Bar theme concept, New Harbour Cafe was rather empty when we got there, but after we got seated the other diners soon fill up the seats.
One of the minus point of the place was the dim lighting. Definitely not a good place for food bloggers to be, well unless you got superb cameras, which i do not have as you can see from the pictures : (
N.Z Sirloin Steak & Mash ($17.90)
My friend had the N.Z Sirloin Steak well done. Gosh, i was thinking can a well done steak even be eaten? To my suprise, the steak isn’t perfectly well done, there are still blood stains within.
Black Pepper Chicken Chop ($11.90)
Chicken chop with black pepper sauce, accompanied with sides of mushrooms and mashed potatos
Crackling Roast Pork ($14.90)
Roast Pork with crispy crackling served with daily vegetables and mashed potatos. Onion gravy topped with apple sauce. On first look, i though it looks like Roast pork (cos i didn’t see the menu), and to my astonish it really is. Now now, when did you see a cafe serve roast pork as a main before? Mayb i am not yet a experience diner around, but from what i can remember i didn’t see roast pork as main course in all my previous dining experience.
On first bite, the crackling roast pork was crispy, and the apple sauce was a refreshing change to the usual roast pork taste. The apple sauce provided little touches of tangy sweetness with each cut of roast pork. However, this is only good for people with a sweet tooth, or for sharing because the sweetness of the apple sauce does slightly overwhelm your palette. Nevertheless, it is a pleasant experience because the next time i will be able to say i got see Roast Pork as main course before!
Special Chinese New Year Pork Chop ($15.90)
We intially wanted to order Pork Chop with apple sauce, but the waitress highly recommend this instead. Personally i find the pork chop to be all right, but my friend commented that it was too tough.
Harbour Fish & Chips ($12.90)
New Harbour Cafe has a column under its menu titled black board & daily special. There is something special everyday, roast leg of lamb on Mon, Madras curry being on tue, and on wed we have oxtail stew, there is the Hainanese pork chop available on thu, and of course our harbour fish & chips on the friday that we patronise the place.
The crispy exterior was complemented with the soft and fresh interior of the fish, with a faint flavouring of spices. The chips in new harbour cafe was cut in huge wedges shape which i must compliment was quite good.
Grilled Dory Fish Fillet ($12.90)
We had two of this, and the result was rather pleasing. The Grilled dory fish fillet was fresh, together with a squeeze of the lemon, adds a freshing twist to the fish. The serving was generous as well, with a huge cut of fish fillet which two person can actually share.
Spaghetti Alfredo with ham & mushroom ($11.90)
The spaghetti was a nice change with ham & mushroom. Now here, not that my knowledge fails me again, but i don’t remember seeing ham use frequently together with spaghetti? Or am i wrong here? But the usage of ham and mushroom gives me the feeling of pizza rather than spaghetti.
Harbour 1/2 lb beef burger ($12.90)
One word for the burger, Humongous! The Harbour 1/2 lb beef burger was huge, large, enormous, and whatever word you can think of. The beef patty was definitely bigger than the one i had at Botak Jones. If you were to compare both beef burger, the one at Botak there is cheese added which gives the burger another flavouring, but harbour’s one allows the taste of the beef patty without any disturbance as there is no other extra ingredient.
The beef patty was made like all good beef patty, juicy and tender. And the serving of the burger certainly fills one up. With the harbour fries, its tough to finish up the meal.
Brownie with ice cream ($5.80)
As sweet notes to end off the meal, we had the brownie with ice cream. The brownie alone is $3.80 while an additional scope of ice cream makes it $5.80. We only ordered one dessert because most of us are too full after our main course. The brownie was soft and chocolate-ly.
The total bill (10 person) for 9 mains, 7 drinks and 1 desserts comes up to $158.30, which i must say is rather reasonable. The drinks add up quite a fair bit of damages to the bill, $28 for 7 drinks. Otherwise it will even be cheaper. The one positive thing that i’ll like to highlight will be New Harbour Cafe does not charge any GST & service charge. For a large group of us, no extra charges mean easier calculation of the bill. hahahah!
However, the negative aspects of the place will be they do not serve ice water. which leads to us ordering drinks. And like what i mentioned earlier, their cafe has poor lighting, not suitable for taking photos. Service wise not much, the staff there are all foreign workers.
We saw this while we were about to leave, Makansutra salutes them in recognition of their culinary standards & quality. So they can’t be that bad after all, so give them a visit if you are in the area. Even if you don’t like the food, damages will be reduced as their prices are all in the 10s range.
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 : )
” Nothing beats eating with your mates, nothing! “
Rating given:
My parents had lunch at Boon Tong Kee, half a chicken at $13, and buy back a packet for me @ $3.80.
I'll say the chicken from Boon Tong Kee is quite good, but mayb not good until i will pay $13 for half a chicken. There are better one out there in other neighbour coffee shops really.
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