This is Singapore after all so what would food be without the normal coffee shop zhi ca (literally cook and fry)? Of course, as with everything else in the world, there are good and bad offerings for this as well. Without further ado, allow me to introduce you to one of these little cook spots found in the East. (I went twice and thats why you'll see both visits here)
Its a coffee shop, so forget about ambiance, forget about anything close to atas. This is ground zero, what the masses have and so the very truth of what Singaporeans are used to having on weekend eat outs (with exceptions when bonus and such niceties occur of course)
Fried Fritters with Squid Paste ($8) - One of my favorite dishes to order is sadly, not one of the better dishes to have. Unless meticulous care is taken in preparing the paste and further such action is taken for the fritters, what you get is a tasteless fried dough stick with nothing much to go for it. This rendition is pretty standard but has its merits in being served hot and being cut into nice little bite sized pieces. The squid paste isn't anything to shout about but was saved by the mayonnaise it came with. Pretty standard stuff but nothing good for health here.
Thai Style Chicken Cutlet ($8) - Simple dish but this time, this is executed very well indeed. The radish and sliced cucumbers used are fresh and cold which gave the thai sauce a different feel indeed. The sauce itself is sweet and sour with a dash of spice which gave it good balance. The chicken itself is fried well which means it retained the juices and wasn't overly dry. It was also served hot and contrasted with the cold sauce so well, i simply have to recommend it. Good stuff.
Stir Fried Broccoli ($8) - imple stir fried broccoli with a little soy sauce. Who would have imagined something so simple could taste this good? Fresh, a little salty and very appetizing. The broccoli is soft while retaining its crunchiness and even had a little sweetness in it. Simple, but good all the same.
Yi Pin Guo or Seafood Pot ($18) - The most expensive of the lot that day, this dish contained 4- 5 prawns, a generous helping of fish maw and the aforementioned tasty broccoli. It was a little to salty for my tastes but the combination did taste pleasant when complimented with rice. I wouldn't exactly term it as value for money in this case though.
The total bill came up to $44 for 4 people. $2 went to 4 bowls of rice and thus the average per person is $11 for a filling and generally fulfilling meal.
The following is the second visit.
Crab Bee Hoon ($32) - This time when we returned, we were determined to try the signature dishes that they recommended and this is what you see above. Billed as the main signature dish for the restaurant, i was expecting alot from it and i will say it up front, i was a little disappointed in the dish. The serving was generous with lots of bee hoon or vermicelli piled beneath the 800 gram crab. In its defense, the crab meat is firm and sweet but i still felt it over priced. The vermicelli was soaked in crab juices and sauce which gave it a uniquely raw taste which might not please everyone. Overall, i still like my crabs with lots of chilli, pepper or butter. This doesn't quite fit the bill as a favorite for me.
Signature Beancurd ($8) - The bean curd had a pretty thick skin and didn't break easily but i didn't like it. I prefer bean curd soft and yet firm. This was also of the egg variety which adds to the taste but doesn't quite bring it anywhere. And the last gripe i had was how similar these bean curds are to one another. I mean, i've tried HTL versions and other versions from Chinese restaurants and strangely, they all have the same kind of ingredients, pork, spring onions and the like which really doesn't distinguish themselves. This version really put me off though, because it was way below average.
Sambal Fan Shu Ye (Sweet Potato Leaf) ($8) - Average and a little too spicy for me, i'm unfortunately not able to say the same good things for this as the broccoli i had the previous time.
Steamed Fish HK Style($30) - Why do i call it steamed fish? Because i can't remember what kind of fish this is. Sorry. Anyhow, this fish is steamed Hong Kong style according to the waitress and is one of my favorite ways to prepare said fish. Fragrant, fresh and sweet. I can't think of anything bad to say about it except maybe it was too small and too expensive. Good nonetheless.
Total bill for second visit hit all time high of $88. Which really is a bit too much even for 5 people as the quality has taken a sharp nose dive this time around.
The food offered here is of a certain quality but it really depends on which day you came and what you order. For me, i have to say the signature dishes are not worth the money while the simpler offerings appeal to me more. Maybe i just prefer simple food but thats what i feel. No crabs or bean curd for me from this stall.
Tucked in a remote place in Clementi Arcade, beside the getting-popular Sunset way is The Daily Scoop. Local ice-cream cafe has been on the rise, think Island Creamery, ice cream chef, haato ice cream gallary, scoopz and a few others.
While there is the plain normal ice cream like vanilla, chocolate, strawberry, cookie & cream etc, there is the long list of new creations available at local ice cream parlours
Brandied Figs & honey: Absolute decadence sweet ligs steeped in brandy mixed into a fragrant honey ice cream
Unusually Apple: Chunky pieces of soft spiced apple with a hint of cinnamon in vanilla ice cream
Sensual Tiramisu: prepare to be enamored. captivated. enchanted
Jaffa Choc: orange marmalade ice cream jazzed up with a generous spread of dark citrus chocolate fudge
Lime & Black Pepper: packs a real punch! First with tangy lime then with spicy pepper
Orange Marmalade: tangy orange ice cream with swirled in marmalade
Single scoop comes at $2.90, and double scoop at $4.90. So if you do your maths correctly, the double scoop seems a better option. Brandied Figs & honey is a new try for us, not sure if it goes very well with us, but mayb brandy lovers might just get it.
Hazelnut Haven was very good, i simply love Nutella. A must-have everytime i went to ice-cream parlour.
Lime & Black Pepper (left), Orange Marmalade (right)
Lime & Black Pepper may seems a weird combination. On first taste, the lime was rather refreshing, but after a while, the pepper feeling sinks in.
Orange Marmalade was a correct choice, tangy orange ice cream with swirled in marmalade. Try for yourself!
Oh ya, beside Daily Scoop at Clementi Arcade is Bather’s cafe, a place i always wanted to go but no opportunity. Next time then, watch out for it.
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 : )
Secret Recipe’s cakes. I told you i will be back during my first visit didn’t i? Here i am, with *sp, and mr ang as my guest for this cake-tasting event. LOL. Actually its more of me forcing em’ to Secret Recipe to satisfy my cravings for cakes. Sinful, guilty as charged. If you cant beat them, you join them. Now now, who wants to join me on the next cake-tasting? Mayb go to Bakerzin, N.Y.D.C or somewhere else : )
Oreo Cheesecake ($4.90)
Frozen creamy cheese with loads of crushed oreo. A combination of oreo and cheese, is always a popular choice among cheesecake lovers. The Oreo cheesecake here certainly does not disappoints. Well, you can’t really compare it with the one i had on Sat @ Wild Rocket. That one goes for the overall packaging, playing food with creatively. But here we got a normal-looking cake, looking what a normal cheesecake is suppose to look like, but at half the price.
I know sometimes people dislike cheesecake because the cheese smell is too strong, and they get sick of it easily. but then after finishing the cheesecake, there are no such feelings really : )
Chocolate Indulgence ($4.90)
Creamy and rich Belgian couventure chocolate. Absolutly a luscious, luxurious, sinfully rich delight. We like this one. The Chocolate Indulgence is certainly worth its price with its size. The generous servings make some other restaurants cake pale in comparison. But then you say its not only the quantity, the quality is more important. Ahh, yes indeed, and i can assure the choc cake here do have enough quality. At $4.90 a slice, its really a steal!
Royal Chocolate Cake ($4.90)
A layer of chocolate chiffon, layered with chocolate, fresh cream, and chocolate cookies. Eh, if given a choice between Chocolate Indulgence and Royal Chocolate Cake, i say go for Choc Indulgence. Somehow the Choc Indulgence just tasted better, and a larger slice.
Three of us share three cakes, and we just managed to finished it. Not that the cakes aren’t nice, in fact they are nice, and Big! This tells you something about the serving of their cake huh? *wink*
Total Bill $16 inclusive of GST and service charge (total 17% of course). I have a new found mission. To taste all the cakes offered by Secret Recipe, eh, i think there’s a total of 20 to 30 of them? Well, i tried five already, so thats twenty or thirty more to go : )
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 : )
A long overdue post, this was during the period of time before Christmas and our wonderful boss brought us to Carousel for lunch and gift exchange cum grilling session for some weird questions which will not be repeated here. I've never noticed much on Halal buffets because i've never had to search for one so this time was an eye opening experience for me. First and foremost, thanks boss!
The pictures above should give you a good indication of the place. Bright and colorful amidst a myriad of food selections. The lunch buffet ranged between $30 to $40 per person. Buffet lunch is from 12pm to 2.30pm, after which you will be informed politely that you should leave.
My First 2 Helpings - Cha soba, sashimi, prawns, mussels, scallops and cold cut duck meat are just the few appetiser dishes you can find at the buffet. I found the ingredients reasonably fresh and sweet. In particular, i found the prawns crunchy and sweet especially when you add some of the sauces on selection. Not too bad overall.
Third and Fourth Helpings - Next up, more food! You can see the prawns i mentioned again along with some beancurd, sushi, more duck meat, chicken, a big piece of mutton, a big piece of sea bass, some eggs and some roast beef. Despite the large selection, it tasted average at best. Maybe it was just a case of too much meat. The only thing that felt distinguished was the chicken which was roasted with ground pepper and honey. The meat was a little too tough though.
Dessert and final helpings - Even more food! The selection is quite astonishing. Even to this point, i've not had everything they had to offer. Chicken, crackers and roast beef round out the mains, while the dessert corner housed a few excellent selections. The log cakes in the dessert corner is excellent. Soft, sweet and mildly fluffy, this is one of the better log cakes i've had so far. It certainly helped that there were different selections of log cakes to try and the same excellence go for the other dessert helpings. With the exception of the chocolate fondue which was a little too thick and too bitter for my tastes. Otherwise, great dessert.
Nice environment, huge selection and loads of great dessert. Although the huge selection of food are generally hit and misses, the dessert section is a league on its on. Good enough to recommend purchasing desserts from the restaurant. I'm frankly quite surprised that the food here is above average. Once again, thanks boss!
Pan Grilled Catch of the day with Lobster sauce ($11.50)
Served with french fries, Pan Grilled Catch of the day is prepared with home-made lobster sauce. Frankly speaking, the main reason i choose this dish was because the lobster sauce entices me, and also partly because i want some fishy-stuff. But this dish really disappointed me, mayb it is not bad, but it didn’t really suit my taste. The lobster sauce was nothing special, the fish was not really good. It was kind of bland.
Grilled chicken with BBQ sauce ($10.90)
The grilled chicken set is served with herb rice and fresh garden salad. The chicken is actually like normal western cafe chicken chop, nothing special. For a hawker western food, it might be a tad too expensive, but for a cafe style dining, i thought the price was quite reasonable. So it’s just which way you see it, if you find it expensive, go to hawker centre please.
Choc Fudge ($4.90)
Now, this is where Secret Recipe shines. Desserts, in particular Cakes. The variety of cakes offer are just fantastic. From the must-have like Tiramisu, Black Forest, to their sinfully chocolate section consisting of Choc Chip walnut, Choc Banana, Moist Choc Cake, Choc Mud cake, Cocoa Mocha, Choc Fudge, Choc Indulgence. Scanning through the long list, each makes me unresistable, wanting to try everyone of them, and i think i will. Making several trips to Secret Recipe of course : )
Marble Cheese ($4.90)
And thats not it, they still have cheesecakes to show, there’s the classic cheese, espresso cheese, raspberry cheese, choc cheese, chilled blueberry cheese, chilled strawberry cheese, apple crumble cheese, lemon cheese, caramel cream cheese.
You know the best part of the story is not just their cakes are good, it is also the price is dirt-cheap. At $4.90 a big slice for their delighful cakes, i think its the best deal, and mayb the reason to repeatly go back to Secret Recipe. Nowadays many restaurants’ desserts cakes are no doubt very good, but usually they come in a small slice, and the price can easily double of this.
Shining Stars
Lets see, the positive aspect without a doubt will be their desserts section, with cakes being the king of the crown. Cheap, big slice, sinful-yet-wonderful cakes. What more do you want? N’uff said already, go get them!
Dark Clouds
The waitress told us that they do not serve ice-water. That, immediately took us at least 10 points off the marking list. You mean a cafe cannot offer its customer even tap-water? Scanning through the drinks menu, there is this one thing called “Distilled water”, whats more the water is packed by Secret Recipe. No doubt, this is the main reason why they do not provided ice water. One word of advice to ALL restaurants and cafes, if you want your diners to eat happily, please provide FREE ice-water. If your reason not to offer ice water is so that diners have to pay for the drinks, you are so wrong.
All in all, Secret Recipe is still a nice place to go for its cheap and nice cakes. If only for the cakes, i will make the trip everytime. Total bill is $36.55 for two person. I confirmed, guarantee plus chop will definitely go back to try out the other cakes, despite the problem about ice-water. Mayb next time i just go for their cake-set, or i bring along my water bottle.
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 : )
Early in the morning (well not really early), meet up with sp, wh, and hy for breakfast. Prata’s at Alif Restaurant, a “prominent” coffee shop selling pratas at Bukit Gombak. I’m sure you have seen it before if you been to Gombak.
Anyway, breakfast is suppose to be early right? But we had sort of a brunch because someone was late. *i’m not blaming you all right? lol
Egg on the prata ($1.20)
Do note that this is not the normal egg prata, this one is the egg on the prata, different all right? But i cant remember the name of it though. Looks yummy though, next time i think i’ll have this instead of the normal egg prata
Egg Prata ($1.20)
Ahh.. this ons is the normal egg prata. See the difference already? : )
Cheese Prata ($1.50)
Melted cheese within the hot cripsy prata, well some sort like cheese on a pizza just that pizza is western and prata is indian? LOL!
Normal Prata ($0.60) The normal one without any fillings, sp commented it was too tough, but the rest of us found it to be okay. Miss sp got tender tooth : )
Chicken Rice ($3)
The hungry-ghost (or rather soldier) Mr Ang & Mr Ong ordered chicken rice in addition to the pratas.
After which, we went to IMM, and they got psycho by me into eating cakes from Secret Recipe. Thats the next post guys : )
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 : )
Egg tarts! My fav hong kong pastries. Leong Sang is at Sago street, off Smith street there. Now the chinatown market is under renovation, so might be a bit diff to spot the shop.
Anyway, chinatown has quite a number of stores selling HK pastries, but i prefer Leong Sang egg tart. Why? To me, the egg tart must have crispy tart skin, once you bite into it, u’ll get a wonderrful feeling. Second, the egg itself must be smooth. Leong Sang egg tart possesses this two main qualities. At $0.80 per tart, it is consider reasonable.
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 one that i went to is a branch located within Queensway shopping centre. To those who often frequent queensway for the cheap sports wear and clothes, u must have seen it before. Went there to buy shoe but didn’t fancy any. O well
It proclaimed itself to be the original Katong Laksa. Anyway, the debate on who is the original Katong Laksa rages on. The Laksa (picture below) main characteristics is that it is made from self-made coconut husk scoop, no chopstick spoon only, short bee hoon, use fresh coconut milk.
Hmm.. the laksa taste quite good, in particular the soup. The soup is quite special, unlike the normal laksa, u can taste egg one, i like!” BUT, the short bee hoon which makes it easier to eat using spoon, is very little. The serving is small, eating one bowl is simply no filling and not enough. The ingredients are small prawn, fish cake and cockles. Cost 3 bucks per bowl, actually 3 bucks is considered reasonable, but the serving is too small.
All in all, the laksa is good, but serving too small not enough. If not being rational, i will have ordered another bowl.
You are always welcome to visit ladyironcheff 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 famous Ah Koong fishball in Johor, Malaysia. I believed many people from Singapore knows about this store as i always see Singaporeans there, and no doubt their recent debut branch at VivoCity has raised their profile in Singapore. Well, i started eating at Ah Koong a few years back, and since then whenever i go to Johor, it has become one of the must-eat for me. Not a lover of fishballs (i prefer Won-ton mee), but when it comes to Ah Koong fishball noodles, i like! Anyway, for simplicity sake, i will be putting all the dishes in Ringgit (RM), just divided the sum by 2.2 to convert to Sin dollars.
Fried Fish-cake (3.50RM)! No doubt the star of the show, this is Ah Koong speciality and has attracted many people from all over the land to go to Ah Koong just to try this. Die die also must try!
I always have noodle soup when i go to Ah Koong, don’t really fancy the dry-version. The soup is good, i guess theres MSG to make it so tasty, but no harms done having some MSG once in a while ya? One bowl of noodles cost 4.50RM (it used to be 3RM when it just started), anyway 4.50RM is still cheap if you convert to Sin dollars, four fishballs, one meat ball and slices of fishcake. I can easily have two to three bowls of noodle at one go. Good!
The same thing as above just that its bee-hoon. I gave it a lower rating cos i just prefer noodles to bee-hoon, but still the bee-hoon is good.
Fried Hu-Kee (those Yong tao fu one) 3 for 1RM
Hmm.. Ah Koong has a few branches now, but their best is still at their headquarter. When it started a few years back, the noodles was just as nice as it is now. But they have reinnovated and came up with many new menu. Cripsy fried prawn cake, fish porridge, abalone noodles and some other stuff. But seriously, their fishcake and fishball noodles are still the best according to me, ignore all the other new items and just try their fishcake and fishball noodles. By the way, don’t go to the Singapore branch at Vivocity, that place is a rip-off man. One bowl of noodles selling at $4.50 i think, and one fishcake cost $2 or 3. Sin dollars yes! Just go over the bridge to enjoy the same menu but better and cheaper twice! Total bill for two person is 21.84RM
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 : )
Ajisen Ramen, “The best Ramen in Singapore”, or so they claimed. Started in November 1997, Ajisen opened the first Ramen shop at Bugis Junction. Ajisen Ramen is now the largest Ramen chain in Singapore, with a total of 12 outlets in Singapore in these 9 years.
“ There is something peculiar about Ajisen Ramen and it’s all in the soup. Their Ramen’s Tonkotsu soup can help to prevent aging!
The Japanese Society of Nutrition & Food Science announced in a general meeting, “The intake of collagen contained in the bones and cartilage, etc prevents aging.” Collagen is a protein, mainly found in the skin, tendon, bone, cartilage and other connective tissues. This protein is the essence of life because it easily makes up one third of the 60 trillion body cells. And our Tonkotsu soup has lots of collagen!
What is health without taste? A feature of Kumamoto Ramen is Senmiyu; a rich brown sauce that accompanies the fair Tonkotsu soup. Our unique culinary methods ensure that all the flavors are sealed into the sauce. In fact, Ajisen guarantee that your taste-buds will be bowled over by their Tonkotsu/Senmiyu combination! “
Went to meet my mom for dinner at IMM after Arnold’s celebration, at first wanted to go Secret Recipe for dinner, cos i want to eat their desserts, but my mom wanted to eat ramen, to savour that time she went to Japan and had ramen. Although there was a few Japanese restaurants around, we settled on Ajisen since my mom wanted ramen. The restaurant was packed fully, but there was still space for two-seaters. We took a while to decide on the ramen, and made our orders, suprisingly the ramen came quite fast despite many patrons in the restaurant, mayb its very easy to cook ramen : )
Ramen cost 10 bucks each, but you have the raman set, which consist of a ramen, side dish, and a drink for $13.80. We chose the crayfish ramen (voted most popular), and the soft ribs ramen
Crayfish Ramen
The crayfish ramen was quite special, the crayfish came with a sweet-spicy sauce. Ramen had egg, crayfish of cos, and mushroom. The ramen soup was quite delicious, but i found it too salty, had to drink tons of water after finishing the ramen.
Soft ribs Ramen
Actually every ramen is the same except for the main ingredient that comes with it, for this one is soft pork ribs, the ribs was managed rather well-balance, very chewy. My mom commented that the ramen in Japan was nicer, the noodle was not so thick, much thinner there : )
Chicken cutlet that comes with the ramen set
The sauce for the chicken was nice, but the chicken was a tad too small, o well after all this is the compliment set.
Fried prawn which also come with the ramen set
Fried prawn in Japanese restaurants was always nice, no complains
Simple dinner at Ajisen total bill was $32.49, not very expensive i guess, for the set came with a ramen, side dish and drink. But the quality of the side dishes can be improve i guess, they are not really worth it for the extra $3.80? But then again $3.80 for a side dish and drink, you can’t really complain can you?
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 : )
1=SGD 0.0587
This is Singapore after all so what would food be without the normal coffee shop zhi ca (literally cook and fry)? Of course, as with everything else in the world, there are good and bad offerings for this as well. Without further ado, allow me to introduce you to one of these little cook spots found in the East. (I went twice and thats why you'll see both visits here)
Its a coffee shop, so forget about ambiance, forget about anything close to atas. This is ground zero, what the masses have and so the very truth of what Singaporeans are used to having on weekend eat outs (with exceptions when bonus and such niceties occur of course)
Fried Fritters with Squid Paste ($8) - One of my favorite dishes to order is sadly, not one of the better dishes to have. Unless meticulous care is taken in preparing the paste and further such action is taken for the fritters, what you get is a tasteless fried dough stick with nothing much to go for it. This rendition is pretty standard but has its merits in being served hot and being cut into nice little bite sized pieces. The squid paste isn't anything to shout about but was saved by the mayonnaise it came with. Pretty standard stuff but nothing good for health here.
Thai Style Chicken Cutlet ($8) - Simple dish but this time, this is executed very well indeed. The radish and sliced cucumbers used are fresh and cold which gave the thai sauce a different feel indeed. The sauce itself is sweet and sour with a dash of spice which gave it good balance. The chicken itself is fried well which means it retained the juices and wasn't overly dry. It was also served hot and contrasted with the cold sauce so well, i simply have to recommend it. Good stuff.
Stir Fried Broccoli ($8) - imple stir fried broccoli with a little soy sauce. Who would have imagined something so simple could taste this good? Fresh, a little salty and very appetizing. The broccoli is soft while retaining its crunchiness and even had a little sweetness in it. Simple, but good all the same.
Yi Pin Guo or Seafood Pot ($18) - The most expensive of the lot that day, this dish contained 4- 5 prawns, a generous helping of fish maw and the aforementioned tasty broccoli. It was a little to salty for my tastes but the combination did taste pleasant when complimented with rice. I wouldn't exactly term it as value for money in this case though.
The total bill came up to $44 for 4 people. $2 went to 4 bowls of rice and thus the average per person is $11 for a filling and generally fulfilling meal.
The following is the second visit.
Crab Bee Hoon ($32) - This time when we returned, we were determined to try the signature dishes that they recommended and this is what you see above. Billed as the main signature dish for the restaurant, i was expecting alot from it and i will say it up front, i was a little disappointed in the dish. The serving was generous with lots of bee hoon or vermicelli piled beneath the 800 gram crab. In its defense, the crab meat is firm and sweet but i still felt it over priced. The vermicelli was soaked in crab juices and sauce which gave it a uniquely raw taste which might not please everyone. Overall, i still like my crabs with lots of chilli, pepper or butter. This doesn't quite fit the bill as a favorite for me.
Signature Beancurd ($8) - The bean curd had a pretty thick skin and didn't break easily but i didn't like it. I prefer bean curd soft and yet firm. This was also of the egg variety which adds to the taste but doesn't quite bring it anywhere. And the last gripe i had was how similar these bean curds are to one another. I mean, i've tried HTL versions and other versions from Chinese restaurants and strangely, they all have the same kind of ingredients, pork, spring onions and the like which really doesn't distinguish themselves. This version really put me off though, because it was way below average.
Sambal Fan Shu Ye (Sweet Potato Leaf) ($8) - Average and a little too spicy for me, i'm unfortunately not able to say the same good things for this as the broccoli i had the previous time.
Steamed Fish HK Style($30) - Why do i call it steamed fish? Because i can't remember what kind of fish this is. Sorry. Anyhow, this fish is steamed Hong Kong style according to the waitress and is one of my favorite ways to prepare said fish. Fragrant, fresh and sweet. I can't think of anything bad to say about it except maybe it was too small and too expensive. Good nonetheless.
Total bill for second visit hit all time high of $88. Which really is a bit too much even for 5 people as the quality has taken a sharp nose dive this time around.
The food offered here is of a certain quality but it really depends on which day you came and what you order. For me, i have to say the signature dishes are not worth the money while the simpler offerings appeal to me more. Maybe i just prefer simple food but thats what i feel. No crabs or bean curd for me from this stall.
Rating given:
Tucked in a remote place in Clementi Arcade, beside the getting-popular Sunset way is The Daily Scoop. Local ice-cream cafe has been on the rise, think Island Creamery, ice cream chef, haato ice cream gallary, scoopz and a few others.
While there is the plain normal ice cream like vanilla, chocolate, strawberry, cookie & cream etc, there is the long list of new creations available at local ice cream parlours
Brandied Figs & honey: Absolute decadence sweet ligs steeped in brandy mixed into a fragrant honey ice cream
Unusually Apple: Chunky pieces of soft spiced apple with a hint of cinnamon in vanilla ice cream
Sensual Tiramisu: prepare to be enamored. captivated. enchanted
Jaffa Choc: orange marmalade ice cream jazzed up with a generous spread of dark citrus chocolate fudge
Lime & Black Pepper: packs a real punch! First with tangy lime then with spicy pepper
Orange Marmalade: tangy orange ice cream with swirled in marmalade
Hazelnut Haven - a must-have for Nutella© fans
Kahlua® Krunch: coffee ice cream with a more than generous dash of Kahlua®
Arghh.. and the list goes on and on. Go to their website for the whole list
Brandied Figs & honey (left), Hazelnut Haven (right)
Single scoop comes at $2.90, and double scoop at $4.90. So if you do your maths correctly, the double scoop seems a better option. Brandied Figs & honey is a new try for us, not sure if it goes very well with us, but mayb brandy lovers might just get it.
Hazelnut Haven was very good, i simply love Nutella. A must-have everytime i went to ice-cream parlour.
Lime & Black Pepper (left), Orange Marmalade (right)
Lime & Black Pepper may seems a weird combination. On first taste, the lime was rather refreshing, but after a while, the pepper feeling sinks in.
Orange Marmalade was a correct choice, tangy orange ice cream with swirled in marmalade. Try for yourself!
Oh ya, beside Daily Scoop at Clementi Arcade is Bather’s cafe, a place i always wanted to go but no opportunity. Next time then, watch out for it.
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 : )
” Ice cream - how do you stop eating them? “
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Secret Recipe’s cakes. I told you i will be back during my first visit didn’t i? Here i am, with *sp, and mr ang as my guest for this cake-tasting event. LOL. Actually its more of me forcing em’ to Secret Recipe to satisfy my cravings for cakes. Sinful, guilty as charged. If you cant beat them, you join them. Now now, who wants to join me on the next cake-tasting? Mayb go to Bakerzin, N.Y.D.C or somewhere else : )
Oreo Cheesecake ($4.90)
Frozen creamy cheese with loads of crushed oreo. A combination of oreo and cheese, is always a popular choice among cheesecake lovers. The Oreo cheesecake here certainly does not disappoints. Well, you can’t really compare it with the one i had on Sat @ Wild Rocket. That one goes for the overall packaging, playing food with creatively. But here we got a normal-looking cake, looking what a normal cheesecake is suppose to look like, but at half the price.
I know sometimes people dislike cheesecake because the cheese smell is too strong, and they get sick of it easily. but then after finishing the cheesecake, there are no such feelings really : )
Chocolate Indulgence ($4.90)
Creamy and rich Belgian couventure chocolate. Absolutly a luscious, luxurious, sinfully rich delight. We like this one. The Chocolate Indulgence is certainly worth its price with its size. The generous servings make some other restaurants cake pale in comparison. But then you say its not only the quantity, the quality is more important. Ahh, yes indeed, and i can assure the choc cake here do have enough quality. At $4.90 a slice, its really a steal!
Royal Chocolate Cake ($4.90)
A layer of chocolate chiffon, layered with chocolate, fresh cream, and chocolate cookies. Eh, if given a choice between Chocolate Indulgence and Royal Chocolate Cake, i say go for Choc Indulgence. Somehow the Choc Indulgence just tasted better, and a larger slice.
Three of us share three cakes, and we just managed to finished it. Not that the cakes aren’t nice, in fact they are nice, and Big! This tells you something about the serving of their cake huh? *wink*
Total Bill $16 inclusive of GST and service charge (total 17% of course). I have a new found mission. To taste all the cakes offered by Secret Recipe, eh, i think there’s a total of 20 to 30 of them? Well, i tried five already, so thats twenty or thirty more to go : )
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 : )
” To savor all the cakes in the world “
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A long overdue post, this was during the period of time before Christmas and our wonderful boss brought us to Carousel for lunch and gift exchange cum grilling session for some weird questions which will not be repeated here. I've never noticed much on Halal buffets because i've never had to search for one so this time was an eye opening experience for me. First and foremost, thanks boss!
The pictures above should give you a good indication of the place. Bright and colorful amidst a myriad of food selections. The lunch buffet ranged between $30 to $40 per person. Buffet lunch is from 12pm to 2.30pm, after which you will be informed politely that you should leave.
My First 2 Helpings - Cha soba, sashimi, prawns, mussels, scallops and cold cut duck meat are just the few appetiser dishes you can find at the buffet. I found the ingredients reasonably fresh and sweet. In particular, i found the prawns crunchy and sweet especially when you add some of the sauces on selection. Not too bad overall.
Third and Fourth Helpings - Next up, more food! You can see the prawns i mentioned again along with some beancurd, sushi, more duck meat, chicken, a big piece of mutton, a big piece of sea bass, some eggs and some roast beef. Despite the large selection, it tasted average at best. Maybe it was just a case of too much meat. The only thing that felt distinguished was the chicken which was roasted with ground pepper and honey. The meat was a little too tough though.
Dessert and final helpings - Even more food! The selection is quite astonishing. Even to this point, i've not had everything they had to offer. Chicken, crackers and roast beef round out the mains, while the dessert corner housed a few excellent selections. The log cakes in the dessert corner is excellent. Soft, sweet and mildly fluffy, this is one of the better log cakes i've had so far. It certainly helped that there were different selections of log cakes to try and the same excellence go for the other dessert helpings. With the exception of the chocolate fondue which was a little too thick and too bitter for my tastes. Otherwise, great dessert.
Nice environment, huge selection and loads of great dessert. Although the huge selection of food are generally hit and misses, the dessert section is a league on its on. Good enough to recommend purchasing desserts from the restaurant. I'm frankly quite surprised that the food here is above average. Once again, thanks boss!
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Pan Grilled Catch of the day with Lobster sauce ($11.50)
Served with french fries, Pan Grilled Catch of the day is prepared with home-made lobster sauce. Frankly speaking, the main reason i choose this dish was because the lobster sauce entices me, and also partly because i want some fishy-stuff. But this dish really disappointed me, mayb it is not bad, but it didn’t really suit my taste. The lobster sauce was nothing special, the fish was not really good. It was kind of bland.
Grilled chicken with BBQ sauce ($10.90)
The grilled chicken set is served with herb rice and fresh garden salad. The chicken is actually like normal western cafe chicken chop, nothing special. For a hawker western food, it might be a tad too expensive, but for a cafe style dining, i thought the price was quite reasonable. So it’s just which way you see it, if you find it expensive, go to hawker centre please.
Choc Fudge ($4.90)
Now, this is where Secret Recipe shines. Desserts, in particular Cakes. The variety of cakes offer are just fantastic. From the must-have like Tiramisu, Black Forest, to their sinfully chocolate section consisting of Choc Chip walnut, Choc Banana, Moist Choc Cake, Choc Mud cake, Cocoa Mocha, Choc Fudge, Choc Indulgence. Scanning through the long list, each makes me unresistable, wanting to try everyone of them, and i think i will. Making several trips to Secret Recipe of course : )
Marble Cheese ($4.90)
And thats not it, they still have cheesecakes to show, there’s the classic cheese, espresso cheese, raspberry cheese, choc cheese, chilled blueberry cheese, chilled strawberry cheese, apple crumble cheese, lemon cheese, caramel cream cheese.
You know the best part of the story is not just their cakes are good, it is also the price is dirt-cheap. At $4.90 a big slice for their delighful cakes, i think its the best deal, and mayb the reason to repeatly go back to Secret Recipe. Nowadays many restaurants’ desserts cakes are no doubt very good, but usually they come in a small slice, and the price can easily double of this.
Shining Stars
Lets see, the positive aspect without a doubt will be their desserts section, with cakes being the king of the crown. Cheap, big slice, sinful-yet-wonderful cakes. What more do you want? N’uff said already, go get them!
Dark Clouds
The waitress told us that they do not serve ice-water. That, immediately took us at least 10 points off the marking list. You mean a cafe cannot offer its customer even tap-water? Scanning through the drinks menu, there is this one thing called “Distilled water”, whats more the water is packed by Secret Recipe. No doubt, this is the main reason why they do not provided ice water. One word of advice to ALL restaurants and cafes, if you want your diners to eat happily, please provide FREE ice-water. If your reason not to offer ice water is so that diners have to pay for the drinks, you are so wrong.
All in all, Secret Recipe is still a nice place to go for its cheap and nice cakes. If only for the cakes, i will make the trip everytime. Total bill is $36.55 for two person. I confirmed, guarantee plus chop will definitely go back to try out the other cakes, despite the problem about ice-water. Mayb next time i just go for their cake-set, or i bring along my water bottle.
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 : )
” Cakes, how can i resist them? “
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Early in the morning (well not really early), meet up with sp, wh, and hy for breakfast. Prata’s at Alif Restaurant, a “prominent” coffee shop selling pratas at Bukit Gombak. I’m sure you have seen it before if you been to Gombak.
Anyway, breakfast is suppose to be early right? But we had sort of a brunch because someone was late. *i’m not blaming you all right? lol
Egg on the prata ($1.20)
Do note that this is not the normal egg prata, this one is the egg on the prata, different all right? But i cant remember the name of it though. Looks yummy though, next time i think i’ll have this instead of the normal egg prata
Egg Prata ($1.20)
Ahh.. this ons is the normal egg prata. See the difference already? : )
Cheese Prata ($1.50)
Melted cheese within the hot cripsy prata, well some sort like cheese on a pizza just that pizza is western and prata is indian? LOL!
Normal Prata ($0.60)
The normal one without any fillings, sp commented it was too tough, but the rest of us found it to be okay. Miss sp got tender tooth : )
Chicken Rice ($3)
The hungry-ghost (or rather soldier) Mr Ang & Mr Ong ordered chicken rice in addition to the pratas.
After which, we went to IMM, and they got psycho by me into eating cakes from Secret Recipe. Thats the next post guys : )
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 : )
” Pratas, pratas, & pratas “
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Egg tarts! My fav hong kong pastries. Leong Sang is at Sago street, off Smith street there. Now the chinatown market is under renovation, so might be a bit diff to spot the shop.
Anyway, chinatown has quite a number of stores selling HK pastries, but i prefer Leong Sang egg tart. Why? To me, the egg tart must have crispy tart skin, once you bite into it, u’ll get a wonderrful feeling. Second, the egg itself must be smooth. Leong Sang egg tart possesses this two main qualities. At $0.80 per tart, it is consider reasonable.
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 : )
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Janggut Laksa - The original Katong Spoon Laksa
The one that i went to is a branch located within Queensway shopping centre. To those who often frequent queensway for the cheap sports wear and clothes, u must have seen it before. Went there to buy shoe but didn’t fancy any. O well
It proclaimed itself to be the original Katong Laksa. Anyway, the debate on who is the original Katong Laksa rages on. The Laksa (picture below) main characteristics is that it is made from self-made coconut husk scoop, no chopstick spoon only, short bee hoon, use fresh coconut milk.
Hmm.. the laksa taste quite good, in particular the soup. The soup is quite special, unlike the normal laksa, u can taste egg one, i like!” BUT, the short bee hoon which makes it easier to eat using spoon, is very little. The serving is small, eating one bowl is simply no filling and not enough. The ingredients are small prawn, fish cake and cockles. Cost 3 bucks per bowl, actually 3 bucks is considered reasonable, but the serving is too small.
All in all, the laksa is good, but serving too small not enough. If not being rational, i will have ordered another bowl.
You are always welcome to visit ladyironcheff 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 : )
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The famous Ah Koong fishball in Johor, Malaysia. I believed many people from Singapore knows about this store as i always see Singaporeans there, and no doubt their recent debut branch at VivoCity has raised their profile in Singapore. Well, i started eating at Ah Koong a few years back, and since then whenever i go to Johor, it has become one of the must-eat for me. Not a lover of fishballs (i prefer Won-ton mee), but when it comes to Ah Koong fishball noodles, i like! Anyway, for simplicity sake, i will be putting all the dishes in Ringgit (RM), just divided the sum by 2.2 to convert to Sin dollars.
Fried Fish-cake (3.50RM)! No doubt the star of the show, this is Ah Koong speciality and has attracted many people from all over the land to go to Ah Koong just to try this. Die die also must try!
I always have noodle soup when i go to Ah Koong, don’t really fancy the dry-version. The soup is good, i guess theres MSG to make it so tasty, but no harms done having some MSG once in a while ya? One bowl of noodles cost 4.50RM (it used to be 3RM when it just started), anyway 4.50RM is still cheap if you convert to Sin dollars, four fishballs, one meat ball and slices of fishcake. I can easily have two to three bowls of noodle at one go. Good!
The same thing as above just that its bee-hoon. I gave it a lower rating cos i just prefer noodles to bee-hoon, but still the bee-hoon is good.
Fried Hu-Kee (those Yong tao fu one) 3 for 1RM
Hmm.. Ah Koong has a few branches now, but their best is still at their headquarter. When it started a few years back, the noodles was just as nice as it is now. But they have reinnovated and came up with many new menu. Cripsy fried prawn cake, fish porridge, abalone noodles and some other stuff. But seriously, their fishcake and fishball noodles are still the best according to me, ignore all the other new items and just try their fishcake and fishball noodles. By the way, don’t go to the Singapore branch at Vivocity, that place is a rip-off man. One bowl of noodles selling at $4.50 i think, and one fishcake cost $2 or 3. Sin dollars yes! Just go over the bridge to enjoy the same menu but better and cheaper twice! Total bill for two person is 21.84RM
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 : )
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Ajisen Ramen, “The best Ramen in Singapore”, or so they claimed. Started in November 1997, Ajisen opened the first Ramen shop at Bugis Junction. Ajisen Ramen is now the largest Ramen chain in Singapore, with a total of 12 outlets in Singapore in these 9 years.
“ There is something peculiar about Ajisen Ramen and it’s all in the soup. Their Ramen’s Tonkotsu soup can help to prevent aging!
The Japanese Society of Nutrition & Food Science announced in a general meeting, “The intake of collagen contained in the bones and cartilage, etc prevents aging.” Collagen is a protein, mainly found in the skin, tendon, bone, cartilage and other connective tissues. This protein is the essence of life because it easily makes up one third of the 60 trillion body cells. And our Tonkotsu soup has lots of collagen!
What is health without taste? A feature of Kumamoto Ramen is Senmiyu; a rich brown sauce that accompanies the fair Tonkotsu soup. Our unique culinary methods ensure that all the flavors are sealed into the sauce. In fact, Ajisen guarantee that your taste-buds will be bowled over by their Tonkotsu/Senmiyu combination! “
Went to meet my mom for dinner at IMM after Arnold’s celebration, at first wanted to go Secret Recipe for dinner, cos i want to eat their desserts, but my mom wanted to eat ramen, to savour that time she went to Japan and had ramen. Although there was a few Japanese restaurants around, we settled on Ajisen since my mom wanted ramen. The restaurant was packed fully, but there was still space for two-seaters. We took a while to decide on the ramen, and made our orders, suprisingly the ramen came quite fast despite many patrons in the restaurant, mayb its very easy to cook ramen : )
Ramen cost 10 bucks each, but you have the raman set, which consist of a ramen, side dish, and a drink for $13.80. We chose the crayfish ramen (voted most popular), and the soft ribs ramen
Crayfish Ramen
The crayfish ramen was quite special, the crayfish came with a sweet-spicy sauce. Ramen had egg, crayfish of cos, and mushroom. The ramen soup was quite delicious, but i found it too salty, had to drink tons of water after finishing the ramen.
Soft ribs Ramen
Actually every ramen is the same except for the main ingredient that comes with it, for this one is soft pork ribs, the ribs was managed rather well-balance, very chewy. My mom commented that the ramen in Japan was nicer, the noodle was not so thick, much thinner there : )
Chicken cutlet that comes with the ramen set
The sauce for the chicken was nice, but the chicken was a tad too small, o well after all this is the compliment set.
Fried prawn which also come with the ramen set
Fried prawn in Japanese restaurants was always nice, no complains
Simple dinner at Ajisen total bill was $32.49, not very expensive i guess, for the set came with a ramen, side dish and drink. But the quality of the side dishes can be improve i guess, they are not really worth it for the extra $3.80? But then again $3.80 for a side dish and drink, you can’t really complain can you?
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 : )
” Food is for our mind, health, and body “
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