Its been a while since I last stepped into Tao's, with my last visit being about one and a half years ago. Since I was in the vicinity, I couldn't resist dropping by to renew my acquaintance with this small humble eatery.
Occupying a space big enough for about 50 pax at the basement of Paradiz Centre, Tao's retains its clean lines and bright lighting to give the wholesome family dining feel. Tao's dining concept is rather different as the menu is fixed and you get to choose a dish for each course. There are 7 courses in total for dinner (I believe its 6 for lunch) but choices are rather limited.
Mushroom & Cheese Gratin and Toasted Bread - I personally like the gratin quite a bit, tasty yet not nausea inducing. It did come across as a little more watery this time round but portion size seemed to have grown slightly. When eaten with the lightly toasted bread, the combination really got me craving for more.
Curry Yogurt Prawn Salad - The prawn salad was a joke really. 3 thin slivers of prawns covering asparagus, cherry tomatoes and golden mushrooms. I could have easily stuffed all 3 into my mouth at one go. It didn't help that the accompanying curry sauce was rather strong and sweet.
Farm Boy Splendor - Having ordered the farm boy splendor on previous occasions, it certainly didn't impress me very much, coming across as very average. On a positive note, the pieces of chicken in it were sizable and the vegetables were relatively fresh.
Cream of Mushroom Soup - A most decent rendition of the humble cream of mushroom, with bits of mushroom in it and obviously not tasting like a straight out of the can variation. It would have been better if it was slightly more coagulated (less watery) though.
Wild Mushrooms - This has to be the only time that I found the wild mushrooms more enjoyable because they didn't taste too wild for me nor were there the irritating little hard bits present, unlike previous occasions. Not that I really fancy it that much still.
Slow Cooked Pork Back Ribs - The pork ribs is Tao's signature dish which has apparently won an award in some competition. The meat was fall of the bone tender but did come across as a tad too sweet, which made me rather sick after a while.
Tao's Oven Roasted Steak - The steak came almost well done although I had asked for medium rare. The presence of excessive tenderizer was also evident as the meat did seem a little too tender by normal standards. Probably the only positive thing about this dish was the gravy, which was a little peppery and relatively tasty.
Creme Brulee - Good Creme Brulees are made from real vanilla beans, not vanilla extract. Tao's rendition was made from the latter. Not that it tasted bad though, just that the layer of sugar atop was too thin and not even hard. Talk about poor execution.
Home Made Chocolate Mousse - Homemade stuff usually entail a certain standard, but the chocolate mousse was just plain weird by any standards. It tasted like a 2 layer cake with the mousse on top and kueh at the bottom. Definitely not for me.
Ice Grass Jelly Mint Tea - An excellent way to end off dinner, with a choice of teas. I personally like the grass jelly mint tea because its sweet and cool with a dash of freshness from the mint.
Prices at Tao's have not gone up since more than a year back, which is really commendable given the rising costs. $61 for 2 set dinners is rather reasonable for the quality and quantity of food if you ask me. Service is excellent and friendly as well. I can't find a reason not to return.
Its been quite a while since I had dinner at Melben, with the last being about a year ago. So I was itching to find out if the crabs were still as good as I remembered them to be. With the opening of a new branch in Toa Payoh, I had hoped that the crowd at Ang Mo Kio would be thinner, but how wrong I proved to be. When we (my family and I) got there at about 7pm, a mad queue had already formed in front of the make shift counter to take their orders and get their tables. Luckily, the wait took all but 20 minutes and we got a nice seat at the fringe of the coffeeshop. Now on to the food.
Crispy Skin Tofu - From the name, I had imagined this dish to be mouthwatering, but it didn't quite make the mark. First of all, the texture of the tofu was too rough and the skin had too much flour coating, resulting in a rather thick and coagulated layer when cold. Taste wise was still quite acceptable.
Vegetable with 3 types of Mushroom - This dish came recommended by our server and on hindsight, we probably shouldn't have agreed. Overall, it tasted very ordinary. Nothing stood out, not the 3 types of mushrooms, not the vegetables, not the gravy. Nothing. Which makes me wonder the basis for the recommendation.
Hotplate Venison Meat - Sometimes you wonder how real is the piece of venison meat that lies in front of you. After all, venison meat is rather rare in Singapore and certainly doesn't come cheap. That thought raced through my mind when I first chewed on the meat. Very crunchy and chewy (lots of tenderiser added), soaked in a pepper tinted thick and salty gravy. Not too shabby, but doubts of authenticity surfaces because it really tastes like pork.
The famous Claypot Beehoon with Crab - Now this was what everyone was there for - Melben's famous claypot beehoon with crab. The crab weighed about 1.3kg ($30/kg) and was a huge monster (we only ordered medium). Without a doubt, it was very fresh and the flesh was sweet and firm. The soup, with lots of coconut milk, tasted very similar to Laksa's soup, minus the curry. Thick beehoon was used in place of the normal thin ones, which absorbed the essence of the soup and complemented the whole dish very well. This dish was so big that the 4 of us almost couldn't finish it.
Dinner for 4 pax cost about $70, which isn't too expensive, but not exactly cheap either. If you ever decide to patronise Melben, do make a reservation first because there's a seperate queue which is a lot shorter. Also, just go for the wonderful crabs as the other dishes are merely average.
Big O is a sister restaurant of N.Y.D.C and named after one of N.Y.D.C's popular items, namely the Big O cheesecake. The restaurant bares slight resemblances from N.Y.D.C in terms of food offerings and strangely, the decorations seems to opt for a canine dominant layout.
The restaurant is located directly opposite N.Y.D.C, how convenient. On the day i was there, N.Y.D.C was packed and Big O has significantly less customers. Color combinations were darker then necessary with brown and red being the mainstays, blue is used sparsely on backgrounds filled with dogs. Chairs were of the wood variation which is generally uncomfortable and spaces between tables were generous but still felt cramped.
Mozzarella Cheese Sticks - The mozzarella cheese sticks were simple and quite simply, badly made. The cheese was not melted properly and came across as being too sticky and too tough which made chewing it a chore. The batter was thin but had minimal to no taste which can be complimented upon. Not something i'll order again.
Platter For 2 ($34.95) - Having had great tasting platters at Manhatten fish Market, we expected to find similar greatness in Big O but that was not to be. At its price, the platter was surprisingly small. It came with the usual assortment of calamari rings, one crab cake, two salmon, two dory fish fillets and rice that tasted like Hainanese chicken rice. The calamari rings had too much batter and strangely lacked taste, the same goes for the fish fillets and even the salmon, which goes to show how fresh the items are. The sauces provided were also oddly contrasting with the food provided, which means they do not taste good when taken together. The only redemption is the rice, which was fragrant but still not outstanding. Big disappointment.
Oops I ate it again! ($9.95) - Having had a mediocre starter and a bad main, you would expect a restaurant named after a mudpie to serve excellent desserts at least. And yet, even that was not present. Mango ice cream on top of strawberry ice cream with an oreo base. The red sauce is cranberry jam and the way its put seems disgusting instead of pleasing. And honestly, it tastes like they just mashed the 2 ice creams together and called it a mudpie. Very bad tasting ice creams as well.
The bill came to $52.85 with them offering the cheese sticks as complimentary items after i wrote loads of comments for them to take note.
I'm not returning to this place, ever. The utensils used, as my gf pointed out, made us feel like we were eating out of dog bowls, and if that wasn't enough, the food was bad. Paying $50 for this kind of food makes me feel like an idiot and that is a mistake i will never repeat again. Stay away.
Had dinner at Manhill Restaurant, sibling to the renowned Hillman Restaurant at Kitchener Road. One interesting point to note is that both places are owned by the same family and have exactly the same menu.
Located along Pasir Panjang Road, Manhill is hard to miss with its huge neon lighted signboard screaming its presence to passing motorists. Its really hard to imagine a restaurant located at such a nondescript place where housing developments are minimal and factory buildings aplenty. Its even harder to imagine such a huge turnout at the restaurant during the weekends, which essentially means that reservations are almost necessary and mind you, the place can sit close to 100 people! (my estimate).
Chye Sim in Oyster Sauce - A very normal dish. Decent but not fantastic. The vegetables did come across as a tad too soggy though and the oyster sauce seemed a little runny.
Chicken in Paper Bag (Boneless) - As with the Zi Bao Ji at Hillman, this was excellent. Well marinated and cooked to perfection - tender meat with simmering juices encapsuled within the paper bags. Just watch out of the price because it certainly doesn't come cheap.
Crab Meat with Beancurd - An average dish and nothing more. The crab meat was plentiful but of inferior quality and the beancurd was your run off the mill kind.
Pot Roasted Pork with Sea Cucumber - As mentioned in my entry on Hillman, claypot dishes are a specialty at both Hillman and Manhill and rightly so. The Pot Roasted Pork with Sea Cucumber was hot favourite with the sea cucumber being soft yet retaining its firmness and the gravy tasty with all the goodness from the sea cucumber and roasted pork. The roasted pork was a little too fatty for my liking though.
Fried Pork Ribs in Chinese Style - The young chap (who I presume to be the owner's son) was promoting this dish as one of the signature dishes of Manhill, apart from the Chicken in Paper Bag and I should have slapped myself for listening to him. The texture of the pork ribs was a little too soft and moist for my liking and came across as too sweet. And I wasn't the only one who thought so.
We were stuffed up, all 9 of us. Best thing was, it only cost $180. A reasonable price to pay for the quantity and quality of food, if not for the finger licking good chicken and claypot dishes. However I reckon Hillman edges Manhill slightly out in terms of food quality. And its much emptier as well.
During our recent forays into Joo Chiat, my parents and I noticed an old eatery named Joo Heng, which spanned 2 shophouses and always had a steady stream of customers. We then vowed that it would be next on the list upon our return to Joo Chiat. And so there we were, at Joo Heng on a Sunday evening, at 1830hrs to be exact. The previous week we had wanted to try Joo Heng out, but was informed that the wait for the food would be about an hour, which was just insane. So this week we made it a point to reach early to beat the crowd. A rather friendly waitress (one of the family members I presume) took our orders of Fish Head, Sweet Potato Leaves fried with Garlic, Braised Tofu with Prawns and Fried Shark's Fin with Cabbage(Its lettuce by the way), all of which were recommended items on the menu.
The Braised Tofu with Prawns looked rather simple, but was quite well done. The Tofu was soft and quivery, yet not too soft that it became mushy. The accompanying gravy was very tasty, albeit a little too salty. Worth a special mention were the prawns, which looked more like baby lobsters given their enormous sizes. They were also fresh, sweet and crunchy - how a good prawn should be!
I personally am not a big fan of Sweet Potato leaves as I find them too sticky and mushy for my liking. However, the Sweet Potato Leaves fried with Garlic was all that bad. It was rather fragrant and wasn't too sticky. But I still don't really fancy it much, so enough said. This was the only dish that was left standing as all of us found it too starchy towards the end and we were all quite stuffed up.
The Fish Head was quite fresh, but I found the accompanying sauce a little too salty. Pork lard was added to enhance the flavours, but I steered clear of it, prefering my health over clogged arteries. As with the Sweet Potato leaves, I didn't really take to this dish as somehow or rather, I just don't like fish head, probably due to the "fresh water" taste. My parents found it above average and nothing more.
Fried Shark's Fin with Cabbage sounded like an interesting dish and it came highly recommended. Alas, the hype generated didn't live up to expectations. There were but a few strands of shark's fin (I could barely make them out), with the majority being scrambled eggs, bean sprouts and crab meat. Well, the dish was nicely fried though and the cabbage mellowed the strong egg taste, making it light on the palate.
Dinner for 3 pax stood at $69.50, which is not worth it. However, take away the Fried Shark's Fin with Cabbage and it becomes reasonable, with the bill standing at $39.50. Overall, I wouldn't say that the quality of food at Joo Heng is top notch, but it is definitely above average. Prices in general are reasonable too, which makes it a very attractive option to dine in. Now here comes the bombshell. All of us suspected that most, if not all, of the food had been fried in pork lard, giving rise to dishes that are very fragrant and tasty. Its merely hypothetical, so don't quote me on that.
German food is something new for me and where better to start then one thats been commercially reviewed and touted about on television for their food and bread. This was done during a short lunch on a normal workday so naturally, we were a little pressed for time but nonetheless we did what we could.
Occupying an entire building by itself, it is not difficult to locate and parking space is provided for customers. I counted about 8 lots in its small enclosed compound. The layout is split into 2 partitions for the restaurant and 1 for the bread shop. Furniture choice is generally wooden with assorted German decorations and promotions laid out for the homesick expatriates. The feeling it exudes is casual, simple and otherwise, nothing out of the ordinary. There was no crowd when we arrived on this afternoon and less then 5 tables were occupied. We were also the last customers to leave.
Calamari Rings ($12.50) - Our first appetiser was served in a rattan basket and in surprisingly small portions. The calamari rings however, turned out much better then expected. The batter used was of a different kind from the usual found in most rings. The batter made the rings very fragrant and pleasing while offering a superb crunchiness to the otherwise simple item. There was a tinge of sweetness in the batter which i can't quite identify as well. A pretty good item if not for the ridiculous price.
Fried Camembert with Blueberry Jam ($8.80) - Fried camembert, which can also be call fried cheese. The cheese turned out tougher then it was supposed to be maybe due to it being fried without suitable defrosting. Of particular mention is the blueberry jam which should be made in house. It tasted sweet, fresh and strangely, went well with the salty cheese.
Schmorbraten/ Beef pot roast ($21.50) - Whatever the name is in german i do not know but this is basically beef pot roast. Serving was generous with lots of beef but i felt the beef was overcooked because its very tough and requires more chewing then is necessary. The purple stuff you see is actually marinated vegetables which reminded me of Korean Kimchi without the spice. Its sour and tastes pretty appetising but not in big portions. The potatoes were quite hard as well. Not a very good item for me.
German Meat Loaf ($17.50) - The name sounded interesting which is why my friend ordered this. It turned out to be a German version of our now familiar luncheon meat except that it costs nearly 3 times as much as well. The meat was quite salty but otherwise nothing interesting.
Rote Grutze/ Cream with Blueberry Jam ($6) - This tastes like pudding with the blueberry jam i mentioned in the second appetiser. Overall, interesting but not something i'll try again since i feel quite ripped off with the use of the same jam in 2 different items.
Baked Cheese Cake With ice Cream ($6.70) - The cheesecake does not feel like it was baked in house and is average at best. The ice-cream tasted like King's ice-cream which is ridiculous since they charged $2.50 a scoop. It seems every step of the way, rip-off is beginning to be the in word in this restaurant.
The bill for 3 came up to $78.10 which is ridiculous given the quality of the items and the lack of any innovation whatsoever in the dishes. This could have been western food for all it mattered.
The place was nice and obviously, there must be something good about it for people to recommend it. However, i found no such qualities during my visit and found their food offerings less then optimal. I'm no expert in German fare but i'm sure there are great items hidden in other German menus waiting to be discovered, such as restaurants like Magma which i've heard alot about. That said, i'm not returning for another visit here again and i hope you don't too.
Italian restaurants usually leave a bad taste in my mouth due to the fact that we are paying an awful lot for a paltry amount of food. Still, one does not deny that when Italian food is done well, the results very are often worth it. Romano Ristorante is strangely billed as a casual dining place for Italian fare which is a paradox of sorts since, casual and Italian are seldom used in tandem. Nonetheless, me and a recently promoted executive braved bad traffic and horrible directions to find this little corner for our little get together.
Located immediately to the right of Madam Q's, i'd say the 2 restaurants are direct competitors since they are both offering the same type of cuisine. However, i hope their level of offerings are not similar since my impression of the former was not something to shout about, you can read my impression of Madam Q here. The interior of Romano is bright, warm and cosy with an equally nice lady who offers wonderful service by providing small talk and general information about the food offerings. Simple but comfortable.
Bruschetta ($6.90) - Having read in my friend's blog about the bruschetta, i was tempted to try it out myself. And honest to goodness, it was very well done. Garlic based bread, lightly toasted till its crispy on the outside and soft on the inside, sweet juicy tomatoes complimented with peso sauce and assorted spices. The serving was generous but still felt as though it wasn't enough, always a good sign. Very nicely done.
Beef Lasagna ($14.90) - My order for a main course that day was none other then a lasagna. I've heard that if you wanted to know what the soul of an Italian restaurant is, you have to try out their lasagna. And so i did. My impression is that their soul is *drum roll* ----salty! I could barely make out the taste of the tomatoes as everything is overshadowed by a thick layer of salted beef. The cheese also seemed non present in this rendition and it basically seemed like they tipped the entrie bottle of salt into the dish. We did not get halfway through before we had to give up. Not recommended.
Fettucini Alfredo ($11.90) - The second best item that night after the bruschetta. The cream base was well done and had a good balance of cheese present in them. The turkey ham was slightly salty but was balanced by the sweet tasting cream base while the spaghetti was springy and chewy. Enjoyable but nothing outstanding.
Parmesan Ham Pizza ($13.90) - This pizza embodies the soul of the restaurant as well, which means its darn salty yet again. A good thing to note is that the crust was thin, pizza size was huge for the price and the parmesan cheese was fragrant. Other then that, its salty salty salty.
Tiramisu ($7.90) - Having had an excess of salt by now, we figured we'd give the place one more try at redemption since the lady was offering wonderful service. The tiramisu we ordered looked exactly like the one we had from Madam Q, but was decidedly better. The cake was readily apparent and sweet tasting. The cream was soft and fluffy but i couldn't taste the rum at all. Thus, the entire experience felt like i was eating a simple cake instead of Tiramisu. Passable but could be better.
The bill came up to $61.05, which is about $30 per person. Its not very expensive but not really value for money either.
I like the service rendered and the generally cheap price. We came away very full but felt overwhelmed with salt which seemed to be the main order that day. Overall, the experience was pleasant but the food was average. There may be a few more gems in the menu along the league of the Bruschetta or Fettucine which may warrant a revisit to try, but the bad items are truly something i wouldn't want to go through again. Mixed feelings about the restaurant but i'll probably brave it again to find the gems amidst the sea of salt.
Wild Rocket is the brainchild of lawyer turned chef, Mr Willin Low. After his stint as a lawyer, he promptly gave it up to take court in a different field, the kitchen. Singaporean at heart, his dishes are simple yet with a Singaporean twist. And this was our choice location for a lazy Sunday brunch.
Nestled on the top of Mount Emily, accessibility is a matter of driving the right vehicle up as walking is a terrible option when factoring the uphill climb with the ever growing sun. Parking was also a problem as the Wild Rocket carpark had only 4 to 5 lots which were easily taken up and the pathway is so narrow that certain vehicles simply cannot turn in them.
Complimentary Bread - The bread was served without much fanfare and tasted bland. It was served warm but not soft enough and was overly porous, giving it a fluffy and spongy taste that was not pleasing. Still, the place is not known for fine dining so this came as a surprise.
The Wild Rocket Burger ($17.80) - Signature dish that bears the restaurants name. This is billed as one of the must-try dishes at Wild Rocket and i'm inclined to agree. The beef burger is mashed well and comes at a decent size (approximately 3 mouthfuls for 3 people). The accompanying tomato salsa adds a tinge of sweet, sour and spicy to the fresh beefy taste, making it all the more delectable. I could complain about the fries though, which was served in little cubes which seems overly fried and had salt crystals easily apparent on the sides. Overall, the patty is of a pretty good quality though.
Ricotta Jack Fruit Pancake ($8.50) - n case you were wondering, no, this is not taken after we ate. This was taken the moment it arrived and yep, we paid $8.50 for a fried jack fruit and 2 pancakes. (ouch!) This came as quite a shock to me as the website shows a towering tray full of pancakes covered in savory cranberry sauce. Astonishment aside, the pancake was nicely done with small slices of jack fruit mixed into the pancake for added taste. It was also soft and emitted a fragrant aftertaste in your mouth. Pity about the portion size though.
Laksa Pesto Linguine with Tiger Prawns and Quail Egg ($17) - An interesting twist to a simple dish. As mentioned, Willin is a Singaporean and so, voila! this creation. By adding corianda and chilli flakes to bring out a decidedly laksa flavor, the dish was foreign yet familiar at the same time. However, the dish only came with 3 prawns and 1 and a half quail eggs which is rather miserly. An interesting deviation but overly pricey for its portion.
Scrambled Eggs, Fresh Beef Sausages and Toast ($15.50) - This can be summed into 2 words: Salty Mistake. We ordered this after noticing other tables with generous portions of the item but i suppose perceptual errors are evident here. The sausages were small and very salty as is the eggs. I can't quite agree with the word "fresh" beef sausages as well because it certainly didn't seem that way. Will i order this again? Well, i believe you know the answer.
Kueh Buloh Tiramisu ($8.50) - I'm unsure as to whether the Kueh Buloh refers to the ice cream beneath but this was pretty well done. A layer of cream, cake and ice cream all piled on top of the other. Surprisingly, i wonder how this can be called a tiramisu because i've certainly never seen the like of this before. That aside, the ice cream was flavorful and sweet with the cake (kueh?) layer adding needed texture to each spoonful.
Chocolate Gateau with Ice Cream ($13) - The dark chocolate gateau came across as expensive to me since its $13 a pop for a pretty small sized cake. This however, seems justified after the taste test because the cake had a slightly crispy outer shell and a thick molten chocolate core for added effect. The chocolate was just right being neither too sweet nor too bitter while the simple vanilla ice cream balanced out the overall experience.
The bill came up to $94.50 for 3 people which is rather expensive for the portion sizes of most of the items.
Nice, relaxed and laid back environment makes it a great place to just sit back and enjoy a simple decent meal. Price wise, it does strike me as a little too expensive and some items not worth the try but the overall quality of offerings are better then most i've had elsewhere. The Singaporean twist also adds variety which may warrant future visits but maybe after a significant raise in salary? =P
My Humble House, part of the prestigious Tung Lok Group and helmed by celebrity chef Sam Leong, is also one of the few restaurants in Singapore that made the top 100 list of British Food Magazine "Restaurant". The hype alone made a visit to the place necessary and we finally conquered the management to grant us photo taking rights during their 5th Anniversary celebration held recently. The celebration promised free flow buffets of Foie Gras, Scallops, Lobsters, Wagyu beef and wine which sounded way too tempting to decline, and so, we went.
The interior was impressive and nicely designed in a chic and slick way. Prepare for an assault on your visual senses as you step into a totally different environment filled with soft lighting, mainly white and black furniture and a combination of sensual candlelight with moving, colored displays. Relaxed would have been the word if not for the fact that the cocktail reception method required us to stand throughout our meals. The place was also packed with people as they mingled and networked throughout the reception, more interested in connections then the actual food prepared. That said, the reception was done such that portions were served for almost all items except dessert, which is either a boon or a bane depending or personal preferences, for this reviewer, it was a bane as the portions served were minuscule and requests for more servings were met with strange looks.
Peking Duck - I found the pancake tasting too much of egg and the skin a little too fatty for my tastes. Its also practically tasteless since i did not return for subsequent helpings and the long queue did not help one bit.
Shrimp, Chicken Meat and Pork - The moment you enter, you'll notice young ladies carrying trays of food asking you to try one of the items above. Each item was well made and tasted wonderful in bite sized portions. However, you need to be quick to catch them before they walk off again to serve others.
Foie Gras (Goose liver) - The item with the longest queue was the Foie Gras. Somehow, i was expecting a steady flow of this item from the kitchen but that was not to be. It was prepared piece by piece on a small grilling plate in plain view and everybody queued up for this. It also frequently ran out of stock and people had to wait even longer for them to prepare the item again. Taste wise, its average at best with the pan frying and batter being unevenly cooked at parts and the foie gras itself less smooth then other offerings i've had before. Decent but not worth waiting for.
A picture of the wines offered - Do not be deceived. You do not get to bring bottles of wine home. The 'free flow' is indeed true but limited to only small tastes at a time. There were a few really good wines distributed among the 6 counters, each touting wines of different origins but these were mostly commercial ventures instead of free providers. Basically, each tasting session is accompanied by a brief introduction of the wine and where you can get it, asking for more is possible but still nets you less then half a glass which may or may not be a good thing. For me, i love wine, be it red or white and i love champagne, so when i ask for more, i mean more. Not another few drops in my already diminishing glass. Nonetheless, i do not deny they had a few pretty good offerings.
Wagyu Beef - The wagyu beef, one of the main draws for attending the celebration. Its served in bite sized pieces yet again and done medium well. The above actually shows the beef in super zoom and after asking for bigger portions twice. It is that small and i'm not kidding. The counter also happens to be one of the least occupied which meant our group frequented it the a lot. I counted at least 10 trips to that counter alone and still it did not fill me up. Taste wise, i could not discern if it was indeed wagyu because the texture and meat quality seems average. The thai sauce also took plenty of focus away from the meat, leaving us wondering if it was beef or pork we just had. Its decent but debatable.
Chocolate Fondant - One of the few desserts prepared on the spot as the rest were cakes (Badly made ones too.) The fondant was nothing special as the cake was tasteless and quivery. The molten chocolate also felt rather tasteless as it was neither sweet nor bitter.
Space @ My Humble House - We adjourned to the second location after much disappointment wishing for a glimmer of hope and a glimpse of the promised lobster.
Crispy Chicken Rice - One of the better items for the day, the crispy chicken rice used rice crispies akin to Kellog's corn flakes and added chicken shreds with an assortment of wolfberries and greens. Soup was then added to the concoction and served. I've never had this before so it came as a surprise, a pleasant one at that. Crunchy and fragrant with the usual Hainanese chicken rice taste. Worth a try.
Lobster Po Piah - Wondering where the lobster was? Its right here! In the popiah. It didn't surprise me in the least that the portion of lobster meat present in them was pathetic since it seems to be the order of the day at Humble House so far. The popiah was nicely done but i could not taste much of the lobster even after we took out the lobster meat itself. Another attempt at cost cutting? Bravo!
After the event, all i could feel was the pinch at having spent $80 for this 'celebration'. Sure, we were full but i'm sure we didn't even come close to covering our cost for eating here. At best, the portions i had could have been $35 worth of food. Perhaps the hype was too much and we expected more from this prestigious place, but judging on this event alone, the food was average at best and the servings were meager and stingy. Also, having to queue for food when i've paid $80 is unheard of and silly. To be fair, i've heard that the normal offerings are of a higher quality and usually, mass production simply does not produce good results in terms of food. However, that does not change the fact that the event could have been managed better and the guests taken better care of. Portions should have been bigger and given more readily when asked and seats should have been given. And although, everything promised by the marketing department was given, the should not give the impression of trying to scrimp and save on the offerings by cutting corners and making people wait. The overall experience has not been a good one and i will be hard pressed to find a reason to return.
When I first ate at Canton Wok some 2 years ago, it was housed in a non air conditioned coffeeshop in Serangoon and prices were relatively reasonable. 2 years on, we are at its new premises along Joo Chiat Road for dinner. Canton Wok is now housed in a refurbished old bungalow which can seat more people than its previous shop space at Serangoon. Its air conditioned too by the way, unless you opt to sit outside together with the cars. After a quick browse of the menu, we ordered the Bacon Prawn Rolls with Mayonnaise Cream, Beancurd with Scallops, Double Taste Pork Ribs and the Stir Fried Xiao Bai Miao(?)(someone please ID this vegetable for me, I forgot the name. Thanks!), which wasn't in the menu.
The Bacon Prawn Rolls with Mayonnaise Cream was essentially prawns wrapped in bacon with mayonnaise added to it. Nothing too special about it, but I liked it because the mayonnaise made the whole dish a little creamy and complemented the saltiness of the bacon. A pity about the small prawns used and the ridiculously small portion. Next up was the Beancurd with Scallops, which was soft and silky, but it had quite a strong raw taste due to the scallops. Which leads me to the scallops. There were but a few strands present in the gravy, which I didn't notice until we had finished all the tofu.
The Double Taste Pork Ribs sounded interesting, but it was merely one small serving of Coffee Pork Ribs and another small serving of your normal Pork Ribs. Both renditions were very well done though. Of notable mention is the Coffee Pork Ribs, which was very well seasoned and had a strong coffee taste, unlike the one I had at Szechuan Court. The meat was also tender and cooked to perfection. Our greens for the day was the Stir Fried Xiao Bai Miao(?)(As above, someone please ID this vegetable for me, I forgot the name. Thanks!) It was particularly fragrant and the gravy exceptionally tasty, so much so that all of us suspected that it had been fried in pork lard, although we couldn't visually detect any traces of it. So if you are health conscious, you might just want to steer clear.
Dinner for 4 pax came up to $60.06 after a 20% discount, which isn't very expensive, but the portions were a tad dainty for 4. 3 pax would have been a better bet. Although the food is good, I don't think I'll be back in the absence of the 20% discount unless I'm feeling rich.
1=SGD 0.0587
Its been a while since I last stepped into Tao's, with my last visit being about one and a half years ago. Since I was in the vicinity, I couldn't resist dropping by to renew my acquaintance with this small humble eatery.
Occupying a space big enough for about 50 pax at the basement of Paradiz Centre, Tao's retains its clean lines and bright lighting to give the wholesome family dining feel. Tao's dining concept is rather different as the menu is fixed and you get to choose a dish for each course. There are 7 courses in total for dinner (I believe its 6 for lunch) but choices are rather limited.
Mushroom & Cheese Gratin and Toasted Bread - I personally like the gratin quite a bit, tasty yet not nausea inducing. It did come across as a little more watery this time round but portion size seemed to have grown slightly. When eaten with the lightly toasted bread, the combination really got me craving for more.
Curry Yogurt Prawn Salad - The prawn salad was a joke really. 3 thin slivers of prawns covering asparagus, cherry tomatoes and golden mushrooms. I could have easily stuffed all 3 into my mouth at one go. It didn't help that the accompanying curry sauce was rather strong and sweet.
Farm Boy Splendor - Having ordered the farm boy splendor on previous occasions, it certainly didn't impress me very much, coming across as very average. On a positive note, the pieces of chicken in it were sizable and the vegetables were relatively fresh.
Cream of Mushroom Soup - A most decent rendition of the humble cream of mushroom, with bits of mushroom in it and obviously not tasting like a straight out of the can variation. It would have been better if it was slightly more coagulated (less watery) though.
Wild Mushrooms - This has to be the only time that I found the wild mushrooms more enjoyable because they didn't taste too wild for me nor were there the irritating little hard bits present, unlike previous occasions. Not that I really fancy it that much still.
Slow Cooked Pork Back Ribs - The pork ribs is Tao's signature dish which has apparently won an award in some competition. The meat was fall of the bone tender but did come across as a tad too sweet, which made me rather sick after a while.
Tao's Oven Roasted Steak - The steak came almost well done although I had asked for medium rare. The presence of excessive tenderizer was also evident as the meat did seem a little too tender by normal standards. Probably the only positive thing about this dish was the gravy, which was a little peppery and relatively tasty.
Creme Brulee - Good Creme Brulees are made from real vanilla beans, not vanilla extract. Tao's rendition was made from the latter. Not that it tasted bad though, just that the layer of sugar atop was too thin and not even hard. Talk about poor execution.
Home Made Chocolate Mousse - Homemade stuff usually entail a certain standard, but the chocolate mousse was just plain weird by any standards. It tasted like a 2 layer cake with the mousse on top and kueh at the bottom. Definitely not for me.
Ice Grass Jelly Mint Tea - An excellent way to end off dinner, with a choice of teas. I personally like the grass jelly mint tea because its sweet and cool with a dash of freshness from the mint.
Prices at Tao's have not gone up since more than a year back, which is really commendable given the rising costs. $61 for 2 set dinners is rather reasonable for the quality and quantity of food if you ask me. Service is excellent and friendly as well. I can't find a reason not to return.
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Rating given:
Its been quite a while since I had dinner at Melben, with the last being about a year ago. So I was itching to find out if the crabs were still as good as I remembered them to be. With the opening of a new branch in Toa Payoh, I had hoped that the crowd at Ang Mo Kio would be thinner, but how wrong I proved to be. When we (my family and I) got there at about 7pm, a mad queue had already formed in front of the make shift counter to take their orders and get their tables. Luckily, the wait took all but 20 minutes and we got a nice seat at the fringe of the coffeeshop. Now on to the food.
Crispy Skin Tofu - From the name, I had imagined this dish to be mouthwatering, but it didn't quite make the mark. First of all, the texture of the tofu was too rough and the skin had too much flour coating, resulting in a rather thick and coagulated layer when cold. Taste wise was still quite acceptable.
Vegetable with 3 types of Mushroom - This dish came recommended by our server and on hindsight, we probably shouldn't have agreed. Overall, it tasted very ordinary. Nothing stood out, not the 3 types of mushrooms, not the vegetables, not the gravy. Nothing. Which makes me wonder the basis for the recommendation.
Hotplate Venison Meat - Sometimes you wonder how real is the piece of venison meat that lies in front of you. After all, venison meat is rather rare in Singapore and certainly doesn't come cheap. That thought raced through my mind when I first chewed on the meat. Very crunchy and chewy (lots of tenderiser added), soaked in a pepper tinted thick and salty gravy. Not too shabby, but doubts of authenticity surfaces because it really tastes like pork.
The famous Claypot Beehoon with Crab - Now this was what everyone was there for - Melben's famous claypot beehoon with crab. The crab weighed about 1.3kg ($30/kg) and was a huge monster (we only ordered medium). Without a doubt, it was very fresh and the flesh was sweet and firm. The soup, with lots of coconut milk, tasted very similar to Laksa's soup, minus the curry. Thick beehoon was used in place of the normal thin ones, which absorbed the essence of the soup and complemented the whole dish very well. This dish was so big that the 4 of us almost couldn't finish it.
Dinner for 4 pax cost about $70, which isn't too expensive, but not exactly cheap either. If you ever decide to patronise Melben, do make a reservation first because there's a seperate queue which is a lot shorter. Also, just go for the wonderful crabs as the other dishes are merely average.
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Rating given:
Big O is a sister restaurant of N.Y.D.C and named after one of N.Y.D.C's popular items, namely the Big O cheesecake. The restaurant bares slight resemblances from N.Y.D.C in terms of food offerings and strangely, the decorations seems to opt for a canine dominant layout.
The restaurant is located directly opposite N.Y.D.C, how convenient. On the day i was there, N.Y.D.C was packed and Big O has significantly less customers. Color combinations were darker then necessary with brown and red being the mainstays, blue is used sparsely on backgrounds filled with dogs. Chairs were of the wood variation which is generally uncomfortable and spaces between tables were generous but still felt cramped.
Mozzarella Cheese Sticks - The mozzarella cheese sticks were simple and quite simply, badly made. The cheese was not melted properly and came across as being too sticky and too tough which made chewing it a chore. The batter was thin but had minimal to no taste which can be complimented upon. Not something i'll order again.
Platter For 2 ($34.95) - Having had great tasting platters at Manhatten fish Market, we expected to find similar greatness in Big O but that was not to be. At its price, the platter was surprisingly small. It came with the usual assortment of calamari rings, one crab cake, two salmon, two dory fish fillets and rice that tasted like Hainanese chicken rice. The calamari rings had too much batter and strangely lacked taste, the same goes for the fish fillets and even the salmon, which goes to show how fresh the items are. The sauces provided were also oddly contrasting with the food provided, which means they do not taste good when taken together. The only redemption is the rice, which was fragrant but still not outstanding. Big disappointment.
Oops I ate it again! ($9.95) - Having had a mediocre starter and a bad main, you would expect a restaurant named after a mudpie to serve excellent desserts at least. And yet, even that was not present. Mango ice cream on top of strawberry ice cream with an oreo base. The red sauce is cranberry jam and the way its put seems disgusting instead of pleasing. And honestly, it tastes like they just mashed the 2 ice creams together and called it a mudpie. Very bad tasting ice creams as well.
The bill came to $52.85 with them offering the cheese sticks as complimentary items after i wrote loads of comments for them to take note.
I'm not returning to this place, ever. The utensils used, as my gf pointed out, made us feel like we were eating out of dog bowls, and if that wasn't enough, the food was bad. Paying $50 for this kind of food makes me feel like an idiot and that is a mistake i will never repeat again. Stay away.
Rating given:
Had dinner at Manhill Restaurant, sibling to the renowned Hillman Restaurant at Kitchener Road. One interesting point to note is that both places are owned by the same family and have exactly the same menu.
Located along Pasir Panjang Road, Manhill is hard to miss with its huge neon lighted signboard screaming its presence to passing motorists. Its really hard to imagine a restaurant located at such a nondescript place where housing developments are minimal and factory buildings aplenty. Its even harder to imagine such a huge turnout at the restaurant during the weekends, which essentially means that reservations are almost necessary and mind you, the place can sit close to 100 people! (my estimate).
Chye Sim in Oyster Sauce - A very normal dish. Decent but not fantastic. The vegetables did come across as a tad too soggy though and the oyster sauce seemed a little runny.
Chicken in Paper Bag (Boneless) - As with the Zi Bao Ji at Hillman, this was excellent. Well marinated and cooked to perfection - tender meat with simmering juices encapsuled within the paper bags. Just watch out of the price because it certainly doesn't come cheap.
Crab Meat with Beancurd - An average dish and nothing more. The crab meat was plentiful but of inferior quality and the beancurd was your run off the mill kind.
Pot Roasted Pork with Sea Cucumber - As mentioned in my entry on Hillman, claypot dishes are a specialty at both Hillman and Manhill and rightly so. The Pot Roasted Pork with Sea Cucumber was hot favourite with the sea cucumber being soft yet retaining its firmness and the gravy tasty with all the goodness from the sea cucumber and roasted pork. The roasted pork was a little too fatty for my liking though.
Fried Pork Ribs in Chinese Style - The young chap (who I presume to be the owner's son) was promoting this dish as one of the signature dishes of Manhill, apart from the Chicken in Paper Bag and I should have slapped myself for listening to him. The texture of the pork ribs was a little too soft and moist for my liking and came across as too sweet. And I wasn't the only one who thought so.
We were stuffed up, all 9 of us. Best thing was, it only cost $180. A reasonable price to pay for the quantity and quality of food, if not for the finger licking good chicken and claypot dishes. However I reckon Hillman edges Manhill slightly out in terms of food quality. And its much emptier as well.
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Rating given:
During our recent forays into Joo Chiat, my parents and I noticed an old eatery named Joo Heng, which spanned 2 shophouses and always had a steady stream of customers. We then vowed that it would be next on the list upon our return to Joo Chiat. And so there we were, at Joo Heng on a Sunday evening, at 1830hrs to be exact. The previous week we had wanted to try Joo Heng out, but was informed that the wait for the food would be about an hour, which was just insane. So this week we made it a point to reach early to beat the crowd. A rather friendly waitress (one of the family members I presume) took our orders of Fish Head, Sweet Potato Leaves fried with Garlic, Braised Tofu with Prawns and Fried Shark's Fin with Cabbage(Its lettuce by the way), all of which were recommended items on the menu.
The Braised Tofu with Prawns looked rather simple, but was quite well done. The Tofu was soft and quivery, yet not too soft that it became mushy. The accompanying gravy was very tasty, albeit a little too salty. Worth a special mention were the prawns, which looked more like baby lobsters given their enormous sizes. They were also fresh, sweet and crunchy - how a good prawn should be!
I personally am not a big fan of Sweet Potato leaves as I find them too sticky and mushy for my liking. However, the Sweet Potato Leaves fried with Garlic was all that bad. It was rather fragrant and wasn't too sticky. But I still don't really fancy it much, so enough said. This was the only dish that was left standing as all of us found it too starchy towards the end and we were all quite stuffed up.
The Fish Head was quite fresh, but I found the accompanying sauce a little too salty. Pork lard was added to enhance the flavours, but I steered clear of it, prefering my health over clogged arteries. As with the Sweet Potato leaves, I didn't really take to this dish as somehow or rather, I just don't like fish head, probably due to the "fresh water" taste. My parents found it above average and nothing more.
Fried Shark's Fin with Cabbage sounded like an interesting dish and it came highly recommended. Alas, the hype generated didn't live up to expectations. There were but a few strands of shark's fin (I could barely make them out), with the majority being scrambled eggs, bean sprouts and crab meat. Well, the dish was nicely fried though and the cabbage mellowed the strong egg taste, making it light on the palate.
Dinner for 3 pax stood at $69.50, which is not worth it. However, take away the Fried Shark's Fin with Cabbage and it becomes reasonable, with the bill standing at $39.50. Overall, I wouldn't say that the quality of food at Joo Heng is top notch, but it is definitely above average. Prices in general are reasonable too, which makes it a very attractive option to dine in. Now here comes the bombshell. All of us suspected that most, if not all, of the food had been fried in pork lard, giving rise to dishes that are very fragrant and tasty. Its merely hypothetical, so don't quote me on that.
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Rating given:
German food is something new for me and where better to start then one thats been commercially reviewed and touted about on television for their food and bread. This was done during a short lunch on a normal workday so naturally, we were a little pressed for time but nonetheless we did what we could.
Occupying an entire building by itself, it is not difficult to locate and parking space is provided for customers. I counted about 8 lots in its small enclosed compound. The layout is split into 2 partitions for the restaurant and 1 for the bread shop. Furniture choice is generally wooden with assorted German decorations and promotions laid out for the homesick expatriates. The feeling it exudes is casual, simple and otherwise, nothing out of the ordinary. There was no crowd when we arrived on this afternoon and less then 5 tables were occupied. We were also the last customers to leave.
Calamari Rings ($12.50) - Our first appetiser was served in a rattan basket and in surprisingly small portions. The calamari rings however, turned out much better then expected. The batter used was of a different kind from the usual found in most rings. The batter made the rings very fragrant and pleasing while offering a superb crunchiness to the otherwise simple item. There was a tinge of sweetness in the batter which i can't quite identify as well. A pretty good item if not for the ridiculous price.
Fried Camembert with Blueberry Jam ($8.80) - Fried camembert, which can also be call fried cheese. The cheese turned out tougher then it was supposed to be maybe due to it being fried without suitable defrosting. Of particular mention is the blueberry jam which should be made in house. It tasted sweet, fresh and strangely, went well with the salty cheese.
Schmorbraten/ Beef pot roast ($21.50) - Whatever the name is in german i do not know but this is basically beef pot roast. Serving was generous with lots of beef but i felt the beef was overcooked because its very tough and requires more chewing then is necessary. The purple stuff you see is actually marinated vegetables which reminded me of Korean Kimchi without the spice. Its sour and tastes pretty appetising but not in big portions. The potatoes were quite hard as well. Not a very good item for me.
German Meat Loaf ($17.50) - The name sounded interesting which is why my friend ordered this. It turned out to be a German version of our now familiar luncheon meat except that it costs nearly 3 times as much as well. The meat was quite salty but otherwise nothing interesting.
Rote Grutze/ Cream with Blueberry Jam ($6) - This tastes like pudding with the blueberry jam i mentioned in the second appetiser. Overall, interesting but not something i'll try again since i feel quite ripped off with the use of the same jam in 2 different items.
Baked Cheese Cake With ice Cream ($6.70) - The cheesecake does not feel like it was baked in house and is average at best. The ice-cream tasted like King's ice-cream which is ridiculous since they charged $2.50 a scoop. It seems every step of the way, rip-off is beginning to be the in word in this restaurant.
The bill for 3 came up to $78.10 which is ridiculous given the quality of the items and the lack of any innovation whatsoever in the dishes. This could have been western food for all it mattered.
The place was nice and obviously, there must be something good about it for people to recommend it. However, i found no such qualities during my visit and found their food offerings less then optimal. I'm no expert in German fare but i'm sure there are great items hidden in other German menus waiting to be discovered, such as restaurants like Magma which i've heard alot about. That said, i'm not returning for another visit here again and i hope you don't too.
Rating given:
Italian restaurants usually leave a bad taste in my mouth due to the fact that we are paying an awful lot for a paltry amount of food. Still, one does not deny that when Italian food is done well, the results very are often worth it. Romano Ristorante is strangely billed as a casual dining place for Italian fare which is a paradox of sorts since, casual and Italian are seldom used in tandem. Nonetheless, me and a recently promoted executive braved bad traffic and horrible directions to find this little corner for our little get together.
Located immediately to the right of Madam Q's, i'd say the 2 restaurants are direct competitors since they are both offering the same type of cuisine. However, i hope their level of offerings are not similar since my impression of the former was not something to shout about, you can read my impression of Madam Q here. The interior of Romano is bright, warm and cosy with an equally nice lady who offers wonderful service by providing small talk and general information about the food offerings. Simple but comfortable.
Bruschetta ($6.90) - Having read in my friend's blog about the bruschetta, i was tempted to try it out myself. And honest to goodness, it was very well done. Garlic based bread, lightly toasted till its crispy on the outside and soft on the inside, sweet juicy tomatoes complimented with peso sauce and assorted spices. The serving was generous but still felt as though it wasn't enough, always a good sign. Very nicely done.
Beef Lasagna ($14.90) - My order for a main course that day was none other then a lasagna. I've heard that if you wanted to know what the soul of an Italian restaurant is, you have to try out their lasagna. And so i did. My impression is that their soul is *drum roll* ----salty! I could barely make out the taste of the tomatoes as everything is overshadowed by a thick layer of salted beef. The cheese also seemed non present in this rendition and it basically seemed like they tipped the entrie bottle of salt into the dish. We did not get halfway through before we had to give up. Not recommended.
Fettucini Alfredo ($11.90) - The second best item that night after the bruschetta. The cream base was well done and had a good balance of cheese present in them. The turkey ham was slightly salty but was balanced by the sweet tasting cream base while the spaghetti was springy and chewy. Enjoyable but nothing outstanding.
Parmesan Ham Pizza ($13.90) - This pizza embodies the soul of the restaurant as well, which means its darn salty yet again. A good thing to note is that the crust was thin, pizza size was huge for the price and the parmesan cheese was fragrant. Other then that, its salty salty salty.
Tiramisu ($7.90) - Having had an excess of salt by now, we figured we'd give the place one more try at redemption since the lady was offering wonderful service. The tiramisu we ordered looked exactly like the one we had from Madam Q, but was decidedly better. The cake was readily apparent and sweet tasting. The cream was soft and fluffy but i couldn't taste the rum at all. Thus, the entire experience felt like i was eating a simple cake instead of Tiramisu. Passable but could be better.
The bill came up to $61.05, which is about $30 per person. Its not very expensive but not really value for money either.
I like the service rendered and the generally cheap price. We came away very full but felt overwhelmed with salt which seemed to be the main order that day. Overall, the experience was pleasant but the food was average. There may be a few more gems in the menu along the league of the Bruschetta or Fettucine which may warrant a revisit to try, but the bad items are truly something i wouldn't want to go through again. Mixed feelings about the restaurant but i'll probably brave it again to find the gems amidst the sea of salt.
Rating given:
Wild Rocket is the brainchild of lawyer turned chef, Mr Willin Low. After his stint as a lawyer, he promptly gave it up to take court in a different field, the kitchen. Singaporean at heart, his dishes are simple yet with a Singaporean twist. And this was our choice location for a lazy Sunday brunch.
Nestled on the top of Mount Emily, accessibility is a matter of driving the right vehicle up as walking is a terrible option when factoring the uphill climb with the ever growing sun. Parking was also a problem as the Wild Rocket carpark had only 4 to 5 lots which were easily taken up and the pathway is so narrow that certain vehicles simply cannot turn in them.
Complimentary Bread - The bread was served without much fanfare and tasted bland. It was served warm but not soft enough and was overly porous, giving it a fluffy and spongy taste that was not pleasing. Still, the place is not known for fine dining so this came as a surprise.
The Wild Rocket Burger ($17.80) - Signature dish that bears the restaurants name. This is billed as one of the must-try dishes at Wild Rocket and i'm inclined to agree. The beef burger is mashed well and comes at a decent size (approximately 3 mouthfuls for 3 people). The accompanying tomato salsa adds a tinge of sweet, sour and spicy to the fresh beefy taste, making it all the more delectable. I could complain about the fries though, which was served in little cubes which seems overly fried and had salt crystals easily apparent on the sides. Overall, the patty is of a pretty good quality though.
Ricotta Jack Fruit Pancake ($8.50) - n case you were wondering, no, this is not taken after we ate. This was taken the moment it arrived and yep, we paid $8.50 for a fried jack fruit and 2 pancakes. (ouch!) This came as quite a shock to me as the website shows a towering tray full of pancakes covered in savory cranberry sauce. Astonishment aside, the pancake was nicely done with small slices of jack fruit mixed into the pancake for added taste. It was also soft and emitted a fragrant aftertaste in your mouth. Pity about the portion size though.
Laksa Pesto Linguine with Tiger Prawns and Quail Egg ($17) - An interesting twist to a simple dish. As mentioned, Willin is a Singaporean and so, voila! this creation. By adding corianda and chilli flakes to bring out a decidedly laksa flavor, the dish was foreign yet familiar at the same time. However, the dish only came with 3 prawns and 1 and a half quail eggs which is rather miserly. An interesting deviation but overly pricey for its portion.
Scrambled Eggs, Fresh Beef Sausages and Toast ($15.50) - This can be summed into 2 words: Salty Mistake. We ordered this after noticing other tables with generous portions of the item but i suppose perceptual errors are evident here. The sausages were small and very salty as is the eggs. I can't quite agree with the word "fresh" beef sausages as well because it certainly didn't seem that way. Will i order this again? Well, i believe you know the answer.
Kueh Buloh Tiramisu ($8.50) - I'm unsure as to whether the Kueh Buloh refers to the ice cream beneath but this was pretty well done. A layer of cream, cake and ice cream all piled on top of the other. Surprisingly, i wonder how this can be called a tiramisu because i've certainly never seen the like of this before. That aside, the ice cream was flavorful and sweet with the cake (kueh?) layer adding needed texture to each spoonful.
Chocolate Gateau with Ice Cream ($13) - The dark chocolate gateau came across as expensive to me since its $13 a pop for a pretty small sized cake. This however, seems justified after the taste test because the cake had a slightly crispy outer shell and a thick molten chocolate core for added effect. The chocolate was just right being neither too sweet nor too bitter while the simple vanilla ice cream balanced out the overall experience.
The bill came up to $94.50 for 3 people which is rather expensive for the portion sizes of most of the items.
Nice, relaxed and laid back environment makes it a great place to just sit back and enjoy a simple decent meal. Price wise, it does strike me as a little too expensive and some items not worth the try but the overall quality of offerings are better then most i've had elsewhere. The Singaporean twist also adds variety which may warrant future visits but maybe after a significant raise in salary? =P
Rating given:
My Humble House, part of the prestigious Tung Lok Group and helmed by celebrity chef Sam Leong, is also one of the few restaurants in Singapore that made the top 100 list of British Food Magazine "Restaurant". The hype alone made a visit to the place necessary and we finally conquered the management to grant us photo taking rights during their 5th Anniversary celebration held recently. The celebration promised free flow buffets of Foie Gras, Scallops, Lobsters, Wagyu beef and wine which sounded way too tempting to decline, and so, we went.
The interior was impressive and nicely designed in a chic and slick way. Prepare for an assault on your visual senses as you step into a totally different environment filled with soft lighting, mainly white and black furniture and a combination of sensual candlelight with moving, colored displays. Relaxed would have been the word if not for the fact that the cocktail reception method required us to stand throughout our meals. The place was also packed with people as they mingled and networked throughout the reception, more interested in connections then the actual food prepared. That said, the reception was done such that portions were served for almost all items except dessert, which is either a boon or a bane depending or personal preferences, for this reviewer, it was a bane as the portions served were minuscule and requests for more servings were met with strange looks.
Peking Duck - I found the pancake tasting too much of egg and the skin a little too fatty for my tastes. Its also practically tasteless since i did not return for subsequent helpings and the long queue did not help one bit.
Shrimp, Chicken Meat and Pork - The moment you enter, you'll notice young ladies carrying trays of food asking you to try one of the items above. Each item was well made and tasted wonderful in bite sized portions. However, you need to be quick to catch them before they walk off again to serve others.
Foie Gras (Goose liver) - The item with the longest queue was the Foie Gras. Somehow, i was expecting a steady flow of this item from the kitchen but that was not to be. It was prepared piece by piece on a small grilling plate in plain view and everybody queued up for this. It also frequently ran out of stock and people had to wait even longer for them to prepare the item again. Taste wise, its average at best with the pan frying and batter being unevenly cooked at parts and the foie gras itself less smooth then other offerings i've had before. Decent but not worth waiting for.
A picture of the wines offered - Do not be deceived. You do not get to bring bottles of wine home. The 'free flow' is indeed true but limited to only small tastes at a time. There were a few really good wines distributed among the 6 counters, each touting wines of different origins but these were mostly commercial ventures instead of free providers. Basically, each tasting session is accompanied by a brief introduction of the wine and where you can get it, asking for more is possible but still nets you less then half a glass which may or may not be a good thing. For me, i love wine, be it red or white and i love champagne, so when i ask for more, i mean more. Not another few drops in my already diminishing glass. Nonetheless, i do not deny they had a few pretty good offerings.
Wagyu Beef - The wagyu beef, one of the main draws for attending the celebration. Its served in bite sized pieces yet again and done medium well. The above actually shows the beef in super zoom and after asking for bigger portions twice. It is that small and i'm not kidding. The counter also happens to be one of the least occupied which meant our group frequented it the a lot. I counted at least 10 trips to that counter alone and still it did not fill me up. Taste wise, i could not discern if it was indeed wagyu because the texture and meat quality seems average. The thai sauce also took plenty of focus away from the meat, leaving us wondering if it was beef or pork we just had. Its decent but debatable.
Chocolate Fondant - One of the few desserts prepared on the spot as the rest were cakes (Badly made ones too.) The fondant was nothing special as the cake was tasteless and quivery. The molten chocolate also felt rather tasteless as it was neither sweet nor bitter.
Space @ My Humble House - We adjourned to the second location after much disappointment wishing for a glimmer of hope and a glimpse of the promised lobster.
Crispy Chicken Rice - One of the better items for the day, the crispy chicken rice used rice crispies akin to Kellog's corn flakes and added chicken shreds with an assortment of wolfberries and greens. Soup was then added to the concoction and served. I've never had this before so it came as a surprise, a pleasant one at that. Crunchy and fragrant with the usual Hainanese chicken rice taste. Worth a try.
Lobster Po Piah - Wondering where the lobster was? Its right here! In the popiah. It didn't surprise me in the least that the portion of lobster meat present in them was pathetic since it seems to be the order of the day at Humble House so far. The popiah was nicely done but i could not taste much of the lobster even after we took out the lobster meat itself. Another attempt at cost cutting? Bravo!
After the event, all i could feel was the pinch at having spent $80 for this 'celebration'. Sure, we were full but i'm sure we didn't even come close to covering our cost for eating here. At best, the portions i had could have been $35 worth of food. Perhaps the hype was too much and we expected more from this prestigious place, but judging on this event alone, the food was average at best and the servings were meager and stingy. Also, having to queue for food when i've paid $80 is unheard of and silly. To be fair, i've heard that the normal offerings are of a higher quality and usually, mass production simply does not produce good results in terms of food.
However, that does not change the fact that the event could have been managed better and the guests taken better care of. Portions should have been bigger and given more readily when asked and seats should have been given. And although, everything promised by the marketing department was given, the should not give the impression of trying to scrimp and save on the offerings by cutting corners and making people wait. The overall experience has not been a good one and i will be hard pressed to find a reason to return.
Rating given:
When I first ate at Canton Wok some 2 years ago, it was housed in a non air conditioned coffeeshop in Serangoon and prices were relatively reasonable. 2 years on, we are at its new premises along Joo Chiat Road for dinner. Canton Wok is now housed in a refurbished old bungalow which can seat more people than its previous shop space at Serangoon. Its air conditioned too by the way, unless you opt to sit outside together with the cars. After a quick browse of the menu, we ordered the Bacon Prawn Rolls with Mayonnaise Cream, Beancurd with Scallops, Double Taste Pork Ribs and the Stir Fried Xiao Bai Miao(?)(someone please ID this vegetable for me, I forgot the name. Thanks!), which wasn't in the menu.
The Bacon Prawn Rolls with Mayonnaise Cream was essentially prawns wrapped in bacon with mayonnaise added to it. Nothing too special about it, but I liked it because the mayonnaise made the whole dish a little creamy and complemented the saltiness of the bacon. A pity about the small prawns used and the ridiculously small portion. Next up was the Beancurd with Scallops, which was soft and silky, but it had quite a strong raw taste due to the scallops. Which leads me to the scallops. There were but a few strands present in the gravy, which I didn't notice until we had finished all the tofu.
The Double Taste Pork Ribs sounded interesting, but it was merely one small serving of Coffee Pork Ribs and another small serving of your normal Pork Ribs. Both renditions were very well done though. Of notable mention is the Coffee Pork Ribs, which was very well seasoned and had a strong coffee taste, unlike the one I had at Szechuan Court. The meat was also tender and cooked to perfection. Our greens for the day was the Stir Fried Xiao Bai Miao(?)(As above, someone please ID this vegetable for me, I forgot the name. Thanks!) It was particularly fragrant and the gravy exceptionally tasty, so much so that all of us suspected that it had been fried in pork lard, although we couldn't visually detect any traces of it. So if you are health conscious, you might just want to steer clear.
Dinner for 4 pax came up to $60.06 after a 20% discount, which isn't very expensive, but the portions were a tad dainty for 4. 3 pax would have been a better bet. Although the food is good, I don't think I'll be back in the absence of the 20% discount unless I'm feeling rich.
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