This steakhouse is one of the most underrated gems of Serangoon Gardens. It's been there for as long as I remember, since I first moved into the area when I was about 11.
In truth, I haven't been to Borshch in years. With so much good food along Serangoon Gardens, this little Steakhouse with almost opaque black windows tends to get overlooked.
Once you step in, you'd find that it looks like a typical old school Hong Kong cafe. Decor and ambience isn't much to talk about, but it's the food I'm here for.
So how does a $13.80 Set Dinner sound? Pretty affordable? Well here's what they served:
Caviar with Egg Nothing much to rave about. A little blob of caviar on a nicely carved egg, served with salad.
Borsch Soup My very first memory of this place is its borsch soup - it's hard to describe, hard to explain. Definitely not fresh out of a can, try it for yourself to know what I mean.
Sirloin Steak Served with fries and long beans on a hot plate, the slice of steak is small (hey, remember you're not paying much) but potent. Sizzling with a slab of butter of top, it's a cheap little slice of heaven. The mixture of butter and steak melts so well in your mouth.
Fancy Pancake A small crepe-like sweet pancake topped with whipped cream, a little slice of cherry and peach, with a banana wedged in between. Perfect sweet dessert to a savoury meal!
Hot Tea Tastes like Lipton tea. I don't know about you, but there's something very satisfying about sipping hot tea after a nice full meal.
I suppose with its Executive, Supreme and normal set dinners, it really is quite value for money to dine at Borshch. You should try it out for yourself - just manage your expectations and don't expect too much just because it's a restaurant. Think of it as a air-conditioned coffee shop and you'll realise that the food there is really a steal.
If you're curious about its exact location, it sits along the same row as the Guardian pharmacy and Sushi Tei, if I'm not wrong. It's at the car park opposite the bus stop, actually. It's pretty nondescript so you've got to keep an eye out.
The best of everything. The sashimi platter ($120) was the highlight of our meal and we started with a bang; there’s tuna, pink prawns, hirame, uni (sea urchin). Every slice was so fresh, I could see the glitter in my dining companions eyes. While I’m not a big fan of “raw fish”, it’s definitely a feast for the eyes and treat for the palate to have it prepared so exquisitely.
The Sakura set dinner ($58 per set) which included appetiser of assorted braised vegetables Japanese style, spicy dynamic oyster, sushi roll. For sashimi there’s tuna, salmon and oyster, and this was followed by a steamed dish of chawanmushi, with a deep fried tofu from the land behind. The two mains would be grilled chicken and wagyu beef burger, if that’s not enough, there’s hot udon served with kakiage. And finally rounding off the meal with a chef’s special dessert.
The four of us ordered two sets to share because there was so much else to order from the ala carte menu!
Fortunately, the assortment of sashimi from the set menu came early, and an innocent question “more sashimi?” led to the fantastic sashimi platter you saw on the first photo.
I love eggs, all kinds of them; fried, half boiled, scrambled, sunny side-up, poached ones, anything – except steamed eggs. There are bits of chicken, crab stick, boiled prawns, ginko nuts, and shitake mushroom within the Chawanmushi.
The deep fried tofu and cheese wrapped with soy bean skin is up next, at first sight the sticky cheese looked promising, but upon tasting there wasn’t much wow – the cheese’s not enough and the whole taste was subtle, bordering on bland.
Our first main course of the menu came piping hot, the grilled chicken was served on a hot stone which was specially brought back from Mount Fuji, to ensure the meat retained its optimum temperature – while we took photographs!
Umami’s rendition of wagyu beef burger came in the form of two “meatballs”, while there was nothing spectacular of its appearance, the meat was sure tasty!
Hot udon served with kakiage was the last item on the Sakura menu before dessert. The tasting portion of the menu covered a variety and was decent, there’s two other set dinners at $88 and $128.
And now it’s where the real dinner starts, our selections from the ala carte menu.
A simple deep fried dried cuttlefish ($8) brought us back to the appetiser stage, and prepared us for all the food coming.
I enjoyed the Grilled cod wrapped with lettuce ($16) tremendously. The fish was lightly grilled on the outside and tasted good on its own. But it’s when we wrapped it within the lettuce, Korean-style, and the crunchiness of the lettuce supplemented and enhanced the freshness of the cod.
Clearly, the spicy dynamic oyster ($16 for 3) was everyone’s favourite. Befitting of its name, it had us on first bite in the Sakura menu and we ordered again. The tangy sauce was oh my god, so good! We slurped down the delicious oyster, and did not waste a single drop of the sauce.
The comprehensive sushi menu made it difficult for us to choose from, but in the end for the love of salmon, we went for the Avocado salmon roll ($12). An elongated plate with eight pieces of makis, was indeed value for money.
A whole chunk of it, right in front of our eyes. The scared foie gras ($33), grilled with teriyaki sauce. Oh-oh-oh! Lightly grilled on the outside yet retaining a soft pink within, I swallowed it down – gulped, and wish that time stood still at that moment.
We were all excited by the Japanese beef – Umami served top grade wagyu! A sizzling sound signal the arrival of something magnificent, the marbling was so rich & dense that the meat literally melted in our mouth. I looked around and tried to speak, but no words came; I just allowed myself to quietly finish the meat, and inside I was secretly hoping there was more of this. It’s like totally God’s gift to mankind. Our jaws dropped when we heard that it’s a current promotional price of just $38 instead of the usual $60.
My previous encounter with Kurobuta pork was enough to tell me it’s good stuff, so when we browsed through the “from the land” menu, I immediately ordered the Braised kurobuta pork belly ($12).
“Eeekk!” The girls exclaimed when it was served. The fatty layers were enough to scare off the others, but not me. One bite of the braised pork belly, and one sip of beer, what more can you ask for?
The Rolled omelette with truffle oil ($8 for 5 pieces) was also one of Umami’s signature dishes. You like Japanese omelette? You will like this.
Like what the manager Nigel had mentioned, although the US Black Angus beef ($38) is great, but it’s not in the same league as the Japanese wagyu; the former is like human while the latter is god. The Angus tasted ordinary considering we had gone to heaven with the wagyu – the marbling was just not the same. But it’s not that the Angus wasn’t good, but because we had tried the wagyu first.
And finally after a very long and satisfying dinner, desserts came in the form of home made kurogoma brulee ($6), and home made custard pudding ($6). The former was a sesame version of creme brulee that I didn’t quite take to, but I love the home made custard pudding!
Umami has been around at Liang court since April and I have to admit I did not notice their presence previously when I went to Liang court. The very posh and club-like entrance made it rather intimidating for diners to step in, and they are currently making changes to the front decorations. There’s a current DBS 1-for-1 promotion for their $18 and $25 set lunches.
My appreciation to Lynda from DBS, Cherylene & Seema from Eurorscg, and the Nigel & his staff from Umami for the wonderful dinner.
Long story short, if you like my review please do come by ladyironchef . . . for the delicious in you
This zi char stall has many outlets - I'm not sure about the others, but short of having a gun pointed to your head, I suggest you give this one a wide berth.
You may have heard of this zi char stall - it has been featured on some TV shows. That's how my mom came across it, and that's how we ended up patronizing this stall on a Monday night. Now hear my tale of extremely bad customer service from a business who doesn't believe that pissing off customers is bad for business.
We ordered the dishes featured on TV - some sort of stir-fried, long bean lookalike served with pork floss, flat roasted chicken, milk powdered crayfish and some other form of fish.
Let me mention up front that those dishes were average at best, the chicken was tough and not the least bit juicy, while the long bean lookalike was just mediocre. The milk powdered crayfish does deserve special mention, banking purely on its novelty rather than taste. I like the combination, but I have an inkling that other zi char stalls might fare better if they took a shot at this dish.
What about the fish, you say? Well, it never did arrive. We almost finished the three aforementioned dishes and the fish still wasn't here. This was half an hour after they served the first dish. So, we asked one waitress where our fish was, and she never got back to us. We asked a second one, and she never got back either.
The third time round, my dad went to the counter to ask about the fish again, but was told that it was "coming soon". After waiting another 10 minutes, we decided to cancel the order of the fish since there was no point waiting. Do note - no apologies were offered.
At this point, I was still trying to finish my milk powder crayfish when the waitress promptly brought the bill to our table. Now I was pissed. I told her that we have not called for the bill yet, and just because we canceled our order of fish, were they afraid that we were going to run away without paying?
Still no apologies from any of them. This was absolutely ridiculous, it was absurd to treat customers this way. We weren't even being difficult when we asked for our fish, we were just, clearly, tired of waiting.
With incredulously rude staff & sub par food standards, I don't believe I'll ever step anywhere near this stall ever again and I suggest you don't either.
Our very special night with DBS Foodster started with the limo fetching us to The Queen & Mangosteen. Cheerful staff greeted us, the smoothing sea breeze, with the relaxing ambience, the stage was set for a wonderful dinner.
We started off by ordering from the Nibbles menu. The portion of the Fish & Chips ($15) was more than enough to be served as an entrée, three pieces of fish with a big bucket of fries. Mind you, it’s not just the usual side fries, it’s a whole bucket of tasty potatoes! I would prefer them to come in thicker wedge with some green peas by the side – the traditional British good O’ fish & chips. But still, it’s good enough.
And oh yes, I forgot to mention about the special curry tartare sauce. It was awesome! Indian cuisine has always been a big influence on the Brits, the sauce provided another different dimension which we never had before.
The shredded slow-braised duck with crusty bread ($13) was ordered out of curiosity, and the staff did warn us it could be an acquired taste, but we went ahead anyway. The taste was quite close to a pate, but somehow it reminded me of the tuna spread that I put on my bread.
Following on the adventurous tone that has been set, we went for the Spicy minced beef ($14). There wasn’t anything spectacular when we had the minced beef or corn chips separately. But it was a hit when we spread a generous layer of minced beef on top of the chips and drizzled some sour cream together.
Love comes in all shapes and sizes, the Mini hamburgers & chips ($18 for 3 mini burgers) were not only cute but also pleasing to the palate. I didn’t think much of it initially, but after taking a bite, the small beef patty was delicious! And just like the fish & chips, it came with a big bucket of fries too.
Just in case you were wondering, no we’ve not started on our main courses yet, all those you seen thus far are all just appetisers. At The Queen & Mangosteen, they offered a wide range of its signature craft brews including old favourites like Archipelago Straits Pale to pair with the food.
We wanted to order everything from their menu; the wild mushroom risotto is totally my kind of dish, the clayfish cooked in beer and fisherman’s pie are crowd-pleaser, roasted rack of lamb is music to the ears of a carnivore, but there was just too many to choose from so in the end we didn’t have all of them.
The rope-grown blue mussels ($28) came highly recommended and it did not disappoint. Using a fork to pitch the shell, we slurped down each mussel which was cooked in chilli, with delight.
I always wanted to try Bangers & mash ($26) which was quintessentially three sausages – pork, lamb and beef with mashed potatoes served with caramelised onion gravy. The lamb sausage had a very distinct and gamy taste that might be too much for non-lamb eaters, and the beef was fairly good too. But it was the pork sausage that grabbed our attention!
Bea’s a big fan of beef, so naturally we ordered the rib-eye of beef ($38). Steak with thick cut chips, yorkshine pudding and a choice of wild mushroom sauce, thyme jus or caramelised shallot pepper sauce. We chose the latter with the steak done medium rare.
“It’s one of the better steaks that I’ve!” She exclaimed. I like the thick cut chips, while the chewy texture of the Yorkshire pudding sort of tasted like choux pastry.
The Cambridge Burnt cream ($10) or affectionately known as Creme Brulee was our favourite dessert. Beneath the beautifully burnt caramelized sugar, was a rich custard base. We dug in, and finished every bite of it.
“Whoa“, and “Ooh” were heard when the Mango coconut truffle ($12) arrived on our table. Our first impression: was it ketchup? There was a generous amount of berries and mango within the layers; the strong mango taste hit us first, with a subtle hint of coconut.
Between you and me, this shall be fondly remember as the ketchup soap.
It was one of those desserts that you didn’t know how they manage to make it this way, which you just keep on eating, and eating until it’s gone. I totally enjoyed the White chocolate & Cassis cake ($12). Interestingly, the triple chocolate ice cream on top of the cake took very long to melt. The white chocolate cassis cake was sweet, the girls found it too sweet, and so I had most of it to myself!
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While the menu doesn’t have a wide variety of selection, there’s some pretty good selections for sharing and the portions were substantial too. My appreciation to Lynda from DBS, Cherylene & Seema from Eurorscg, and the folks at The Queen & Mangosteen for making the dinner a blast!
Long story short, if you like my review please do come by ladyironchef . . . for the delicious in you
I know you are the one. Somehow a part of me, know that I will like Oriole even before I come. Make sense? Because love is blind.
Oriole is one those place that is chic and exudes the laid-back vibe. It is smack right in the middle of town, yet most people isn’t aware of it’s existence. Small, cozy, good food, reasonable prices, totally my-kind-of-place. Oriole!
You like fish & chips? You will like the one here, it’s one of the better fish & chips that I’ve recently; the batter wasn’t soggy and oily even though I took a long time taking photographs, it was still crispy and good. The portions were generous too, with three big pieces of fish at 15 bucks, it’s great for sharing! Most of the wedges were slightly burnt, I’m not sure if it’s done intentionally that way, but it sure was tasty to me!
We took a long time to decide the second main, there was a few choices, spaghetti/risotto of the day, banger & mash, or the oriole burger. But in the end we went for the Beef cheek tagliatelle ($15). The staff loosely compared the tagliatelle to our Chinese kuay teow, but I will beg to differ.The pasta isn’t as thick, so if there must be a comparison, I say it’s closer to Mee-pok. I had a good impression of beef cheeks, and this was delicious! Chewy but not to the extend of being overly difficult to bite, every bit of the beef is immersed in the red wine.
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And for once we didn’t have any desserts because we already had other sweets from elsewhere. But I’m keen to try chocolate fudge cake on my next visit, See you there!
Long story short, if you like my review please do come by ladyironchef . . . for the delicious in you
My family chanced upon Singapura Restaurant one evening and was so taken by its nostalgic appeal that we stepped in for dinner. An old school Foochow eatery, Singapura Restaurant has been around since the early 90s and apparently, attracted quite a sizable following in more then a decade of operations.
Located just below a block of HDB flats along Selegie Road, Singapura Restaurant is highly visible if you happen to travel down that stretch of road towards Little India. Otherwise, you probably wouldn't know of its existence. The layout of the place is kept simple and cozy, with no emphasis on providing any visual simulation to the consumer. The steel chairs with red paddings/cushions are (at least to me) a classic characteristic of restaurants from yesteryear.
Braised Tofu - I can't say that the braised tofu was fantastic, coming across as your average decent cze char stall standard but with a relatively generous serving. The gravy wasn't too starchy and I liked the mushrooms and sweet peas that came alongside.
Honey Pork Ribs - Touted as one of their "must try" dishes, the ribs were wedged between good and decent. Crisp along the edges with relatively tender meat that didn't scream tenderizer. But the honey was a overly sweet and the ribs had quite little meat honestly, which at $15 for 5 pieces, wasn't exactly my idea of value for money.
Special Prawn Rolls - Now this dish was interesting. Apart from being another one of the recommended dishes, the prawn rolls differ quite significantly from the usual ones that most places sell. Instead of minced pork or prawn paste, it's whole prawns compressed into a cylindrical shape and wrapped around with a thin deep fried skin, which apparently is pig's caul. The prawns were very crunchy, almost to the extent of being hard, probably due to soaking in a sodium bicarbonate solution for too long. Personally I found the whole dish a little too fishy for my liking but the sweet sauce did help to mask the taste.
$50 for 3 pax isn't exactly expensive but the food isn't fantastic in my humble opinion. It might be the dishes we ordered. Service was quite good but then again, we were the only customers there that evening. Still I would give them the benefit of the doubt.
Weekends are the best time for dim sum, it is when everybody is free to have a long lunch, and what can be better than to yum cha?
My friend wanted to try the Beancurd prawn roll ($4.50), and I have never been a big fan of beancurd skin. Since a lot dim sum has prawns, we decided to go for the Char siew cheong fun ($4.50). The savoury light sauce always enhance the flavour of the cheong fun.
After trying so many different har gau ($4.50), it has somewhat become rather ordinary to me. I know it’s the dim sum queen; all right if you must, fresh crunchy prawns held firmly within translucent skins. But I’m indifference to it, at least for now.
I was craving for custard buns badly, and to my delight it’s listed on the menu; but the initial euphoria half evaporated when the captain said that it’s been replaced by the Baked custard buns ($3.50 for 3). So feeling half skeptical and half excited, we approached it. Judging from appearances, the baked buns look like those hard, baked pastry kind. We took a bite, and it was astonishing so soft! I would prefer those molten custard on any other day, but this was just as good!
Siew mai and har gau always come together in pairs, there isn’t one without the other. But unlike the har gau, I’m not so sick of Siew Mai ($4.50 for 4) since it has a combination of porky and prawny bite.
I’m insanely in love with Char siew sou ($4 for 3). The ones here reminded me of my old flame; the buttery crispy flakes, the oozing oh-so-sweet juice from the char siew. Delish! You know like they say, your first love is always the most memorable, if I’ve not had better before, I’ll say this is quite good. But then again, I’m biased against char siew sou.
The fragrant glutinous rice ($4.50) enveloped within the leaf; the salted egg yoke bursting through your tastebud with it’s strong and distinct taste, the little bites of chicken shreds, a pity the Chinese sausages were missing here. Almost perfect.
Pan-fried carrot cake ($3.50) used to be a favourite of mine, but after trying several half-hearted versions, I’m leaning towards some of the better steamed ones that I had. Packed the carrot cake full with relish, lots of them. Then lightly-seared it until golden brown, leaving a crispy surface with soft relish beneath it. Sounds easy? Do one for me.
I’m undecided if I will come back to Asia Grand for dim sum again. And it’s not because they are not good, the variety of dim sum available was very comprehensive. But the main reason was the existence of a better option just directly opposite them. I’ll probably drop by again for their Peking duck, which is definitely much cheaper than the one I had at Peach Garden.
Long story short, if you like my review please do come by ladyironchef . . . for the delicious in you
Ok a little trivia for you buffet addicts... Did you know... This is one of the few branches of Sakae Sushi that offers weekday buffet dinner?
Now before you condemn me, let me tell you that this outlet's food is actually decent. I know that Sakae Sushi has a bad reputation with foodies, but it's really quite okay. Palatable, at least. And much better than the one at Raffles Place, which also offers weekday dinner buffets.
So if you're someone with easy-to-please taste buds, you should try it out.
Gotta warn you that the service isn't much to speak of, and do not, I repeat, DO NOT under the pain of death order the Maguro. I have never been so repulsed by sashimi before. Instead of being a deep red, it was a dull brown and tasted days old.
The salmon is okay though, go ahead and stuff your faces with the rest of the buffet menu, it's pretty safe.
If you do intend to head there in a group, make a reservation in advance, seats are limited (:
If I do it my way, I will start every meal with desserts. A typical dinner usually goes something like this: complimentary bread and cheesesticks to keep you entertain, but that’s no dessert. Then there’s soup, appetisers, main course, blah blah blah until we reach desserts! So why do we eat desserts at the end when we are clearly anticipating for it from the start!
And when I go to an Italian restaurant, the first thing that comes to my mind will always, be the tiramisu. It is, the heart and soul, the perfect ambassador for Italian cuisine. Fine, I exaggerated. It is at least one of the first thing that you will think of when we are talking about Italian desserts. The Tiramisu Senso ($14) here was way better than the one I had at their bistro before.
And the second thing (for me) when it comes to Italian cuisine will be pasta of course! However, I was tempted to try Senso’s risotto, so we had the Risotto ($28) – carnaroli risotto served with saffron and sea scallops. It was good, but company always make the food taste better, and since my dining companion wasn’t a big fan of risotto, I should have gone for their pastas instead.
My companion also raved about the excellent Agnello (rack of lamb) that she had at Senso before, but we decided to try something new this time round. Food is always an adventure no? The choice of the second main was contested by the Manzo (beef tenderloin), Milanese (rack of veal) and the Ossobuco (braised veal shank). I was initially skeptical of having the braised veal shank since my previous encounter was a complete diaster.
But I was sweet-talked into it, and I’m glad that we ordered this; the Ossobuco ($34) was done just right, the veal shank absorbed the goodness of the sauce, I know tender is a word over-used when it comes to describing food, but yes, it was tender!
The Bruciata ($14) made its appearance in a very creative way and we were completely fascinated by the mini frying pan. Oven-baked egg custard, or more commonly known as Creme Brulee, I finished everything on my own!
* * *
I didn’t manage to take any shot of the place, we dined in the charming al fresco area, but it was the private room that caught my eyes! That place is perfect for a group of twenty, I will definitely love to do a party there some day.
Long story short, if you like my review please do come by ladyironchef . . . for the delicious in you
Had dinner with my family at Jumbo Serangoon Gardens to "commemorate" its 20 odd years of business in the area, just before its swan song at the end of October. Apparently the rent has at the club has shot up by quite a bit so Jumbo has decided to take its business elsewhere.
The interior looks a little dated but boasts a quirky blue ceiling with concealed lights to give an impression of dining under the sky - not that it really worked though but studies have shown that blue is a calming colour, which could have been useful, judging from the crowd that evening.
Kailan with Garlic - You can't really go wrong with fried kailan and garlic so no surprises or disappointments here. Portions are a little small for $12 though.
Chilli Crab - The crab seemed rather small for its purported weight (1kg) and it didn't help that this signature Jumbo dish failed to live up to expectations. The gravy was rather watery and didn't go very well with the oily, insipid mantous that used to be an object of greedy desire (for me at least) some 10 years ago. How quality has deteriorated over the years!
Homemade Beancurd - I liked the generous amount of golden mushroom that buried the homemade beancurd. What I didn't like was the lack of silkiness and savouriness in the beancurd. Sure, it was soft but didn't slither down my throat and came across as bland.
Deep Fried Red Tilapia - Tilapias don't go for much in the markets but we were charged $32 for it - hardly fitting. Inflated prices aside, the fish was nicely deep fried and crisp on the outside, coupled with firm flesh on the inside. I didn't appreciate the tons of bones within though. Overall an averagely decent dish.
Cereal Prawns - The prawns weren't fresh and the flesh tasted a little soft and "powdery". I certainly didn't expect that from an established seafood restaurant like Jumbo. On the upside, the prawns were deshelled, leaving only the head, something which most places don't bother to do. I did like the cereal dressing though - mildy spicy, crunchy and sweet. But then again, it wasn't enough to salvage this dish.
Mee Goreng - One of the staples of Jumbo ever since we started patronising them some 10 odd years ago, the mee goreng was a shadow of its former self. Overly sweet would be most apt in describing it, with the noodles carrying no taste except being sweet. Apparently the sweetness is used to cover the alkaline taste present in the egg noodles, but this is really an overkill.
I don't know about you, but $188 ($138 with a $50 discount) for a sub standard dinner for 6 pax just doesn't cut it for me. Service was decent in a haphazard sort of way. Final words? Good riddance to overpriced and commercialized sub quality food!
1=SGD 0.0587
This steakhouse is one of the most underrated gems of Serangoon Gardens. It's been there for as long as I remember, since I first moved into the area when I was about 11.
In truth, I haven't been to Borshch in years. With so much good food along Serangoon Gardens, this little Steakhouse with almost opaque black windows tends to get overlooked.
Once you step in, you'd find that it looks like a typical old school Hong Kong cafe. Decor and ambience isn't much to talk about, but it's the food I'm here for.
So how does a $13.80 Set Dinner sound? Pretty affordable? Well here's what they served:
Caviar with Egg
Nothing much to rave about. A little blob of caviar on a nicely carved egg, served with salad.
Borsch Soup
My very first memory of this place is its borsch soup - it's hard to describe, hard to explain. Definitely not fresh out of a can, try it for yourself to know what I mean.
Sirloin Steak
Served with fries and long beans on a hot plate, the slice of steak is small (hey, remember you're not paying much) but potent. Sizzling with a slab of butter of top, it's a cheap little slice of heaven. The mixture of butter and steak melts so well in your mouth.
Fancy Pancake
A small crepe-like sweet pancake topped with whipped cream, a little slice of cherry and peach, with a banana wedged in between. Perfect sweet dessert to a savoury meal!
Hot Tea
Tastes like Lipton tea. I don't know about you, but there's something very satisfying about sipping hot tea after a nice full meal.
I suppose with its Executive, Supreme and normal set dinners, it really is quite value for money to dine at Borshch. You should try it out for yourself - just manage your expectations and don't expect too much just because it's a restaurant. Think of it as a air-conditioned coffee shop and you'll realise that the food there is really a steal.
If you're curious about its exact location, it sits along the same row as the Guardian pharmacy and Sushi Tei, if I'm not wrong. It's at the car park opposite the bus stop, actually. It's pretty nondescript so you've got to keep an eye out.
Rating given:
The best of everything. The sashimi platter ($120) was the highlight of our meal and we started with a bang; there’s tuna, pink prawns, hirame, uni (sea urchin). Every slice was so fresh, I could see the glitter in my dining companions eyes. While I’m not a big fan of “raw fish”, it’s definitely a feast for the eyes and treat for the palate to have it prepared so exquisitely.
The Sakura set dinner ($58 per set) which included appetiser of assorted braised vegetables Japanese style, spicy dynamic oyster, sushi roll. For sashimi there’s tuna, salmon and oyster, and this was followed by a steamed dish of chawanmushi, with a deep fried tofu from the land behind. The two mains would be grilled chicken and wagyu beef burger, if that’s not enough, there’s hot udon served with kakiage. And finally rounding off the meal with a chef’s special dessert.
The four of us ordered two sets to share because there was so much else to order from the ala carte menu!
Fortunately, the assortment of sashimi from the set menu came early, and an innocent question “more sashimi?” led to the fantastic sashimi platter you saw on the first photo.
I love eggs, all kinds of them; fried, half boiled, scrambled, sunny side-up, poached ones, anything – except steamed eggs. There are bits of chicken, crab stick, boiled prawns, ginko nuts, and shitake mushroom within the Chawanmushi.
The deep fried tofu and cheese wrapped with soy bean skin is up next, at first sight the sticky cheese looked promising, but upon tasting there wasn’t much wow – the cheese’s not enough and the whole taste was subtle, bordering on bland.
Our first main course of the menu came piping hot, the grilled chicken was served on a hot stone which was specially brought back from Mount Fuji, to ensure the meat retained its optimum temperature – while we took photographs!
Umami’s rendition of wagyu beef burger came in the form of two “meatballs”, while there was nothing spectacular of its appearance, the meat was sure tasty!
Hot udon served with kakiage was the last item on the Sakura menu before dessert. The tasting portion of the menu covered a variety and was decent, there’s two other set dinners at $88 and $128.
And now it’s where the real dinner starts, our selections from the ala carte menu.
A simple deep fried dried cuttlefish ($8) brought us back to the appetiser stage, and prepared us for all the food coming.
I enjoyed the Grilled cod wrapped with lettuce ($16) tremendously. The fish was lightly grilled on the outside and tasted good on its own. But it’s when we wrapped it within the lettuce, Korean-style, and the crunchiness of the lettuce supplemented and enhanced the freshness of the cod.
Clearly, the spicy dynamic oyster ($16 for 3) was everyone’s favourite. Befitting of its name, it had us on first bite in the Sakura menu and we ordered again. The tangy sauce was oh my god, so good! We slurped down the delicious oyster, and did not waste a single drop of the sauce.
The comprehensive sushi menu made it difficult for us to choose from, but in the end for the love of salmon, we went for the Avocado salmon roll ($12). An elongated plate with eight pieces of makis, was indeed value for money.
A whole chunk of it, right in front of our eyes. The scared foie gras ($33), grilled with teriyaki sauce. Oh-oh-oh! Lightly grilled on the outside yet retaining a soft pink within, I swallowed it down – gulped, and wish that time stood still at that moment.
We were all excited by the Japanese beef – Umami served top grade wagyu! A sizzling sound signal the arrival of something magnificent, the marbling was so rich & dense that the meat literally melted in our mouth. I looked around and tried to speak, but no words came; I just allowed myself to quietly finish the meat, and inside I was secretly hoping there was more of this. It’s like totally God’s gift to mankind. Our jaws dropped when we heard that it’s a current promotional price of just $38 instead of the usual $60.
My previous encounter with Kurobuta pork was enough to tell me it’s good stuff, so when we browsed through the “from the land” menu, I immediately ordered the Braised kurobuta pork belly ($12).
“Eeekk!” The girls exclaimed when it was served. The fatty layers were enough to scare off the others, but not me. One bite of the braised pork belly, and one sip of beer, what more can you ask for?
The Rolled omelette with truffle oil ($8 for 5 pieces) was also one of Umami’s signature dishes. You like Japanese omelette? You will like this.
Like what the manager Nigel had mentioned, although the US Black Angus beef ($38) is great, but it’s not in the same league as the Japanese wagyu; the former is like human while the latter is god. The Angus tasted ordinary considering we had gone to heaven with the wagyu – the marbling was just not the same. But it’s not that the Angus wasn’t good, but because we had tried the wagyu first.
And finally after a very long and satisfying dinner, desserts came in the form of home made kurogoma brulee ($6), and home made custard pudding ($6). The former was a sesame version of creme brulee that I didn’t quite take to, but I love the home made custard pudding!
Umami has been around at Liang court since April and I have to admit I did not notice their presence previously when I went to Liang court. The very posh and club-like entrance made it rather intimidating for diners to step in, and they are currently making changes to the front decorations. There’s a current DBS 1-for-1 promotion for their $18 and $25 set lunches.
My appreciation to Lynda from DBS, Cherylene & Seema from Eurorscg, and the Nigel & his staff from Umami for the wonderful dinner.
Long story short, if you like my review please do come by ladyironchef . . . for the delicious in you
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This zi char stall has many outlets - I'm not sure about the others, but short of having a gun pointed to your head, I suggest you give this one a wide berth.
You may have heard of this zi char stall - it has been featured on some TV shows. That's how my mom came across it, and that's how we ended up patronizing this stall on a Monday night. Now hear my tale of extremely bad customer service from a business who doesn't believe that pissing off customers is bad for business.
We ordered the dishes featured on TV - some sort of stir-fried, long bean lookalike served with pork floss, flat roasted chicken, milk powdered crayfish and some other form of fish.
Let me mention up front that those dishes were average at best, the chicken was tough and not the least bit juicy, while the long bean lookalike was just mediocre. The milk powdered crayfish does deserve special mention, banking purely on its novelty rather than taste. I like the combination, but I have an inkling that other zi char stalls might fare better if they took a shot at this dish.
What about the fish, you say? Well, it never did arrive. We almost finished the three aforementioned dishes and the fish still wasn't here. This was half an hour after they served the first dish. So, we asked one waitress where our fish was, and she never got back to us. We asked a second one, and she never got back either.
The third time round, my dad went to the counter to ask about the fish again, but was told that it was "coming soon". After waiting another 10 minutes, we decided to cancel the order of the fish since there was no point waiting. Do note - no apologies were offered.
At this point, I was still trying to finish my milk powder crayfish when the waitress promptly brought the bill to our table. Now I was pissed. I told her that we have not called for the bill yet, and just because we canceled our order of fish, were they afraid that we were going to run away without paying?
Still no apologies from any of them. This was absolutely ridiculous, it was absurd to treat customers this way. We weren't even being difficult when we asked for our fish, we were just, clearly, tired of waiting.
With incredulously rude staff & sub par food standards, I don't believe I'll ever step anywhere near this stall ever again and I suggest you don't either.
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Our very special night with DBS Foodster started with the limo fetching us to The Queen & Mangosteen. Cheerful staff greeted us, the smoothing sea breeze, with the relaxing ambience, the stage was set for a wonderful dinner.
We started off by ordering from the Nibbles menu. The portion of the Fish & Chips ($15) was more than enough to be served as an entrée, three pieces of fish with a big bucket of fries. Mind you, it’s not just the usual side fries, it’s a whole bucket of tasty potatoes! I would prefer them to come in thicker wedge with some green peas by the side – the traditional British good O’ fish & chips. But still, it’s good enough.
And oh yes, I forgot to mention about the special curry tartare sauce. It was awesome! Indian cuisine has always been a big influence on the Brits, the sauce provided another different dimension which we never had before.
The shredded slow-braised duck with crusty bread ($13) was ordered out of curiosity, and the staff did warn us it could be an acquired taste, but we went ahead anyway. The taste was quite close to a pate, but somehow it reminded me of the tuna spread that I put on my bread.
Following on the adventurous tone that has been set, we went for the Spicy minced beef ($14). There wasn’t anything spectacular when we had the minced beef or corn chips separately. But it was a hit when we spread a generous layer of minced beef on top of the chips and drizzled some sour cream together.
Love comes in all shapes and sizes, the Mini hamburgers & chips ($18 for 3 mini burgers) were not only cute but also pleasing to the palate. I didn’t think much of it initially, but after taking a bite, the small beef patty was delicious! And just like the fish & chips, it came with a big bucket of fries too.
Just in case you were wondering, no we’ve not started on our main courses yet, all those you seen thus far are all just appetisers. At The Queen & Mangosteen, they offered a wide range of its signature craft brews including old favourites like Archipelago Straits Pale to pair with the food.
We wanted to order everything from their menu; the wild mushroom risotto is totally my kind of dish, the clayfish cooked in beer and fisherman’s pie are crowd-pleaser, roasted rack of lamb is music to the ears of a carnivore, but there was just too many to choose from so in the end we didn’t have all of them.
The rope-grown blue mussels ($28) came highly recommended and it did not disappoint. Using a fork to pitch the shell, we slurped down each mussel which was cooked in chilli, with delight.
I always wanted to try Bangers & mash ($26) which was quintessentially three sausages – pork, lamb and beef with mashed potatoes served with caramelised onion gravy. The lamb sausage had a very distinct and gamy taste that might be too much for non-lamb eaters, and the beef was fairly good too. But it was the pork sausage that grabbed our attention!
Bea’s a big fan of beef, so naturally we ordered the rib-eye of beef ($38). Steak with thick cut chips, yorkshine pudding and a choice of wild mushroom sauce, thyme jus or caramelised shallot pepper sauce. We chose the latter with the steak done medium rare.
“It’s one of the better steaks that I’ve!” She exclaimed. I like the thick cut chips, while the chewy texture of the Yorkshire pudding sort of tasted like choux pastry.
The Cambridge Burnt cream ($10) or affectionately known as Creme Brulee was our favourite dessert. Beneath the beautifully burnt caramelized sugar, was a rich custard base. We dug in, and finished every bite of it.
“Whoa“, and “Ooh” were heard when the Mango coconut truffle ($12) arrived on our table. Our first impression: was it ketchup? There was a generous amount of berries and mango within the layers; the strong mango taste hit us first, with a subtle hint of coconut.
Between you and me, this shall be fondly remember as the ketchup soap.
It was one of those desserts that you didn’t know how they manage to make it this way, which you just keep on eating, and eating until it’s gone. I totally enjoyed the White chocolate & Cassis cake ($12). Interestingly, the triple chocolate ice cream on top of the cake took very long to melt. The white chocolate cassis cake was sweet, the girls found it too sweet, and so I had most of it to myself!
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While the menu doesn’t have a wide variety of selection, there’s some pretty good selections for sharing and the portions were substantial too. My appreciation to Lynda from DBS, Cherylene & Seema from Eurorscg, and the folks at The Queen & Mangosteen for making the dinner a blast!
Long story short, if you like my review please do come by ladyironchef . . . for the delicious in you
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I know you are the one. Somehow a part of me, know that I will like Oriole even before I come. Make sense? Because love is blind.
Oriole is one those place that is chic and exudes the laid-back vibe. It is smack right in the middle of town, yet most people isn’t aware of it’s existence. Small, cozy, good food, reasonable prices, totally my-kind-of-place. Oriole!
You like fish & chips? You will like the one here, it’s one of the better fish & chips that I’ve recently; the batter wasn’t soggy and oily even though I took a long time taking photographs, it was still crispy and good. The portions were generous too, with three big pieces of fish at 15 bucks, it’s great for sharing! Most of the wedges were slightly burnt, I’m not sure if it’s done intentionally that way, but it sure was tasty to me!
We took a long time to decide the second main, there was a few choices, spaghetti/risotto of the day, banger & mash, or the oriole burger. But in the end we went for the Beef cheek tagliatelle ($15). The staff loosely compared the tagliatelle to our Chinese kuay teow, but I will beg to differ.The pasta isn’t as thick, so if there must be a comparison, I say it’s closer to Mee-pok. I had a good impression of beef cheeks, and this was delicious! Chewy but not to the extend of being overly difficult to bite, every bit of the beef is immersed in the red wine.
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And for once we didn’t have any desserts because we already had other sweets from elsewhere. But I’m keen to try chocolate fudge cake on my next visit, See you there!
Long story short, if you like my review please do come by ladyironchef . . . for the delicious in you
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My family chanced upon Singapura Restaurant one evening and was so taken by its nostalgic appeal that we stepped in for dinner. An old school Foochow eatery, Singapura Restaurant has been around since the early 90s and apparently, attracted quite a sizable following in more then a decade of operations.
Located just below a block of HDB flats along Selegie Road, Singapura Restaurant is highly visible if you happen to travel down that stretch of road towards Little India. Otherwise, you probably wouldn't know of its existence. The layout of the place is kept simple and cozy, with no emphasis on providing any visual simulation to the consumer. The steel chairs with red paddings/cushions are (at least to me) a classic characteristic of restaurants from yesteryear.
Braised Tofu - I can't say that the braised tofu was fantastic, coming across as your average decent cze char stall standard but with a relatively generous serving. The gravy wasn't too starchy and I liked the mushrooms and sweet peas that came alongside.
Honey Pork Ribs - Touted as one of their "must try" dishes, the ribs were wedged between good and decent. Crisp along the edges with relatively tender meat that didn't scream tenderizer. But the honey was a overly sweet and the ribs had quite little meat honestly, which at $15 for 5 pieces, wasn't exactly my idea of value for money.
Special Prawn Rolls - Now this dish was interesting. Apart from being another one of the recommended dishes, the prawn rolls differ quite significantly from the usual ones that most places sell. Instead of minced pork or prawn paste, it's whole prawns compressed into a cylindrical shape and wrapped around with a thin deep fried skin, which apparently is pig's caul. The prawns were very crunchy, almost to the extent of being hard, probably due to soaking in a sodium bicarbonate solution for too long. Personally I found the whole dish a little too fishy for my liking but the sweet sauce did help to mask the taste.
$50 for 3 pax isn't exactly expensive but the food isn't fantastic in my humble opinion. It might be the dishes we ordered. Service was quite good but then again, we were the only customers there that evening. Still I would give them the benefit of the doubt.
See all my pictures here.
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Weekends are the best time for dim sum, it is when everybody is free to have a long lunch, and what can be better than to yum cha?
My friend wanted to try the Beancurd prawn roll ($4.50), and I have never been a big fan of beancurd skin. Since a lot dim sum has prawns, we decided to go for the Char siew cheong fun ($4.50). The savoury light sauce always enhance the flavour of the cheong fun.
After trying so many different har gau ($4.50), it has somewhat become rather ordinary to me. I know it’s the dim sum queen; all right if you must, fresh crunchy prawns held firmly within translucent skins. But I’m indifference to it, at least for now.
I was craving for custard buns badly, and to my delight it’s listed on the menu; but the initial euphoria half evaporated when the captain said that it’s been replaced by the Baked custard buns ($3.50 for 3). So feeling half skeptical and half excited, we approached it. Judging from appearances, the baked buns look like those hard, baked pastry kind. We took a bite, and it was astonishing so soft! I would prefer those molten custard on any other day, but this was just as good!
Siew mai and har gau always come together in pairs, there isn’t one without the other. But unlike the har gau, I’m not so sick of Siew Mai ($4.50 for 4) since it has a combination of porky and prawny bite.
I’m insanely in love with Char siew sou ($4 for 3). The ones here reminded me of my old flame; the buttery crispy flakes, the oozing oh-so-sweet juice from the char siew. Delish! You know like they say, your first love is always the most memorable, if I’ve not had better before, I’ll say this is quite good. But then again, I’m biased against char siew sou.
The fragrant glutinous rice ($4.50) enveloped within the leaf; the salted egg yoke bursting through your tastebud with it’s strong and distinct taste, the little bites of chicken shreds, a pity the Chinese sausages were missing here. Almost perfect.
Pan-fried carrot cake ($3.50) used to be a favourite of mine, but after trying several half-hearted versions, I’m leaning towards some of the better steamed ones that I had. Packed the carrot cake full with relish, lots of them. Then lightly-seared it until golden brown, leaving a crispy surface with soft relish beneath it. Sounds easy? Do one for me.
I’m undecided if I will come back to Asia Grand for dim sum again. And it’s not because they are not good, the variety of dim sum available was very comprehensive. But the main reason was the existence of a better option just directly opposite them. I’ll probably drop by again for their Peking duck, which is definitely much cheaper than the one I had at Peach Garden.
Long story short, if you like my review please do come by ladyironchef . . . for the delicious in you
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Ok a little trivia for you buffet addicts... Did you know... This is one of the few branches of Sakae Sushi that offers weekday buffet dinner?
Now before you condemn me, let me tell you that this outlet's food is actually decent. I know that Sakae Sushi has a bad reputation with foodies, but it's really quite okay. Palatable, at least. And much better than the one at Raffles Place, which also offers weekday dinner buffets.
So if you're someone with easy-to-please taste buds, you should try it out.
Gotta warn you that the service isn't much to speak of, and do not, I repeat, DO NOT under the pain of death order the Maguro. I have never been so repulsed by sashimi before. Instead of being a deep red, it was a dull brown and tasted days old.
The salmon is okay though, go ahead and stuff your faces with the rest of the buffet menu, it's pretty safe.
If you do intend to head there in a group, make a reservation in advance, seats are limited (:
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If I do it my way, I will start every meal with desserts. A typical dinner usually goes something like this: complimentary bread and cheesesticks to keep you entertain, but that’s no dessert. Then there’s soup, appetisers, main course, blah blah blah until we reach desserts! So why do we eat desserts at the end when we are clearly anticipating for it from the start!
And when I go to an Italian restaurant, the first thing that comes to my mind will always, be the tiramisu. It is, the heart and soul, the perfect ambassador for Italian cuisine. Fine, I exaggerated. It is at least one of the first thing that you will think of when we are talking about Italian desserts. The Tiramisu Senso ($14) here was way better than the one I had at their bistro before.
And the second thing (for me) when it comes to Italian cuisine will be pasta of course! However, I was tempted to try Senso’s risotto, so we had the Risotto ($28) – carnaroli risotto served with saffron and sea scallops. It was good, but company always make the food taste better, and since my dining companion wasn’t a big fan of risotto, I should have gone for their pastas instead.
My companion also raved about the excellent Agnello (rack of lamb) that she had at Senso before, but we decided to try something new this time round. Food is always an adventure no? The choice of the second main was contested by the Manzo (beef tenderloin), Milanese (rack of veal) and the Ossobuco (braised veal shank). I was initially skeptical of having the braised veal shank since my previous encounter was a complete diaster.
But I was sweet-talked into it, and I’m glad that we ordered this; the Ossobuco ($34) was done just right, the veal shank absorbed the goodness of the sauce, I know tender is a word over-used when it comes to describing food, but yes, it was tender!
The Bruciata ($14) made its appearance in a very creative way and we were completely fascinated by the mini frying pan. Oven-baked egg custard, or more commonly known as Creme Brulee, I finished everything on my own!
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I didn’t manage to take any shot of the place, we dined in the charming al fresco area, but it was the private room that caught my eyes! That place is perfect for a group of twenty, I will definitely love to do a party there some day.
Long story short, if you like my review please do come by ladyironchef . . . for the delicious in you
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Had dinner with my family at Jumbo Serangoon Gardens to "commemorate" its 20 odd years of business in the area, just before its swan song at the end of October. Apparently the rent has at the club has shot up by quite a bit so Jumbo has decided to take its business elsewhere.
The interior looks a little dated but boasts a quirky blue ceiling with concealed lights to give an impression of dining under the sky - not that it really worked though but studies have shown that blue is a calming colour, which could have been useful, judging from the crowd that evening.
Kailan with Garlic - You can't really go wrong with fried kailan and garlic so no surprises or disappointments here. Portions are a little small for $12 though.
Chilli Crab - The crab seemed rather small for its purported weight (1kg) and it didn't help that this signature Jumbo dish failed to live up to expectations. The gravy was rather watery and didn't go very well with the oily, insipid mantous that used to be an object of greedy desire (for me at least) some 10 years ago. How quality has deteriorated over the years!
Homemade Beancurd - I liked the generous amount of golden mushroom that buried the homemade beancurd. What I didn't like was the lack of silkiness and savouriness in the beancurd. Sure, it was soft but didn't slither down my throat and came across as bland.
Deep Fried Red Tilapia - Tilapias don't go for much in the markets but we were charged $32 for it - hardly fitting. Inflated prices aside, the fish was nicely deep fried and crisp on the outside, coupled with firm flesh on the inside. I didn't appreciate the tons of bones within though. Overall an averagely decent dish.
Cereal Prawns - The prawns weren't fresh and the flesh tasted a little soft and "powdery". I certainly didn't expect that from an established seafood restaurant like Jumbo. On the upside, the prawns were deshelled, leaving only the head, something which most places don't bother to do. I did like the cereal dressing though - mildy spicy, crunchy and sweet. But then again, it wasn't enough to salvage this dish.
Mee Goreng - One of the staples of Jumbo ever since we started patronising them some 10 odd years ago, the mee goreng was a shadow of its former self. Overly sweet would be most apt in describing it, with the noodles carrying no taste except being sweet. Apparently the sweetness is used to cover the alkaline taste present in the egg noodles, but this is really an overkill.
I don't know about you, but $188 ($138 with a $50 discount) for a sub standard dinner for 6 pax just doesn't cut it for me. Service was decent in a haphazard sort of way. Final words? Good riddance to overpriced and commercialized sub quality food!
See all my pictures here.
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