Great place for that unforgettable Dinner for 2 or perhaps a lazy afternoon food indulgence with the girls after your christmas shopping session. Believe Me.. You deserve to be pampered.
This Lobby Restaurant serves us with a great view of the greenary outside as well as the relaxing man-made waterfall, buzzling away all our stress and anxiety. Full Length High Glass Windows leaves an unobstructed view of the outside and somehow removes all obstruction of speech and promotes the openess in conversation.
The food is great. With sets and of sets of delightful yummilicious food on one side and beautiful desserts on the other corner. They offer i quote "exquisite international, Asian and local favourites on the menu. Our must-try signature dishes are Soya glazed gindara with braised somen, Crabmeat fried rice and Sheraton Towers Laksa served either fried or gravy style. Mouth-watering desserts that we are famous for include Chilled aloe vera jelly, Strawberry mille feuille, Mud Pie and Sheraton Towers’ own Ice Burger."
I would love to mention their fabulous sashimi which is so fresh that it melts in your mouth and smoked salmon and salad appetizers. They have a great way of presenting their appetizers and desserts in which i cannot but have to worship them with my eyes first before indulging in every bit of them.
I particularly love their durian cake. In which is served in the lunch buffet bad sadly have been gobbled up by the diners within 10 minutes of serving. However a great waitress brought me a piece FOC, or should i say on the house with orders from the chef after i repeatedly begged her for it.
And boy its really nice....
There are light durian sponge cakes on top in small cubes as decoration and a little cream. The inside of the cake is 80% made of REAL CREAMY DURIAN. So smooth and the texture was great. I can never have enough of that cake and its one of the best i've tasted so far.
So if you're there.. don't forget to drop by the cake display cabinate at the entrance of the THE DINING ROOM.. and its a great experience for me and i'm sure for you too.
Walking distance from Newton MRT Station, Shereton Towers is a perfect place for seminars, wedding and other posh events. Setting of this hotel is elegant and exquisite with a touch of a cosy home. Situated away from the buzzing orchard road yet still near to town, this hotel is a great place to put your guest in.
They have 3 great restaurants in the hotel and i would like to highlight the one in the Lobby. The view is great and what more the assortment of food is lagi great in which I will review about it later.
I went there for seminars a couple of times. Rather i find the ballrooms a little too tight, but thats perhaps the organiser's not so good arrangement. The food was great. Snacks were delicious and have a good assortments of cakes and finger food.
The stationary they provide is the usual pens and thin notepads in which i find their pens particularly smooth to write.. Perhaps i'm too bored in class.
The toilets were great. I'm quite a toilet critic, like many girls I do spend more time in the toilet and I expect it to feel great, look great, smell great and have more then enough amenities.. I've been to the ladies at the lobby and at the ballroom levels and they are all above average.
A nice place to have your wedding dinner, cocktail and whatsoever events. Great because no jams yet near to town... So if anybody wants a part 2 late night partying, they can head on down to orchard road which is but 3 mins away.
Me Me Me.. I ate here.. Since nobody review about it.. Hee Hee.. I'm going to be the first AGAIN!
Actually Frankly speaking, I still prefer the Outlet at Suntec City, the old deco looks great, though the tables and chairs look kopitiam like, but the food display is less cluttered, more jap look and seemed more exciting for me.
This new outlet accomodated the new interior deco. Food lined properly on the buffet table which is nothing more then a huge square centerpiece. At the sides there is a grilling and tappenyaki corner and on the other corner, you have pipping hot claypot noodles and other stuffs. What really interest me are these pot full of soups. They look exactly like a teapot with a cup as the cover.. Very interesting and with that a guaranteed funloving meal.
I was there for lunch and therefore no HUGE CRABS.. which I so long to have them. This outlet has got huge tables for big crowds as well as vertically louvered partitions for that more spacious look. Food is great as usual. I particularly like the assortment of tea bags the display.
First it feels good to be able to choose from those great display boxes. Secondly, I could never get to taste all types of the tea except for now. Thirdly, It was great fun with friends to be exchanging pointers on the different tasting teas.
The dessert counter was great as well. Me and my pals all had fun with the fondue.. contaminating the yummy chocolate with the juicy fruits, cakes and mushymellows..
In closing, I would say i would want to go back again, but certainly for dinner. I've calculated.. with this spread.. just eat more crabs and you'll get all the money's worth....
Located along Hougang Street 21 near Kovan MRT station, Cheng Kee Beef Kway Teow serves both dry and soup version of beef noodles. For $4.50 for a medium bowl, patrons can have a bowl of beef noodles consisting of mixed ingredients like Beef Balls, Beef Brisket, and Sliced Beef.
HFB finally understood why the stall was rated so highly by the Makan Matas (it has a rating of “Die, die must try!” by Makansutra) – with a dash of salted vegetables, the soup was VERY intense and fully flavoured. No wonder HFB observed customers kept coming back for refills. What topped the cake was the fact that the beef brisket was devastatingly tender, that it disintegrated the moment one gave it a soft chew.
Although the Kway Teow itself was nothing to shout about, but in HFB’s opinion, Cheng Kee’s soup version was definitely superior to the much over-hyped Hock Lam.
So what about the dry version you might ask – surprisingly it wasn’t half as good as the soup adaptation. The gravy had a bitter tinge, which HFB suppose comes from herbs used – the aftertaste wasn’t pleasing and HFB would not recommend it especially if one do not take well to herbs.
HFB also tried going back for refills of the soup and was disappointed that it didn’t taste as good as the one that came with the Kway Teow – he noticed that it was scooped from a different pot. Overall, one will never go wrong with the soup version and the beef brisket.
It was during one of the celebrating months for my gf that we finally decided to give Big Fish a try after numerous recommendations. My gf loved fish and so, this has been in our minds for quite some time. Honestly, we're just trying to see if there's another place as worthwhile as the Manhatten Fish market in terms of food offerings since this is pretty much of the same theme. So it was that we stepped in and had our first encounter.
Complimentary Bread - The complimentary bread was served warm and soft which is a plus but otherwise, nothing significant. Not too sure if it is made in house either since its rather bland and simple.
The interior is rather spacious with around 4-6 wall sofa seats and a seating capacity of about 40-50 when full. The thing is, when we arrived, there was nary a soul and when we left, there was still only one other customer apart from us. This was around 645 - 8 pm. If i were the owner, i'd find that rather worrying actually. Service was decent with recommendations, explainations and was generally pleasantenough to commend. They could improve on waiting time though, since we were the only people there, the waiting time of 15 minutes before our soup was served seemed rather obsessive.
Mushroom Soup ($8.95) - The mushroom soup reminded me of the rendition i had in Eden cafe under Clement. The taste and texture is packed with mushroom bits and had some cream in it as well. The overal feeling is that its creamy and starchy to good effect. The serving size was not exactly big however and at the price, this left me a little disappointed.
Seafood Chowder ($8.95) - The seafood chowder was packed with ingredients as well and had lots of squid, a few pieces of shrimp, scallop and carrots within. The end result is a pleasing soup that opens up the appetite for the meal to come. Again, the serving size is too small when comparing the price.
Seafood Platter ($51.95) - Not knowing what to order, we opted for a safe choice to try a huge amount of stuff at a "perceived" reasonable price. The platter for 2 isn't exactly full of stuff but it does have more then enough for the 2 of us to finish. Fries, fish skewers, mussels, crayfish, scallops and rice round up the platter offering. The mussels and scallops were of a decent size and there was 2 each which meant no fighting for the food. They were also reasonably fresh, as is the crayfish and the grilled fish skewers. The skewers were nicely done, not too dry despite the grilling, while the rice and fries ensured you will be full from the set. I did think $50 for this is still too steep a price to pay though.
Creme Brulee ($8.95) - Well, after a meal of overly expensive items, the dessert finally looked up to the task of living up to the price. The creme brulee came looking like a winner and in fact, it was the best item i had that night. The fruit and decor is a wonderful touch and it helps that the fruits were all sweet and complimented the dessert well. The sugar layer was a little too thick and sweet but nothing too big. The bottom layer, i suspect, is made from vanilla extract since i didn't see any vanilla residue in the texture but i'm not complaining.
Chocolate Souffle ($9.95) - I ordered this thinking it was a molten chocolate cake but i was wrong. A souffle is more akin to cakes with a springy and fluffy texture. In fact, Souffle means to "blow up" and is made of a combination of egg whites and various ingredients. Their rendition should be considered decent as the top was lightly hard while the lower portion is fluffy and a little wet with chocolate. If i'm not wrong, its supposed to come with some sauce but there wasn't any. Decent but not my kind of dessert.
Finally, this experimental meal came up to a whooping $97.65 for 2 people on a simple weekday night.
Well, to say the food is bad would be unfair but i couldn't help feeling a heavy pinch in my heart for the amount i spent on this meal. For what i had, i think a price tag of about $60 or 70 plus taxes might have made me felt better. For improvement, serving the food faster and more economical pricing would bring me back but not before then.
A long belated post which has lain dormant in my list for some time. However, the memory remains fresh nonetheless, fresh enough to provide a review and an accurate impression of the experience i've had here.
To be honest, i've been past this place so many times, its amazing how i've never felt the urge to actually step in for a meal. The exterior looks rather dull and dark but the interior is bright and cheery with clean wooden tables and nice black chairs for a zen-like feel.Service was brisk, attentive and rather pleasant as well, which makes me wonder why the place was so quiet. It was peak lunch period when we patronized it and somehow, space was aplenty with a rather abysmal clientele.
The usual compulsory crackers ($3 each) - This was rather pushing the envelope for the rip-off department at $3 per basket of crackers but i must say, i actually liked it. The crackers were good, fragrant, strong vegetable taste but add in the chili and its a whole new game. Spicy, sweet and just good. $3 is still too much for it though.
Tahu Telur ($8.50) - A rather hearty portion if i say so myself. The tahu telur was overly hard at places but managed to remain acceptable mostly due to yet another excellently fragrant sauce. Its just the normal peanut sweet sauce with a little chili but it really makes this average dish taste better then it really is.However, paying $8.50 for it is something i won't soon repeat however.
Garlic Stir Fried Kailan ($14) - Kailan stands as one of my favorite greens and its a relief that they managed to at least preserve its good tastes with this dish.Nothing outstanding, its the casual garlic stir fried version but its fragrant and very appetising.
BBQ Platter ($48) - Fried whole fish, 2 grilled prawns, generous bbq calamari and squid, chicken and satay rounds up this huge platter of food. This is good. I mean its really pretty good in terms of overal quality. The prawns are grilled till there's a little char on the bottom but manages to make the shell so brittle, you can simply eat the entire thing without much fuss. The fish is huge and deep fried on the outside with the inside still thankfully moist and soft with sweet spices. This went really well with the balachan-like chili. The chicken was overdone which resulted in tough and dry meat but the overal was still nicely fragrant and sweet. The calamari was also done just right and like the rest of the package, is sweet and fragrant. The satay is acceptable and rather bigger portioned then regular satays. Overal, this is a rather good buy to me.
Asam Fish Head ($22) - This was something i touched very little of because i didn't want to sweat like a pig before returning to work. However, i couldn't resist eating the tender and sweet fish meat that was left over by my colleagues. The asam was actually slightly spicy but not overwhelming. The curry taste was rather strong but the fish head was definitely worthwhile at the meaty portions. Fishy taste is apparent but minimal as well.
Tom Yum Seafood ($24) - Their version of the oh-so-famous tom yum seafood soup. This is the clear version and it came packed with seafood. I mean it was literally bursting with ingredients like squid, fish, mussels, prawns and scallop. Its definitely strong in terms of taste and moderately spicy but if i'm not mistaken, still milder then the actual tom yum soup in Thailand. A pretty good rendition and value for money however.
Finally, a pleasing meal for 7 came up to a total of $141.95. I'd say this is rather worthwhile given the food we had.
Last Word: A pretty decent setting and decent serving of food. The pluses are the fact it came with good service and that the price of entry is rather low. For improvement, i'd suggest having more set meal options and tie ups with companies for catering and such to boost visibility.
Was roaming the Raffles place area one late Saturday morning and popped by Village Wok for an early lunch. Actually that was the only place that opened at 11 ish so I didn't have much of a choice honestly. It also helped that they were hawking a set lunch set reasonably priced at only $8.90.
Located amongst a row of restored shophouses just opposite China Square, Village Wok is easy to miss especially if you are driving past because of the lack of prominent signage. The interior is simply furnished with parquet flooring and white washed walls.
Preserved Vegetable Soup - The preserved vegetable soup or 梅菜汤 came with the set and was rather normal but hey, its better then nothing.
Beancurd with Minced Meat - This was an extra order at $6 and honestly I was quite taken aback by the small portion. It was probably just enough for 2 pax - adequate but not exactly bang for the buck. To give it credit though, the beancurd was smooth and almost silky with a nice savoury taste to it while the topping of minced meat was generous.
Village Smoked Chicken and Char Siew Rice - The smoked chicken was purportedly an award winning dish hence I had to order it. While high expectations may have ruined the experience a little for me, I must admit that the chicken was actually quite decent. Faintly crispy skin with the meat harbouring a hint of smokiness without being too dry. I did find it a little too salty for my liking though and I do have a high tolerance for salt. As for the BBQ pork, lets just say that I've had better.
Hor Fun with Egg Sauce - Okay this dish was a tad disappointing honestly. It tasted average at best and the only upside to it was that the sauce wasn't too starchy or overwhelming. Still edible though.
$30 for a 2 pax lunch in a empty restaurant smack in the middle of Raffles place is not too expensive if you ask me. Food quality is decent but service was almost non existent save for the taking of our orders and serving of food. In conclusion, a relatively reasonable place for a nice relaxing lunch during the weekend. I can't say the same for weekdays though.
After the last dim sum at Zhou’s kitchen, it took some time before i regained my craving for our “Chinese tapas“. And this time round, i chose Kam Boat since my friends wanted a convenient location. Marina Square it is, how accessible. I must admit, when i first heard that Kam boat dim sum kitchen was in Marina Square, i was thinking where it was, since i never saw it everytime i went MS. Right, Kam boat location is very easy to find, if you are coming from the underground citylink. Upon coming up the escalator, they are at the entrance of MS, breeks cafe is also there.
The restaurant interior was smaller that what i expected from the outside, still it could seat about 50 thereabouts. Simple furnishings ooze a cosy feel, and we were quite surprise that the restaurant was barely filled on a Saturday afternoon. The lightning was very good, in fact one of the few places where i only took a few snaps and i’m happy with the photos.
Note that they have discount of 30% for dim sum on weekends 230-530pm. The prices i stated are all their original price before discount. Most of their dim sum are around 4 bucks, and after 30% discount, its around $2.80, which is rather cheap.
Steamed prawn dumpling ($4.20) I loved the jade-colour basket, which exuded a feel to enhance the flavour of the dim sum. The steamed prawn dumpling didn’t allow us to have the best of both worlds. The prawn within was crunchy and whole, but the skin was a tad thick, and sticked to the teeth. But with the discount, the har gau was barely a dollar each.
Steamed Xiao Long Bao ($4.20) I was never a big fan of Xiao Long Bao (XLB), this one here was all right, the soup stock gashed out of the skin when we took a bite, but having had one of the best and most expensive XLB before, this one paled in comparison.
Rice noodle roll with shrimp ($5.60) If it wasn’t for the 30% discount, i would feel that the shrimp cheong fun was too expensive. The shrimp, like the one in the har gau, was crunchy, rolled within the cheong fun, and together with the light sauce, made a good start for our meal.
Steamed siew mai with mushroom ($4.20) The notable difference between Kam Boat’s rendition and the norm was the addition of mushroom. Like the one i had at Zhou’s Kitchen, the mushroom didn’t really enhanced the flavour of the siew mai, since the porky and prawn taste was so strong. But it’s a nice change.
Steamed barbecued pork bun ($3.50) I think most kids don’t like char siew bun since they always had it for breakfast. But i always couldn’t resist ordering char siew bun from restaurants since theirs were always so good!
Steamed chives dumpling ($4) This was one of the more unpleasant choice, since nobody liked chives, i’ve no idea who went and ordered this.
Deep fried prawn dumpling with salad ($4.20) You know, deep fried prawn dumpling is always good, especially so when you dipped in the slightly sour salad sauce. Shiok!
Deep fried prawn with mango roll ($4.20) Besides salad, mango’s another good combination with fried prawn. The deep fried prawn with mango roll was crispy outside, crunchy with the prawns, and fruity with the mango.
Pan fried meat dumpling ($4) Meat dumpling or “wo tie” is often eaten together with ginger and vinegar. But since i didn’t like eating ginger and vinegar, i ate it on its own, and it was not bad.
Pan-fried carrot cake ($3.50) The pan fried carrot cake was nice, charred on the exterior, and soft inside. Personally, i felt that pan fried carrot cakes must show some char, if not the whole taste wouldn’t be there.
Deep fried seafood roll with mustard ($4.50) The bee hoon or whatever you called that, which wrapped around the deep fried seafood roll, provided the crisp crunchy bite. Although deep fried, the seafood roll didn’t lose its freshness. The usual scenario for deep fried stuff would be overly oily, but this one was not so.
Baked mini egg tart ($4.20) For some reason or the other, dim sum restaurants never seem to serve their egg tarts big. All came in mini size, how did they suppose we would be satisfied with the tiny, petite egg tart? Nonetheless, the mini egg tart was done exactly what i liked, the egg custard filling was soft, slightly “wet”, and the skin was crispy.
Steamed chicken feet ($3.50) I never ate chicken feet, so you need to try this one out yourself.
Steamed Glutinous rice ($3.50) The Chinese sausage or “la chang” injected the salty taste and enhanced the fragance of the glutinous rice. A vital ingredient for all glutinous rice. The mushroom, meat and rice portion was generous. Defintitely worth a try.
Total bill was $64.05 after a 30% discount for 4 person. There was some items like the steamed prawn dumpling and siew mai which we had two basket. We didn’t really order a lot since a friend was late and the last order was around 515pm. Still, Kam Boat was surprisingly good, much better than what i expected. The location is very accessible, the dim sum is cheap after the discount. And i think i’ll go back again.
You are always welcome to visit ladyironchef for a full-up on this trip. Whatever written herein are my genuine feelings expressed in words. Food, my dear, is what they call an adventure!
Right, sometimes there are so many stalls within a food centre that you don’t know which to order from. So being Singaporeans what do we do? We look at the Q, if that particular stall has long queue, we follow. The herd, or “kiasu” mentality. On my previous visit to Lau Pa Sat, it was during a weekday lunch crowd period, so the queue was ’super’ long. I didn’t order it back then, since i wasn’t really craving for char kway teow that time.
Thus, when i went back on my second visit on a Satarday afternoon, there was not a soul in sight, and despite wolfing down two burgers, and two fries, my friend and i couldn’t resist trying since there wasn’t any queue, and if you don’t try, you will find it a pity right?
Char Kuay Teow ($3) The serving of the char kuay teow was generous, in fact too much given its only $3. Not that i’m complaining anyway. The fried noodles were quite oily, the char kuay teow scent was definitely there. But somehow i felt it lack that particular “wow” factor. Well, there’s another reason to explain why i didn’t feel anything for it, perhaps the burgers and fries were blindfolding me!
You are always welcome to visit ladyironchef for a full-up on this trip. Whatever written herein are my genuine feelings expressed in words. Food, my dear, is what they call an adventure!
After all the miscellaneous posts and wonderful experiences overseas, its back to Singapore food for me and time to start talking about it again. Makes you wonder if its just food overseas thats good or simply that food in Singapore that's not up to standard. Anyway, it was one of those days my gf and i heard about a recommendation from friends and decided to try it out. This time, the main temptation is an $88 one for one set offer lobster meal. Sounds too good to be true and thus, we jumped at it to have a look.
I have passed by this place so many times but the sheer "atas" feeling it gave simply never appealed to me to eat within. So this time, with a tip off like this, i wouldn't miss it for the world. Problem is, does it live up to the anticipation i felt?
The color palate and theme of the restaurant belongs to a somber black and white with a minimalistic touch that is contrasted with its decorations such as bamboo and statues. The overal feeling is pleasing but comes with a flaw, the seats were not very comfortable and to me, the air conditioning simply didn't feel strong enough. Otherwise, it was rather pleasing. The place probably seats only 20 people inside and another 10 outside at max capacity making for a rather intimate experience with the staff.Thank goodness the service was decent.
Oyster ($1 for one) - I was curious how they managed to sell oysters at $1 each so i ordered a couple for kicks. The oysters were of a smaller variety but otherwise tasted pretty good to me. Sweet and smooth, it didn't bode too badly on the place but if you're looking for a huge Shangri-la style oyster standard, i'm afraid this is not where to look.
Sashimi "Revolution" - Seeing that it was a 4 course set menu, obviously the best choice would be to mix and match our choices to try the most items. My gf picked her favorite sashimi and i think it was done pretty well. You get all the usual cuts, salmon, swordfish and tuna in one aesthically pleasing plate. Its all good. It helps that the fish were fresh, sweet and went well with the wasabi soaked soy sauce. A good start to the meal for me.
Zen Foie Gras - My order was the always sinful Foie Gras (goose liver). Done equally well, this foie gras was a tad too oily but had a nicely charred top with tasty potato mash below which helped neutralize the oiliness. Portion size for this was rather small but given the amount of grease it adds into your system, this is already too much.
Drunken lobster soup - I was expecting a thick broth based soup but this was more akin to soup you get from normal prawn noodle soup in terms of texture. It was fragrant nonetheless and you can taste the alcohol with each spoonful. It also came with half a baby lobster which more or less is the reason why its called drunken lobster soup. The meat on the lobster wasn't too springy and came across as "old" to me. The soup, however, i could do with a bigger bowl.
Lobster mee sua and Thai Red Curry Lobster Laksa - Both iteration came be commented together since the differences only come in the broth base. The mee sua was the better of the 2 since it was more starchy and alike to shark's fin broth which is one of my favorites. It also helps that the mee sua is soft and nicely springy. The thai red curry laksa is just a long name for saying laksa with half lobster inside. The curry wasn't too good though, since it felt as though there was an overdose of coconut milk in it. And like the lobster soup above, the lobster just didn't feel fresh. In the end, all we got for our money was actually 2 baby lobsters, hardly worthy of being called a lobster set imho but thats to be expected with the price.
Double boiled birds nest soup - Aesthically please but a nightmare for the staff to serve, the double boiled birds nest came with a nice wire meshlike topping of sugar on top. This proves to be necessary as the bird's nest was extremely bitter. To top it off, i counted 2 wavy substances that might be bird's nest in it but i struggle to confirm. A case of overpromising and underdelivering i suppose.
This mixed meal cost me $102.08 in the end, which is still a tad too much for the quality and uncomfortable environment.
Was it bad? Well, not entirely. There were a few good items, but the overall feel didn't live up to the promise. And the mee sua and laksa certainly wasn't anything special because i felt like i could have had it in a food court with more prawns and cheaper prices. Rethink the menu and provide more lobsters and this meal would have felt alot better. Will i return? Not in the near future i'm afraid.
1=SGD 0.0587
Great place for that unforgettable Dinner for 2 or perhaps a lazy afternoon food indulgence with the girls after your christmas shopping session. Believe Me.. You deserve to be pampered.
This Lobby Restaurant serves us with a great view of the greenary outside as well as the relaxing man-made waterfall, buzzling away all our stress and anxiety. Full Length High Glass Windows leaves an unobstructed view of the outside and somehow removes all obstruction of speech and promotes the openess in conversation.
The food is great. With sets and of sets of delightful yummilicious food on one side and beautiful desserts on the other corner. They offer i quote "exquisite international, Asian and local favourites on the menu. Our must-try signature dishes are Soya glazed gindara with braised somen, Crabmeat fried rice and Sheraton Towers Laksa served either fried or gravy style. Mouth-watering desserts that we are famous for include Chilled aloe vera jelly, Strawberry mille feuille, Mud Pie and Sheraton Towers’ own Ice Burger."
I would love to mention their fabulous sashimi which is so fresh that it melts in your mouth and smoked salmon and salad appetizers. They have a great way of presenting their appetizers and desserts in which i cannot but have to worship them with my eyes first before indulging in every bit of them.
I particularly love their durian cake. In which is served in the lunch buffet bad sadly have been gobbled up by the diners within 10 minutes of serving. However a great waitress brought me a piece FOC, or should i say on the house with orders from the chef after i repeatedly begged her for it.
And boy its really nice....
There are light durian sponge cakes on top in small cubes as decoration and a little cream. The inside of the cake is 80% made of REAL CREAMY DURIAN. So smooth and the texture was great. I can never have enough of that cake and its one of the best i've tasted so far.
So if you're there.. don't forget to drop by the cake display cabinate at the entrance of the THE DINING ROOM.. and its a great experience for me and i'm sure for you too.
Rating given:
Walking distance from Newton MRT Station, Shereton Towers is a perfect place for seminars, wedding and other posh events. Setting of this hotel is elegant and exquisite with a touch of a cosy home. Situated away from the buzzing orchard road yet still near to town, this hotel is a great place to put your guest in.
They have 3 great restaurants in the hotel and i would like to highlight the one in the Lobby. The view is great and what more the assortment of food is lagi great in which I will review about it later.
I went there for seminars a couple of times. Rather i find the ballrooms a little too tight, but thats perhaps the organiser's not so good arrangement. The food was great. Snacks were delicious and have a good assortments of cakes and finger food.
The stationary they provide is the usual pens and thin notepads in which i find their pens particularly smooth to write.. Perhaps i'm too bored in class.
The toilets were great. I'm quite a toilet critic, like many girls I do spend more time in the toilet and I expect it to feel great, look great, smell great and have more then enough amenities.. I've been to the ladies at the lobby and at the ballroom levels and they are all above average.
A nice place to have your wedding dinner, cocktail and whatsoever events. Great because no jams yet near to town... So if anybody wants a part 2 late night partying, they can head on down to orchard road which is but 3 mins away.
Rating given:
Me Me Me.. I ate here.. Since nobody review about it.. Hee Hee.. I'm going to be the first AGAIN!
Actually Frankly speaking, I still prefer the Outlet at Suntec City, the old deco looks great, though the tables and chairs look kopitiam like, but the food display is less cluttered, more jap look and seemed more exciting for me.
This new outlet accomodated the new interior deco. Food lined properly on the buffet table which is nothing more then a huge square centerpiece. At the sides there is a grilling and tappenyaki corner and on the other corner, you have pipping hot claypot noodles and other stuffs. What really interest me are these pot full of soups. They look exactly like a teapot with a cup as the cover.. Very interesting and with that a guaranteed funloving meal.
I was there for lunch and therefore no HUGE CRABS.. which I so long to have them. This outlet has got huge tables for big crowds as well as vertically louvered partitions for that more spacious look. Food is great as usual. I particularly like the assortment of tea bags the display.
First it feels good to be able to choose from those great display boxes. Secondly, I could never get to taste all types of the tea except for now. Thirdly, It was great fun with friends to be exchanging pointers on the different tasting teas.
The dessert counter was great as well. Me and my pals all had fun with the fondue.. contaminating the yummy chocolate with the juicy fruits, cakes and mushymellows..
In closing, I would say i would want to go back again, but certainly for dinner. I've calculated.. with this spread.. just eat more crabs and you'll get all the money's worth....
Rating given:
Located along Hougang Street 21 near Kovan MRT station, Cheng Kee Beef Kway Teow serves both dry and soup version of beef noodles. For $4.50 for a medium bowl, patrons can have a bowl of beef noodles consisting of mixed ingredients like Beef Balls, Beef Brisket, and Sliced Beef.
HFB finally understood why the stall was rated so highly by the Makan Matas (it has a rating of “Die, die must try!” by Makansutra) – with a dash of salted vegetables, the soup was VERY intense and fully flavoured. No wonder HFB observed customers kept coming back for refills. What topped the cake was the fact that the beef brisket was devastatingly tender, that it disintegrated the moment one gave it a soft chew.
Although the Kway Teow itself was nothing to shout about, but in HFB’s opinion, Cheng Kee’s soup version was definitely superior to the much over-hyped Hock Lam.
So what about the dry version you might ask – surprisingly it wasn’t half as good as the soup adaptation. The gravy had a bitter tinge, which HFB suppose comes from herbs used – the aftertaste wasn’t pleasing and HFB would not recommend it especially if one do not take well to herbs.
HFB also tried going back for refills of the soup and was disappointed that it didn’t taste as good as the one that came with the Kway Teow – he noticed that it was scooped from a different pot. Overall, one will never go wrong with the soup version and the beef brisket.
You can view all the photos here.
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It was during one of the celebrating months for my gf that we finally decided to give Big Fish a try after numerous recommendations. My gf loved fish and so, this has been in our minds for quite some time. Honestly, we're just trying to see if there's another place as worthwhile as the Manhatten Fish market in terms of food offerings since this is pretty much of the same theme. So it was that we stepped in and had our first encounter.
Complimentary Bread - The complimentary bread was served warm and soft which is a plus but otherwise, nothing significant. Not too sure if it is made in house either since its rather bland and simple.
The interior is rather spacious with around 4-6 wall sofa seats and a seating capacity of about 40-50 when full. The thing is, when we arrived, there was nary a soul and when we left, there was still only one other customer apart from us. This was around 645 - 8 pm. If i were the owner, i'd find that rather worrying actually. Service was decent with recommendations, explainations and was generally pleasantenough to commend. They could improve on waiting time though, since we were the only people there, the waiting time of 15 minutes before our soup was served seemed rather obsessive.
Mushroom Soup ($8.95) - The mushroom soup reminded me of the rendition i had in Eden cafe under Clement. The taste and texture is packed with mushroom bits and had some cream in it as well. The overal feeling is that its creamy and starchy to good effect. The serving size was not exactly big however and at the price, this left me a little disappointed.
Seafood Chowder ($8.95) - The seafood chowder was packed with ingredients as well and had lots of squid, a few pieces of shrimp, scallop and carrots within. The end result is a pleasing soup that opens up the appetite for the meal to come. Again, the serving size is too small when comparing the price.
Seafood Platter ($51.95) - Not knowing what to order, we opted for a safe choice to try a huge amount of stuff at a "perceived" reasonable price. The platter for 2 isn't exactly full of stuff but it does have more then enough for the 2 of us to finish. Fries, fish skewers, mussels, crayfish, scallops and rice round up the platter offering. The mussels and scallops were of a decent size and there was 2 each which meant no fighting for the food. They were also reasonably fresh, as is the crayfish and the grilled fish skewers. The skewers were nicely done, not too dry despite the grilling, while the rice and fries ensured you will be full from the set. I did think $50 for this is still too steep a price to pay though.
Creme Brulee ($8.95) - Well, after a meal of overly expensive items, the dessert finally looked up to the task of living up to the price. The creme brulee came looking like a winner and in fact, it was the best item i had that night. The fruit and decor is a wonderful touch and it helps that the fruits were all sweet and complimented the dessert well. The sugar layer was a little too thick and sweet but nothing too big. The bottom layer, i suspect, is made from vanilla extract since i didn't see any vanilla residue in the texture but i'm not complaining.
Chocolate Souffle ($9.95) - I ordered this thinking it was a molten chocolate cake but i was wrong. A souffle is more akin to cakes with a springy and fluffy texture. In fact, Souffle means to "blow up" and is made of a combination of egg whites and various ingredients. Their rendition should be considered decent as the top was lightly hard while the lower portion is fluffy and a little wet with chocolate. If i'm not wrong, its supposed to come with some sauce but there wasn't any. Decent but not my kind of dessert.
Finally, this experimental meal came up to a whooping $97.65 for 2 people on a simple weekday night.
Well, to say the food is bad would be unfair but i couldn't help feeling a heavy pinch in my heart for the amount i spent on this meal. For what i had, i think a price tag of about $60 or 70 plus taxes might have made me felt better. For improvement, serving the food faster and more economical pricing would bring me back but not before then.
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A long belated post which has lain dormant in my list for some time. However, the memory remains fresh nonetheless, fresh enough to provide a review and an accurate impression of the experience i've had here.
To be honest, i've been past this place so many times, its amazing how i've never felt the urge to actually step in for a meal. The exterior looks rather dull and dark but the interior is bright and cheery with clean wooden tables and nice black chairs for a zen-like feel.Service was brisk, attentive and rather pleasant as well, which makes me wonder why the place was so quiet. It was peak lunch period when we patronized it and somehow, space was aplenty with a rather abysmal clientele.
The usual compulsory crackers ($3 each) - This was rather pushing the envelope for the rip-off department at $3 per basket of crackers but i must say, i actually liked it. The crackers were good, fragrant, strong vegetable taste but add in the chili and its a whole new game. Spicy, sweet and just good. $3 is still too much for it though.
Tahu Telur ($8.50) - A rather hearty portion if i say so myself. The tahu telur was overly hard at places but managed to remain acceptable mostly due to yet another excellently fragrant sauce. Its just the normal peanut sweet sauce with a little chili but it really makes this average dish taste better then it really is.However, paying $8.50 for it is something i won't soon repeat however.
Garlic Stir Fried Kailan ($14) - Kailan stands as one of my favorite greens and its a relief that they managed to at least preserve its good tastes with this dish.Nothing outstanding, its the casual garlic stir fried version but its fragrant and very appetising.
BBQ Platter ($48) - Fried whole fish, 2 grilled prawns, generous bbq calamari and squid, chicken and satay rounds up this huge platter of food. This is good. I mean its really pretty good in terms of overal quality. The prawns are grilled till there's a little char on the bottom but manages to make the shell so brittle, you can simply eat the entire thing without much fuss. The fish is huge and deep fried on the outside with the inside still thankfully moist and soft with sweet spices. This went really well with the balachan-like chili. The chicken was overdone which resulted in tough and dry meat but the overal was still nicely fragrant and sweet. The calamari was also done just right and like the rest of the package, is sweet and fragrant. The satay is acceptable and rather bigger portioned then regular satays. Overal, this is a rather good buy to me.
Asam Fish Head ($22) - This was something i touched very little of because i didn't want to sweat like a pig before returning to work. However, i couldn't resist eating the tender and sweet fish meat that was left over by my colleagues. The asam was actually slightly spicy but not overwhelming. The curry taste was rather strong but the fish head was definitely worthwhile at the meaty portions. Fishy taste is apparent but minimal as well.
Tom Yum Seafood ($24) - Their version of the oh-so-famous tom yum seafood soup. This is the clear version and it came packed with seafood. I mean it was literally bursting with ingredients like squid, fish, mussels, prawns and scallop. Its definitely strong in terms of taste and moderately spicy but if i'm not mistaken, still milder then the actual tom yum soup in Thailand. A pretty good rendition and value for money however.
Finally, a pleasing meal for 7 came up to a total of $141.95. I'd say this is rather worthwhile given the food we had.
Last Word: A pretty decent setting and decent serving of food. The pluses are the fact it came with good service and that the price of entry is rather low. For improvement, i'd suggest having more set meal options and tie ups with companies for catering and such to boost visibility.
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Was roaming the Raffles place area one late Saturday morning and popped by Village Wok for an early lunch. Actually that was the only place that opened at 11 ish so I didn't have much of a choice honestly. It also helped that they were hawking a set lunch set reasonably priced at only $8.90.
Located amongst a row of restored shophouses just opposite China Square, Village Wok is easy to miss especially if you are driving past because of the lack of prominent signage. The interior is simply furnished with parquet flooring and white washed walls.
Preserved Vegetable Soup - The preserved vegetable soup or 梅菜汤 came with the set and was rather normal but hey, its better then nothing.
Beancurd with Minced Meat - This was an extra order at $6 and honestly I was quite taken aback by the small portion. It was probably just enough for 2 pax - adequate but not exactly bang for the buck. To give it credit though, the beancurd was smooth and almost silky with a nice savoury taste to it while the topping of minced meat was generous.
Village Smoked Chicken and Char Siew Rice - The smoked chicken was purportedly an award winning dish hence I had to order it. While high expectations may have ruined the experience a little for me, I must admit that the chicken was actually quite decent. Faintly crispy skin with the meat harbouring a hint of smokiness without being too dry. I did find it a little too salty for my liking though and I do have a high tolerance for salt. As for the BBQ pork, lets just say that I've had better.
Hor Fun with Egg Sauce - Okay this dish was a tad disappointing honestly. It tasted average at best and the only upside to it was that the sauce wasn't too starchy or overwhelming. Still edible though.
$30 for a 2 pax lunch in a empty restaurant smack in the middle of Raffles place is not too expensive if you ask me. Food quality is decent but service was almost non existent save for the taking of our orders and serving of food. In conclusion, a relatively reasonable place for a nice relaxing lunch during the weekend. I can't say the same for weekdays though.
See all my pictures here.
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After the last dim sum at Zhou’s kitchen, it took some time before i regained my craving for our “Chinese tapas“. And this time round, i chose Kam Boat since my friends wanted a convenient location. Marina Square it is, how accessible. I must admit, when i first heard that Kam boat dim sum kitchen was in Marina Square, i was thinking where it was, since i never saw it everytime i went MS. Right, Kam boat location is very easy to find, if you are coming from the underground citylink. Upon coming up the escalator, they are at the entrance of MS, breeks cafe is also there.
The restaurant interior was smaller that what i expected from the outside, still it could seat about 50 thereabouts. Simple furnishings ooze a cosy feel, and we were quite surprise that the restaurant was barely filled on a Saturday afternoon. The lightning was very good, in fact one of the few places where i only took a few snaps and i’m happy with the photos.
Note that they have discount of 30% for dim sum on weekends 230-530pm. The prices i stated are all their original price before discount. Most of their dim sum are around 4 bucks, and after 30% discount, its around $2.80, which is rather cheap.
Steamed prawn dumpling ($4.20)
I loved the jade-colour basket, which exuded a feel to enhance the flavour of the dim sum. The steamed prawn dumpling didn’t allow us to have the best of both worlds. The prawn within was crunchy and whole, but the skin was a tad thick, and sticked to the teeth. But with the discount, the har gau was barely a dollar each.
Steamed Xiao Long Bao ($4.20)
I was never a big fan of Xiao Long Bao (XLB), this one here was all right, the soup stock gashed out of the skin when we took a bite, but having had one of the best and most expensive XLB before, this one paled in comparison.
Rice noodle roll with shrimp ($5.60)
If it wasn’t for the 30% discount, i would feel that the shrimp cheong fun was too expensive. The shrimp, like the one in the har gau, was crunchy, rolled within the cheong fun, and together with the light sauce, made a good start for our meal.
Steamed siew mai with mushroom ($4.20)
The notable difference between Kam Boat’s rendition and the norm was the addition of mushroom. Like the one i had at Zhou’s Kitchen, the mushroom didn’t really enhanced the flavour of the siew mai, since the porky and prawn taste was so strong. But it’s a nice change.
Steamed barbecued pork bun ($3.50)
I think most kids don’t like char siew bun since they always had it for breakfast. But i always couldn’t resist ordering char siew bun from restaurants since theirs were always so good!
Steamed chives dumpling ($4)
This was one of the more unpleasant choice, since nobody liked chives, i’ve no idea who went and ordered this.
Deep fried prawn dumpling with salad ($4.20)
You know, deep fried prawn dumpling is always good, especially so when you dipped in the slightly sour salad sauce. Shiok!
Deep fried prawn with mango roll ($4.20)
Besides salad, mango’s another good combination with fried prawn. The deep fried prawn with mango roll was crispy outside, crunchy with the prawns, and fruity with the mango.
Pan fried meat dumpling ($4)
Meat dumpling or “wo tie” is often eaten together with ginger and vinegar. But since i didn’t like eating ginger and vinegar, i ate it on its own, and it was not bad.
Pan-fried carrot cake ($3.50)
The pan fried carrot cake was nice, charred on the exterior, and soft inside. Personally, i felt that pan fried carrot cakes must show some char, if not the whole taste wouldn’t be there.
Deep fried seafood roll with mustard ($4.50)
The bee hoon or whatever you called that, which wrapped around the deep fried seafood roll, provided the crisp crunchy bite. Although deep fried, the seafood roll didn’t lose its freshness. The usual scenario for deep fried stuff would be overly oily, but this one was not so.
Baked mini egg tart ($4.20)
For some reason or the other, dim sum restaurants never seem to serve their egg tarts big. All came in mini size, how did they suppose we would be satisfied with the tiny, petite egg tart? Nonetheless, the mini egg tart was done exactly what i liked, the egg custard filling was soft, slightly “wet”, and the skin was crispy.
Steamed chicken feet ($3.50)
I never ate chicken feet, so you need to try this one out yourself.
Steamed Glutinous rice ($3.50)
The Chinese sausage or “la chang” injected the salty taste and enhanced the fragance of the glutinous rice. A vital ingredient for all glutinous rice. The mushroom, meat and rice portion was generous. Defintitely worth a try.
Total bill was $64.05 after a 30% discount for 4 person. There was some items like the steamed prawn dumpling and siew mai which we had two basket. We didn’t really order a lot since a friend was late and the last order was around 515pm. Still, Kam Boat was surprisingly good, much better than what i expected. The location is very accessible, the dim sum is cheap after the discount. And i think i’ll go back again.
You are always welcome to visit ladyironchef for a full-up on this trip. Whatever written herein are my genuine feelings expressed in words. Food, my dear, is what they call an adventure!
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Right, sometimes there are so many stalls within a food centre that you don’t know which to order from. So being Singaporeans what do we do? We look at the Q, if that particular stall has long queue, we follow. The herd, or “kiasu” mentality. On my previous visit to Lau Pa Sat, it was during a weekday lunch crowd period, so the queue was ’super’ long. I didn’t order it back then, since i wasn’t really craving for char kway teow that time.
Thus, when i went back on my second visit on a Satarday afternoon, there was not a soul in sight, and despite wolfing down two burgers, and two fries, my friend and i couldn’t resist trying since there wasn’t any queue, and if you don’t try, you will find it a pity right?
Char Kuay Teow ($3)
The serving of the char kuay teow was generous, in fact too much given its only $3. Not that i’m complaining anyway. The fried noodles were quite oily, the char kuay teow scent was definitely there. But somehow i felt it lack that particular “wow” factor. Well, there’s another reason to explain why i didn’t feel anything for it, perhaps the burgers and fries were blindfolding me!
You are always welcome to visit ladyironchef for a full-up on this trip. Whatever written herein are my genuine feelings expressed in words. Food, my dear, is what they call an adventure!
Rating given:
After all the miscellaneous posts and wonderful experiences overseas, its back to Singapore food for me and time to start talking about it again. Makes you wonder if its just food overseas thats good or simply that food in Singapore that's not up to standard. Anyway, it was one of those days my gf and i heard about a recommendation from friends and decided to try it out. This time, the main temptation is an $88 one for one set offer lobster meal. Sounds too good to be true and thus, we jumped at it to have a look.
I have passed by this place so many times but the sheer "atas" feeling it gave simply never appealed to me to eat within. So this time, with a tip off like this, i wouldn't miss it for the world. Problem is, does it live up to the anticipation i felt?
The color palate and theme of the restaurant belongs to a somber black and white with a minimalistic touch that is contrasted with its decorations such as bamboo and statues. The overal feeling is pleasing but comes with a flaw, the seats were not very comfortable and to me, the air conditioning simply didn't feel strong enough. Otherwise, it was rather pleasing. The place probably seats only 20 people inside and another 10 outside at max capacity making for a rather intimate experience with the staff.Thank goodness the service was decent.
Oyster ($1 for one) - I was curious how they managed to sell oysters at $1 each so i ordered a couple for kicks. The oysters were of a smaller variety but otherwise tasted pretty good to me. Sweet and smooth, it didn't bode too badly on the place but if you're looking for a huge Shangri-la style oyster standard, i'm afraid this is not where to look.
Sashimi "Revolution" - Seeing that it was a 4 course set menu, obviously the best choice would be to mix and match our choices to try the most items. My gf picked her favorite sashimi and i think it was done pretty well. You get all the usual cuts, salmon, swordfish and tuna in one aesthically pleasing plate. Its all good. It helps that the fish were fresh, sweet and went well with the wasabi soaked soy sauce. A good start to the meal for me.
Zen Foie Gras - My order was the always sinful Foie Gras (goose liver). Done equally well, this foie gras was a tad too oily but had a nicely charred top with tasty potato mash below which helped neutralize the oiliness. Portion size for this was rather small but given the amount of grease it adds into your system, this is already too much.
Drunken lobster soup - I was expecting a thick broth based soup but this was more akin to soup you get from normal prawn noodle soup in terms of texture. It was fragrant nonetheless and you can taste the alcohol with each spoonful. It also came with half a baby lobster which more or less is the reason why its called drunken lobster soup. The meat on the lobster wasn't too springy and came across as "old" to me. The soup, however, i could do with a bigger bowl.
Lobster mee sua and Thai Red Curry Lobster Laksa - Both iteration came be commented together since the differences only come in the broth base. The mee sua was the better of the 2 since it was more starchy and alike to shark's fin broth which is one of my favorites. It also helps that the mee sua is soft and nicely springy. The thai red curry laksa is just a long name for saying laksa with half lobster inside. The curry wasn't too good though, since it felt as though there was an overdose of coconut milk in it. And like the lobster soup above, the lobster just didn't feel fresh. In the end, all we got for our money was actually 2 baby lobsters, hardly worthy of being called a lobster set imho but thats to be expected with the price.
Double boiled birds nest soup - Aesthically please but a nightmare for the staff to serve, the double boiled birds nest came with a nice wire meshlike topping of sugar on top. This proves to be necessary as the bird's nest was extremely bitter. To top it off, i counted 2 wavy substances that might be bird's nest in it but i struggle to confirm. A case of overpromising and underdelivering i suppose.
This mixed meal cost me $102.08 in the end, which is still a tad too much for the quality and uncomfortable environment.
Was it bad? Well, not entirely. There were a few good items, but the overall feel didn't live up to the promise. And the mee sua and laksa certainly wasn't anything special because i felt like i could have had it in a food court with more prawns and cheaper prices. Rethink the menu and provide more lobsters and this meal would have felt alot better. Will i return? Not in the near future i'm afraid.
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