Momoteapots has been around for a bit and has quite a large following. I chanced upon it a couple of months ago and have been drooling over their pretty clothes.
What I like about this blogshop is how they maintain being polite. Even when they talked about fraud in their site, they didn't sound unnecessarily angry and explained their reasons for requesting for receipts from customers. They even apologised for the inconvenience caused, which is great!
The prices are very reasonable. Not only that... the photographs they take are good and they try to show the clothing in all angles which is what I love most. Somehow some other shops when trying to make the clothes look nice, they forget to show you what the back looks like. But Momoteapots always shows the best they can which I think it really commendable.
They have a wide range of clothing, needless to say I'm not a fan of ALL their clothes because they have to cater to different tastes but I do like quite a number of stuff they have. They mostly have dresses (which are easier to buy online anyway) and sometimes bags and belts.
They even maintain a facebook account to keep in touch with their customers!
My only grievance is that I wish they would update more often!!!! But then I would spend money much more often toooo haha :)
Was there for my haircut on Saturday and HFB is pretty impressed with the salon. Located above Body Shop, NEXT is ritzy and glamorously furnish in everything black, including the black leather sofa chair that they will ushered you to for your haircut. Unlike those stiff chairs that usual salon provides, HFB was able to sit comfortably while being attended to.
Soon enough it's time for one's hair wash before the cut and HFB think its the longest he ever had for a wash head massage (25mins to be exact). Although HFB have to admit it's not the best he had tried (KRplus offers better head message amidst a shorter one), it was still enjoyable nonetheless.
Jack, was my hair stylist that day (dolled in his professional yet trendy black outfit of course) - and I am surprised that he is pretty skillful for someone his age. I leave NEXT a happy man satisfied with both my $37.45 haircut and wash/massage. You can be rest assured that I will be making my appointment with them for my NEXT haircut (lame!).
The Silk Road or 丝绸之路 was an important cultural and trade route that linked China and the Far East to the West in ancient times. This was the very route that legendary explorer Marco Polo took from North and South China back to Venice during the 13th century. Banking on the success of this historic route, the Silk Road group of restaurants was born, with Silk Road of the Sea at Sentosa being the latest addition to the family.
Nestled on the ground floor in a standalone building along Palawan beach, Silk Road shares the premises with Braise, a modern European restaurant that occupies the second floor. This cosy Chinese restaurant offers both air conditioned indoor dining and al fresco if you wish to experience the sea breeze and the sand that tags along with it. The interior is done up simply with white washed walls and pillars but more importantly, comes with floor to ceiling windows to allow an unobstructed view of the beach (provided no one blocks your view by sitting in front of you in the al fresco area).
Pumpkin Soup - An off the menu item as well as a signature dish of Silk Road, the pumpkin soup cost a hefty $18. Portions were big and the soup was probably just sufficient for 1 person. However I must give it credit for its rather interesting presentation - served in a pumpkin with its insides carved out. The soup came across as mildy sweet with a relatively strong hint of the raw ocean, which can be quite unsettling at times. I also thought that for the price, there would be a more generous serving of scallops, prawns, squid and seaweed in it.
Chef's Homemade Signature Beancurd - Besides the gravy being a wee bit too salty, I couldn't find any fault with the beancurd, which was a little crisp on the outside yet smooth and silky on the inside. Personally, I liked the layer of spinach atop which accentuated the savoury aftertaste. Polishing off this dish would have child's play to me.
Sichuan Smoked Duck with Camphor & Tea Leaves - My experiences with smoked duck in Singapore are limited to only Szechuan Court and Peach Blossoms, both of which doesn't exactly serve up good smoked duck I must say. Although Silk Road's rendition was better then both places, it still didn't impress me much. The duck meat was reddish (a little too reddish at some parts though) but not overly dry and carried a floating hint of smokiness. There was the problem of the missing tea taste though.
Stir Fried Asparagus - How bad can stir fried asparagus get? This dish was normal with the asparagus cooked just right, not too soft nor hard. And thats about it.
Supreme Fried Rice with Seafood - I thought that the rice was evenly fried, as evident by the homogeneous colour but lacked the quintessential wok hei taste. Fortunately, the rice still came across as relatively tasty with a reasonably generous amount of ingredients.
Dinner is a most relaxing environment coupled with a nice view of the beach cost the two of us about $98. Expensive? Definitely. However, if you take a look at the individual pricing of items, its more or less Crystal Jade prices except for the pumpkin soup, which is really over the hill IMHO. Take that away and suddenly, the total bill does seem a tad more reasonable. However, having said that, I don't see myself returning, especially with an upfront $7 ($6 entry $1 parking) charge.
There are so many different types of desserts out there, so what’s your favourite? Chocolate cakes? Gourmet cheesecakes? Everybody has their own preference, i’ll say i love any types of desserts, and will willingly try all of them. The thing that i enjoyed about the pastry is that they ain’t just pretty to look at, they are also delightfully good.
So does that means that you can’t have a good chocolate cake if you want a similarity excellent cheesecake? Fortunately at Obolo, you can have the best of both worlds without any compromise.
From what was then an online patisserie to the boutique patisserie you see today at Joo Chiat, Obolo has gone a long way serving its gourmet cheesecakes and chocolate cakes. The flagship store opened in June 2007, almost a year plus already, provided a retail avenue for Obolo to showcase its repertoire of desserts.
The boutique de pâtisserie had a sleek and clean look, with the clever use of mirrors to create a bigger impression of the place. Nonetheless the small pastry restaurant can hardly sit more than 10, and it’s quite a squeeze in there.
Obolo’s famous for their signature New York cheesecake, which looked stunning with three ginormous strawberries. But we couldn’t possibly missed out on Noisette, and since we favoured chocolate over cheese, we decided to pick the latter. My friend and I decided to opt for an all-out chocolate feast, with all our selections chocolaty to prevent a clash of flavours over the chocolate and cheese.
Noisette ($6.70) Dark chocolate mousse, caramelised toasted hazulnuts, crunchy praline feullitine, chocolate genoise. Noisette was the cake that put Obolo among the Sunday Times top 50 cakes. It got a smooth texture, not overly sweet. The Noisette was rich with chocolate and hazelnut flavours.
I particularly enjoyed the crunchy praline feullitine base, but the layer was too thin! It would definitely be better if there’s another layer in between the mousse.
Le Cassis ($6.70) Dark Chocolate ganache mousse, cassis ivoire mousse, praline feulletine base and moist dark chocolate-almond biscuit layers. Le Cassis certainly looked pleasing to the eyes with its bright colour combination. The sour blackcurrent actually helped to smooth out the sweetness of the cake, which created a nice balance between sweet and sour.
With the cassis (blackcurrent) ivorie mousse on top, and the dark chocolate mousse enveloped in between the two layers of chocolate-almond biscuit, it provided a good blend of different taste. The cassis sour, the dark chocolate slightly bitter-sweet, the chocolate biscuit layer and the praline feulletine base added the crunchy sweet component.
Bittersweet Macaron ($1.80) To continue with the chocolate-feast, we had the bittersweet macarons. Dark chocolate, not too sweet nor too bitter, just nice for the taste bud. It could be a double-edge thing though, in the shoe of those who didn’t fancy bitter chocolates, this would do nicely. But for the dark chocolate purist, the bittersweet macarons could be a tad sweet.
Hazelnut Macaron ($1.80) The hazelnut taste was definitely there, the texture of the hazelnut macarons shells were chewy and the fillings in between was velvety and fulsome. Being a hazelnut fan, I immediately went for this one when i saw the lists of flavours available, with the others being cassis, rose, pistache, mango passion, raspberry, ruby, chocolate passion, vanille, and pabana.
Total bill was $17 for 2 cakes and 2 macarons, which made a nice treat for after-meal desserts. Obolo definitely got prospect with its gourmet cheesecake and range of desserts, which made me wondered why didn’t they set up a branch in town. Obolo’s owner June explained that they are looking into expanding, so we can be looking forward to another branch probably next year.
With around 11 different type of cakes to choose from, Obolo is constantly coming up with new flavours, having said that, you should be able to find one that suits your taste bud. Prices can be considered slightly high given their inaccessible location, and that Canele’s charging similar prices. But i think for the Easterners, Obolo’s definitely a place for your treats of desserts.
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!
Noodles and rice are the staple in our Asian context, while the Caucasians live on their bread, try telling the older generation that there isn’t rice for dinner and you’ll get the answer from their reactions. There are many different kinds of noodles; the Japanese ramen, soba and udon are especially popular. And then there’s the Korean noodles, and of course, our Chinese noodles.
And among our Chinese noodles, there are many types with wheat flour based ones like lamien, vermicelli, and the thick noodles. For their egg base counterparts, there are the thin noodles (you mian), and the mee pok which are commonly found. How about bamboo noodles?
I was given the opportunity for a food tasting session at Tai Shek Hei. The boss John See, and his wife Amy invited me for lunch to try out their speciality, bamboo noodles. Tai Shek Hei had recently just opened a month ago at Joo Chiat road, just directly opposite the Dunman food centre.
So you might ask, what’s so special about bamboo noodles? The tedious process in making the noodles from dough using the bamboo machine specially created by John. I didn’t get the chance to see the noodle-making process that day because they had already made their batch of noodles the previous days. The chef will normally make about 200 servings of noodles each time, and usually every two days they will make new ones to ensure the freshness of the noodles.
My friend and I had a quick tour around the kitchen and John explained the concepts behind Tai Shek Hei to us.The staff are all from China, thus might have difficulty with their English when taking orders.
Tai Shek Hei has got very simple furnishings, with the artwork depicting the joy of the chef in making the noodles, adorning the wall. What i like about the place is its unpretentious feel, coupled with the soothing music, provided an cosy environment which was unlike other typical Chinese restaurants.
Speciality Tobiko dumpling bamboo noodle ($6.80) In Hong Kong, they actually preferred the soup version of the wanton mee to the dry one which is more popular in Singapore. The speciality Tobiko dumpling bamboo noodle was one of the most springy noodles i ever tried before. The noodles were so springy that they literally “bounce” on your tongue.
We also tried the dry version of the bamboo noodles, with equally good results. Although some people might find it expensive, given there’s only four dumplings with the bamboo noodles, but you can’t compare it with the normal wonton mee, for one, the noodle’s really good, and the process in making them was certainly not easy.
The Tobiko dumplings would redefine the dumpling experience. Their dumplings were packed fully with ingredients like shrimp, meat, water chestnut, tobiko (Japanese flying fish roe). One bite of the dumplings was all it need to let the essence of the fillings sinked into your month.
Speciality fried tobiko dumpling ($4 for 4) Besides the dumpling soup, Tai Shek Hei also got the fried version, which i felt that was even better than the soup one. The crispy wonton skin was a delight to bite, you can hear the crunching sound. And just for the information, the wonton skin was also made with their own machine.
The fillings were the same as the soup version, shrimp, meat, water chestnut, tobiko (Japanese flying fish roe).
Chives & egg pancake Personally, I didn’t like chives as i found the taste too strong, but for food tasting sake, i tried one of them. The chives dumpling, or pancake as they called it here, was fried until golden brown, with the green chives inside shining though the translucent skin.
There’s plenty of juice from the chives which came rushing out when we took a bite. I think this one’s good for chives lovers, with the crispy golden brown skin and the juicy chives. But for me, I still can’t accept it.
Honey Gourd ($4) We had a sampling portion of the honey gourd, which was an innovative dish on the menu. Gourd which was bitter in nature, when paired up with the sweet honey, gave a balanced taste of sweet-bitterness.
Fried honey dew Another inspiration of Amy, this was created on the day we went, so we got the opportunity of trying it first-hand. They provided a bowl of ice water, to soak the pipping hot fried honey dew into it, before eating. The idea was to prevent customers from burning their toungue.
And also the contrast of fried hot honey dew when come into contact with the icy water was apparent. But i found that the chili padi which was part of the ingredients overpower the sweet honey dew taste. A creative idea no less, and we shall wait for the chef to refine it.
Roast Combination ($10 for small) Not many restaurants are honest with their customers, but Amy frankly told us that their roast combinations got mixed results. Their roast pork was not up to the grade, and they had since removed it from the menu. Leaving with the roast duck, char siew, and soy-sauce chicken.
The soy-sauce chicken was actually the better one among the trio, with Amy proudly saying that’s the one that can brave the test. My first taste was a tad dry and hard, but thats probably because i got the breast meat. The other parts of the chicken were fine, smooth and silky.
The Char siew was average, although not juicy and tender enough, their rendition’s still passable.
I thought that the roasted duck was all right, nothing fantastic, but i had eaten worse.
Cod ($8 for small) We rounded off our meal with the cod which i thought was reasonable at $8 for a small serving. The fish was fried to crispy golden brown. It’s difficult to judge the freshness of a fish when it’s fried, but I have no complains about the cod since i always like them.
All in all, Tai Shek Hei has got really excellent bamboo noodles, one of the best i’ve tried so far. I think it’s worth a try, even though you might complain it’s too expensive, but hey they are a Chinese restaurant after all. The menu is still in-process, as they are still testing and trying some new dishes, while removing the inferior ones. The items are a case of hits and misses, with the tobiko dumpling noodle, and the chives pancakes worthy mentions.
The PRC staff might not be adapt to communicating in English as yet, but they are busy learning the basic terms to cope with the need. Service is still slow as the new entrants are still coping with the F&B experience, but things are getting better with each day. I’ll like to thank John and Amy for inviting me to try their bamboo noodles, and I’ll go back again for them when i’m in the area next time.
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!
“Alice is bored of sitting on the riverbank with her sister, who is reading a book. Suddenly she sees a white rabbit run past wearing a coat and carrying a watch, lamenting running late. She follows it down a rabbit hole and falls very slowly down a tunnel lined with curious objects. She lands in a long hallway lined with locked doors..”
Stepping inside Oomphatico’s, you are instantly teleported down the rabbit hole, into the world of Alice in wonderland. With its bold and fun design, incoporating of vibrant and cheerful colours, together with the white-and-elegant furnitures, the European style was stamped all over the interior.
There’s also a nice al fresco area just beside the Trader’s hotel lobby. It marks a change from the normal al fresco area which will be under the mercy of the weather as it’s a sheltered area.
The use of the funky design in Oomphatico’s make it stand out from the rest. The focus is on red, black and white, which is also evident in their menu. Oomphatico’s actually aims to serve healthy and hearty food, using organic ingredients, and they have an all-day breakfast menu to cater to you sleepyheads who can’t wait up early for the most important meal of the day.
Buonito! ($9.50) Berries and vanilla yogurt. An excellent alternative to decadent desserts. The initial flavor was sour with the berries coming into play. But with hard work, there’s result. The vanilla sweetened the sour berries and carved out a balanced taste. The bottle’s definitely adorable, but the Buonito! was priced on the high side, which i rather spend the money on a dessert.
Bella Margarita ($16.50) With a choice of plain, ham or herbed pizza base, Oomphatico’s offered a twist to the 5 pizza selections. Our Bella Margarita’s the classic with Oomphatico’s magic makeover, topped with cream cheese, garlic and pepper. On paper, the pizza might seem ordinary, but it was the plain June and average Joe, the normal ingredients which made the pizza a good pick.
Our ham base, paper-thin pizza was crispy. The combination of the ingredients provided a spark when eaten with the thin pizza. The serving was generous, and you ought to share this around, the two of us couldn’t finish it. Something that’s ordinary might not be bad, that’s why they called it the classic.
The Farmers Club ($14) Chicken, bacon, chedder cheese, avocado, and eggs. In short, everything you need for a hearty and full sandwich. The farmers club got everything of that, with one side two sandwiches coming in the form of bacon and egg, and the other end chicken.
Sandwiches at $14 might seem a tad expensive, but this one’s an exceptional. There’s four sandwiches to share, with giant portion of the chicken bites on two of the sandwich. The chicken bites marginated with pepper, were tasty.
The bacon and eggs on the other side of the two sandwiches, were good and reliable. But the bread’s the one that was laudable. This was not your normal gardenia bread, the slightly toasted bread showed some hints of being toast, yet it wasn’t too hard when bread remained too long in the toaster.
Total Bill was $47.08 for two person. Prices are slightly on the high side, but then again, there’s the novelty of the place, and the big portion of the food to contend with. Two of us couldn’t finish what you see on the table, and i suspected three person sharing two orders might be just nice.
Oomphatico’s ventured to where others didn’t, and provided a new focal point with its innovative menu, the entertaining & cute environment, and better-than-expected food. I heard critics sharpening their knives and complaining about the place, but i say ignore them, for Oomphatico’s definitely packed with the oomph factor!
The restaurant’s an excellent venue for your girl-friends meetups, relaxing high tea, or even a romantic and cute place to bring your partner to, enter the world of Alice, in Wonderland! I dare say i’ll return again, at least until the novelty wears out. Then maybe they will come up with something different to capture my imagination 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!
I’m sceptical about Hong Kong cafes in Singapore. A bowl of instant noodles, with sunny side-up and luncheon meat for $6-8? Or how about the so-called “authentic dim sum” which was supposed to be Hong Kong’s speciality. Even though I didn’t go to Hong Kong before, much less tried the authentic Hong Kong cuisine, but the rumours about the quality of the food at such cafes couldn’t be that far-fetch. After all, they say there can’t be no smoke without any wind.
Xin Wang Hong Kong cafe’s one of the many Hong Kong cafe that have spring up in Singapore in recent years. With the others being Hong Kong cafe @ East coast, Wan Chai Hong Kong tea room, wong kok char chan teng, and with Crystal Jade Hong Kong cafe recently joining in the foil.
Kaya bread ($1.80) I made a mistake with the order. On the menu, there’s kaya bread, and kaya butter bread. So I just ordered kary bread, which meant no butter. And kaya bread without any butter ain’t nicer than kaya butter bread. This smudged the judgement for a good piece of toasted kaya bread.
Special shrimp Har Gau ($2.80 for 3) If the har gau was used to gauge the standards of Xin Wang cafe’s dim sum, then there’s no need to try the rest. The skin was too thick, and when we picked up the har gau with chopsticks, there’s an opening at the bottom of the skin, which resulted in the shrimp dropping out. The deconstruction of the har gau continued, with the skin and shrimp eaten separately, and this was not a good thing.
Siew Mai ($2.80 for 3) The same could be mention for Xin Wang’s siew mai. The skin was equally thick, and sticked to the teeth. The overall taste was very porky and oily. Only the use of chili sauce could cover the taste, and made us swallow the dim sum.
Baked BBQ pork pastries ($2.80 for 2) I always had an soft-spot for pork pastries, the buttery flaky pastry exterior, with juicy char siew hidden within. However, the standard guide for good char siew sau, was not applicable to the ones here. There’s a weird taste about the char siew, and at $1.40, i felt totally ripped-off, the one at Royal China was cheaper, and ten times better than this, and even Yan Ting’s rendition at $1.60 seemed to be cheap when compared to this.
Pork chop with French fries ($8.50) The saving grace was suprisingly, the pork chop. Well not exactly fantastic, but at $8.50 it did provided a hearty meal with a generous size of pork chop, french fries, beans, and sunny side up. The pork chop was just nice, not too hard to cause damages to your teeth, and not too soft that it’s literally soggy.
Total bill was $22.05 for 2 person.The food wasn’t very expensive, which explained for the busy crowd in the cafe when I went for lunch at the branch at Anchorpoint. It was a case of being sweaty and smelly eating in hawker centre, or sitting in cooling environment.
I think the lure of air-con, with reasonable pricing, and a comprehensive selection of food will just be the thing that continue to draw the crowd in. I’m not sure whether I’m too fussy, or the patrons don’t really mind eating less-quality food. But i guess maybe I’m being too difficult here, the food if you closed one eyes, was still acceptable given the price.
My scepticisms proved to be right, and I won’t be visiting Hong Kong cafe anytime soon. I did heard that the Hong Kong cafe @ East coast is a better one compared with its peers. But until then, i’m steering clear of the rest of them.
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!
Mentioned the word “Steak” and Morton’s The Steakhouse will probably come to mind as the pinnacle in classic steakhouse experience.
Located at a hidden corner on the 4th floor of Mandarin Oriental, entering into the restaurant immediately transport one from a simple boring main façade to a voguish interior of dim lighting and sounds of fine tableware clanks.
Being HFB’s virgin trip to Morton’s, Tina, our maître d' for the evening, rattled off what seem like a scripted introduction of the various cuts of steaks, as well as seafood, that the restaurants serve as mains before the start of the dinner.
Following that, the dinner commenced with the much raved about Onion Loaf that HFB was looking forward. A colossal loaf of a bread, that was probably the best complimentary bread that HFB have eaten – served crisp on the exterior and fluffy on the inside, the whiff of the onion exude from the bread when one yank opened, yet it remained subtle on the palate without too overwhelming. It is so good that it goes with butter as well as on its own. And if one is too tempted to finished it, HFB’s advice to you is – DON’T – as Morton’s is also renowned for their generous serving portion.
Two appetisers were chosen that night – the first being ½ dozen of Pacific Oysters on the Half Shell ($36.00). Served the way HFB expected it to be – on a bed of ice that is, the oysters were fresh but not the most meaty. Thus for $6 a pop, HFB doesn’t found it to be value-worthy.
The latter was that of the Lobster Bisque Soup ($30.00) that was big enough portion for 2 – but HFB found the single small piece of lobster meat swimming within laughably wretched. While the soup reeked of essence, it was VERY salty towards the end of it, such that HFB have trouble finishing it.
The mains in Morton’s don’t come with any sides thus a serving of Creamed Spinach, for two, costs an eye-popping $22.00. Serving portion was a gargantuan affair, but what HFB like was how lightly salted and smooth it was to consume. However, too much of the cream and the “jelakness”, or fullness starts to set in.
The Sautéed Mushrooms ($15.00) were satisfactory. Done al dente and comes with a nice bite, it was salted to taste.
The celebrated dish that evening would have to be the Aged Australian Filet Mignon ($79.00). Nicely char-grilled on the outside, the lean cut was perfectly executed to medium-rare, exuding sweetness on this tender piece of meat.
It was definitely the best piece of steak HFB had tasted so far, and rated higher than the Grade 9 Wagyu Ribeye at Astons, as HFB prefers his steak to be “beefy” – something that is lacking in a piece of well-marbled wagyu.
Regrettably, the Morton’s Legendary Hot Chocolate Cake ($25.00) failed to live up to the tag that evening. Urged on to “die, die” sample the chocolate cake by all my peers who had dined at Morton’s before, it came slightly over-baked and was dry and bitter on the outside.
Portioning the cake also did not reveal an oozing molten chocolate that HFB was highly anticipating. The only saving grace was the scoop of In-house Vanilla Ice-cream that tasted very good.
Overall, service was generally good and accommodating, but dinner for two costs $316.60, inclusive of 2 glasses of house-pour wines and taxes, which is very expensive and (steak aside) not value-for-money. Excellent mood created by the furnishing and lighting was also ruined with mindless chatters from various tables as well as the consistence singing of birthday songs (10 times over a 2.5 hours period) – absolutely not recommended for a romantic dinner for two.
You can view all the photos and other reviews here.
I've always been wondering about New York New York, the pseudo New York eatery that took the local dining scene by storm a couple of years back with its first outlet at Citylink mall. Managed by the same group which also owns and operates Thai Express, Xin Wang Hong Kong Cafe and Pinle, queues were long and winding especially during meal times. The eatery has since expanded to 6 outlets in Singapore to cope with the demand.
The AMK Hub outlet is located at the basement of the suburban mall and operates on a partially open concept, very much like the main branch at Citylink. The walls are plastered with scenes from New York City and there are semi private booths at a corner for a cosier dining experience. I did think that the tables in the middle are spaced too close to each other, very much like fast food restaurants, which makes for an uncomfortable dining experience.
Cheese Freedom Fries - Corny names aside, the fries tasted as bad as they sounded. Soft, soggy and drizzled with cheese that tasted like Twisties (the snack). The fact that it was served hot provided scant comfort.
Chicken & Prawn Combo - I don't know what to make of this dish as the prawn batter was too thick and soaked in oil while the chicken tasted rather average - something any mom and pop stall can churn out sans the relatively higher prices. Ironically, the wedges that came alongside were the better deal - not overly fried and piping hot.
Juicy Burger - I must admit that the burger was quite a size but the patty tasted rather "macdonaldish" albeit being alot thicker. The texture also suggested it was machine processed rather than hand chopped/made. I didn't appreciate the mustard and ketchup atop the patty as well.
$46 for a 2 pax lunch of such average quality certainly isn't going to win me over and I am pretty sure that amount can be better utilized elsewhere. Service, or lack of, didn't extend beyond taking our orders and serving them to us. Our requests for ice water took a long time to arrive and after repeated reminders. Even the manager had a nonchalent attitude when showing us to our seat. Average food plus lousy service (which I have to pay a 10% service charge for) is definitely a no go for me.
UE Square is in between Mohamed Sultan road, and Robertson quay, together the area’s a conclave for food and beverage alike. Bontá Italian restaurant & Bar is one of them, located within UE square facing Mohamed Sultan. Having seen this place on both my past visits to Sage the restaurant, and Epicurious, I immediately recalled this place when my partner mentioned that they are famed for their complimentary bread.
A quiet affair on a weekday dinner, Bonta had a very beautiful al fresco area, which was definitely welcome if you need some private moments while enjoying the air outside.
f sweating isn’t what you really imagine on your first date out, you can of course enter the cozy and elegant interior of the restaurant. Coupled with the warm lightnings, Bonta does makes a nice place for a romantic dinner. There’s also a private room available just beside the wine cellar.
Complimentary bread The complimentary bread which Bonta’s famous for. We were full of expectations since we heard rave reviews about the bread, and when the bread came, we were not disappointed. Coming in the form of a cup, the bread at Bonta’s baked freshly everyday, and the smell of it was captivating enough.
Usually the idea of a fresh complimentary bread is dry, unappealing to the palates, and the main reason for its existance is to have a bite while waiting for the appetisers to serve. But not this one, the walnut foccacia bread was totally in a different league on its own. It’s crispy outside, soft and fluffy inside, with walnuts, sundride tomatoes, and feta cheese.
Feta cheese, made from goat’s milk, was the chief architect for the aromatic scent. Crumbly and grainy texture could be best used to describe feta cheese, but if you ain’t a cheese person, and didn’t really like the smell of feta cheese, then maybe you wouldn’t appreciate the bread very much.
Lobster tartare ($39) Tomato salsa, olive oil, capers, sicilian olives, rocket leaves, and of course lobster made up the lobster tartare. We ain’t quite sure what exactly made us order the most expensive appetiser on the menu, but since we weren’t very hungry, and wasn’t planning to order a lot, plus my partner didn’t try lobster before, we decided to go for it.
The first form of emotion felt when the lobster tartare arrived, was a rather let-down feeling. Well to be frank, paying almost 40 bucks for such a appetiser did not make economic sense when you could order a main course with the price.
The tomato salsa which formed the top layer of the tartare, was too overpowering and jarring, which almost completely covered the taste of the lobster. So even if the lobster wasn’t fresh, you couldn’t really tell. Lobster meat wise, there wasn’t much of it to be seen and felt.
Basil infused angel hair pasta, with jumbo crab meat ($29) The angel hair pasta was apparently green with basil providing the colour. Chives, white wine sauce, and jumbo crab meat was part of the ingredients which accompanied the pasta. Basil infused angel hair pasta, was definitely a better pairing compared to the tom yam one we had at Absolute Haven,
My partner found the pasta bit soggy, and the lack of sauce which made it too dry for her liking. The jumbo crab meat serving though, was rather generous, with big bits of crab meat. Angel hair still tasted like Chinese rice vermicelli to us. The salmon roe, was quite a good addition apart from the crab meat. Overall there wasn’t anything intriguing about the pasta, just a good and solid version.
Total Bill was $80.04 for one main course and one appetiser for the two of us. We didn’t order a lot because we weren’t feeling very hungry. The walnut foccacia bread was certainly excellent, and one of the better complimentary bread around. The same couldn’t be say for the lobster tartare, which we felt was a rather let down since we expected more from it.
There was a rather unpleasant incident at the beginning because initially I asked permission from the restaurant manager, Mr Karim Benramdane to take photographs of the restaurant, and he agreed with politeness. But after I took some pictures, the executive chef, Mr Luca Pezzera came and asked me to stop taking photographs, citing reasons that they had bad encounters with customers taking photos, and written bad reviews about Bonta, which caused negative publicity for them.
I did agree with him that different people have different taste and preference, so reviews cannot be properly judged the standards of a restaurant. But i felt that if a restaurant is really good, they shouldn’t be afraid to let the customers take photo of their place.
I’ll also like to praise one of the staff, Mr Morning, who was really polite and professional in his work. He greeted us with his friendly smile, and also explained to our enquiries diligently, for that i’ll say there isn’t many restaurant who has professionals like him, and he will go a long way in serving Bonta.
I don’t think that one appetiser and one main course can be used to judge Bonta fairly, since we didn’t have their signature dishes, it will be unfair to make an early judgement on their standards. Therefore, i’ll return for their valued set lunches which at $28, comes with appetiser, main course, dessert and tea.
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!
1=SGD 0.0587
Momoteapots has been around for a bit and has quite a large following. I chanced upon it a couple of months ago and have been drooling over their pretty clothes.
What I like about this blogshop is how they maintain being polite. Even when they talked about fraud in their site, they didn't sound unnecessarily angry and explained their reasons for requesting for receipts from customers. They even apologised for the inconvenience caused, which is great!
The prices are very reasonable. Not only that... the photographs they take are good and they try to show the clothing in all angles which is what I love most. Somehow some other shops when trying to make the clothes look nice, they forget to show you what the back looks like. But Momoteapots always shows the best they can which I think it really commendable.
They have a wide range of clothing, needless to say I'm not a fan of ALL their clothes because they have to cater to different tastes but I do like quite a number of stuff they have. They mostly have dresses (which are easier to buy online anyway) and sometimes bags and belts.
They even maintain a facebook account to keep in touch with their customers!
My only grievance is that I wish they would update more often!!!! But then I would spend money much more often toooo haha :)
Rating given:
Was there for my haircut on Saturday and HFB is pretty impressed with the salon. Located above Body Shop, NEXT is ritzy and glamorously furnish in everything black, including the black leather sofa chair that they will ushered you to for your haircut. Unlike those stiff chairs that usual salon provides, HFB was able to sit comfortably while being attended to.
Soon enough it's time for one's hair wash before the cut and HFB think its the longest he ever had for a wash head massage (25mins to be exact). Although HFB have to admit it's not the best he had tried (KRplus offers better head message amidst a shorter one), it was still enjoyable nonetheless.
Jack, was my hair stylist that day (dolled in his professional yet trendy black outfit of course) - and I am surprised that he is pretty skillful for someone his age. I leave NEXT a happy man satisfied with both my $37.45 haircut and wash/massage. You can be rest assured that I will be making my appointment with them for my NEXT haircut (lame!).
Rating given:
The Silk Road or 丝绸之路 was an important cultural and trade route that linked China and the Far East to the West in ancient times. This was the very route that legendary explorer Marco Polo took from North and South China back to Venice during the 13th century. Banking on the success of this historic route, the Silk Road group of restaurants was born, with Silk Road of the Sea at Sentosa being the latest addition to the family.
Nestled on the ground floor in a standalone building along Palawan beach, Silk Road shares the premises with Braise, a modern European restaurant that occupies the second floor. This cosy Chinese restaurant offers both air conditioned indoor dining and al fresco if you wish to experience the sea breeze and the sand that tags along with it. The interior is done up simply with white washed walls and pillars but more importantly, comes with floor to ceiling windows to allow an unobstructed view of the beach (provided no one blocks your view by sitting in front of you in the al fresco area).
Pumpkin Soup - An off the menu item as well as a signature dish of Silk Road, the pumpkin soup cost a hefty $18. Portions were big and the soup was probably just sufficient for 1 person. However I must give it credit for its rather interesting presentation - served in a pumpkin with its insides carved out. The soup came across as mildy sweet with a relatively strong hint of the raw ocean, which can be quite unsettling at times. I also thought that for the price, there would be a more generous serving of scallops, prawns, squid and seaweed in it.
Chef's Homemade Signature Beancurd - Besides the gravy being a wee bit too salty, I couldn't find any fault with the beancurd, which was a little crisp on the outside yet smooth and silky on the inside. Personally, I liked the layer of spinach atop which accentuated the savoury aftertaste. Polishing off this dish would have child's play to me.
Sichuan Smoked Duck with Camphor & Tea Leaves - My experiences with smoked duck in Singapore are limited to only Szechuan Court and Peach Blossoms, both of which doesn't exactly serve up good smoked duck I must say. Although Silk Road's rendition was better then both places, it still didn't impress me much. The duck meat was reddish (a little too reddish at some parts though) but not overly dry and carried a floating hint of smokiness. There was the problem of the missing tea taste though.
Stir Fried Asparagus - How bad can stir fried asparagus get? This dish was normal with the asparagus cooked just right, not too soft nor hard. And thats about it.
Supreme Fried Rice with Seafood - I thought that the rice was evenly fried, as evident by the homogeneous colour but lacked the quintessential wok hei taste. Fortunately, the rice still came across as relatively tasty with a reasonably generous amount of ingredients.
Dinner is a most relaxing environment coupled with a nice view of the beach cost the two of us about $98. Expensive? Definitely. However, if you take a look at the individual pricing of items, its more or less Crystal Jade prices except for the pumpkin soup, which is really over the hill IMHO. Take that away and suddenly, the total bill does seem a tad more reasonable. However, having said that, I don't see myself returning, especially with an upfront $7 ($6 entry $1 parking) charge.
See all my pictures here.
Rating given:
There are so many different types of desserts out there, so what’s your favourite? Chocolate cakes? Gourmet cheesecakes? Everybody has their own preference, i’ll say i love any types of desserts, and will willingly try all of them. The thing that i enjoyed about the pastry is that they ain’t just pretty to look at, they are also delightfully good.
So does that means that you can’t have a good chocolate cake if you want a similarity excellent cheesecake? Fortunately at Obolo, you can have the best of both worlds without any compromise.
From what was then an online patisserie to the boutique patisserie you see today at Joo Chiat, Obolo has gone a long way serving its gourmet cheesecakes and chocolate cakes. The flagship store opened in June 2007, almost a year plus already, provided a retail avenue for Obolo to showcase its repertoire of desserts.
The boutique de pâtisserie had a sleek and clean look, with the clever use of mirrors to create a bigger impression of the place. Nonetheless the small pastry restaurant can hardly sit more than 10, and it’s quite a squeeze in there.
Obolo’s famous for their signature New York cheesecake, which looked stunning with three ginormous strawberries. But we couldn’t possibly missed out on Noisette, and since we favoured chocolate over cheese, we decided to pick the latter. My friend and I decided to opt for an all-out chocolate feast, with all our selections chocolaty to prevent a clash of flavours over the chocolate and cheese.
Noisette ($6.70)
Dark chocolate mousse, caramelised toasted hazulnuts, crunchy praline feullitine, chocolate genoise. Noisette was the cake that put Obolo among the Sunday Times top 50 cakes. It got a smooth texture, not overly sweet. The Noisette was rich with chocolate and hazelnut flavours.
I particularly enjoyed the crunchy praline feullitine base, but the layer was too thin! It would definitely be better if there’s another layer in between the mousse.
Le Cassis ($6.70)
Dark Chocolate ganache mousse, cassis ivoire mousse, praline feulletine base and moist dark chocolate-almond biscuit layers. Le Cassis certainly looked pleasing to the eyes with its bright colour combination. The sour blackcurrent actually helped to smooth out the sweetness of the cake, which created a nice balance between sweet and sour.
With the cassis (blackcurrent) ivorie mousse on top, and the dark chocolate mousse enveloped in between the two layers of chocolate-almond biscuit, it provided a good blend of different taste. The cassis sour, the dark chocolate slightly bitter-sweet, the chocolate biscuit layer and the praline feulletine base added the crunchy sweet component.
Bittersweet Macaron ($1.80)
To continue with the chocolate-feast, we had the bittersweet macarons. Dark chocolate, not too sweet nor too bitter, just nice for the taste bud. It could be a double-edge thing though, in the shoe of those who didn’t fancy bitter chocolates, this would do nicely. But for the dark chocolate purist, the bittersweet macarons could be a tad sweet.
Hazelnut Macaron ($1.80)
The hazelnut taste was definitely there, the texture of the hazelnut macarons shells were chewy and the fillings in between was velvety and fulsome. Being a hazelnut fan, I immediately went for this one when i saw the lists of flavours available, with the others being cassis, rose, pistache, mango passion, raspberry, ruby, chocolate passion, vanille, and pabana.
Total bill was $17 for 2 cakes and 2 macarons, which made a nice treat for after-meal desserts. Obolo definitely got prospect with its gourmet cheesecake and range of desserts, which made me wondered why didn’t they set up a branch in town. Obolo’s owner June explained that they are looking into expanding, so we can be looking forward to another branch probably next year.
With around 11 different type of cakes to choose from, Obolo is constantly coming up with new flavours, having said that, you should be able to find one that suits your taste bud. Prices can be considered slightly high given their inaccessible location, and that Canele’s charging similar prices. But i think for the Easterners, Obolo’s definitely a place for your treats of desserts.
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:
Noodles and rice are the staple in our Asian context, while the Caucasians live on their bread, try telling the older generation that there isn’t rice for dinner and you’ll get the answer from their reactions. There are many different kinds of noodles; the Japanese ramen, soba and udon are especially popular. And then there’s the Korean noodles, and of course, our Chinese noodles.
And among our Chinese noodles, there are many types with wheat flour based ones like lamien, vermicelli, and the thick noodles. For their egg base counterparts, there are the thin noodles (you mian), and the mee pok which are commonly found. How about bamboo noodles?
I was given the opportunity for a food tasting session at Tai Shek Hei. The boss John See, and his wife Amy invited me for lunch to try out their speciality, bamboo noodles. Tai Shek Hei had recently just opened a month ago at Joo Chiat road, just directly opposite the Dunman food centre.
So you might ask, what’s so special about bamboo noodles? The tedious process in making the noodles from dough using the bamboo machine specially created by John. I didn’t get the chance to see the noodle-making process that day because they had already made their batch of noodles the previous days. The chef will normally make about 200 servings of noodles each time, and usually every two days they will make new ones to ensure the freshness of the noodles.
My friend and I had a quick tour around the kitchen and John explained the concepts behind Tai Shek Hei to us.The staff are all from China, thus might have difficulty with their English when taking orders.
Tai Shek Hei has got very simple furnishings, with the artwork depicting the joy of the chef in making the noodles, adorning the wall. What i like about the place is its unpretentious feel, coupled with the soothing music, provided an cosy environment which was unlike other typical Chinese restaurants.
Speciality Tobiko dumpling bamboo noodle ($6.80)
In Hong Kong, they actually preferred the soup version of the wanton mee to the dry one which is more popular in Singapore. The speciality Tobiko dumpling bamboo noodle was one of the most springy noodles i ever tried before. The noodles were so springy that they literally “bounce” on your tongue.
We also tried the dry version of the bamboo noodles, with equally good results. Although some people might find it expensive, given there’s only four dumplings with the bamboo noodles, but you can’t compare it with the normal wonton mee, for one, the noodle’s really good, and the process in making them was certainly not easy.
The Tobiko dumplings would redefine the dumpling experience. Their dumplings were packed fully with ingredients like shrimp, meat, water chestnut, tobiko (Japanese flying fish roe). One bite of the dumplings was all it need to let the essence of the fillings sinked into your month.
Speciality fried tobiko dumpling ($4 for 4)
Besides the dumpling soup, Tai Shek Hei also got the fried version, which i felt that was even better than the soup one. The crispy wonton skin was a delight to bite, you can hear the crunching sound. And just for the information, the wonton skin was also made with their own machine.
The fillings were the same as the soup version, shrimp, meat, water chestnut, tobiko (Japanese flying fish roe).
Chives & egg pancake
Personally, I didn’t like chives as i found the taste too strong, but for food tasting sake, i tried one of them. The chives dumpling, or pancake as they called it here, was fried until golden brown, with the green chives inside shining though the translucent skin.
There’s plenty of juice from the chives which came rushing out when we took a bite. I think this one’s good for chives lovers, with the crispy golden brown skin and the juicy chives. But for me, I still can’t accept it.
Honey Gourd ($4)
We had a sampling portion of the honey gourd, which was an innovative dish on the menu. Gourd which was bitter in nature, when paired up with the sweet honey, gave a balanced taste of sweet-bitterness.
Fried honey dew
Another inspiration of Amy, this was created on the day we went, so we got the opportunity of trying it first-hand. They provided a bowl of ice water, to soak the pipping hot fried honey dew into it, before eating. The idea was to prevent customers from burning their toungue.
And also the contrast of fried hot honey dew when come into contact with the icy water was apparent. But i found that the chili padi which was part of the ingredients overpower the sweet honey dew taste. A creative idea no less, and we shall wait for the chef to refine it.
Roast Combination ($10 for small)
Not many restaurants are honest with their customers, but Amy frankly told us that their roast combinations got mixed results. Their roast pork was not up to the grade, and they had since removed it from the menu. Leaving with the roast duck, char siew, and soy-sauce chicken.
The soy-sauce chicken was actually the better one among the trio, with Amy proudly saying that’s the one that can brave the test. My first taste was a tad dry and hard, but thats probably because i got the breast meat. The other parts of the chicken were fine, smooth and silky.
The Char siew was average, although not juicy and tender enough, their rendition’s still passable.
I thought that the roasted duck was all right, nothing fantastic, but i had eaten worse.
Cod ($8 for small)
We rounded off our meal with the cod which i thought was reasonable at $8 for a small serving. The fish was fried to crispy golden brown. It’s difficult to judge the freshness of a fish when it’s fried, but I have no complains about the cod since i always like them.
All in all, Tai Shek Hei has got really excellent bamboo noodles, one of the best i’ve tried so far. I think it’s worth a try, even though you might complain it’s too expensive, but hey they are a Chinese restaurant after all. The menu is still in-process, as they are still testing and trying some new dishes, while removing the inferior ones. The items are a case of hits and misses, with the tobiko dumpling noodle, and the chives pancakes worthy mentions.
The PRC staff might not be adapt to communicating in English as yet, but they are busy learning the basic terms to cope with the need. Service is still slow as the new entrants are still coping with the F&B experience, but things are getting better with each day. I’ll like to thank John and Amy for inviting me to try their bamboo noodles, and I’ll go back again for them when i’m in the area next time.
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:
“Alice is bored of sitting on the riverbank with her sister, who is reading a book. Suddenly she sees a white rabbit run past wearing a coat and carrying a watch, lamenting running late. She follows it down a rabbit hole and falls very slowly down a tunnel lined with curious objects. She lands in a long hallway lined with locked doors..”
Stepping inside Oomphatico’s, you are instantly teleported down the rabbit hole, into the world of Alice in wonderland. With its bold and fun design, incoporating of vibrant and cheerful colours, together with the white-and-elegant furnitures, the European style was stamped all over the interior.
There’s also a nice al fresco area just beside the Trader’s hotel lobby. It marks a change from the normal al fresco area which will be under the mercy of the weather as it’s a sheltered area.
The use of the funky design in Oomphatico’s make it stand out from the rest. The focus is on red, black and white, which is also evident in their menu. Oomphatico’s actually aims to serve healthy and hearty food, using organic ingredients, and they have an all-day breakfast menu to cater to you sleepyheads who can’t wait up early for the most important meal of the day.
Buonito! ($9.50)
Berries and vanilla yogurt. An excellent alternative to decadent desserts. The initial flavor was sour with the berries coming into play. But with hard work, there’s result. The vanilla sweetened the sour berries and carved out a balanced taste. The bottle’s definitely adorable, but the Buonito! was priced on the high side, which i rather spend the money on a dessert.
Bella Margarita ($16.50)
With a choice of plain, ham or herbed pizza base, Oomphatico’s offered a twist to the 5 pizza selections. Our Bella Margarita’s the classic with Oomphatico’s magic makeover, topped with cream cheese, garlic and pepper. On paper, the pizza might seem ordinary, but it was the plain June and average Joe, the normal ingredients which made the pizza a good pick.
Our ham base, paper-thin pizza was crispy. The combination of the ingredients provided a spark when eaten with the thin pizza. The serving was generous, and you ought to share this around, the two of us couldn’t finish it. Something that’s ordinary might not be bad, that’s why they called it the classic.
The Farmers Club ($14)
Chicken, bacon, chedder cheese, avocado, and eggs. In short, everything you need for a hearty and full sandwich. The farmers club got everything of that, with one side two sandwiches coming in the form of bacon and egg, and the other end chicken.
Sandwiches at $14 might seem a tad expensive, but this one’s an exceptional. There’s four sandwiches to share, with giant portion of the chicken bites on two of the sandwich. The chicken bites marginated with pepper, were tasty.
The bacon and eggs on the other side of the two sandwiches, were good and reliable. But the bread’s the one that was laudable. This was not your normal gardenia bread, the slightly toasted bread showed some hints of being toast, yet it wasn’t too hard when bread remained too long in the toaster.
Total Bill was $47.08 for two person. Prices are slightly on the high side, but then again, there’s the novelty of the place, and the big portion of the food to contend with. Two of us couldn’t finish what you see on the table, and i suspected three person sharing two orders might be just nice.
Oomphatico’s ventured to where others didn’t, and provided a new focal point with its innovative menu, the entertaining & cute environment, and better-than-expected food. I heard critics sharpening their knives and complaining about the place, but i say ignore them, for Oomphatico’s definitely packed with the oomph factor!
The restaurant’s an excellent venue for your girl-friends meetups, relaxing high tea, or even a romantic and cute place to bring your partner to, enter the world of Alice, in Wonderland! I dare say i’ll return again, at least until the novelty wears out. Then maybe they will come up with something different to capture my imagination 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!
Rating given:
I’m sceptical about Hong Kong cafes in Singapore. A bowl of instant noodles, with sunny side-up and luncheon meat for $6-8? Or how about the so-called “authentic dim sum” which was supposed to be Hong Kong’s speciality. Even though I didn’t go to Hong Kong before, much less tried the authentic Hong Kong cuisine, but the rumours about the quality of the food at such cafes couldn’t be that far-fetch. After all, they say there can’t be no smoke without any wind.
Xin Wang Hong Kong cafe’s one of the many Hong Kong cafe that have spring up in Singapore in recent years. With the others being Hong Kong cafe @ East coast, Wan Chai Hong Kong tea room, wong kok char chan teng, and with Crystal Jade Hong Kong cafe recently joining in the foil.
Kaya bread ($1.80)
I made a mistake with the order. On the menu, there’s kaya bread, and kaya butter bread. So I just ordered kary bread, which meant no butter. And kaya bread without any butter ain’t nicer than kaya butter bread. This smudged the judgement for a good piece of toasted kaya bread.
Special shrimp Har Gau ($2.80 for 3)
If the har gau was used to gauge the standards of Xin Wang cafe’s dim sum, then there’s no need to try the rest. The skin was too thick, and when we picked up the har gau with chopsticks, there’s an opening at the bottom of the skin, which resulted in the shrimp dropping out. The deconstruction of the har gau continued, with the skin and shrimp eaten separately, and this was not a good thing.
Siew Mai ($2.80 for 3)
The same could be mention for Xin Wang’s siew mai. The skin was equally thick, and sticked to the teeth. The overall taste was very porky and oily. Only the use of chili sauce could cover the taste, and made us swallow the dim sum.
Baked BBQ pork pastries ($2.80 for 2)
I always had an soft-spot for pork pastries, the buttery flaky pastry exterior, with juicy char siew hidden within. However, the standard guide for good char siew sau, was not applicable to the ones here. There’s a weird taste about the char siew, and at $1.40, i felt totally ripped-off, the one at Royal China was cheaper, and ten times better than this, and even Yan Ting’s rendition at $1.60 seemed to be cheap when compared to this.
Pork chop with French fries ($8.50)
The saving grace was suprisingly, the pork chop. Well not exactly fantastic, but at $8.50 it did provided a hearty meal with a generous size of pork chop, french fries, beans, and sunny side up. The pork chop was just nice, not too hard to cause damages to your teeth, and not too soft that it’s literally soggy.
Total bill was $22.05 for 2 person.The food wasn’t very expensive, which explained for the busy crowd in the cafe when I went for lunch at the branch at Anchorpoint. It was a case of being sweaty and smelly eating in hawker centre, or sitting in cooling environment.
I think the lure of air-con, with reasonable pricing, and a comprehensive selection of food will just be the thing that continue to draw the crowd in. I’m not sure whether I’m too fussy, or the patrons don’t really mind eating less-quality food. But i guess maybe I’m being too difficult here, the food if you closed one eyes, was still acceptable given the price.
My scepticisms proved to be right, and I won’t be visiting Hong Kong cafe anytime soon. I did heard that the Hong Kong cafe @ East coast is a better one compared with its peers. But until then, i’m steering clear of the rest of them.
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:
Mentioned the word “Steak” and Morton’s The Steakhouse will probably come to mind as the pinnacle in classic steakhouse experience.
Located at a hidden corner on the 4th floor of Mandarin Oriental, entering into the restaurant immediately transport one from a simple boring main façade to a voguish interior of dim lighting and sounds of fine tableware clanks.
Being HFB’s virgin trip to Morton’s, Tina, our maître d' for the evening, rattled off what seem like a scripted introduction of the various cuts of steaks, as well as seafood, that the restaurants serve as mains before the start of the dinner.
Following that, the dinner commenced with the much raved about Onion Loaf that HFB was looking forward. A colossal loaf of a bread, that was probably the best complimentary bread that HFB have eaten – served crisp on the exterior and fluffy on the inside, the whiff of the onion exude from the bread when one yank opened, yet it remained subtle on the palate without too overwhelming. It is so good that it goes with butter as well as on its own. And if one is too tempted to finished it, HFB’s advice to you is – DON’T – as Morton’s is also renowned for their generous serving portion.
Two appetisers were chosen that night – the first being ½ dozen of Pacific Oysters on the Half Shell ($36.00). Served the way HFB expected it to be – on a bed of ice that is, the oysters were fresh but not the most meaty. Thus for $6 a pop, HFB doesn’t found it to be value-worthy.
The latter was that of the Lobster Bisque Soup ($30.00) that was big enough portion for 2 – but HFB found the single small piece of lobster meat swimming within laughably wretched. While the soup reeked of essence, it was VERY salty towards the end of it, such that HFB have trouble finishing it.
The mains in Morton’s don’t come with any sides thus a serving of Creamed Spinach, for two, costs an eye-popping $22.00. Serving portion was a gargantuan affair, but what HFB like was how lightly salted and smooth it was to consume. However, too much of the cream and the “jelakness”, or fullness starts to set in.
The Sautéed Mushrooms ($15.00) were satisfactory. Done al dente and comes with a nice bite, it was salted to taste.
The celebrated dish that evening would have to be the Aged Australian Filet Mignon ($79.00). Nicely char-grilled on the outside, the lean cut was perfectly executed to medium-rare, exuding sweetness on this tender piece of meat.
It was definitely the best piece of steak HFB had tasted so far, and rated higher than the Grade 9 Wagyu Ribeye at Astons, as HFB prefers his steak to be “beefy” – something that is lacking in a piece of well-marbled wagyu.
Regrettably, the Morton’s Legendary Hot Chocolate Cake ($25.00) failed to live up to the tag that evening. Urged on to “die, die” sample the chocolate cake by all my peers who had dined at Morton’s before, it came slightly over-baked and was dry and bitter on the outside.
Portioning the cake also did not reveal an oozing molten chocolate that HFB was highly anticipating. The only saving grace was the scoop of In-house Vanilla Ice-cream that tasted very good.
Overall, service was generally good and accommodating, but dinner for two costs $316.60, inclusive of 2 glasses of house-pour wines and taxes, which is very expensive and (steak aside) not value-for-money. Excellent mood created by the furnishing and lighting was also ruined with mindless chatters from various tables as well as the consistence singing of birthday songs (10 times over a 2.5 hours period) – absolutely not recommended for a romantic dinner for two.
You can view all the photos and other reviews here.
Rating given:
I've always been wondering about New York New York, the pseudo New York eatery that took the local dining scene by storm a couple of years back with its first outlet at Citylink mall. Managed by the same group which also owns and operates Thai Express, Xin Wang Hong Kong Cafe and Pinle, queues were long and winding especially during meal times. The eatery has since expanded to 6 outlets in Singapore to cope with the demand.
The AMK Hub outlet is located at the basement of the suburban mall and operates on a partially open concept, very much like the main branch at Citylink. The walls are plastered with scenes from New York City and there are semi private booths at a corner for a cosier dining experience. I did think that the tables in the middle are spaced too close to each other, very much like fast food restaurants, which makes for an uncomfortable dining experience.
Cheese Freedom Fries - Corny names aside, the fries tasted as bad as they sounded. Soft, soggy and drizzled with cheese that tasted like Twisties (the snack). The fact that it was served hot provided scant comfort.
Chicken & Prawn Combo - I don't know what to make of this dish as the prawn batter was too thick and soaked in oil while the chicken tasted rather average - something any mom and pop stall can churn out sans the relatively higher prices. Ironically, the wedges that came alongside were the better deal - not overly fried and piping hot.
Juicy Burger - I must admit that the burger was quite a size but the patty tasted rather "macdonaldish" albeit being alot thicker. The texture also suggested it was machine processed rather than hand chopped/made. I didn't appreciate the mustard and ketchup atop the patty as well.
$46 for a 2 pax lunch of such average quality certainly isn't going to win me over and I am pretty sure that amount can be better utilized elsewhere. Service, or lack of, didn't extend beyond taking our orders and serving them to us. Our requests for ice water took a long time to arrive and after repeated reminders. Even the manager had a nonchalent attitude when showing us to our seat. Average food plus lousy service (which I have to pay a 10% service charge for) is definitely a no go for me.
See all my pictures here.
Rating given:
UE Square is in between Mohamed Sultan road, and Robertson quay, together the area’s a conclave for food and beverage alike. Bontá Italian restaurant & Bar is one of them, located within UE square facing Mohamed Sultan. Having seen this place on both my past visits to Sage the restaurant, and Epicurious, I immediately recalled this place when my partner mentioned that they are famed for their complimentary bread.
A quiet affair on a weekday dinner, Bonta had a very beautiful al fresco area, which was definitely welcome if you need some private moments while enjoying the air outside.
f sweating isn’t what you really imagine on your first date out, you can of course enter the cozy and elegant interior of the restaurant. Coupled with the warm lightnings, Bonta does makes a nice place for a romantic dinner. There’s also a private room available just beside the wine cellar.
Complimentary bread
The complimentary bread which Bonta’s famous for. We were full of expectations since we heard rave reviews about the bread, and when the bread came, we were not disappointed. Coming in the form of a cup, the bread at Bonta’s baked freshly everyday, and the smell of it was captivating enough.
Usually the idea of a fresh complimentary bread is dry, unappealing to the palates, and the main reason for its existance is to have a bite while waiting for the appetisers to serve. But not this one, the walnut foccacia bread was totally in a different league on its own. It’s crispy outside, soft and fluffy inside, with walnuts, sundride tomatoes, and feta cheese.
Feta cheese, made from goat’s milk, was the chief architect for the aromatic scent. Crumbly and grainy texture could be best used to describe feta cheese, but if you ain’t a cheese person, and didn’t really like the smell of feta cheese, then maybe you wouldn’t appreciate the bread very much.
Lobster tartare ($39)
Tomato salsa, olive oil, capers, sicilian olives, rocket leaves, and of course lobster made up the lobster tartare. We ain’t quite sure what exactly made us order the most expensive appetiser on the menu, but since we weren’t very hungry, and wasn’t planning to order a lot, plus my partner didn’t try lobster before, we decided to go for it.
The first form of emotion felt when the lobster tartare arrived, was a rather let-down feeling. Well to be frank, paying almost 40 bucks for such a appetiser did not make economic sense when you could order a main course with the price.
The tomato salsa which formed the top layer of the tartare, was too overpowering and jarring, which almost completely covered the taste of the lobster. So even if the lobster wasn’t fresh, you couldn’t really tell. Lobster meat wise, there wasn’t much of it to be seen and felt.
Basil infused angel hair pasta, with jumbo crab meat ($29)
The angel hair pasta was apparently green with basil providing the colour. Chives, white wine sauce, and jumbo crab meat was part of the ingredients which accompanied the pasta. Basil infused angel hair pasta, was definitely a better pairing compared to the tom yam one we had at Absolute Haven,
My partner found the pasta bit soggy, and the lack of sauce which made it too dry for her liking. The jumbo crab meat serving though, was rather generous, with big bits of crab meat. Angel hair still tasted like Chinese rice vermicelli to us. The salmon roe, was quite a good addition apart from the crab meat. Overall there wasn’t anything intriguing about the pasta, just a good and solid version.
Total Bill was $80.04 for one main course and one appetiser for the two of us. We didn’t order a lot because we weren’t feeling very hungry. The walnut foccacia bread was certainly excellent, and one of the better complimentary bread around. The same couldn’t be say for the lobster tartare, which we felt was a rather let down since we expected more from it.
There was a rather unpleasant incident at the beginning because initially I asked permission from the restaurant manager, Mr Karim Benramdane to take photographs of the restaurant, and he agreed with politeness. But after I took some pictures, the executive chef, Mr Luca Pezzera came and asked me to stop taking photographs, citing reasons that they had bad encounters with customers taking photos, and written bad reviews about Bonta, which caused negative publicity for them.
I did agree with him that different people have different taste and preference, so reviews cannot be properly judged the standards of a restaurant. But i felt that if a restaurant is really good, they shouldn’t be afraid to let the customers take photo of their place.
I’ll also like to praise one of the staff, Mr Morning, who was really polite and professional in his work. He greeted us with his friendly smile, and also explained to our enquiries diligently, for that i’ll say there isn’t many restaurant who has professionals like him, and he will go a long way in serving Bonta.
I don’t think that one appetiser and one main course can be used to judge Bonta fairly, since we didn’t have their signature dishes, it will be unfair to make an early judgement on their standards. Therefore, i’ll return for their valued set lunches which at $28, comes with appetiser, main course, dessert and tea.
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: