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Endoh Taiki's Reviews

    621. Night Safari   
       23 Feb 2009 at 5:29 pm
    WishBoNe WishBoNe says:

    I went there with my friends for the Halloween special and thoroughly enjoyed the tram ride despite the long wait.

    As it was the last weekend for it, we saw the long queue both for the ticketing and tram. The guided tour for that night was scarily fun.

    The trail had the staff who were dressed to blend with the night to guide us to the correct path. I wished they had some light coloured clothes since it's too dark to make out the difference between the trees and humans when they rest on the poles.

    However, I would like to go there again to take proper photos of the animals since that night, they were all scared away by the screaming.

    In addition, the mosquitoes and ants love the place too much too. Insect repellents are a must.


    Rating given:Rating: 3 out of 5Rating: 3 out of 5Rating: 3 out of 5Rating: 3 out of 5Rating: 3 out of 5

       19 Feb 2009 at 9:44 pm
    Leenie Pigs Leenie Pigs says:

    I was looking for some Funky, Sporty and Young Gift for a Young Girl the other day.. I walked around everywhere in Plaza Sing yet.. theres nothing really nice and sporty..... until... I stepped into Flash n Splash..... Its a huge shop with everything trandy, auzzie and sporty.... especially beach and water sports...

    A Haven for Teens, Youths and Young Adults like me.. You get all the famous beach wear brands like billabong, all in one roof...... What more... They have a good assortments of Bags, Slippers, Caps, Bikinis and other funky stuffs.... The prices are reasonably approachable and when i was there there was some discounts for some older designs...

    I love the bags. They come in all sizes, trendy designs and for all occasions. There are bags for a beach picnic or for clubbing by the beach and they also throw in duffles for you to runaway.... *Just an expression.. not to be taken seriously* I am pretty surprised and excited with the assortments of stuffs you can buy in this one shop and yet I only got a useful funky velcro wallet that has many compartments for your coins, cards, notes, keys and your darling's photo as well as a lanyard that can be connected to the wallet to hang around your neck or fasten to your belt for safe keeping...

    The stuffs there are made to be easy maintainence yet cool and casually stylish.... Nice place to shop to get pieces for islanders like US.....


    Rating given:Rating: 3 out of 5Rating: 3 out of 5Rating: 3 out of 5Rating: 3 out of 5Rating: 3 out of 5

       19 Feb 2009 at 9:29 pm
    Category: Japanese
    Leenie Pigs Leenie Pigs says:

    I love it I love it I love it.. The TonKatsu or Rosu Katsu is super duper marvelicious......

    It is one of the best pork cutlet I ever had.. the meat is tender and juicy what more the crust crispy and not oily... If you like something more heavy, try the cheesy tonkatsu.... Its super nice.. Melted Cheese atop a beautifully fried juicy loin with a glimming golden crust and sprinkled with some bright orange fish roe..... *Slurp*...... I love it best with alot of thick sourish sauce.. I don't know what its called but it do taste abit like plum sauce...... Wonderful dish to go with the yummy rice.

    I think its an interesting place too, as i was never given roasted sesame in a grinding bowl for garnishing on top of my bowl of pearl grained rice. It comes with a bullish stick when u just move round and round the bamboo stricken bowl.. Be careful not too grind too much as you might want to retain a little crunchiness of the roasted sesame.. The wonderful aroma of sesame just made the whole dining more then perfect.

    There is also a bed of cabbage underneath your fried pork... Its crunchy and does not have that wierd cabbage taste... I love to pour alot of the other sauce.. which is sourish like vinagratte, housed in a glass bottle... I love the cabbage with lots of sauce.. For a non-cabbage eater to a cabbage gobbler..... you can imagine how yummy it was....

    For those who needs more fibre in their diet, this is the place to dine at as you can ask for unlimited servings of cabbage top ups..... Eat as much as you can.. and I love their genorisity as at every refill.... They give you a mountain of cabbage... Its just such a fullfilling thing to be served a great portion.....

    If you can.. try the coffee jelly as well... Its something very exquisite.. Served in short glasses... These KOPI O Jello comes with a drizzle of sweeten milk ontop... As you scoop into the jello... you could taste the sweet milk yet the clashing bitterness of the jello. As you mix them in your mouth.. you will get to experience the extraordinaire of coffee with milk together yet apart.....

    The set meals comes in huge servings.. good enough to serve 2 for average female diners... Its a must try for all those jap food lovers....


    Rating given:Rating: 4 out of 5Rating: 4 out of 5Rating: 4 out of 5Rating: 4 out of 5Rating: 4 out of 5

       19 Feb 2009 at 7:59 pm
    Leenie Pigs Leenie Pigs says:

    Brewerkz is one of my favourite hangouts.. It was one of the first few micro-breweries in town and it was there way before i learn how to club.... and way before i realise the need to pluck my eyebrows.... Nevermind about that.. Anyway.... me and my famous GAGA Gang.. Just celebrated DA YI MA's Birthday there....

    It was pretty nice though they lost my phone booking.... They still gave us a nice long table... As usual we ordered their famous beers.. and I in particular enjoy the wheat beer.. Its light, refreshing and soothing to your throat and i believe anyone who tried brewerkz beers, may find it hard to accept canned beers. Unlike the normal local canned or bottled beer, freshly brewed beers are easy to drink and is not gassy yet not flat.... The indian brew is also nice... heavier and slightly bitter however.. still more preferred as to bottled beers....

    Now to the food.. My favourite is the ASIAN SOBA NOODLE SALAD.. Its healthy, yummy and not to mention packed with full of zest. I particularly like the Vinagratte Sauce with crispy crackers sprinkled on top... Its do taste abit like YuSheng, the kind we eat during CNY, however.. coupled with good salad veg and soba noodles, the combination is just heavenly....

    The pizza is OK... and I must mention that the BURGERS are great... I love the naked brewerkz burger the best.... The patty is just so so fresh and sweet.. however... such a great burger is partnered with machine cut fries.. which i felt quite a gourmet spoiler.... If it was coupled with freshly cut chips, i mean just use a potato cutter and slice them into strips.. It would be HEAVENLY....

    The deserts are nice too.. however after much beer... everything does not taste as good as beer....

    Oh yar.. the birthday cake.. The staff was very nice to freeze my cake before serving it with loads of singing waiteresses and of course the cute waiters.... with a large array of candles... some tall some shorts. and some I must say... pretty HUGE..... Though I very much HOPE for a cute dancing male striptease.. However.. that did not happen...
    The singing and HOOHA... with the saliva splatterd all over the cake is good enough for DA YI MA's Birthday Celebration.

    It is definitely a great place to chill with friends, catch up with long lost pals and drown your blues with good beer.. I mean anyway.. you're going to get drunk.... Get drunk with something nice...

    PS... I went there for lunch on valentine's and i was given a rose by the staff there, which was in a sore state when i got home at night.. However.. with a swish of cool water in a bottle and my mum's magic sword to trim the stem the flower bloomed into a beautiful sight and was a GIANT ROSE..

    So Boyfriends out there.. if you don't feel like kanna tok on V-Day, head down to brewerks.. Have a burger, free one rose.... :)


    Rating given:Rating: 4 out of 5Rating: 4 out of 5Rating: 4 out of 5Rating: 4 out of 5Rating: 4 out of 5

       18 Feb 2009 at 12:07 am
    feizhu feizhu says:

    To be honest, I can't believe that I've never tried Din Tai Fung (鼎泰丰) even though its rather prolific and alot of people have actually tried it. I guess I've been put off by the ridiculously long queues at each of its outlets during meal times. So imagine my glee when I found the crowds wanting at one of its outlet one afternoon.

    The place is reminiscent of a typical Chinese restaurant except that this outlet had most of its seating in the open atrium of the shopping mall, which poses a genuine threat of uninvited aerial missiles from the shoppers above.

    Tofu - For $3.30, I honestly didn't expect much. But I certainly wasn't prepared for the onslaught of the minature tofu. I kid you not. The tofu looks small enough to be devoured in just 1 large mouth. Taste wise, it had a high egg content and tasted very normal.

    Xiao Long Bao - The dish that Din Tai Fung is known for, its Xiao Long Bao. I can't say that I didn't like it, but it wasn't that much of a mind blowing experience that I had anticipated. The rather dry skin enveloped a mouthful of light broth that flowed out with every nibble. Also, the XLBs didn't carry the strong pork taste which I personally disdain.

    Fried Rice with Prawns & Egg - The rice grains were plump and moist, which made for a nice texture. However it lacked the quintessential wok hei and portions were minute to say the least.

    I was stuffed at the end of my $26 lunch, but prices here aren't cheap and probably higher then your basic Crystal Jade outlets for the portion sizes. Food quality is decent and service is efficient but rather curt. So much for the legend. But I might just have another go at this place if the crowds are nonexistent.

    See all my pictures here.


    Rating given:Rating: 3 out of 5Rating: 3 out of 5Rating: 3 out of 5Rating: 3 out of 5Rating: 3 out of 5

       15 Feb 2009 at 10:48 pm
    Jeslyn Tee Jeslyn Tee says:

    One word - disappointing. We really felt that the $8.80 we paid for the buffet was money thrown to the drain.

    Firstly, the service crews are from China and don't really understand what we said. 2nd, she grew impatient when we wanted to order our waffles and simply gave us a piece of paper to write our orders. Not only that, she wasn't that busy at all to take our orders as she simply stood around while we wrote our orders OURSELVES. Service?? more like self-service.

    Food. Not at all nice with the waffle too thick and without any taste. That was ok if there was a lot of filing in one serving. However this was not the case, though we can see the filings spilling out, in actual fact, the filings are being put at the edge of the waffles to make it look like a lot. (duhz you think we are stupid or what?) Filings are not special at all especially those with names like "Orange" or "Cherry Cherry" They are in fact, only jams on waffles.

    For drinks we ordered Mango which tasted lame. Only the ice cream in the drink tasted great. One of my friends ordered main course which I think was prawns pasta with about 5 prawns in it. The size of prawns are rather big which was good. However, the prawns were cold.....

    Definitely not valued for money if you are going for the waffle buffet. We regretted trying (and I got a sourish D24 durian waffle filing) there and will not go there again.


    Rating given:Rating: 1 out of 5Rating: 1 out of 5Rating: 1 out of 5Rating: 1 out of 5Rating: 1 out of 5

    627. Creation Cafe   
       15 Feb 2009 at 10:20 pm
    Category: Deli and Cafe, Italian
    Jeslyn Tee Jeslyn Tee says:

    Went there for set lunch today on recommendation from my friend. Soup for the day was pumpkin, add another drink and main course and it only cost $9.90 each person without additional GST or service charge. Since we ate lunch at a rather late timing, there are hardly any other guests around. Hence we got rather prompt service.

    We ordered seafood aglio, chicken aglio and Carbonara (?). The aglio dishes, though not superbly fantastic, is reasonably good tasting considering its price. Not as oily as other restaurants, I kind of liked mine with the linguine well cooked. Cabonara was great too, tasty creamy sauce and the penne not too soft.

    Drinks and soup are quite normal and the coffee smelled nice. We had a full stomach for this lunch. Don't expect any frills though, its just a simple cafe which I don't mind since the price is quite low. Set lunch hours 1-3pm and set dinners hours 6-9pm.


    Rating given:Rating: 3 out of 5Rating: 3 out of 5Rating: 3 out of 5Rating: 3 out of 5Rating: 3 out of 5

       13 Feb 2009 at 12:58 am
    Category: Japanese
    feizhu feizhu says:

    Dozo - the upscale sibling of Tao's Restaurant that dabbles in fine modern Japanese cuisine. Dozo, which means please in Japanese, operates very much like its little sister, offering only 6 or 7 course set menus with no ala carte option.

    Located on the 2nd level of Valley Point along River Valley Road, Dozo's interior oozes sublime chic and sophistication with mainly red velvety plush chairs amidst a black backdrop. Floor to ceilings windows offer a somewhat muted view of the surroundings. Apparently the 3 window side seats on the elevated wooden platform is a hot favourite amongst couples so be sure to make your reservations early.

    Flour Sticks & Drink Shots - The flour sticks were, well, flour sticks dusted with chilli flakes and the likes. Nothing too fancy here. As for the 2 shots of mango juice with tons of crushed ice, lets just say I had a hard time trying to get a reasonable amount of liquid into my mouth initially.

    Appetiser - You don't get to choose the first course and everyone gets the same thing - scallop, foie gras and smoked salmon, which wasn't too bad really. The scallop was nicely seared with a crisp layer atop but lacked the firm texture that I was looking for. Apart from the foie gras being really small, I thought it was decent but could have been more quivery. I thought that the smoked salmon was quite well done though. Not mind blowingly salty with a nice taut texture sans the raw fishy aftertaste.

    Infusion of Cepes Mushroom and Truffle & Crab Bisque - The mushroom soup had bits of mushroom in it and 1 lone black truffle served on a little flat tea spoon by the side, which you can choose to plonk it into the soup or nibble on it individually. I chose the former, which didn't seem to make much of a difference to the soup. Overall still quite decent though but a tad too watery for my liking.
    I thought that the crab bisque was rather watered down as well and tasted rather limp even though there were signs of crab meat in the soup.

    Tempura Battered Soft Shell Crab on Galette of Mash - The tempura batter was decently thin but lacked any flavour, which made it really bland. On the upside, the crab wasn't too oily and the sesame vinaigrette alongside helped alot in ensuring its palatability.

    Gratinated Escargots Topped with Yuzu Butter - A group of 3 escargots came with cheese and Yuzu butter while a solitary one was presented with garlic. Personally I preferred the ones in the cheese as it came across as creamy with a slight chewy texture. The garlic one needed a stronger dose of garlic in my humble opinion.

    Beef Tataki with Shaved Parmesan and Truffle Mayo Mosaic - The beef tataki certainly didn't do itself any favours with its dryness but interestingly, a few slices of the beef were wrapped around a crispy flour cylindrical cone which was something different, especially with the truffle mayo. But I can't say that I enjoyed it very much as the beef was bland and relied on the mayo to give it flavour.

    Succulent King Crab Claw Salad Drizzled with Sesame Vinaigrette - Freshly succulent, the crab meat (purportedly from Alaska) was complemented by chopped onions and sweet mango, which made it sweet and "oniony" (for lack of a better word) at the same time. With such a delightful centrepiece, who needs vegetables?

    Baked Atlantic Cod Fillet on Puff Pastry - This dish is interesting in the sense that the cod fillet is literally stuck onto the puff pastry, which can be a pain if you don't wish to have the pastry, especially when its rather tough and unyielding to begin with. However, I've got to give the fish credit for being fresh and firm with a nice crispy layer of skin to boot.

    Beef Tenderloin on "Pu Ye" & Granite Hot Stone - To be honest, I am unable to make an accurate judgment on the beef as by the time I was done taking my lousy shots, the 200 degrees celsius slab of granite stone had already cooled considerably and the beef just wasn't sizzling anymore. Maybe due to that, the beef slices turned out soft but still juicy and rather tasteless. A shame really, especially with the excellent asthetics.

    Freshly Baked Warm Chocolate Cake Served with Ice Cream - Puny would probably be one of the adjectives to describe the chocolate cake. The crust was nice but a tad thick while the molten chocolate was of the runny kind. Decent but not really outstanding.

    Dozo's "Mo Cha" Creme Brulee - The sugar layer on the creme brulee was a tad too burnt but I appreciated the rather evident green tea taste of the creme brulee. A welcome change from the usual vanilla ones.

    Dinner cost $59.80 /pax ($70.40 after taxes), which did come across as a tad steep even though service and ambience were top notch. Food quality wise, there is still ample room for improvement in my humble opinion and if Dozo can work on this, I'm sure it will be a hit.

    See all my pictures here.


    Rating given:Rating: 3 out of 5Rating: 3 out of 5Rating: 3 out of 5Rating: 3 out of 5Rating: 3 out of 5

    629. Yet Con   
       08 Feb 2009 at 11:30 pm
    feizhu feizhu says:

    Yet Con is a familiar name in the Hainanese culinary scene and is probably the oldest Hainanese restaurant in Singapore, dating back to 1940 when it was founded. Thats a whopping 79 years, even older then independent Singapore itself!

    Located along the historic Purvis street, Yet Con's interior takes you back in time to the days when policemen still wore shorts - ceramic tiles on walls with the quintessential wooden frame mirror with Chinese inscriptions and large, albeit dirty wooden tables coupled with dated wooden chairs. Even the signboard fronting the eatery looks like a piece of relic, weathering the sun and rain for countless years. The only modern thing in this place is probably the air conditioning.

    Steamboat - The 3 of us ordered the smallest steamboat serving ($8) which came with tiny fishballs, a smattering of pork, squid, prawns , chicken etc and an additional plate of rather unfresh beef ($8). No choices were given for the soup base, which was chicken stock.

    Beancurd - I'm inclined to think that most cze char places make this beancurd dish the same way, braised with lots of egg gravy atop. The beancurd wasn't outstanding even though it was placed under the recommended section of the menu. Simple and no frills and something I can easily find at most cze char stalls.

    Hainanese Chicken - No trip to a Hainanese eatery is complete without ordering their namesake Hainanese chicken. Yet Con's rendition was void of any oily residue that is known to plague this dish without compromising on the tenderness of the meat. The only gripe I had was that the meat was a wee bit too dry.

    The 3 of us chalked up about $43 for this relatively simple and filling meal. If you hanker for a simple, no fuss food at average pricing, then Yet Con would probably work for you.

    See all my pictures here.


    Rating given:Rating: 3 out of 5Rating: 3 out of 5Rating: 3 out of 5Rating: 3 out of 5Rating: 3 out of 5

       28 Jan 2009 at 11:22 pm
    feizhu feizhu says:

    Was presented the opportunity to sample the Chinese New Year buffet spread at Straits Cafe at Hotel Rendezvous, courtesy of the hotel's marketing department, specifically Christina, the marketing manager.

    Straits Cafe's interior is typical of any hotel cafe that does, with its informal decor coupled with simple furnishing and the usual glass counters that display the food and the chefs that put the food together. Straits Cafe goes a step further by offering LCD televisions in certain areas of the restaurant, something which I believe a lot of hotel cafes/restaurants don't offer (Or am I just too outdated?).

    Salmon Yu Sheng - The ubiquitous Yu Sheng and my umpteenth one this year, Straits Cafe offers this dish as a DIY at the counter, which means none of the routine rehearsed recitation by the wait staff. I'm no big fan of yusheng so I shall reserve my comments on this one.

    Peng Cai - According to the manager, the Peng Cai requires a minimum preparation time of about 6 hours and consists of 15 different items in it - Shark's fin, abalone, dried scallops, prawns, duck web etc. As impressive as the list of ingredients may sound, I honestly didn't quite take to it as everything tasted very soft and mashed up. The flavours weren't immersed or intense enough and everything tasted more or less the same.

    Variety
    The buffet spread had about 30 items (just a rough estimate) which ranged from sushi and soba to seafood, cut meats, local dishes like laksa and desserts. Not exactly extensive if you ask me.

    Food Quality
    Food quality was generally average but there were a few glimmers of hope. In particular the laksa and durian pengat were worth a mention, to me at least. The laksa had a smooth creamy coconut milk base that harboured a tinge of sourish aftertaste which I thought was quite nice, but thats coming from someone who eats laksa probably once in 10 years? The durian pengat came across as smooth without being overly sweet and carried a nice hint of bitterness. However, I would have preferred it to be thicker and more concentrated.

    Service
    Service was generally quite good but as this was an invited session, I'm not sure if it would be representative of the service level in general.

    To conclude, I would like to thank Hotel Rendezvous once again for generously extending their hospitality to yours truly.

    See all my pictures here.


    Rating given:Rating: 3 out of 5Rating: 3 out of 5Rating: 3 out of 5Rating: 3 out of 5Rating: 3 out of 5

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