Place is rather small and cramp. Went with a group of 7 people but 2 of us went to get seats. We stood there where the plate says to wait for seats but we stood there for very long but no service crew even stop to ask us anything.
We had to stand in front of the crew to stop her and ask her for seats. She ask us to wait but we saw that since the service is like that, we decided to combine tables by ourselves and sit down.
Mushroom soup tasted blend and its garlic bread was tasteless and not even crispy like what it was in other branches. Looks like the garlic sauce on the bread was too little or the flavor just wasn't enough.
I ordered Mediterranean Linguini. Linguini was under cooked and very hard. Its sauce was too little so by the time I start to eat, the pasta was quite dry. Vegetables in the pasta was also not fresh as they tasted sour.
Mushroom and steak sandwich. The mushroom looked a bit erm.... wormy but the sauce for the mushroom was flavorful and real tasty though the cut of the steak was not so good though the crispy bread was totally awesome.
Chicken dumpling soup. Though it doesn't taste really that nice but it was the best among the soups that we ordered that day. Soup made of Cordyceps (I guessed) and other herbs together with dumplings with chicken meat filing. Chicken meat was plain in flavor together with the soup that was also plain in flavor summarizes into ... oh well, you got the idea. Its a tad ex too... being $5 for a small bowl with 2 dumplings.
Pasta dishes were nice and rated higher than average in comparison to those I've eaten. But there's nothing special worthed a mention cept that the amount of garlic in their cream-sauce types of pasta was a huge heap.
Flaky pizza. Husband commented that the crust of the pizza taste and feels like curry puff skin. (Thats why its called flaky pizza ba) He didn't like the pizza's crust but finds the filing very nice. I didn't had a taste of it but it seems like the dressing of the salad was great enough to make my husband eat the greens though he hates to eat vegetables.
Desserts were the best of the lot. We were having a headache trying to choose what to order.
I would recommend this Warm chocolate cake to people but provided you like the combination of dark chocolate and orange. The portion was big though compared to its creme brulee etc but one can gag from eating so much dark chocolate cake at once. The orange slice and vanilla ice cream seems to be there to lessen this effect. I was oohhing and ahhing when I ate this and they wanted to box me in the head. Lolx...
First time I've been there and we walked from Paragon to Plaza Sing. I've heard about Giraffe and read its review so I was rather interested in going there for drinks. The atmosphere down stairs was very good though we pampered kids prefer sitting indoors as we were sweating ourselves silly and there weren't any seats down stairs.
The deco upstairs disappointed me though. It looks like a wilderness wannabe that failed. Especially the uniform of the service crew there. The top was still fine but the pants made me think that they wore sleeping clothes to work. Untidy was the word.
Ordered Chamomile tea, San Miguel and grape Cosmopolitan. At first the San Miguel tasted like a plainer Tiger (That's not their fault). Then dirty cups and plates were used for Dephil's Chamomile Tea changed quickly on request. No honey was served with the tea too though available on request. I was rather happy with my Grape Cosmo. Prices seems to be lower than other pubs with an extensive menu to choose from.
It closes rather early too. The counter closes at 1am and the area upstairs closes at 1230am. I do hope it can close later especially on a Saturday night which we usually will go to a late night cafe/pub and sit there to talk/eat/drink.
I love making my own popiahs! My grandma used to host Popiah party for us. As we grow up, everyone is too busy with work and stuff, we've not have any popiah party for long time. Now I've found the place to go for our next family dinner! Village Wok serves DIY Popiah Set! How cool is that? The set comes with all the necessary condiments, ingredients and the power chili. Love it! The popiah skin was neither too thin nor thick, just nice to wrap up all the yummy ingredients without having to worry that the skin will give way when bitten into.
Dishes ordered include the Village Smoked Chicken with BBQ Pork, Deep Fried Crystal Prawns in Light Wasabi Sauce, XO Crispy Tofu, Brinjal in BXO Sauce, Vegetarian Ee Mee and Pulat Hitam with Coconut Gelato ice-cream.
The Smoked Chicken served with their special ginger dip was quite tasty. Personally would prefer the meat to be softer thou. But still passable.
Wasabi prawns is deep fried and topped with very light wasabi sauce. As a fan of wasabi, this would attract me more if the sauce was more powerpack. This dish is best eaten while its still hot. The outer fried layer become slightly tough when I had my second piece when the dish has cooled off.
XO Crispy Tofu was good. Homemade tofu was soft and the XO sauce served on the side adds flavor to it. Simple yet tasty.
Fried Brinjal with Crispy Squid is not a vegetable which most would enjoy. But the ones at Village Wok managed to convince my friend to give it a go. He quite enjoyed it and even had quite a few pieces. Their special BXO sauce gives this purple vegetable a new life. The sauce was sweet and the crispy squid topping gives it a crunchy texture.
The Vegetarian Ee Mee was nice. There was plentiful of golden mushrooms which give the dish more texture when chewing the noodles. Sauce was not too thick nor saltish. Just nice to my liking.
The lunch ended with a refreshing glass of pulut hitam (black glutinous rice) with gelato coconut ice-cream. It gave a beautiful closure to the meal. Will surely order this when I return.
I was told that they've a special dish - Cold Crab with Special Vinaigrette Sauce. We'd wanted to try it, but this is a by-reservation-only dish. Must remember to place my order the next time I go. It looks pretty good. And Village Wok creates and uses only their own in-house brand of sauces and dips.
I have eaten at this place a couple of times. I find the space provided quite comfortable although there were some tight spaces due to the odd shape of the restaurant.
The chairs are quite comfortable and the table has enough elbow room. The servers are alert even when it's crowded. A good start.
Waiting time for the food to be served is still reasonable, about 10 minutes. However, it's not recommended if you are rushing to watch your movie. Ice water is refilled without needing to call upon anyone.
Vouchers are given for every $15 spent. However, the vouchers are valid only at Cathay's Billy Bombers, meaning you have to eat at the place almost once a month. It would be flexible if all Billy Bombers accept the vouchers too since they have quite a number of branches.
Dim sum was on the cards again and this time it was at Peach Garden at OCBC building. Peach Garden appealed with its location, promise of a great view as well as its stellar reviews for dim sum.
Perched on the 33rd floor of OCBC building at Chulia Street, Peach Garden offers a birds eye view of the surrounding area if you manage to get a window seat of course. The interior oozes class with its traditional Chinese wooden decor complete with thick carpets for that touch of exclusivity.
Appetiser - This was really weird tasting to me because it had cordyceps in it, which reminded me of maggots. I shall not attempt to elaborate more.
Steamed Siew Mai with Phoneix Prawn - A staple in any dim sum offering, the siew mai was quite different in the sense that there was alot of prawn in it and though fresh, it overwhelmed the taste of the pork. I'm not really complaining though. What I didn't appreciate was the prawns not being fully de shelled, with the tip still showing. I guess the purpose was to show that it was a whole prawn in the siew mai.
Steamed Fresh Prawn Dumpling - You can't really go wrong with Har Gao and Peach Garden wasn't just about to challenge that notion. The skin, though a little too thick for my liking, was rather chewy and enveloped a dollop of nice crunchy prawns.
XO Carrot Cake - Okay this wasn't exactly very good, with the carrot cake a tad too soft and salty. Portions were very small as well for the price ($8). On the upside, it wasn't too oily and came across as rather fragrant.
Baked Spare Rib with BBQ Sauce - I've actually eaten this quite a few times from Peach Garden so it was no surprise that it was good as I remembered it to be. Crisp along the edges with a nice sweet aftertaste from the BBQ sauce while succulent and naturally sweet on the inside. But at $7 a pop, I don't exactly find it value for money.
Steamed Rice Roll with Prawn & Steamed Rice Roll with Char Siew - I hate to say this but both the steamed rice rolls aka chee cheong fan, were substandard. For one, the cheong fan's texture tasted rather coarse, not silky and smooth as I would have expected. To put it in perspective, there are a lot of hawker stalls out there that sell the same quality of chee cheong fan.
Boiled Porridge with Century Egg and Pork - The porridge was salty and between the 8 of us, we almost couldn't finish 4 bowls of it. That probably says alot. And strangely enough, the pork tasted more like chicken.
Steamed Xiao Long Bao with Conpoy - Average average average. The final verdict that most of us handed down. The skin was a tad too dry and thick while the juice within wasn't flavourful enough. Probably the only saving grace was that the pork taste wasn't too overwhelming.
Baked Mini Egg Tart - Flaky with a nice and not too sweet custard filling, the mini egg tarts were rather decent but not outstanding. For one, the crust was tasteless and at $1.30 each, its a total rip off.
Steamed BBQ Pork Bun - I personally thought that the flour was a little too thick for the bun, which made it quite a chore to eat. The char siew filling was decent though but it wasn't enough to make me write this dish off.
Steamed Yolk Cream Bun - A signature dish of Peach Garden and rightly so. The delicious smooth molten custard gushed out as soon as an opening was made in the moist bun skin, making for a messy but delightful dish. However, as with the BBQ pork bun, I did find the flour a little too thick as well. One thing I also found lacking was the presence of egg yolk sediment in the molten custard, which would have given it a slightly salty taste and a rougher texture. But all in all, an excellent eat nevertheless.
Baked BBQ Pork Pastry - After the excellent BBQ pork pastry aka char siew sou I had at Yan Ting, nothing else comes close. And Peach Garden's rendition was in no position to contest that claim. Though decent, the char siew did seem a tad too sweet for my liking while the pastry came across as flat.
An uninspiring dim sum session for 8 cost to the tune of $178 after a 15% discount. Service overwall was rather terrible save for a few rather nice gestures by 2 ladies who I presume to be the owners. Prices are still rather reasonable and if you can look past the hits and misses and generally slightly above average dim sum, you will probably like Peach Garden. As for me, I'll be happy to stick to my regular haunts.
Fresh with the memory of Bangkok's excellent Thai food and armed with a craving for Phad Thai, I headed down to First Thai at Purvis Street, which purportedly serves up authentic Thai food at reasonable prices.
The place sits right at the front of Purvis Street, making it easy to find and plays neighbours to Yet Con, which is next door and Chin Chin just across the road. Decor is very coffeeshop like save for the nice green olden style windows that look out to the main road. There is no airconditioning at this eatery so be prepared to sweat it out on a hot day. If the place is full, you'll probably have to share a table with someone or queue up outside the shop. Do note that you will not be seated until everyone in your group is present.
Tom Yam Soup Individual Serving - This is one of the better tom yam soups that I've tried in Singapore and at $7 a pop, it really isn't too expensive given the amount of ingredients in it. Light and sourish with a tinge of spiciness. But I would have preferred it a little spicier. And thats coming from someone whose spice tolerance level is rather low.
Pandan Chicken - Ok I got to admit that this isn't exactly cheap, at $8 for 4 bite sized pieces of pandan chicken. The chicken, though nice and juicy, didn't exactly wow me probably because of its rather mild taste. There was no burst in the mouth melody of flavours that I experienced while eating it in Bangkok. But still a nice eat nevertheless.
Phad Thai ($8)- One of the highly recommended dishes and purportedly one of the best in Singapore, the Phad Thai was actually quite good. Lightly sweet with a firm and chewy texture. However, it was a little too wet as compared to what I had in Bangkok. The ubiquitous dried shrimps were also missing. I know that dried shrimps are optional but they give an added texture and introduce a much appreciated salty dimension to the dish. Personally I still prefer the Phad Thai from Sweet Salty Spicy Food Market & Thai Canteen.
The cost of food sufficient for 1 pax stood at $23 (no GST, no service charge), which is still acceptable given the quality of food. However, drinks cost me an additional $8 which is terribly expensive. $3 for a glass of coconut juce, $4 if you want less ice. 50 cents for warm water and 50 cents for ice only. So technically if you wanted ice water, it will be $1/cup. Theres the more expensive option of bottled water though, starting at $2 (without ice). Sorry but I think its a rip off, especially when its only a coffeeshop. If I ever visit again, I'll be sure to bring my own water.
Had the opportunity to partake in a food tasting session at Fresh Bulggogi, courtesy of Benny, the marketing manager for Zingrill Holdings, which also owns and operates the Breeks, Seoul Garden and Zingdo chains of restaurants.
Located on level 3 of the viewing gallery at Changi Airport Terminal 2, Fresh Bulggogi spots a fresh lime green and black facade and plays immediate neighbour to Fish & Co. The interior (at least where I sat) consists of booth seats that can seat 4 pax very comfortably or 6 pax if you happen to be smaller in size. The concept of Fresh Bulggogi is built upon that of Seoul Garden save for 2 major differences. First, it only has an ala carte menu with no buffet option. Second, the food items sold are slightly more upmarket, with stuff like half shell scallops, sashimi grade salmon, just to name a few. It also serves up quick meals like Bibim Baps for time strapped customers who are in a hurry to catch their flights. For customers who dread perspiring while having steamboat, this place eliminates the problem by placing the pot in a dug in enclosure and installing cool air blowers right above the pot level. This prevents the heat from dissipating upwards and keeps the surroundings cool.
Pine Mushroom Salad with Prawns - Honestly the salad wasn't to my liking and was rather lacklustre in my humble opinion. The pine mushrooms tasted rather bland while the prawns were rather small in size and barely sweet. However there is one positive remark I must make and that is the effort put in to remove the prawn intestines. Not many places, even high class restaurants, bother doing so.
Deep Fried Assorted Mushrooms - This was actually comfort food for all of us. Assorted mushrooms coated with batter and deep fried till crisp on the outside yet soft on the inside. Very nice and chewy but I did find the batter a wee bit too thick. A little more moisture in the mushrooms would also be much appreciated.
Kimchi Jjigae with Sliced Salmon (김치찌개) - Unfortunately, none of us at the table could fully appreciate this humble Korean stew. It was essentially vegetables, mushrooms and rice cakes in a kimchi broth. According to wikipedia, Kimchi Jjigae is best cooked with older more fermented kimchi, which creates a much stronger taste and also contains more beneficial bacteria also found in yoghurt. The salmon slices were passably fresh but tasted rather weird with the kimchi broth.
Garlic Chicken Bap - A classic Korean dish and one that I've eaten a couple of times, the garlic chicken bap was surprisingly quite decent. For starters, the kimchi was lightly sour and spicy while the chicken was well marinated and you could actually taste the marination. Add the fact that the rice was moist and a little sticky and it made for a rather nice dish.
Premium Set C (Chicken Breast Meat, Beef Bulggogi, Chicken Bulggogi and Sliced Beef) - For our steamboat, we had a choice of 2 soup bases, kimchi and chicken, of which we chose the latter. I wouldn't go as far as to say the broth was great, but it was decently sweet yet light.
We had the premium set C for the sliced beef. Seriously, how bad can steamboat get? Everything tasted relatively fresh but the thinly sliced beef did look a darker shade of red as compared to what other tables were getting (this is based purely on our observations). The set is meant for 2 but in case the ingredients are insufficient, there is always the ala carte top up option.
Chicken Bulggogi & Korean Rice Cakes - 2 of our top up options, the chicken bulggogi, which the Koreans eat with lettuce and the rice cakes, which look like sliced fishcakes but tasted to me like chewy kueh when cooked.
Honestly, I know nuts to nothing about Korean food but personally I found the food overall to be rather decent, maybe not wholly authentic but certainly very edible. Prices are on the high side ( the damage for 4 pax was about $165 inclusive of 6 juices/soft drinks and 4 ice cream desserts) but thats to be expected since its at the airport. Oh and take note that they do not serve sky juice. Service was friendly but the place did seem a little short handed at times.
Anyway, Tango's at Holland V. We went there after eating at Coffee Club (Yes, there's still space in there). Oh man~ this place is a HOT house. Not hot as in popular but hot as in not cool, warm, hot and sweating. I think this is due to its open concept (Look ma~ No doors~!) but yet used a lot of yellow lighting. By the end of the night, I'm uncomfortable not because of tiredness but because its too warm.
This place has got impressive menu though and it took us some time to decide what we wanted.
Dar ordered the half Chix and according to him, its value for money and definitely great tasting. I had a piece of the Chix too and indeed, the skin is crispy while meat is tender not to mention the size of the portion given. Grilled squid took a long time to cook and came out Cao4 Ta1 and oily.
We ordered Margarita, Tropical Paradise (Martini) which took damn long to come and Erdinger. Can't really say anything good about them which I think its mostly because the heat there made the iced drinks warm fast. Cold drinks soon became room temperature and doesn't taste as nice as should be.
We should have stay at the outside seats which seems to be cooler. No wonder there wasn't much people sitting inside when we went there.
I tried the Choco Mint and Irish Cream flavours. Bad move as the mint flavour was too strong and overpowered the Irish Cream. Another bad move, I choose Oreo chips instead of something else.
The end result wasn't that bad but the mixing of the two flavours felt weird if they didn't compliment each other. The seats in the shop were few and isn't that suited for large groups wanting to enjoy their chat.
I'm a safe ice cream eater and it was a pity because I could have chosen the more exotic flavours (for the same amount of money spent) that aren't sold in tubs elsewhere.
Place is rather small and cramp. Went with a group of 7 people but 2 of us went to get seats. We stood there where the plate says to wait for seats but we stood there for very long but no service crew even stop to ask us anything.
We had to stand in front of the crew to stop her and ask her for seats. She ask us to wait but we saw that since the service is like that, we decided to combine tables by ourselves and sit down.
Mushroom soup tasted blend and its garlic bread was tasteless and not even crispy like what it was in other branches. Looks like the garlic sauce on the bread was too little or the flavor just wasn't enough.
I ordered Mediterranean Linguini. Linguini was under cooked and very hard. Its sauce was too little so by the time I start to eat, the pasta was quite dry. Vegetables in the pasta was also not fresh as they tasted sour.
Rating given:
Mushroom and steak sandwich. The mushroom looked a bit erm.... wormy but the sauce for the mushroom was flavorful and real tasty though the cut of the steak was not so good though the crispy bread was totally awesome.
Chicken dumpling soup. Though it doesn't taste really that nice but it was the best among the soups that we ordered that day. Soup made of Cordyceps (I guessed) and other herbs together with dumplings with chicken meat filing. Chicken meat was plain in flavor together with the soup that was also plain in flavor summarizes into ... oh well, you got the idea. Its a tad ex too... being $5 for a small bowl with 2 dumplings.
Pasta dishes were nice and rated higher than average in comparison to those I've eaten. But there's nothing special worthed a mention cept that the amount of garlic in their cream-sauce types of pasta was a huge heap.
Flaky pizza. Husband commented that the crust of the pizza taste and feels like curry puff skin. (Thats why its called flaky pizza ba) He didn't like the pizza's crust but finds the filing very nice. I didn't had a taste of it but it seems like the dressing of the salad was great enough to make my husband eat the greens though he hates to eat vegetables.
Desserts were the best of the lot. We were having a headache trying to choose what to order.
I would recommend this Warm chocolate cake to people but provided you like the combination of dark chocolate and orange. The portion was big though compared to its creme brulee etc but one can gag from eating so much dark chocolate cake at once. The orange slice and vanilla ice cream seems to be there to lessen this effect. I was oohhing and ahhing when I ate this and they wanted to box me in the head. Lolx...
Rating given:
First time I've been there and we walked from Paragon to Plaza Sing. I've heard about Giraffe and read its review so I was rather interested in going there for drinks. The atmosphere down stairs was very good though we pampered kids prefer sitting indoors as we were sweating ourselves silly and there weren't any seats down stairs.
The deco upstairs disappointed me though. It looks like a wilderness wannabe that failed.
Especially the uniform of the service crew there. The top was still fine but the pants made me think that they wore sleeping clothes to work. Untidy was the word.
Ordered Chamomile tea, San Miguel and grape Cosmopolitan. At first the San Miguel tasted like a plainer Tiger (That's not their fault). Then dirty cups and plates were used for Dephil's Chamomile Tea changed quickly on request. No honey was served with the tea too though available on request. I was rather happy with my Grape Cosmo. Prices seems to be lower than other pubs with an extensive menu to choose from.
It closes rather early too. The counter closes at 1am and the area upstairs closes at 1230am. I do hope it can close later especially on a Saturday night which we usually will go to a late night cafe/pub and sit there to talk/eat/drink.
Rating given:
DIY Popiah anyone?
I love making my own popiahs! My grandma used to host Popiah party for us. As we grow up, everyone is too busy with work and stuff, we've not have any popiah party for long time. Now I've found the place to go for our next family dinner! Village Wok serves DIY Popiah Set! How cool is that? The set comes with all the necessary condiments, ingredients and the power chili. Love it! The popiah skin was neither too thin nor thick, just nice to wrap up all the yummy ingredients without having to worry that the skin will give way when bitten into.
Dishes ordered include the Village Smoked Chicken with BBQ Pork, Deep Fried Crystal Prawns in Light Wasabi Sauce, XO Crispy Tofu, Brinjal in BXO Sauce, Vegetarian Ee Mee and Pulat Hitam with Coconut Gelato ice-cream.
The Smoked Chicken served with their special ginger dip was quite tasty. Personally would prefer the meat to be softer thou. But still passable.
Wasabi prawns is deep fried and topped with very light wasabi sauce. As a fan of wasabi, this would attract me more if the sauce was more powerpack. This dish is best eaten while its still hot. The outer fried layer become slightly tough when I had my second piece when the dish has cooled off.
XO Crispy Tofu was good. Homemade tofu was soft and the XO sauce served on the side adds flavor to it. Simple yet tasty.
Fried Brinjal with Crispy Squid is not a vegetable which most would enjoy. But the ones at Village Wok managed to convince my friend to give it a go. He quite enjoyed it and even had quite a few pieces. Their special BXO sauce gives this purple vegetable a new life. The sauce was sweet and the crispy squid topping gives it a crunchy texture.
The Vegetarian Ee Mee was nice. There was plentiful of golden mushrooms which give the dish more texture when chewing the noodles. Sauce was not too thick nor saltish. Just nice to my liking.
The lunch ended with a refreshing glass of pulut hitam (black glutinous rice) with gelato coconut ice-cream. It gave a beautiful closure to the meal. Will surely order this when I return.
I was told that they've a special dish - Cold Crab with Special Vinaigrette Sauce. We'd wanted to try it, but this is a by-reservation-only dish. Must remember to place my order the next time I go. It looks pretty good. And Village Wok creates and uses only their own in-house brand of sauces and dips.
Rating given:
I have eaten at this place a couple of times. I find the space provided quite comfortable although there were some tight spaces due to the odd shape of the restaurant.
The chairs are quite comfortable and the table has enough elbow room. The servers are alert even when it's crowded. A good start.
Waiting time for the food to be served is still reasonable, about 10 minutes. However, it's not recommended if you are rushing to watch your movie. Ice water is refilled without needing to call upon anyone.
Vouchers are given for every $15 spent. However, the vouchers are valid only at Cathay's Billy Bombers, meaning you have to eat at the place almost once a month. It would be flexible if all Billy Bombers accept the vouchers too since they have quite a number of branches.
Rating given:
Dim sum was on the cards again and this time it was at Peach Garden at OCBC building. Peach Garden appealed with its location, promise of a great view as well as its stellar reviews for dim sum.
Perched on the 33rd floor of OCBC building at Chulia Street, Peach Garden offers a birds eye view of the surrounding area if you manage to get a window seat of course. The interior oozes class with its traditional Chinese wooden decor complete with thick carpets for that touch of exclusivity.
Appetiser - This was really weird tasting to me because it had cordyceps in it, which reminded me of maggots. I shall not attempt to elaborate more.
Steamed Siew Mai with Phoneix Prawn - A staple in any dim sum offering, the siew mai was quite different in the sense that there was alot of prawn in it and though fresh, it overwhelmed the taste of the pork. I'm not really complaining though. What I didn't appreciate was the prawns not being fully de shelled, with the tip still showing. I guess the purpose was to show that it was a whole prawn in the siew mai.
Steamed Fresh Prawn Dumpling - You can't really go wrong with Har Gao and Peach Garden wasn't just about to challenge that notion. The skin, though a little too thick for my liking, was rather chewy and enveloped a dollop of nice crunchy prawns.
XO Carrot Cake - Okay this wasn't exactly very good, with the carrot cake a tad too soft and salty. Portions were very small as well for the price ($8). On the upside, it wasn't too oily and came across as rather fragrant.
Baked Spare Rib with BBQ Sauce - I've actually eaten this quite a few times from Peach Garden so it was no surprise that it was good as I remembered it to be. Crisp along the edges with a nice sweet aftertaste from the BBQ sauce while succulent and naturally sweet on the inside. But at $7 a pop, I don't exactly find it value for money.
Steamed Rice Roll with Prawn & Steamed Rice Roll with Char Siew - I hate to say this but both the steamed rice rolls aka chee cheong fan, were substandard. For one, the cheong fan's texture tasted rather coarse, not silky and smooth as I would have expected. To put it in perspective, there are a lot of hawker stalls out there that sell the same quality of chee cheong fan.
Boiled Porridge with Century Egg and Pork - The porridge was salty and between the 8 of us, we almost couldn't finish 4 bowls of it. That probably says alot. And strangely enough, the pork tasted more like chicken.
Steamed Xiao Long Bao with Conpoy - Average average average. The final verdict that most of us handed down. The skin was a tad too dry and thick while the juice within wasn't flavourful enough. Probably the only saving grace was that the pork taste wasn't too overwhelming.
Baked Mini Egg Tart - Flaky with a nice and not too sweet custard filling, the mini egg tarts were rather decent but not outstanding. For one, the crust was tasteless and at $1.30 each, its a total rip off.
Steamed BBQ Pork Bun - I personally thought that the flour was a little too thick for the bun, which made it quite a chore to eat. The char siew filling was decent though but it wasn't enough to make me write this dish off.
Steamed Yolk Cream Bun - A signature dish of Peach Garden and rightly so. The delicious smooth molten custard gushed out as soon as an opening was made in the moist bun skin, making for a messy but delightful dish. However, as with the BBQ pork bun, I did find the flour a little too thick as well. One thing I also found lacking was the presence of egg yolk sediment in the molten custard, which would have given it a slightly salty taste and a rougher texture. But all in all, an excellent eat nevertheless.
Baked BBQ Pork Pastry - After the excellent BBQ pork pastry aka char siew sou I had at Yan Ting, nothing else comes close. And Peach Garden's rendition was in no position to contest that claim. Though decent, the char siew did seem a tad too sweet for my liking while the pastry came across as flat.
An uninspiring dim sum session for 8 cost to the tune of $178 after a 15% discount. Service overwall was rather terrible save for a few rather nice gestures by 2 ladies who I presume to be the owners. Prices are still rather reasonable and if you can look past the hits and misses and generally slightly above average dim sum, you will probably like Peach Garden. As for me, I'll be happy to stick to my regular haunts.
See all my pictures here.
Rating given:
Fresh with the memory of Bangkok's excellent Thai food and armed with a craving for Phad Thai, I headed down to First Thai at Purvis Street, which purportedly serves up authentic Thai food at reasonable prices.
The place sits right at the front of Purvis Street, making it easy to find and plays neighbours to Yet Con, which is next door and Chin Chin just across the road. Decor is very coffeeshop like save for the nice green olden style windows that look out to the main road. There is no airconditioning at this eatery so be prepared to sweat it out on a hot day. If the place is full, you'll probably have to share a table with someone or queue up outside the shop. Do note that you will not be seated until everyone in your group is present.
Tom Yam Soup Individual Serving - This is one of the better tom yam soups that I've tried in Singapore and at $7 a pop, it really isn't too expensive given the amount of ingredients in it. Light and sourish with a tinge of spiciness. But I would have preferred it a little spicier. And thats coming from someone whose spice tolerance level is rather low.
Pandan Chicken - Ok I got to admit that this isn't exactly cheap, at $8 for 4 bite sized pieces of pandan chicken. The chicken, though nice and juicy, didn't exactly wow me probably because of its rather mild taste. There was no burst in the mouth melody of flavours that I experienced while eating it in Bangkok. But still a nice eat nevertheless.
Phad Thai ($8)- One of the highly recommended dishes and purportedly one of the best in Singapore, the Phad Thai was actually quite good. Lightly sweet with a firm and chewy texture. However, it was a little too wet as compared to what I had in Bangkok. The ubiquitous dried shrimps were also missing. I know that dried shrimps are optional but they give an added texture and introduce a much appreciated salty dimension to the dish. Personally I still prefer the Phad Thai from Sweet Salty Spicy Food Market & Thai Canteen.
The cost of food sufficient for 1 pax stood at $23 (no GST, no service charge), which is still acceptable given the quality of food. However, drinks cost me an additional $8 which is terribly expensive. $3 for a glass of coconut juce, $4 if you want less ice. 50 cents for warm water and 50 cents for ice only. So technically if you wanted ice water, it will be $1/cup. Theres the more expensive option of bottled water though, starting at $2 (without ice). Sorry but I think its a rip off, especially when its only a coffeeshop. If I ever visit again, I'll be sure to bring my own water.
See all my pictures here.
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Had the opportunity to partake in a food tasting session at Fresh Bulggogi, courtesy of Benny, the marketing manager for Zingrill Holdings, which also owns and operates the Breeks, Seoul Garden and Zingdo chains of restaurants.
Located on level 3 of the viewing gallery at Changi Airport Terminal 2, Fresh Bulggogi spots a fresh lime green and black facade and plays immediate neighbour to Fish & Co. The interior (at least where I sat) consists of booth seats that can seat 4 pax very comfortably or 6 pax if you happen to be smaller in size. The concept of Fresh Bulggogi is built upon that of Seoul Garden save for 2 major differences. First, it only has an ala carte menu with no buffet option. Second, the food items sold are slightly more upmarket, with stuff like half shell scallops, sashimi grade salmon, just to name a few. It also serves up quick meals like Bibim Baps for time strapped customers who are in a hurry to catch their flights. For customers who dread perspiring while having steamboat, this place eliminates the problem by placing the pot in a dug in enclosure and installing cool air blowers right above the pot level. This prevents the heat from dissipating upwards and keeps the surroundings cool.
Pine Mushroom Salad with Prawns - Honestly the salad wasn't to my liking and was rather lacklustre in my humble opinion. The pine mushrooms tasted rather bland while the prawns were rather small in size and barely sweet. However there is one positive remark I must make and that is the effort put in to remove the prawn intestines. Not many places, even high class restaurants, bother doing so.
Deep Fried Assorted Mushrooms - This was actually comfort food for all of us. Assorted mushrooms coated with batter and deep fried till crisp on the outside yet soft on the inside. Very nice and chewy but I did find the batter a wee bit too thick. A little more moisture in the mushrooms would also be much appreciated.
Kimchi Jjigae with Sliced Salmon (김치찌개) - Unfortunately, none of us at the table could fully appreciate this humble Korean stew. It was essentially vegetables, mushrooms and rice cakes in a kimchi broth. According to wikipedia, Kimchi Jjigae is best cooked with older more fermented kimchi, which creates a much stronger taste and also contains more beneficial bacteria also found in yoghurt. The salmon slices were passably fresh but tasted rather weird with the kimchi broth.
Garlic Chicken Bap - A classic Korean dish and one that I've eaten a couple of times, the garlic chicken bap was surprisingly quite decent. For starters, the kimchi was lightly sour and spicy while the chicken was well marinated and you could actually taste the marination. Add the fact that the rice was moist and a little sticky and it made for a rather nice dish.
Premium Set C (Chicken Breast Meat, Beef Bulggogi, Chicken Bulggogi and Sliced Beef) - For our steamboat, we had a choice of 2 soup bases, kimchi and chicken, of which we chose the latter. I wouldn't go as far as to say the broth was great, but it was decently sweet yet light.
We had the premium set C for the sliced beef. Seriously, how bad can steamboat get? Everything tasted relatively fresh but the thinly sliced beef did look a darker shade of red as compared to what other tables were getting (this is based purely on our observations). The set is meant for 2 but in case the ingredients are insufficient, there is always the ala carte top up option.
Chicken Bulggogi & Korean Rice Cakes - 2 of our top up options, the chicken bulggogi, which the Koreans eat with lettuce and the rice cakes, which look like sliced fishcakes but tasted to me like chewy kueh when cooked.
Honestly, I know nuts to nothing about Korean food but personally I found the food overall to be rather decent, maybe not wholly authentic but certainly very edible. Prices are on the high side ( the damage for 4 pax was about $165 inclusive of 6 juices/soft drinks and 4 ice cream desserts) but thats to be expected since its at the airport. Oh and take note that they do not serve sky juice. Service was friendly but the place did seem a little short handed at times.
See all my pictures here.
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Anyway, Tango's at Holland V. We went there after eating at Coffee Club (Yes, there's still space in there). Oh man~ this place is a HOT house. Not hot as in popular but hot as in not cool, warm, hot and sweating. I think this is due to its open concept (Look ma~ No doors~!) but yet used a lot of yellow lighting. By the end of the night, I'm uncomfortable not because of tiredness but because its too warm.
This place has got impressive menu though and it took us some time to decide what we wanted.
Dar ordered the half Chix and according to him, its value for money and definitely great tasting. I had a piece of the Chix too and indeed, the skin is crispy while meat is tender not to mention the size of the portion given. Grilled squid took a long time to cook and came out Cao4 Ta1 and oily.
We ordered Margarita, Tropical Paradise (Martini) which took damn long to come and Erdinger. Can't really say anything good about them which I think its mostly because the heat there made the iced drinks warm fast. Cold drinks soon became room temperature and doesn't taste as nice as should be.
We should have stay at the outside seats which seems to be cooler. No wonder there wasn't much people sitting inside when we went there.
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I tried the Choco Mint and Irish Cream flavours. Bad move as the mint flavour was too strong and overpowered the Irish Cream. Another bad move, I choose Oreo chips instead of something else.
The end result wasn't that bad but the mixing of the two flavours felt weird if they didn't compliment each other. The seats in the shop were few and isn't that suited for large groups wanting to enjoy their chat.
I'm a safe ice cream eater and it was a pity because I could have chosen the more exotic flavours (for the same amount of money spent) that aren't sold in tubs elsewhere.
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