WELCOME TO YEBBER
You can use your Facebook Account to register in Yebber and start reviewing your favourite or least favourite businesses
Please click the login button below and proceed to create a new Yebber ID at the next step.
Sport & Recreation
Click here for future month
1=SGD 0.0587
Ever since my friend went to Max Brenner Chocolate Bar, she has been telling me: “you must go to Max Brenner, they have the best waffles in Singapore!” I have heard of Max Brenner before of course, it’s the chocolate bar at Esplanade that all chocolate lovers should go to.
It’s strange how even when I saw Max Brenner while holidaying in Australia, I never had the urge to go there. You know how they say sometimes it hits you when you least expect it? Well, that time was now. When the word ‘Max Brenner’ appeared in twitter so many times a week, I know it’s only sooner or later before I try their famous chocolate desserts.
When we saw the picture of the amazing Chocolate Souffle on the menu, I couldn’t help but mis-read it as ‘Best Chocolate Souffle‘. It’s funny how our eyes like to play tricks on us, and with that, we ordered the Banana Split Waffles, and the Chocolate Souffle.
Then everything went silent. We didn’t speak for at least a minute. If you have ever experienced this phenomenon, it can only mean two things: a) the food is so good that everyone forgot how to speak, and b) your dining companion is too busy, desperately trying to figure out how the chef came up with this out-of-this-world creation. We smiled at each other, and the silence continued until we finished the Chocolate Souffle.
Between the two of us, we wiped everything clean within a minute. It was so good! I have no vocabulary to describe it; excellent or fantastic are simply not good enough to explain how it tasted like. Maybe, maybe heavenly is the only word that fits the description. This is the Best Chocolate Souffle in Singapore.
Initially, I felt that it’s expensive to pay $16 for a dessert. But I changed my mind after having it – I’d definitely pay for the best chocolate souffle every single time.
Today is waffles day – because I say so.
Adrenaline flowed through my body as we poured the tube of chocolate over the Belgian waffles. Although it wasn’t as fluffy nor as hot as I’ve imagine (time spent on taking photographs), the waffles were very satisfying. Both of us had been craving for waffles for a whole week. When the staff brought the waffles to our table; it was like bringing a helpless lamb to the mercy of the wolf – we devoured it in a split second.
Scrambling to maximize the tiny scoop of vanilla ice cream, every mouthful was so gratifying. And subconsciously, we started to Ooh and whoa. Who needs bananas and berries when there’s waffles? Give me more waffles!
I’ve always insisted that every guy should have a waffle maker at home, it’s the best thing you can do for your girl the next morning. Otherwise, please be a good boyfriend and bring her to Max Brenner for this orgasmic experience – I promise she will love you even more.
* * *
We finished both the Chocolate Souffle and the Banana Split Waffles within ten minutes. Chocolate overdose? Definitely not, can we have another Chocolate Souffle please?
Now if you can excuse me, I need to go check out Laurent Bernand’s Chocolate Souffle.
Long story short, if you like my review please do come by ladyironchef . . . for the delicious in you
Rating given:
Nice dim sum with nice crowd ~
Had a sudden craving for dim sum on a Sunday afternoon and didnt want to fight with the Crystal Jade crowd so headed towards Hai Tien Lo for some nice quiet dim sum. It was surprisingly not packed at 1pm and we were given a table with a view~
Service was good, but perhaps it was the small crowd as well. Orders were taken swiftly, and staff hurried to offer to refill our tea when they spotted my picking up the tea pot. Nice quiet crowd with some business guys and young families allowed for some peace and quiet. It was also quite nice to just space out at the view sporadically too.
All except the porridge, shark's fin dumpling, and rice flour roll came in 3 pieces:
Shark's fin dumpling in a broth ($13 per pax) - I only tried the broth and liked it quite a bit. It was a very light chicken broth with what I think was the sweetnss of scallops (?). I wished there was more broth so I can drink it as a soup.
Steam crystal dumplings with vegetables ($3.90) - This was disappointingly normal, with the usual crunch of meat and some veg. Presentation can be better too.
Pan fried rice flour rolls with crispy conpoy ($3.90) - Good. The plain rolls came pan-fried excellently and the conpoy added a nice touch of fragrance. The accompanying sauce was some form of bean sauce I think, savoury but too gluey for my liking. Rather eat it plain.
Poached Beijing dumplings stuffed with chicken and prawns in chilli vinegar sauce ($4.20) - The highlight was the sauce itself: very good. It enhanced the sweetness of the dumplings and helped to avoid any typical dim sum 'crunch fatigue' syndrome. The chilli and vinegar was mixed in the correct proportion, and was so good that we ended up dipping most of our other dim sum in it.
Deep fried sea perch wrapped with vermicelli ($5.40) - Was glad we ordered this. Fish was deep fried so to be honest the sweetness of it wasn't apparent, but the vermicelli was freshly fried without the stale oil taste which I am very sensitive to. It wasquite skillfully done and presented, with some roe dotting the top of the pieces.
Century egg porridge ($3.90) - Disappointingly bland and too watery for my liking. It didnt have the fragrance of the century egg as I think they used another variety of century egg which was golden organge hued. Pepper did not manage to lift the taste.
Rose Pu Er ($6 per pax) - Nice fragrant choice, although I personally think $6 is too pricey. I mean how much tea can one drink?
The host who greeted us asked for my name even though I did not make a reservation and I wondered why. Then realized its because she wanted to say goodbye when we left addressing me by name. How nice!
I was quite plesantly surprised by the prices. I'd pick this over Crystal Jade for almost the same pricing with a less noisy / hurried crowd. The varity of dim sum is small though, so expect to be bored after your 3rd visit.
Rating given:
Better than Ajisen~
Finally dropped by this place as have seen many a times the long queues outside this new outlet. It was an early dinner about 5:30pm and about just in time as a queue formed soon after that.
Shio Ramen Gyoza Set ($12.80) - I think they must have tamed down the amount of salt after feedback from the Ion outlet as I actually found the soup base quite nice. The soup is apparently cooked for 7 hours before it reaches your table, and an extra puny portion of it will set you back another $2. I have no idea what is 'shio' but it was a refreshing change from Ajisen, which to me tasted like it came with a good handful of MSG. I think it was pork bones stock amongst other stuff, not your cloudy typical and light enough for me to want to drink it without panting for water. It was to me value worth too as the ramen, althought with an egg and only 1 piece of cha shu, came with 3 pieces of gyoza. Decent portion for a normal dinner. Gyozas were nicely pan-fried too.
Agedashi Tofu ($4.80) - Normal fried tofu, although I liked the fact that it didnt come drowned in the sauce which usually ends up making you eat really soggy tofu.
Tako Tempura ($6.80) - Batter was abit too thick for me, and the squid could have been in smaller pieces. Really chewy as well. But the accompanying sauce helped cut the richness of the batter.
Hokkaido Salad ($6.80) - this was a very nice surprise because of the portion and ingredients in the salad. Fresh lettuce, strips of carrot, corn, potato cubes, tomato, baby asparagus, and even scallops. All nice and fresh with a japanese vinegrette sauce. Good!
Service was typical, although there was an irritating fly that keeps wanting to land on our food. Food didnt take too long to arrive too, which was a plus point too.
Rating given:
Nice beer and better than average bites~
This place is for beer lovers ~
They brew their own beers and it tastes like it is. Some of those I like are their Wheat Bier (no it is not a typo), Summer Ale, and Golden Ale. Go before 8pm for their Happy Hour promo - 3 half pints for $18. Otherwise each half pint on their own costs $9 if you just want one. I think the per half pint price is cheaper before 7pm, but cant remember how much.
The crowd is your typical chill out crowd but I like it better than say Paulaner as the place doesnt seem too packed even when its full, perhaps because they have the alfresco area facing the sea. It helps reduces the noise level too, we can actually hear each other and chat!
We had 2 bites that replaced dinner:
Chips with chilli crab dip ($12) - these come thick cut and very freshly deep fried, which was a definite plus point. The only thing is the dip came in half of what the small holder was supposed to contain so we asked if we could have more but was told additional dip will cost $8. HUH? I mean the dip was thew actual chilli crab sauce with real crab meat and all that, but $8 was a tad too high for me for just the sauce. If I ordered that, the chips will come up top $20! They should just use a smaller holder if they intend to serve that little dip, or maybe they fill half on purpose so you are tempted to ask for the top-up.
Beer battered onion rings ($9) - We are attracted by this order after it went past us. It came in a thick crispy batter which didnt quite have the beer taste but we thought it was good it wasn't oily. Until my dinner mate bit into one and realized the batter was still there, not cooked thoroughly, maybe because the oil was too hot. We alerted one staff who brought it on and asked us if we wanted a replacement, which we did. The replacement took quite a while, and when it came, the batter was doubly hard and much more oily, which meant they had deep fried it a longer time to avoid the same thing happening again.
Otherwise, service was generally okay; plus the GM of the place was a friendly chap. The beer itself is not dirt cheap but it is still something special from other places. I love the Wheat Bier which had calamansi in it; may sound strange but it is really nice!
Rating given:
Nice chill out place~
Dropped by on a eve of PH at about 7pm and the place was rather packed. We walked past the apparent reception as the lady did not acknowledge us, but when inside was told to walk back out again to get our seats. The same lady who ignored us told us sheepishly that they have a waiting list and no tables, when we could see available tables right from where we were standing. She repeated the same thing a 2nd time, so I pointed out an empty high table :"Even that is not available?", to which she looked sheepish again and said a little reluctantly "Okay, I'll give that to you first". By the time we left at 10pm, the table was not needed at all. Sigh.
Overeasy is your usual chillout place with a section of the indoor seating set up to be for proper dinners - red booth seats and long tables. The crowd is mostly Shenton Way executives chilling out after a day's work. This may also be why they have a 1-4-1 drink promo (wines, housepours, draft beers) until 8pm for anyone with a business card. If you have a UOB card, the promo extends until 8:30pm.
We ordered Erdinger but it came served in Heineken glasses, and they explained that it was because they ran out of the tall Erdinger glasses, which I thought was quite odd. The lady who served us was quite patient as well, explaining some dishes and checking on salad dressings with a smile.
Erdinger was $14 for 1 pint and white wine was $12 per glass - normal prices.
Cheesesteak sliders ($15) - 5 mini burgers served in a long plate. Freshly toasted buns sandwiching a slab of beef and cheese sauce, this was a really good savory starter. The beef especially was done just nice and no 'beefy' taste at all. Good!
Cobb Salad ($11) - A haphazard mix of corn, lettuce, tomatoes, minced egg, onions, croutons, radish slices, and bacon. The mix did not gel together very well; it felt like the chef took whatever was available and threw it together. We declined the blue cheese dressing and had red wine vinegrette instead, which was quite good but not enough to save the dish.
Blueberry Waffles ($12) - A big round waffle that came with scattered real blueberries and crumbs; a smaller-than-expected scoop of walnut ice cream sat on top. Fluffy and fragrant but it was still quite heavy considering it was under the dessert section.
Managed to speak to one of their more senior staff and apparently they focus alot on their food, which is good I guess.
BUT YOU HAVE TO CHECK YOUR BILL BEFORE YOU SIGN IT. Because mine came without them factoring in the 1-4-1 prices, so I asked them to amend it and the correct bill came thereafter. They also gave me the void charge slip, and when had the chance to look at it, to my horrors, I realised that I would have signed for a $200 bill if I had not checked it. Why? Because the bill with the wrong prices added up to $91, and they had the audacity to incluce a $109 tips (yes, TIPS).
I wished I could have noticed it on the spot; I would really love to hear their explanation on this. To me, this could not be a typo error. And I am sure there are people who are used to signing their bill without checking. I find it quite disgusting that they resort to this to rake in the bucks.
I would come here again as the drinks and food are not too bad, BUT of course I will now scrutinize my bill even more. Please take note!!! That explains my 1 star rating for 'service'.
Rating given:
Not too bad~
Dropped by for an impromptu visit just to check out the place but ended up eating dinner there. Might as well. Occupying the space vacated by Subway, the seating was small, perhaps about 30 pax will fill up the place nicely.
As the name suggests, seating is all benches alongside equally stark tables, a little like canteen style where you have to slot yourself into the seat. You order at the counter which has the menu, pay, take your number, and wait. The chalkboard provides for easy browsing too.
Soft-shell crab burger ($8.20) - the sauce tasted like real chilli-crab sauce, and the piece of crab was the actual thingy and not some paste etc. Good start! The cabbage was fresh and provided a very nice crunch to the burger. Bun was soft although not wow.
Potato crisps ($1.00) - You can add this one to any burger order for $1 which is recommended because otherwise the burger alone looks quite sad. There was a slightly different crunch to it as opposed to mass market chips and was still quite warm when it reached us. It is supposedly home-made from scratch although my dinner buddy mentioned that fresh potaotes should be a bit softer and not too crisp.
Wasabi butter-fish burger ($8.20) - Nice! Big slab of actual fish with cabbage and a slice of sweet tomato. Nice dose of the wasabi sauce, although there was no hint of the usual wasabi 'kick' and the bitterness of it came across as a little strang. We later found out that the bitterness came from the addition of mustard and roasted saseme seeds; and they adjusted the original level of spiciness after feedback from other customers. Taste are subjective I guess.
Actually the burgers were much smaller than expected; perhaps they had to adjust the prices to accommodate the younger crowd at Cineleisure, and hence accordingly the portion.
Service was quite haphazard, with only 1 staff taking orders, another serving the tables, and I think a 3rd making the burgers. We could see the staff serving the wrong orders a few times despite the small seatings; and our request to hold the mayo was overlooked, although it was replaced with a fresh one after alerting.
You'd also have to cut your own if you'd like to halve your burgers to share, as the staff advised that the kitchen is typically to busy for such extra requests, and they give you a pair of knife and fork (the orders do not come with these and most eat with their hands). Chilli sauce also came in fastfood-style packs.
Kudos to the staff who asked for our feedback and the 'chef' who came out of the kitchen to speak to us personally. I thought it was quite receptive of them to hear from us.
Prices may be pricer than say Mos Burger when size of the burgers are very close, so that may turn some teenagers off. But if you feel like a tiny splurge without having to go all the way to Relish, this is perhaps the mini-alternative to it.
They also have a little 'introduction' about the ingredients they use on the tables, which after reading will make you feel that your little splurge may be worth it after all.
Rating given:
Ice Cream Kingdom is one of the new Ice Cream places in Singapore. The owner of the 8 month old Ice Cream Parlor at Holland Grove, is Stella, who quit her HR job in exchange for the impressive title CICO: Chief Ice-Cream Officer.
With so many ice cream places in Singapore, it can be quite a thwarting experience trying to decide on a place to satisfy the ice cream craving. I like Ice Cream Kingdom (ICK) and I am going to tell you why.
Unlike the other ice cream parlours in Singapore, it’s an one-woman-show at Ice Cream Kingdom. From making the ice cream to serving them – everything is done by Stella. Having ice cream in ICK, it makes you feel right at home.
Ice Cream Kingdom has 15 ice cream flavors – some are essentials like vanilla, chocolate and cookie & cream, while there are other unique flavors like kaya, green tea brown rice, and honey wheat crunch.
We were like kids in an ice cream shop, there’s so many flavors and we wanted to try all of them! For ‘research purposes’, we had 8 different scoops: Nutella Nutella, Vanilla Bean, Sticky Chewy Chocolate, Earl of Grey, Honey Wheat Crunch, Green Tea Brown Rice, Toasty Kaya, and Rasping for Raspberry.
Vanilla > Chocolate
When it comes to ice cream, Vanilla ice cream always win hands down – especially so when there’s speckle of vanilla beans in it. But that’s not to say that the Sticky Chewy Chocolate isn’t good. Before this visit, a dear friend brought me the chocolate flavor from Ice Cream Kingdom (ICK) and I had a whole pint of it for dinner.
Besides Vanilla bean, another of my all time favorite is definitely Nutella! I’m not sure about you, but I like nutella very very much. Since I’m not a tea lover, the Earl of Grey didn’t really appealed to me, but most of the rest raved about it as one of the better earl grey ice cream.
The Green Tea Brown Rice sounded a little too healthy for my liking; there was green tea, and there was brown rice – there you go – Green Tea Brown Rice ice cream! I know it’s not my best description – try it for yourself if you are curious. Among the different options, Toasty Kaya caught our attention with the catchy name and familiar taste, while the playful Rasping for Raspberry was sweet but not overly sweet, sour and not too much so, with an intense raspberry tinge.
Have you ever fantasized about having ice cream for breakfast? With the Honey Wheat Crunch, I think your little fetish can actually come true. Tasting it for the first time, it’s like having tiny bits of wheat cereal – in an ice cream. Ho ho, lets have ice cream for breakfast!
I did not exercise, but I only had a taste of everything instead of having eight scoops.
Rainy days are the perfect weather for having ice cream. But the same goes for a hot day too. There’s nothing more gratifying than to have a cold melting ice cream under the scorching sun. I’d also go for warm fluffy waffles, topped with a single scoop of cold vanilla ice cream and drizzled with hot chocolate.
I like the idea of ice cream: be it on a cone or in a cup, the sight of the melting ice cream always proved to be irresistible, I mean, who doesn’t like ice cream? It’s like the best creation (other than nutella) in this world!
Special for ladyironchef readers:
Mention that you are a reader of ladyironchef to Stella, get an additional scoop of ice cream when you ordered the Waffle with Single Scoop OR 1-for-1 deal on scoops. Promotion is valid for one month till 24th April 2010.
For directions please click here, and you can give a call to ICK before going down. What are you waiting for? Drop by Ice Cream Kingdom and say hi to Stella for me!
Long story short, if you like my review please do come by ladyironchef . . . for the delicious in you
Rating given:
A tad expensive; quality needs to be improved
Finally had the chance to try this after walking past it countless times. Always felt it looked like an upmarket Jap place with its dark deco tones and soft lightings, and this was a good although more pricey option than Sushi Tei if you don't feel like joining the harrowing queue there.
Availability of booth seats provided a relief from the usual noisy crowd for the 4 of us, and we orderded sufficiently adequate:
Ebi Avocado Maki ($10.80) - Rather big portions but I cant quite taste the avocado. The rice was quite loosely packed and fell all over the place; prawns was also abit soggy.
Tako Fry ($8.80) - Jap calamari. Too oily for my liking and the batter was more like fish&chips-style batter. Whatever freshness of the tako was overpowered by the too-heavy batter.
Gyu Asparagus Maki ($3.80) - Don't know why they called it Maki when its not. The picture in the menu is misleading. The skewer of 4 pieces of asparagus wrapped with beef came in puny portions. Overdose of salt and black pepper killed the dish.
Cha Soba ($8.80) - refreshingly light, especially after the tako fry. Its a standard dish but thumbs up for the noodles that came nicely chilled.
The things I didnt try: Nabeyaki Udon ($14.80), Tori Nanban Soba ($12.80), Beef Inaniwa Udon ($16.80).
Service was quite efficient and food was served promptly. Tea was topped up regularly as well. The prices are abit high I thought, and I wouldnt have minded it so much if the quality of food was better. But I'll leave it up to you to decide for yourselves~
Oh, and they serve this complimentary starter which I find strangely addictive. Its just cucumber and carrot sticks with raw cabbage pieces, but comes with a savory bean dip that provides a healthy tasty crunch.
Rating given:
Small issue but....
I thought I should inform this very small issue that my friend and his family of 6 in total went for a Happy Birthday Champagne Brunch on 14 Mar 2010 and 3 came down with food poisoning thereafter.
Why 3 you ask? Because the 3 (my friend and his parents) went to get and ate some oysters first, and then when the other 3 family members went over to the same counter, they couldnt see the oysters anymore. The staff told them that the oysters were not fresh and had kept them.
Opps. Too late.
They wrote in to the Director of F&B and they offered to refund the monies for 3pax. But were also defensive and kept emphasizing that the oysters are checked before serving etc etc. So how did the un-fresh oysters reach the buffet counter? Hmmmm...
I personally tried the brunch in 2009 and it was quite an enjoyable experience. Not sure what happened but I hope something has been done about it. After all, I'm sure food poisoning is not something that a Four Seasons would want to be associated with. I thought their service recovery will be better than this too.
And this time they only had (unfresh) oysters and prawns at the cold seafood counter.. quite pathetic given that they are charging $148 per adult. For the same price, Ritz is way better.
Rating given:
Nice Mee Sua~
Dont go to Thai Express often but when I do, I have the Mee Sua Kaeng Chued Gai ($9.90) which is 'Thai longevity noodles in double-boiled chicken broth".
There's something about chicken broth and noodles which is very comforting to me, especially when I am terribly hungry and cant eat anything tomyam-ish because of gastric. The noodles are more like the Malaysian 'dou qian' made of bean flour which makes them not soggy even after they've been cooked and soaked in the broth for some time. The broth is tasty but light; and the bowl is topped with mushrooms, some greens, and chicken pieces. My only grouse is that the chicken was not marinated and needed chilli to lift it up.
Yam Mamuang ($6.50) - Mango Salad. Adequately small portion for a starter and I liked the fact that the dressing is not too tart as compared to other places. A bit too heavy on the small onions for me though.
Service was abit haphazard, with staff rushing to and fro, some over eager while others were nonchalantly blur. Expect queues on Fridays and Saturdays too. It more a eat -and-go place so no ambience to speak of.
Rating given: