Pasta Fresca is an Italian restaurant chain that has a presence in China and Singapore, with 4 outlets currently operating in the latter. Managed to have a quick dinner with my friend at its Siglap outlet one evening when the crowds were still slowly trickling in.
The interior was rather simplistic yet cosy through the injection of earthly tones into its colour scheme and overhanging pieces of cloth (or whatever you call them). Coupled with warm lights and Italian style painting panels, it made for a lazy and somewhat sleepy dinner.
Alfredo Fettuccine - One of the more decent renditions around, the fettuccine was al dente with the cream based sauce not too heavy on the palate. The toppings of diced chicken, ham and garden peas were quite generous as well, which made this dish quite bang for the buck.
Quattro Stagioni - Bearing the same name as Vivaldi's Four Seasons, the Quattro Stagioni was quite decent with the exception of the crust, which could have been thinner and crispier. Although we only ordered a small pizza, it was already quite a size. Ingredients were generous as well, with the olives, ham, mushrooms and artichokes scattered throughout.
Mousse Al Cioccolato - I'm pretty sure chocolate fanatics will like this dish - chocolaty rich and gooey but not overwhelming. Served chilled, it made for a nice and sweet, albeit heart stopping dessert. The funny thing was that it was supposedly flavoured with orange peel, something that I couldn't make out at all.
Tiramisu - For the price, I honestly didn't expect much. The tiramisu looked good but was let down by quite a few factors. First of all, there was the glaring absence of the liqueur taste. Secondly, the mascarpone cheese came across as more creamy then light or fluffy. But having said all that, it was still very palatable.
I was stuffed at the end of it and so was my friend. Food quality in general was a notch above average but the best part was, it didn't cost an arm or leg, standing at about $46 for 2 mains & 2 desserts. Service was quite good and I would be inclined to drop by if I was in the area and craving for a hearty Italian fix.
Before J.Co arrives in this little small dot, I'd read bloggers from across the causeway sharing how good it is and how much they love it. So when I head they've set up their very first outlet at Raffles city, I was delighted! Off I went to try the infamous J.Co donuts.
When I was there, the queue wasn't as long as I'd expected. Instead the competition nearby, Donut Factory, was having a longer queue than J.Co.
I joined in the queue and started observing the staff behind the counter. They've in place an ordering system where each staff is incharge of some flavors within the hand-reach. And each customer is given a number for their order. The first staff will ask the quantity you want to buy and get the boxes ready. She's in charge of the first few flavors and will issue you a number when she passes you to the next staff who'll serve you for the rest of the flavors available. When you're done with your selection, you'll then proceed to the cashier where they'll tally your order and collect payment.
This seem like a systematic and effective way for them. But its not so friendly to some of the customers. Especially if they're there for the first time and not sure of what flavors they want. I would recommend to decide on the flavors and quantity for each before you reach the first staff. This will surely speed up the ordering process.
Hmm... looks like I've spent more time typing and explaining the process rather than talking about the donuts! Well, because, after tasting almost all the brands of donuts available in Singapore and also those from Krispy Kreme, I find the J.Co is just another brand of donuts. Nothing much to wow about. Other than some of the interesting looking ones with special names for some, there's just nothing much I would comment on. But because this is the only outlet here in Singapore, for now, I'm sure many will still queue to buy some just to get a taste of this sweet indulgence that is still getting the attention for the mass in Singapore.
As for me, I'll be staying away from these fattening snacks for now. :)
Together with a few Yebbers, we met at mint cafe for an informal gathering. The cafe is cosy and comfy. Located at the basement of mint museum, decorated to the theme of the museum. The cafe is filled with retro looking movie posters and toys. Even the cushion on the seats were printed with robot (if I'd not remembered wrongly). The cafe thou small, house quite a good variety of food.
Some of us ordered their set lunch at $13.80 and some ordered the tea set at $7.80 .
There's a few mains that one can choose for their set lunch. And the set comes with soup, main, dessert and drink. As for the tea sets, one can choose any cakes/desserts in the menu and any of the tea/coffee available.
The soup served was nicely cooked and thick. For my set lunch, I ordered the Crispy Chicken Chop as my main. When it was served, I could smell the aroma coming from the generous piece of chicken. The main was served with mashed potato and side salad. One cut into the chicken and I knew I'm going to love it. Taking my first bite, I could taste the crispy crust and the meat inside was marinated and I love the taste. (Know when I'm writing this, I think this is the same chicken served at the night of Yebber's anniversary! No wonder it tasted familiarly delicious that night. Hot favorite by everyone.)
The dessert served with my lunch set was a tad too sweet for my liking. Couldn't remember what is its name thou.
On my other visit to the cafe, I ordered their tea set with Mississippi pie as the dessert. The chocolate mousse covering the layer of chocolate pie was not too sweet and complements the entire pie pretty well. I would recommend to enjoy the pie together with the whipped cream at the side. It's there for a reason. If you are not a whipped cream person, I recommend you try their other selections. Cos the pie gets a little "sick-to-eat" if eaten on its own.
Will surely be going back for their lunch set if I've the chance to. The spaghetti in their lunch set selection looks nice too.
Footnote After the event at mint, I would personally recommend anyone who's looking for a classy place to host your events at Mint museum. The staff are all very helpful and despite my long-winded conversation and constant reminders, the lady planning the event with me is always friendly and helpful. Thanks Mandy for the wonderful coordination and effort! As for the food, I'm sure many whom attended will agree with me that its good. Right?
It has been more than a year since my family last visited Guan Hin so a revisit was in order especially after Guan Hin had just undergone a facelift. The new Guan Hin now boasts a more spacious interior through efficient usage of space and whitewashed walls to go along with the spanking new carpet and furniture. The lingering nostalgia is gone as well, covered up by the fresh coat of paint that dons the walls.
Braised Goose - The goose was thinly sliced and tasted great with the not too salty gravy. Some work needs to be done on the beancurd though, coming across as a tad too rough for my liking. Comparisons are inevitable between Guan Hin's rendition and that of Hung Kang, with the latter taking the cake effortlessly with its polished rendition of this traditional Teochew dish.
Sauteed Kailan - Nicely stir fried without being overcooked. However it was a little too oily and watery. What I liked was that it came served with "Ti Po" or crispy fried sole fish, which gave the occasional crunch and added saltiness.
Steamed Pomfret - Fresh and steamed just right, with the flesh firm and sweet. Just the way a good dish of steamed pomfret should be. Paying compliments to the fish was the gravy, tasty from all the sour plums and tomatoes in it.
Liver Roll - The liver roll or "Ngoh Hiang" was honestly quite good. Thin crispy skin covering a mould of finely chopped liver but with only a slight hint of liver taste. Dipped in the sweet and sticky plum sauce, it made for a nice dish.
Yam Paste with Gingko Nuts - As mentioned before, I consider yam paste or Orh Nee as one of the hallmarks of Teochew food, which explains my high expectations of it. While I used to praise Guan Hin for their rather stellar rendition of this traditional Teochew dessert, the same compliments couldn't be extended that evening. Barely warm when served, it looked pre made and as though it had been sitting in a corner for quite a long period of time. Texture wise, it wasn't smooth, coming across as chunky and oily. Even the gingko nuts were too soft and bland. A total disappointment.
A rather filling dinner for 5 came up to about $90, which really isn't very expensive but somehow or rather, food standard has slided a little, especially in the case of the Orh Nee. Service was acceptable but could be better. Has the hype over Guan Hin resulted in a decline in its culinary standard - one that took decades to build?
Fortunate Xin Fu Yum Cha Restaurant should be quite a familar name with most people, largely due to their heavily advertisements on TV. The other being Yum Cha restaurant which also did a lot of TV advertisements. Their main branch is located at Toa Payoh, with a second added at Intenational Building, Orchard Road (beside Lido Scotts) which i say makes it easier for patrons to visit them because of the accessible location.
Anyway, Fortunate Yum Cha is currently having a promotion, 50% off Dim Sum during weekdays 3-5pm, and i must admit that’s the main reason which draws me to the place.
The restaurant is old-school traditional restaurant, with the decors your typical chinese restaurant style. When my buddy and I arrived at 245pm, we went into the place and browse through the menu until 3pm for the promotion to start.
We asked politely whether we can used the powerpoint for our laptop, but we were told they’ll charged us a fee of $5 per hour for the usage. This rather turn us off as we needed the laptop for some discussions, and we even contemplate leaving to find another place which allow us the use of powerpoint. But we decided to stay, have some dim-sum and get off.
Well, thats the main issue, if they had allowed us to use the powerpoint, I believe we’ll have stay longer and order more Dim Sum, but due to the fact that we aren’t allow to use, we order just about 7 Dim Sum between the two of us.
Another issue which we encountered was that the staff told us that the Dim Sum promotion from 3-5pm will be only 30% instead of 50% which we saw on the newspaper, because the 50% is for Dim Sum during 8-10am. We accepted it without much questioning because there was still 30% discount anyway.
But shortly after that, when the assistant manager passed by, I inquire her on the promotion and she told me it was 50% during 3-5pm also. Well, speak of double standards.
Oh ya, and as the place wasn’t really crowded, they didn’t have their usual staff pushing the trolley around to offer Dim Sum. Instead, we ordered the dim sum, and they bring it to our table.
Siew Mai ($4) Like i said before during my visit to Red Star previously, I always felt the true test for a dim sum restaurant will be its Siew Mai, and the ones here are good! The prawn in the siew mai is big, real big!
Prawn Dumplings ($4) The Prawn Dumplings or more commonly known as Har-Gau, is also excellent. The skin of the Har-Gau isn’t too sticky like some of the one available elsewhere, one bite into the prawn dumpling, and you will get the result below!
A big prawn inside the skin of the Har-Gau. Simply goodness!
Fried Carrot Cake ($3.80) The waitress came up with a stove and fried the carrot cake right in front of us. I suppose its not bad, at the orginal price of $3.80 i probably won’t take it again. But having 50% discount, i guess $1.90 isn’t that expensive considering we had 4 pieces of carrot cake.
Char Siew Chee Chong Fun ($3.50) Chee Chong Fun is always one Dim Sum which i’ll always order when I go to dim sum restaurant. No exceptions here, the chee chong fun is like your usual chinese restaurant one.
BBQ Pork Bun ($2.50) There is no problem with the char siew bun, the bun is good, but the only thing is if i’m not wrong, usually char siew buns come in 3 instead of 2? I got a feeling that because there was two of us so they served two buns instead of three? Maybe this is how Fortunate serve their char siew bun, can someone enlighten me on this?
Pork Ribs ($3.80) The pork ribs were not to my liking. N’uff said!
Century Egg Congee ($3) Usually i don’t really facny century egg congee, but since my buddy wanted some, so we order this to share. And to my surprise, the congee was not bad! But again, $3 for a bowl of congee is probably too high a price for me to order again, unless there’s a promotion again of course.
Mango Pudding ($5) The mango pudding was really ordinary like all normal mango pudding, and at $5 you can call me a miser, but I won’t pay the money for it. Simply its not worth the five bucks
Total Bill was $21.10 for 2 person, 7 dim sum, 1 dessert, chinese tea. The total price before the 50% discount was $30. I must say the dim sum at Fortunate Yum Cha is quite average, i’ll still prefer Red Star over Fortunate, but given there’s a 50% discount again, i won’t mind going back to Fortunate for some dim sum.
Service-wise you shouldn’t really be expecting any, and go during weekdays where there’s 50% discount. But then nowadays many other restaurants are offering 50% discount on their dim sum, such as Ah Yit abalone restaurant, and Tung Lok Seafood.
You are always welcome to visit ladyironchef for a full-up on this trip. Whatever written above are my geniune feelings expressed in words that may be subjected to my personal distortion or bias. Please do not feel emotional or distress should you have any violent objections. Kindly click the little X at the upper, extreme right of your screen if negative adjectives would be derived. Otherwise, feel free to furnish me with comments, may it be positive or negative : )
My colleague and I were wandering along East Coast road wondering what to have for lunch when we stumbled upon Stewhaus - a nondescript cafe located just next to Sushi Jiro.
Stepping into the simple no frills interior made me feel all warm and fuzzy, with its wooden finishings and smallish interior - just like returning home. Service was cordial but a little inattentive that sunny weekday afternoon though.
I've never actually drank summer vegetable soup before so it was quite an experience for me. The soup was refreshing and light but I didn't quite take to the kidney beans (personal preference). Overall a decent soup, but not something I would order again. As for the mushroom soup, it was nice and thick with generous bits of mushroom. However I did find it a bit too salty for my liking.
Half Pork Knuckle - Pork Knuckles are usually grilled (at least those that I've eaten) so it came as a surprise that Stewhaus's rendition was baked instead. The pros of such a cooking method is that the pork knuckle turns out healthier (less oil) but the downside is that it sacrifices quite a bit on taste and texture. For one, the meat wasn't fibrous, coming across as gluten like and the nice grilled taste which I personally like was missing. Thumbs up for the skin still retaining its crispiness though.
Mixed Berry Stew - Another first for me. Zesty from all the berries yet sweet at the same time from the ice cream. Very contrasting flavours indeed but not exactly something to shout about.
$38 for 2 soups, 1 main and 1 dessert isn't exactly expensive but its not cheap either. Food quality falls just above the average mark and only service charge is levied (No GST). Would I be back? If I happen to be in that area, maybe.
With Seasons Reasons, the reasons is every seasons! With a passion for a different dining experience, Seasons Reasons is designed based on a quest of the 4 seasons - Summer, Fall, Winter & Spring.
Well, I am back at Raffles City again, just after two weeks since last visiting OChaCha, but then i can’t help it, nowadays there are simply too much to eat at Raffles City! So don’t be surprise if there are more new posts coming up.
Seasons Reasons is a small restaurant among the many new restaurants at Raffles City basement, but it stood out for its simple and comfortable setting. The menu is simple, with the usual starters, salad, soup, sandwiches, and main course. No doubt there are not much variety under each category, but i’ll say its more than enough for the average diners.
Appetizers start at $8.50 for their “hot pick” Golden potato prawn, to $13.80 for their seafood combo. Prices for the main course are pretty reasonable too, ranging from $11 to $20. But they are quite short on their spaghetti selections though, only two types are available. And i lamented the fact that they didn’t have much desserts to choose from.
Like mentioned above, the settings for the restaurant is simple and elegant, and there are also the cozy corner seats for diners who will like to enjoy some privacy.
My buddy and I didn’t have much trouble choosing what we want for lunch, after going through the simple menu once, we decided on Fish & chips, and lamb chop. We didn’t have any starters or soup as it was a simple lunch for us.
Fish & Chips ($14.80) Cod fish tempura and wedges served with lemongrass chili. To be honest, my first impression of the dish, it looks like just any other ordinary Fish & chips at other restaurants. But, my buddy commented that the fish was crispy on the outside, and where some other restaurants fish might get too dry, the one here is just nice. The interior of the fish was soft and not too dry.
Another point to note will be most places served their fish & chips with just tartar sauce, but Seasons Reasons had the tartar sauce, and also lemongrass chili which i find rather special.
Lamb Chop ($19.80) Baby rack of lamb char-grilled to medium well served with a glazed of honey mustard and fork mashed potato. The lamb chop at $19.80, is the most expensive dish served on the menu. And it did not disappoint, with a generous serving of 4 lamb racks, i believe it will fill most people.
The honey mustard sauce adds flavour to the grilled lamb chop, the meat is slightly tough, you’ll need some effort in biting and chewing the meat. But i do find the price of the lamb chop slightly steep, and most probably won’t order it again.
Total Bill was $40.72 for 2 person, not really expensive given we are dining in a restaurant. If you are looking for a simple dining place while you are at Raffles City, look no further than Seasons Reasons. The restaurant do put in effort in the food presentation, no doubt taste is the vital factor, but one tastebud will definitely open up if the food is presented nicely.
With so many restaurants at Raffles City, i don’t think i will be visiting again any sooner, unless they got new menu or promotions. I won’t say the food is excellent, but i’ll say its worth a try if you haven’t been there before.
You are always welcome to visit ladyironchef for a full-up on this trip. Whatever written above are my geniune feelings expressed in words that may be subjected to my personal distortion or bias. Please do not feel emotional or distress should you have any violent objections. Kindly click the little X at the upper, extreme right of your screen if negative adjectives would be derived. Otherwise, feel free to furnish me with comments, may it be positive or negative : )
An entry long overdue. Had lunch at Eighteen Chefs with a few friends one weekday afternoon. What's interesting and noble (to a certain extent) about Eighteen Chefs is that it takes in ex convicts and delinquents and helps them turn over a new leaf by training them in the food business. Its owner and head chef, Benny Se Teo, who was a former drug addict, trained at Jamie Oliver's London restaurant, Fifteen.
Located at a corner of Eastpoint just next to the POSB, Eighteen Chefs has a rather simple interior which can seat up to about 50 pax. This place runs on a self service system hence no service charge is levied. To order your food, simply fill up a form and bring it to the counter to make payment. Your orders will then be served to you shortly.
Baked Rice with Creamy White Sauce & Chicken Slices ($8.90) - You get to choose what kind of sauce you want for your baked rice as well as the ingredients that go into it. Honestly, the baked rice I had (see above) was decent but nothing to shout about. While the cheese was nice and thick, I found the rice a little too bland for my liking and the cream sauce did little to help. But at $8.90, its relatively cheaper and quality is slightly better than the ones they serve at Swensens.
Eighteen Funky Strawberry ($5.80) - $5.80 for 4 scoops of ice cream served with strawberries, hazelnuts and oreo biscuits - now that should be excellent value for money really. It would have been better if the strawberries had been fresher and if the ice cream had been been richer. My guess is that they gave us tub ice cream from the supermarket.
A decent lunch for 3 inclusive of a dessert to share cost just over $35, which is still pretty acceptable for the quality. Service was excellent and even though the food wasn't exactly stellar, I'll be back to try other stuff. After all, life is all about second chances isn't it?
My mom brought me to try that locally famous (for now) dessert hut near her workplace in Chinatown that day, I heard big fuss about it from my friends and from TV.
My mum had the Walnut cream and it was hella fragrant. The waitress auntie recommended almond and sesame cream (mixed, they called it yuan2 yang2)....
Personally, I am a bigbigbig fan of almond flavour that some people hate...I hate mango, but I have heard the Mango chilled dessert is awesome too...
Though the Sesame was great, it was really rough on the throat, it made my throat realllllllllly DRIED Up...and the almond didn't really help.
I ended up only drinking the almond center....superb. Was no more than $2.50...was really cheap.
Next time the xmas gift for my whole class will be dessert right to my school LOL.
Then, it was saturday so there was the steam egg custard, aka 'dandan'...
Though the ones in HK are better, i guess it's the best i can get in sg....
Slurp!
anytime again!
(P.S. Heard that those almond walnut etc are all grinded by the dessert house by their own machines they invented!)
This is sooo bad of me! I've known Beadyplace for so long and only today I went in to seriously take a look at the things she did!
I must admit I'm not a fan of accessories. Those who know me will know that the only thing I wear daily are my rings on my fingers. :) But when I saw the accessories this bimbo created, I'm tempted! One of the necklace and a bracelet are very simple and pretty. *hint hint* HAHA!
Love the simplicity of the designs. Personally I'd tried beading too, but my clumsy and fat fingers do not allow me to do it right. So i gave up.
This bimbo is a very busy woman, so when she finds time to do her accessories, I'm sure she concentrates 100% and gives good quality stuff. Go check out her blogshop if you're shopping for some gifts for your gfs. :)
1=SGD 0.0587
Pasta Fresca is an Italian restaurant chain that has a presence in China and Singapore, with 4 outlets currently operating in the latter. Managed to have a quick dinner with my friend at its Siglap outlet one evening when the crowds were still slowly trickling in.
The interior was rather simplistic yet cosy through the injection of earthly tones into its colour scheme and overhanging pieces of cloth (or whatever you call them). Coupled with warm lights and Italian style painting panels, it made for a lazy and somewhat sleepy dinner.
Alfredo Fettuccine - One of the more decent renditions around, the fettuccine was al dente with the cream based sauce not too heavy on the palate. The toppings of diced chicken, ham and garden peas were quite generous as well, which made this dish quite bang for the buck.
Quattro Stagioni - Bearing the same name as Vivaldi's Four Seasons, the Quattro Stagioni was quite decent with the exception of the crust, which could have been thinner and crispier. Although we only ordered a small pizza, it was already quite a size. Ingredients were generous as well, with the olives, ham, mushrooms and artichokes scattered throughout.
Mousse Al Cioccolato - I'm pretty sure chocolate fanatics will like this dish - chocolaty rich and gooey but not overwhelming. Served chilled, it made for a nice and sweet, albeit heart stopping dessert. The funny thing was that it was supposedly flavoured with orange peel, something that I couldn't make out at all.
Tiramisu - For the price, I honestly didn't expect much. The tiramisu looked good but was let down by quite a few factors. First of all, there was the glaring absence of the liqueur taste. Secondly, the mascarpone cheese came across as more creamy then light or fluffy. But having said all that, it was still very palatable.
I was stuffed at the end of it and so was my friend. Food quality in general was a notch above average but the best part was, it didn't cost an arm or leg, standing at about $46 for 2 mains & 2 desserts. Service was quite good and I would be inclined to drop by if I was in the area and craving for a hearty Italian fix.
See all my pictures here
Rating given:
Not as special as I thought
Before J.Co arrives in this little small dot, I'd read bloggers from across the causeway sharing how good it is and how much they love it. So when I head they've set up their very first outlet at Raffles city, I was delighted! Off I went to try the infamous J.Co donuts.
When I was there, the queue wasn't as long as I'd expected. Instead the competition nearby, Donut Factory, was having a longer queue than J.Co.
I joined in the queue and started observing the staff behind the counter. They've in place an ordering system where each staff is incharge of some flavors within the hand-reach. And each customer is given a number for their order. The first staff will ask the quantity you want to buy and get the boxes ready. She's in charge of the first few flavors and will issue you a number when she passes you to the next staff who'll serve you for the rest of the flavors available. When you're done with your selection, you'll then proceed to the cashier where they'll tally your order and collect payment.
This seem like a systematic and effective way for them. But its not so friendly to some of the customers. Especially if they're there for the first time and not sure of what flavors they want. I would recommend to decide on the flavors and quantity for each before you reach the first staff. This will surely speed up the ordering process.
Hmm... looks like I've spent more time typing and explaining the process rather than talking about the donuts! Well, because, after tasting almost all the brands of donuts available in Singapore and also those from Krispy Kreme, I find the J.Co is just another brand of donuts. Nothing much to wow about. Other than some of the interesting looking ones with special names for some, there's just nothing much I would comment on. But because this is the only outlet here in Singapore, for now, I'm sure many will still queue to buy some just to get a taste of this sweet indulgence that is still getting the attention for the mass in Singapore.
As for me, I'll be staying away from these fattening snacks for now. :)
Rating given:
Lovely place with lovely food
Together with a few Yebbers, we met at mint cafe for an informal gathering. The cafe is cosy and comfy. Located at the basement of mint museum, decorated to the theme of the museum. The cafe is filled with retro looking movie posters and toys. Even the cushion on the seats were printed with robot (if I'd not remembered wrongly). The cafe thou small, house quite a good variety of food.
Some of us ordered their set lunch at $13.80 and some ordered the tea set at $7.80 .
There's a few mains that one can choose for their set lunch. And the set comes with soup, main, dessert and drink. As for the tea sets, one can choose any cakes/desserts in the menu and any of the tea/coffee available.
The soup served was nicely cooked and thick. For my set lunch, I ordered the Crispy Chicken Chop as my main. When it was served, I could smell the aroma coming from the generous piece of chicken. The main was served with mashed potato and side salad. One cut into the chicken and I knew I'm going to love it. Taking my first bite, I could taste the crispy crust and the meat inside was marinated and I love the taste. (Know when I'm writing this, I think this is the same chicken served at the night of Yebber's anniversary! No wonder it tasted familiarly delicious that night. Hot favorite by everyone.)
The dessert served with my lunch set was a tad too sweet for my liking. Couldn't remember what is its name thou.
On my other visit to the cafe, I ordered their tea set with Mississippi pie as the dessert. The chocolate mousse covering the layer of chocolate pie was not too sweet and complements the entire pie pretty well. I would recommend to enjoy the pie together with the whipped cream at the side. It's there for a reason. If you are not a whipped cream person, I recommend you try their other selections. Cos the pie gets a little "sick-to-eat" if eaten on its own.
Will surely be going back for their lunch set if I've the chance to. The spaghetti in their lunch set selection looks nice too.
Footnote
After the event at mint, I would personally recommend anyone who's looking for a classy place to host your events at Mint museum. The staff are all very helpful and despite my long-winded conversation and constant reminders, the lady planning the event with me is always friendly and helpful. Thanks Mandy for the wonderful coordination and effort! As for the food, I'm sure many whom attended will agree with me that its good. Right?
Rating given:
It has been more than a year since my family last visited Guan Hin so a revisit was in order especially after Guan Hin had just undergone a facelift. The new Guan Hin now boasts a more spacious interior through efficient usage of space and whitewashed walls to go along with the spanking new carpet and furniture. The lingering nostalgia is gone as well, covered up by the fresh coat of paint that dons the walls.
Braised Goose - The goose was thinly sliced and tasted great with the not too salty gravy. Some work needs to be done on the beancurd though, coming across as a tad too rough for my liking. Comparisons are inevitable between Guan Hin's rendition and that of Hung Kang, with the latter taking the cake effortlessly with its polished rendition of this traditional Teochew dish.
Sauteed Kailan - Nicely stir fried without being overcooked. However it was a little too oily and watery. What I liked was that it came served with "Ti Po" or crispy fried sole fish, which gave the occasional crunch and added saltiness.
Steamed Pomfret - Fresh and steamed just right, with the flesh firm and sweet. Just the way a good dish of steamed pomfret should be. Paying compliments to the fish was the gravy, tasty from all the sour plums and tomatoes in it.
Liver Roll - The liver roll or "Ngoh Hiang" was honestly quite good. Thin crispy skin covering a mould of finely chopped liver but with only a slight hint of liver taste. Dipped in the sweet and sticky plum sauce, it made for a nice dish.
Yam Paste with Gingko Nuts - As mentioned before, I consider yam paste or Orh Nee as one of the hallmarks of Teochew food, which explains my high expectations of it. While I used to praise Guan Hin for their rather stellar rendition of this traditional Teochew dessert, the same compliments couldn't be extended that evening. Barely warm when served, it looked pre made and as though it had been sitting in a corner for quite a long period of time. Texture wise, it wasn't smooth, coming across as chunky and oily. Even the gingko nuts were too soft and bland. A total disappointment.
A rather filling dinner for 5 came up to about $90, which really isn't very expensive but somehow or rather, food standard has slided a little, especially in the case of the Orh Nee. Service was acceptable but could be better. Has the hype over Guan Hin resulted in a decline in its culinary standard - one that took decades to build?
See all my pictures here
Rating given:
Fortunate Xin Fu Yum Cha Restaurant should be quite a familar name with most people, largely due to their heavily advertisements on TV. The other being Yum Cha restaurant which also did a lot of TV advertisements. Their main branch is located at Toa Payoh, with a second added at Intenational Building, Orchard Road (beside Lido Scotts) which i say makes it easier for patrons to visit them because of the accessible location.
Anyway, Fortunate Yum Cha is currently having a promotion, 50% off Dim Sum during weekdays 3-5pm, and i must admit that’s the main reason which draws me to the place.
The restaurant is old-school traditional restaurant, with the decors your typical chinese restaurant style. When my buddy and I arrived at 245pm, we went into the place and browse through the menu until 3pm for the promotion to start.
We asked politely whether we can used the powerpoint for our laptop, but we were told they’ll charged us a fee of $5 per hour for the usage. This rather turn us off as we needed the laptop for some discussions, and we even contemplate leaving to find another place which allow us the use of powerpoint. But we decided to stay, have some dim-sum and get off.
Well, thats the main issue, if they had allowed us to use the powerpoint, I believe we’ll have stay longer and order more Dim Sum, but due to the fact that we aren’t allow to use, we order just about 7 Dim Sum between the two of us.
Another issue which we encountered was that the staff told us that the Dim Sum promotion from 3-5pm will be only 30% instead of 50% which we saw on the newspaper, because the 50% is for Dim Sum during 8-10am. We accepted it without much questioning because there was still 30% discount anyway.
But shortly after that, when the assistant manager passed by, I inquire her on the promotion and she told me it was 50% during 3-5pm also. Well, speak of double standards.
Oh ya, and as the place wasn’t really crowded, they didn’t have their usual staff pushing the trolley around to offer Dim Sum. Instead, we ordered the dim sum, and they bring it to our table.
Siew Mai ($4)
Like i said before during my visit to Red Star previously, I always felt the true test for a dim sum restaurant will be its Siew Mai, and the ones here are good! The prawn in the siew mai is big, real big!
Prawn Dumplings ($4)
The Prawn Dumplings or more commonly known as Har-Gau, is also excellent. The skin of the Har-Gau isn’t too sticky like some of the one available elsewhere, one bite into the prawn dumpling, and you will get the result below!
A big prawn inside the skin of the Har-Gau. Simply goodness!
Fried Carrot Cake ($3.80)
The waitress came up with a stove and fried the carrot cake right in front of us. I suppose its not bad, at the orginal price of $3.80 i probably won’t take it again. But having 50% discount, i guess $1.90 isn’t that expensive considering we had 4 pieces of carrot cake.
Char Siew Chee Chong Fun ($3.50)
Chee Chong Fun is always one Dim Sum which i’ll always order when I go to dim sum restaurant. No exceptions here, the chee chong fun is like your usual chinese restaurant one.
BBQ Pork Bun ($2.50)
There is no problem with the char siew bun, the bun is good, but the only thing is if i’m not wrong, usually char siew buns come in 3 instead of 2? I got a feeling that because there was two of us so they served two buns instead of three? Maybe this is how Fortunate serve their char siew bun, can someone enlighten me on this?
Pork Ribs ($3.80)
The pork ribs were not to my liking. N’uff said!
Century Egg Congee ($3)
Usually i don’t really facny century egg congee, but since my buddy wanted some, so we order this to share. And to my surprise, the congee was not bad! But again, $3 for a bowl of congee is probably too high a price for me to order again, unless there’s a promotion again of course.
Mango Pudding ($5)
The mango pudding was really ordinary like all normal mango pudding, and at $5 you can call me a miser, but I won’t pay the money for it. Simply its not worth the five bucks
Total Bill was $21.10 for 2 person, 7 dim sum, 1 dessert, chinese tea. The total price before the 50% discount was $30. I must say the dim sum at Fortunate Yum Cha is quite average, i’ll still prefer Red Star over Fortunate, but given there’s a 50% discount again, i won’t mind going back to Fortunate for some dim sum.
Service-wise you shouldn’t really be expecting any, and go during weekdays where there’s 50% discount. But then nowadays many other restaurants are offering 50% discount on their dim sum, such as Ah Yit abalone restaurant, and Tung Lok Seafood.
You are always welcome to visit ladyironchef for a full-up on this trip. Whatever written above are my geniune feelings expressed in words that may be subjected to my personal distortion or bias. Please do not feel emotional or distress should you have any violent objections. Kindly click the little X at the upper, extreme right of your screen if negative adjectives would be derived. Otherwise, feel free to furnish me with comments, may it be positive or negative : )
” I love dim sum, dim sum love me “
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My colleague and I were wandering along East Coast road wondering what to have for lunch when we stumbled upon Stewhaus - a nondescript cafe located just next to Sushi Jiro.
Stepping into the simple no frills interior made me feel all warm and fuzzy, with its wooden finishings and smallish interior - just like returning home. Service was cordial but a little inattentive that sunny weekday afternoon though.
I've never actually drank summer vegetable soup before so it was quite an experience for me. The soup was refreshing and light but I didn't quite take to the kidney beans (personal preference). Overall a decent soup, but not something I would order again. As for the mushroom soup, it was nice and thick with generous bits of mushroom. However I did find it a bit too salty for my liking.
Half Pork Knuckle - Pork Knuckles are usually grilled (at least those that I've eaten) so it came as a surprise that Stewhaus's rendition was baked instead. The pros of such a cooking method is that the pork knuckle turns out healthier (less oil) but the downside is that it sacrifices quite a bit on taste and texture. For one, the meat wasn't fibrous, coming across as gluten like and the nice grilled taste which I personally like was missing. Thumbs up for the skin still retaining its crispiness though.
Mixed Berry Stew - Another first for me. Zesty from all the berries yet sweet at the same time from the ice cream. Very contrasting flavours indeed but not exactly something to shout about.
$38 for 2 soups, 1 main and 1 dessert isn't exactly expensive but its not cheap either. Food quality falls just above the average mark and only service charge is levied (No GST). Would I be back? If I happen to be in that area, maybe.
See all my pictures here
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With Seasons Reasons, the reasons is every seasons! With a passion for a different dining experience, Seasons Reasons is designed based on a quest of the 4 seasons - Summer, Fall, Winter & Spring.
Well, I am back at Raffles City again, just after two weeks since last visiting OChaCha, but then i can’t help it, nowadays there are simply too much to eat at Raffles City! So don’t be surprise if there are more new posts coming up.
Seasons Reasons is a small restaurant among the many new restaurants at Raffles City basement, but it stood out for its simple and comfortable setting. The menu is simple, with the usual starters, salad, soup, sandwiches, and main course. No doubt there are not much variety under each category, but i’ll say its more than enough for the average diners.
Appetizers start at $8.50 for their “hot pick” Golden potato prawn, to $13.80 for their seafood combo. Prices for the main course are pretty reasonable too, ranging from $11 to $20. But they are quite short on their spaghetti selections though, only two types are available. And i lamented the fact that they didn’t have much desserts to choose from.
Like mentioned above, the settings for the restaurant is simple and elegant, and there are also the cozy corner seats for diners who will like to enjoy some privacy.
My buddy and I didn’t have much trouble choosing what we want for lunch, after going through the simple menu once, we decided on Fish & chips, and lamb chop. We didn’t have any starters or soup as it was a simple lunch for us.
Fish & Chips ($14.80)
Cod fish tempura and wedges served with lemongrass chili. To be honest, my first impression of the dish, it looks like just any other ordinary Fish & chips at other restaurants. But, my buddy commented that the fish was crispy on the outside, and where some other restaurants fish might get too dry, the one here is just nice. The interior of the fish was soft and not too dry.
Another point to note will be most places served their fish & chips with just tartar sauce, but Seasons Reasons had the tartar sauce, and also lemongrass chili which i find rather special.
Lamb Chop ($19.80)
Baby rack of lamb char-grilled to medium well served with a glazed of honey mustard and fork mashed potato. The lamb chop at $19.80, is the most expensive dish served on the menu. And it did not disappoint, with a generous serving of 4 lamb racks, i believe it will fill most people.
The honey mustard sauce adds flavour to the grilled lamb chop, the meat is slightly tough, you’ll need some effort in biting and chewing the meat. But i do find the price of the lamb chop slightly steep, and most probably won’t order it again.
Total Bill was $40.72 for 2 person, not really expensive given we are dining in a restaurant. If you are looking for a simple dining place while you are at Raffles City, look no further than Seasons Reasons. The restaurant do put in effort in the food presentation, no doubt taste is the vital factor, but one tastebud will definitely open up if the food is presented nicely.
With so many restaurants at Raffles City, i don’t think i will be visiting again any sooner, unless they got new menu or promotions. I won’t say the food is excellent, but i’ll say its worth a try if you haven’t been there before.
You are always welcome to visit ladyironchef for a full-up on this trip. Whatever written above are my geniune feelings expressed in words that may be subjected to my personal distortion or bias. Please do not feel emotional or distress should you have any violent objections. Kindly click the little X at the upper, extreme right of your screen if negative adjectives would be derived. Otherwise, feel free to furnish me with comments, may it be positive or negative : )
” For everything, there is a Reason “
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An entry long overdue. Had lunch at Eighteen Chefs with a few friends one weekday afternoon. What's interesting and noble (to a certain extent) about Eighteen Chefs is that it takes in ex convicts and delinquents and helps them turn over a new leaf by training them in the food business. Its owner and head chef, Benny Se Teo, who was a former drug addict, trained at Jamie Oliver's London restaurant, Fifteen.
Located at a corner of Eastpoint just next to the POSB, Eighteen Chefs has a rather simple interior which can seat up to about 50 pax. This place runs on a self service system hence no service charge is levied. To order your food, simply fill up a form and bring it to the counter to make payment. Your orders will then be served to you shortly.
Baked Rice with Creamy White Sauce & Chicken Slices ($8.90) - You get to choose what kind of sauce you want for your baked rice as well as the ingredients that go into it. Honestly, the baked rice I had (see above) was decent but nothing to shout about. While the cheese was nice and thick, I found the rice a little too bland for my liking and the cream sauce did little to help. But at $8.90, its relatively cheaper and quality is slightly better than the ones they serve at Swensens.
Eighteen Funky Strawberry ($5.80) - $5.80 for 4 scoops of ice cream served with strawberries, hazelnuts and oreo biscuits - now that should be excellent value for money really. It would have been better if the strawberries had been fresher and if the ice cream had been been richer. My guess is that they gave us tub ice cream from the supermarket.
A decent lunch for 3 inclusive of a dessert to share cost just over $35, which is still pretty acceptable for the quality. Service was excellent and even though the food wasn't exactly stellar, I'll be back to try other stuff. After all, life is all about second chances isn't it?
See all my pictures here
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My mom brought me to try that locally famous (for now) dessert hut near her workplace in Chinatown that day, I heard big fuss about it from my friends and from TV.
My mum had the Walnut cream and it was hella fragrant.
The waitress auntie recommended almond and sesame cream (mixed, they called it yuan2 yang2)....
Personally, I am a bigbigbig fan of almond flavour that some people hate...I hate mango, but I have heard the Mango chilled dessert is awesome too...
Though the Sesame was great, it was really rough on the throat, it made my throat realllllllllly DRIED Up...and the almond didn't really help.
I ended up only drinking the almond center....superb.
Was no more than $2.50...was really cheap.
Next time the xmas gift for my whole class will be dessert right to my school LOL.
Then, it was saturday so there was the steam egg custard, aka 'dandan'...
Though the ones in HK are better, i guess it's the best i can get in sg....
Slurp!
anytime again!
(P.S. Heard that those almond walnut etc are all grinded by the dessert house by their own machines they invented!)
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This is sooo bad of me! I've known Beadyplace for so long and only today I went in to seriously take a look at the things she did!
I must admit I'm not a fan of accessories. Those who know me will know that the only thing I wear daily are my rings on my fingers. :) But when I saw the accessories this bimbo created, I'm tempted! One of the necklace and a bracelet are very simple and pretty. *hint hint* HAHA!
Love the simplicity of the designs. Personally I'd tried beading too, but my clumsy and fat fingers do not allow me to do it right. So i gave up.
This bimbo is a very busy woman, so when she finds time to do her accessories, I'm sure she concentrates 100% and gives good quality stuff. Go check out her blogshop if you're shopping for some gifts for your gfs. :)
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