Went on Tuesday evening with la famiglia, heeding my aunt's recommendation that their toast is pretty good.
Big mistake.
The crowd was thin, what with it being a weekday, but the moment we stepped in, we were handed an order chit with almost half of their items struck out.
My mom promptly said, "It's a Tuesday, the markets are operating, what's your excuse?"
The waiter just gave her a helpless look.
Trying to make do with what's available, we ordered a couple of the recommendations:
OLDTOWN Ipoh Chicken Hor Fun ($4.90): Ipoh happens to be the matriarch's hometown, & this is an insult to its memory. When queried on how it tasted, she replied that it was indescribable. I took a sip of the soup & had to agree... it was indescribably bad. Besides which, if the dish is going to come out looking like total crap, please don't take such a nice photo for the menu. I do know that 'the photos are for illustration purposes only' or some such thing, but this oughta be considered criminal misrepresentation.
OLDTOWN Curry Mee ($4.90): Ordered two bowls of the stuff, one came short of ingredients when compared to the other. Really, there's a hawker centre at Thomson that sells better at a lower price. The one at the hawker centre behind Chinatown Point would murder this one any day of the week.
Nissin Noodle with Chicken Ham & Egg ($3.50): If one could actually get instant noodles wrong... it would've taken a lot of effort. Thankfully, this came out ok.
Kaya & Butter Toast (Double) ($1.60), Peanut Butter/Strawberry Puree Thick Toast ($2.20), Omega Soft Boiled Eggs On Toast ($2.50): Passable, just barely. If these came hot off the stove, I'm a day-old chick.
OLDTOWN White Milk Tea ($1.60 for Hot, $1.90 for Cold): Their single redeeming feature, which disappeared in a single gulp.
I'm pretty sure that both their Nasi Rendang Chicken & Nasi Lemak Special are great stuff... as a matter of fact, towards the end of our meal, we noticed that the latter dish was available again after some deliveries were made.
Too little, too late, this joint's just about condemned in our eyes.
Went over to Mingles next door just to get over the trauma (read my review on the joint).
For some reason, the name of the restaurant evokes a rather bizarre mental imagery of lingerie (brassiere as opposed to brassarie).
Yes, I do know that a brassarie’s a bar where food and drinks are served, so sue me.
At any rate, enough with the codswallop & on with the review.
Soup of the Day 5.9: The Soup of the Day was Cream of Pumpkin, which came with a serving of bread & butter. The soup was thick & creamy, with a touch of sour cream. A mite too sweet, but it went down a treat all the same.
Beef Carpaccio 13.9: Thinly sliced raw beef tenderloin seasoned with olive oil & lemon juice served with fresh garden salad & grated parmesan cheese. A die die must try for the adventurous foodie, we were damnably lucky to get the last available serving of the evening. The beef was smooth & succulent, with nary a trace of 腥味, & was greatly complemented by the salad. My only regret was that we couldn’t order another portion.
Capellini Al Funghi 15.9: Fresh assorted mushrooms & asparagus sautéed with capellini pasta & virgin olive oil topped with freshly grated parmesan. Didn’t get to taste it, but the smell of sautéed fungi was rather overpowering.
Lobster Linguine 22.9: Fresh whole lobster & linguine pasta served with a choice of white wine or pomodoro sauce topped with freshly grated parmesan. When they say lobster, they mean lobster, unlike certain other establishments who’d try to substitute crayfish for the real thing. Didn’t get a taste of this either (‘cept for a bite of the lobster, which was really fresh), but what with my elder daughter wolfing it down, I suppose it can’t be half bad.
Saint Patrick’s Roast Duck 21.9: Duck confit served with green lentil, fennel salad & duck jus essence. The breast cuts were awesome, together with the duck jus essence; I just couldn’t get enough of them. Sadly, the drumstick itself was a major letdown, being way too dry. Plus, I’d much rather they did away with the fennel salad & just served up some fresh garden greens instead (might be an option, I’ll try asking the next time I pop by).
Being a Sunday night, the background opera music clashed somewhat with the high noise level. But what really gives this joint the two paws up from GC is the grrreat staff. Affable, attentive, & a mite chatty at times, it’s been too long since I’ve had the pleasure of being served by real professionals (whom, imho, are sorely lacking in da SG).
As the missus said, “Seeing the staff so friendly, it makes me enjoy the meal all the more.”
Polarbearsaid: Sounds good! 01 Apr 2008 at 9:29 am
Leonardsaid: without friendly staffs, you would find it hard to enjoy your meal. the place seems not bad with the pricing..might decide to check it out! :) 01 Apr 2008 at 5:36 pm
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For SGD 60, GC had his eyebrow pierced by Desmond @ STEGE.
From the amount of flesh involved, I thought I was in for a world of pain.
Surprisingly, it hurt no more than a regular ear piercing (probably due to the fact that there are only soft tissues involved).
My only worry is rejection/migration, which Desmond assures me is extremely unlikely so long as I take good care of it.
If you're into piercings, be sure to check them out. Price tags may be a wee bit hefty for the higher quality jewellery, but their selection's really good.
One thing GC’s gotta say about the Tattoo scene in $ingapurr, there sure is an inordinate amount of bitching & backstabbing going on.
Hisk says it’s all due to the lads of Miami Ink, but frankly, all that the series proved is that it’s a worldwide phenomena.
I can’t be arsed to go into all the details, but suffice to say that due to the machinations of a certain arsehole, Richard pulled out of the studio that was named for his granpaw, & moved his base of operations o’er to Body Decor @ The Heeren.
I felt pretty pissed off about the whole thing, but Richard was rather philosophical about it, & I guess he’s much happier now. After all, he no longer has to put up with the proverbial crap that an aforementioned bugger’s been heaping on his platter.
At any rate, after a 4 year hiatus, GC’s finally gotten inked again!
What with the Tattoo Showcase @ Sentosa last year, Richard’s been solidly booked for months ahead at a time, but lucky for old GC, we’s a wee bit tighter than that, so he managed to squeeze me in yesterday.
There was a fair bit of panic initially, what with the shop’s computer refusing to install the fonts I wanted (I should’ve brought my laptop along), but through some quirk of fate, HP (the resident Piercer) managed to pull off a miracle.
The font I (i.e. the Missus) ultimately chose (way ahead, of course) was a combination of Blackletter Medici Text & Victorian Text, which is available for free @ Dieter Steffmann @ typOasis. Hisk commented that it was kinda clichéd, but GC maintains that there ain’t no school like the Old School.
The Missus was kinda jealous that I wasn’t getting her name inked as well.
But for you guys out there with kids & a penchant for getting inked, maybe you’d understand where I’m coming from.
Blood of my blood.
Well, I’m busy healing right now, & I swear that the new set of tatts are fockin’ sweet. No doubt I was charged pretty steep (as a matter of fact, I estimated the cost to the dollar), but a good tatt is priceless.
I only hope that it ain’t gonna be another 4 years to my next one.
If you're in the mood for 'Russo-Hainanese' food, Shashlik's the place to go.
I've been a regular there ever since I was knee high to a Yao Ming, & just the mere thought of their Borsch with a dollop of sour cream shifts my salivary glands into overdrive.
Sure, they use a tomato base instead of beet, but imho that makes the soup all the more tastier.
If you don't take beef, there's always the chicken consommé (clear soup) with egg.
For starters, their Escragot's to die for, what with all that butter & garlic.
Steak-wise, I highly recommend their Carpet Bag Steak (serves two), though T-Bone's still my all-time favourite (seems smaller the last time I had it, or maybe my appetite just got bigger). Their speciality Shashlik's pretty good, but the serving's just too small...
For dessert, don't miss out on their Baked Alaska (cake covered with ice cream & meringue browned with lighted alcohol, it was even featured in TNP before), hitherto the most divine afters a man/woman can ask for.
On Wednesday lunch times, you can order their Oxtail set, which at around SGD 13 is pretty value for money. But be warned that the moment they start serving, it'll only take minutes for the set to be sold out.
& those of you whom have dined there before are sure to know of their infamous atas waiters & waitresses - stakeholders of the restaurant itself, buying it over when the original owners left. Though what with the lao jiaos being so lao, there's obviously some young bloods helping out these days.
There's a dress code as well, but it's not strictly enforced (my friend made it through dinner last Saturday safely with his berms & slippers).
The staffs' attitude & the hefty price tag aside, this is definitely a place worth patronising over & over again for their lip-smacking dishes.
1=SGD 0.0587
Big mistake.
The crowd was thin, what with it being a weekday, but the moment we stepped in, we were handed an order chit with almost half of their items struck out.
My mom promptly said, "It's a Tuesday, the markets are operating, what's your excuse?"
The waiter just gave her a helpless look.
Trying to make do with what's available, we ordered a couple of the recommendations:
OLDTOWN Ipoh Chicken Hor Fun ($4.90): Ipoh happens to be the matriarch's hometown, & this is an insult to its memory. When queried on how it tasted, she replied that it was indescribable. I took a sip of the soup & had to agree... it was indescribably bad. Besides which, if the dish is going to come out looking like total crap, please don't take such a nice photo for the menu. I do know that 'the photos are for illustration purposes only' or some such thing, but this oughta be considered criminal misrepresentation.
OLDTOWN Curry Mee ($4.90): Ordered two bowls of the stuff, one came short of ingredients when compared to the other. Really, there's a hawker centre at Thomson that sells better at a lower price. The one at the hawker centre behind Chinatown Point would murder this one any day of the week.
Nissin Noodle with Chicken Ham & Egg ($3.50): If one could actually get instant noodles wrong... it would've taken a lot of effort. Thankfully, this came out ok.
Kaya & Butter Toast (Double) ($1.60), Peanut Butter/Strawberry Puree Thick Toast ($2.20), Omega Soft Boiled Eggs On Toast ($2.50): Passable, just barely. If these came hot off the stove, I'm a day-old chick.
OLDTOWN White Milk Tea ($1.60 for Hot, $1.90 for Cold): Their single redeeming feature, which disappeared in a single gulp.
I'm pretty sure that both their Nasi Rendang Chicken & Nasi Lemak Special are great stuff... as a matter of fact, towards the end of our meal, we noticed that the latter dish was available again after some deliveries were made.
Too little, too late, this joint's just about condemned in our eyes.
Went over to Mingles next door just to get over the trauma (read my review on the joint).
Jack, please stick to making movies, aiight?
Login to add your comment. Or, Register for an account now. It's free!Looks like they've got lots to improve on.
24 Apr 2008 at 9:53 am
Who is Jack? Who is the owner of Old Town then?
15 Mar 2009 at 1:51 pm
Yes, I do know that a brassarie’s a bar where food and drinks are served, so sue me.
At any rate, enough with the codswallop & on with the review.
Soup of the Day 5.9: The Soup of the Day was Cream of Pumpkin, which came with a serving of bread & butter. The soup was thick & creamy, with a touch of sour cream. A mite too sweet, but it went down a treat all the same.
Beef Carpaccio 13.9: Thinly sliced raw beef tenderloin seasoned with olive oil & lemon juice served with fresh garden salad & grated parmesan cheese. A die die must try for the adventurous foodie, we were damnably lucky to get the last available serving of the evening. The beef was smooth & succulent, with nary a trace of 腥味, & was greatly complemented by the salad. My only regret was that we couldn’t order another portion.
Capellini Al Funghi 15.9: Fresh assorted mushrooms & asparagus sautéed with capellini pasta & virgin olive oil topped with freshly grated parmesan. Didn’t get to taste it, but the smell of sautéed fungi was rather overpowering.
Lobster Linguine 22.9: Fresh whole lobster & linguine pasta served with a choice of white wine or pomodoro sauce topped with freshly grated parmesan. When they say lobster, they mean lobster, unlike certain other establishments who’d try to substitute crayfish for the real thing. Didn’t get a taste of this either (‘cept for a bite of the lobster, which was really fresh), but what with my elder daughter wolfing it down, I suppose it can’t be half bad.
Saint Patrick’s Roast Duck 21.9: Duck confit served with green lentil, fennel salad & duck jus essence. The breast cuts were awesome, together with the duck jus essence; I just couldn’t get enough of them. Sadly, the drumstick itself was a major letdown, being way too dry. Plus, I’d much rather they did away with the fennel salad & just served up some fresh garden greens instead (might be an option, I’ll try asking the next time I pop by).
Being a Sunday night, the background opera music clashed somewhat with the high noise level. But what really gives this joint the two paws up from GC is the grrreat staff. Affable, attentive, & a mite chatty at times, it’s been too long since I’ve had the pleasure of being served by real professionals (whom, imho, are sorely lacking in da SG).
As the missus said, “Seeing the staff so friendly, it makes me enjoy the meal all the more.”
Login to add your comment. Or, Register for an account now. It's free!Sounds good!
01 Apr 2008 at 9:29 am
without friendly staffs, you would find it hard to enjoy your meal. the place seems not bad with the pricing..might decide to check it out! :)
01 Apr 2008 at 5:36 pm
From the amount of flesh involved, I thought I was in for a world of pain.
Surprisingly, it hurt no more than a regular ear piercing (probably due to the fact that there are only soft tissues involved).
My only worry is rejection/migration, which Desmond assures me is extremely unlikely so long as I take good care of it.
If you're into piercings, be sure to check them out. Price tags may be a wee bit hefty for the higher quality jewellery, but their selection's really good.
Login to add your comment. Or, Register for an account now. It's free!Ouch that sounds painful!
31 Mar 2008 at 8:39 am
Hisk says it’s all due to the lads of Miami Ink, but frankly, all that the series proved is that it’s a worldwide phenomena.
I can’t be arsed to go into all the details, but suffice to say that due to the machinations of a certain arsehole, Richard pulled out of the studio that was named for his granpaw, & moved his base of operations o’er to Body Decor @ The Heeren.
I felt pretty pissed off about the whole thing, but Richard was rather philosophical about it, & I guess he’s much happier now. After all, he no longer has to put up with the proverbial crap that an aforementioned bugger’s been heaping on his platter.
At any rate, after a 4 year hiatus, GC’s finally gotten inked again!
What with the Tattoo Showcase @ Sentosa last year, Richard’s been solidly booked for months ahead at a time, but lucky for old GC, we’s a wee bit tighter than that, so he managed to squeeze me in yesterday.
There was a fair bit of panic initially, what with the shop’s computer refusing to install the fonts I wanted (I should’ve brought my laptop along), but through some quirk of fate, HP (the resident Piercer) managed to pull off a miracle.
The font I (i.e. the Missus) ultimately chose (way ahead, of course) was a combination of Blackletter Medici Text & Victorian Text, which is available for free @ Dieter Steffmann @ typOasis. Hisk commented that it was kinda clichéd, but GC maintains that there ain’t no school like the Old School.
The Missus was kinda jealous that I wasn’t getting her name inked as well.
But for you guys out there with kids & a penchant for getting inked, maybe you’d understand where I’m coming from.
Blood of my blood.
Well, I’m busy healing right now, & I swear that the new set of tatts are fockin’ sweet. No doubt I was charged pretty steep (as a matter of fact, I estimated the cost to the dollar), but a good tatt is priceless.
I only hope that it ain’t gonna be another 4 years to my next one.
Login to add your comment. Or, Register for an account now. It's free!Wow do it on that part of arm seems painful! Ouch! A cool tattoo though!
21 Feb 2008 at 8:33 am
You're so brave!!
22 Feb 2008 at 8:12 pm
I've been a regular there ever since I was knee high to a Yao Ming, & just the mere thought of their Borsch with a dollop of sour cream shifts my salivary glands into overdrive.
Sure, they use a tomato base instead of beet, but imho that makes the soup all the more tastier.
If you don't take beef, there's always the chicken consommé (clear soup) with egg.
For starters, their Escragot's to die for, what with all that butter & garlic.
Steak-wise, I highly recommend their Carpet Bag Steak (serves two), though T-Bone's still my all-time favourite (seems smaller the last time I had it, or maybe my appetite just got bigger). Their speciality Shashlik's pretty good, but the serving's just too small...
For dessert, don't miss out on their Baked Alaska (cake covered with ice cream & meringue browned with lighted alcohol, it was even featured in TNP before), hitherto the most divine afters a man/woman can ask for.
On Wednesday lunch times, you can order their Oxtail set, which at around SGD 13 is pretty value for money. But be warned that the moment they start serving, it'll only take minutes for the set to be sold out.
& those of you whom have dined there before are sure to know of their infamous atas waiters & waitresses - stakeholders of the restaurant itself, buying it over when the original owners left. Though what with the lao jiaos being so lao, there's obviously some young bloods helping out these days.
There's a dress code as well, but it's not strictly enforced (my friend made it through dinner last Saturday safely with his berms & slippers).
The staffs' attitude & the hefty price tag aside, this is definitely a place worth patronising over & over again for their lip-smacking dishes.
Login to add your comment. Or, Register for an account now. It's free!