Long time had not eaten at NYDC so yesterday popped in to have a meal.
Since I was in before 5pm, decided to go for their set lunch.
Main course Coffee / Tea / Soft Drinks Soup of the day.
It is only additional $5 on top of the main course's price. If you decided to have cake of the date, you jz need to pay additional $7.5 on top of the main course's price. Main course can be their salads, baked rice or pasta, or pizzas.
So I order my fav Farmboy Salad! Be warned that the serving is big enough for a main course and plus it is healthy too. Haa... Tons of lettuce, almond flaks, cucumber, chicken shreds, and big pcs if toasted garlic bread. The combination together with Thousand Island (3 dressings to choose from) was heavenly! It is a must try!
Their soup of the day was cream of mushroom. It was think and creamy with big slices of button mushroom in the soup. Good.
Got myself an ice lemon tea. They brewed the tea then served with syrup. So you can do your own mix and match.
Of course one BIG thing @ NYDC is to have their mudpie! I have tasted all of their mudpies and have to say that my fav is the cookie monster. Like the chucky cookies inside the ice cream with a think oreao crust base. Jz loved it. It is one of my happy food, food that will make me happy when I am feeling sad.
The service there was on the spot and fast. Food was served fast and the waitress are pro when taking orders as well.
Caught one of the Chinese variety shows, HDB Tai Tai, recommending Bermuda Triangle, a bistro selling western food in the heartlands. First time I went there, it was full and I didn't really fancy waiting an hour just to have my dinner. I got lucky the second time though and there were a few tables left when I arrived with my gf at about 630pm.
Tucked away in a sleepy neighbourhood of Ang Mo Kio just below a block of HDBs, Bermuda Triangle is barely visible even from the main road, which is rather ironical as the flats are just next to the road. I guess that says alot about its visibility. Inside its rather small and crampish interior, mini flags of different countries adorn the place and theres a pool table to boot. Overall a very nice and cosy environment, the kind where you would go for a nice after dinner drink and just relax. Now whats missing is a fireplace if you ask me.
Cream of Mushroom Soup - I like the cream of mushroom soup solely for the fact that it was served in a bread bowl and nothing else. The soup was tasteless and a little on the runny side. It was quite bad actually and we had to resort to adding salt in to make it more palatable. To give it credit, it tasted like it was homemade and not straight of out of the can kind. The bread, though warm and slightly crisp, was just your regular round baguette which you can buy off the shelves at any bakery.
Jimi Hendrix Chicken Steak - I honestly do not see the association between Jimi Hendrix the singer and a piece of teriyaki chicken. Nevertheless, aesthetics wise, it was a mess with the chicken overly dark and not the least bit appetising. Soft and moist, the chicken was rather rather charred and devoid of the teriyaki taste, which is surprisingly really, given that its supposed to be teriyaki chicken. To top it off, the accompanying fries were limp and soggy. Jimi Hendrix was a success. The chicken was a failure.
Toad in the Hole - Traditional Oven Baked Yorkshire Sausage Pudding Served with Onion Gravy - A most interesting name and one of the dishes recommended by the variety show. I had seen beautiful images on television and I had expected something similar or at least something not too far from the original image. Imagine my shock when I saw this dish. The sausages were badly charred at the ends and the whole dish looked like a kid's cooking class gone wrong. The pudding itself tasted rather bland save for an eggy taste. I haven't eaten too many Yorkshire puddings in my life to comment on what a good pudding should be like but if its going to turn out like this, I'm swearing off Yorkshire pudding for good. Okay I exaggerate. Its not as bad as it seems. Still palatable but not something I'll wanna eat again if given a choice. I did like the onion gravy though, which tasted very similar to mashed potato gravy.
What did I say about never trusting commercial reviews? Now I got myself burnt once again. Sure, $28 for 2 pax isn't expensive, but its $28 too much. The place is cosy and service is excellent, but I'll think twice before eating there again.
Had an impromptu dinner last night with a few of my makan khakis at Morton's Steakhouse. The choice was initially IL-Lido, but they didn't have tables until 9pm so we settled for Mortons. (Actually Mortons didn't have a table till 9 as well, but it was in town, so that made it easier for everyone)We were punctual for our reservation and was promptly shown to our table. Even at 9pm, the place was still packed to the brim and rather noisy due to the incessant chatter from the customers. Ironically, the noise made the entire atmosphere pretty exciting and relaxing at the same time. Conversation wasn't difficult as the decibel level was within a reasonable range. That being our first visit to Mortons, we were given a thorough introduction to the variety of mains, sides and desserts as well as the cuts of meat available by a very friendly waitress who tended to us that evening. After some recommendations, we ordered the Double Cut Fillet Mignon, Porterhouse Steak, sides of Hashbrown Potato, Sautéed Wild Mushrooms, Steamed Fresh Broccoli, with the Morton's Famous Hot Chocolate Cake and the Upside Down Apple Pie as desserts.
Breads are always a bad way to start off your meals as they fill you up really fast, but I couldn't help stuffing myself with the complementary Onion Bread that was served. Served with smooth butter, it was really quite good. However, we ate it after it had turned cold as we were busy taking photos, so my guess would be that it would taste much better if it had been taken fresh from the oven.
The star of the mains was undoubtedly the Double Cut Fillet Mignon. Perfectly done medium rare and emanating unadulterated sweetness with every bite, chewing on it was sheer ecstasy. The outside of the steak was slightly charred, giving it a nice and subtle grilled taste. Everyone liked it, no questions about it. It was a little small though. We estimated it to be about 16-18 oz only. By the way, just for general information, the fillet mignon is one of the best cuts, if not THE best cut and its also the leanest.
The Porterhouse was one side Rib Eye and the other Fillet Mignon. I had some grouses with this one. The steak was a little underdone. Medium rare turned out almost rare, which was a little too much for me to bear as there was this metallic taste. The Fillet Mignon side of the steak was also a little underdone, but tasted really good, as with the Double Cut Fillet Mignon that we had ordered. This Porterhouse was a giant, weighing in at 24 oz. (There's the double Porterhouse as well, at 48 oz)Nice big steak. Pity about the cooking though.
The sides were a gargantuan affair. Each side was simply huge. I mean they are supposed to be sides, yet they look like mains! Nevertheless, we polished every bit of them. The Hashbrown Potato tasted and looked just like Rossi which is(was) sold at Marche. I had expected it to look like those hashbrowns in MacDonalds, so surprise surprise. Top the hashbrown with sour cream and freshly grilled bacon bits and you are ready to go. A little charred and crispy on the inside, soft on the inside. The Steamed Broccoli looked nothing out of the ordinary, yet it was nicely steamed with a tinge of buttery slickness. The Sautéed Wild Mushrooms were pan fried I believe and was quite tasty. However, I did find it a little too soft for my liking.
What's a meal without desserts? The desserts didn't disappoint one bit. The Upside Down Apple Pie was made from top grade apples and tasted a little sourish. Complementing and balancing the sourish taste was a scoop of smooth homemade ice cream.(Vanilla I presume)
Morton's signature Hot Chocolate Cake was simply my favourite. Hot Godiva chocolate encapsulated within layers of soft and dense sponge cake with a slightly hardened exterior. Slicing the cake allows the hot and thick chocolate to slowly ooze out. Extremely sweet and sinful. No wonder many ladies are said to have taken a liking to it.
All in all, an extremely hearty meal. Good food and good companionship - one of the simple pleasures of life. Grand total was about $315 for 3 pax. Definitely expensive, but well worth the money paid. Service was excellent with our waitress being friendly and chatty. Ambience wise, it isn't really a romantic restaurant, but it does have private rooms which look nice and exclusive. I highly recommend checking this place out. On a side note, Oriental Hotel has a very pretty interior. Seeing is believing :)
It's been maybe a year since I've been to Billy Bombers. I remember trying their burgers there. Quite a couple in fact. A few of us were there and we ordered different ones to try and share. The impression I had of the place was a good one and I thought that I'd be back one day ( that "one day" came only a year later..)
This time we order two main courses to share, out of which one was their promotion 4-meal-set-course. It's actually just a drink, soup, dessert and a main course. Nothing as special as they made it sound like.
The service there was ok I must say. Maybe because it wasn't their busiest time yet, and so we were always attended to immediately. Also, our food was served almost immediately, it was good because I was starving!
My soup came first. It was ok, but nothing different from the Cream of Chicken you get at most places. The "exciting" ones were the main course. We had a sirloin steak and half a grilled honey chicken with BBQ sauce.
The steak was horrible. I wanted my steak to be done medium. It came out with part of it well done like it was over-cooked. It was really tough and more than a quarter of the steak was just fats and there was effectively very little meat left considering it was a small piece to begin with. It was served with 2 side dishes - creamy spinach and potato salad. They both had a weird smell/ taste. Probably the same cream or sonemething used? And the spinach just looked horrible - cream with soggy spinach. It spoils your appetite.
As for the chicken, it wasn't exactly well done. The taste was fine, but it wasn't well done because you can still see red parts on the chicken. It's common you'd say, but it's not what I'd expect from a place like Billy Bombers.
When I left the place after dinner, I didn't feel full at all. Even though they've got nice interior decoration and acceptable service, the food that I had today wasn't worth what I paid. I don't think I'll frequent the place in future..
Glasil is a relatively new store managed by a lady who makes the items herself. I had the honour of watching her in action whilst I was in the store.
The display of the store is amazing. She has bracelets and earrings all over. But most of the items are quite simple and not very complicated. The materials are less common but not the design itself. The finished products are priced about $5 to $100 for those with precious stones.
The materials she sells for DIY are in small quantities and there isn't much variety. She has mainly glass and czech crystal stuff so they are all quite pricey. Even plastic items are not cheap either. It's for the casual maker making for herself really. As for findings and wires there's also very little to choose from.
At the back of the store she sells some bags which are quite interesting. The material may not be good but they are quite cheap.
The owner herself is quite knowledgeable about the materials she sells but her staff isn't. They had to consult her many times on what the material is and where are certain items placed.
There are 2 faces to Geylang - the notorious red light district thronged by "social escorts" and the food haven where tiny shops and restaurants line every nook and cranny, serving up good food. Shatin Kitchen obviously falls into the latter category and is helmed by chef Tonny Chan.
Newspaper articles adorn the walls of this unpretentious air conditioned eatery located right at the beginning of Geylang road. Decor is simplistic and reminiscent of a typical Chinese restaurant without the frills.
Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon - In case you are wondering, no, chef Tonny didn't name this dish after Lee Ang's Oscar winning movie. It is so named because of the ingredients in the dish - egg white, lobster and scallops as well as the way it is presented - in a basket made from deep fried wanton skin. This dish won chef Tonny an award in a cooking competition some years back and was featured in the recent 100 best dishes article published by the Straits Times. With the accolades aside, it was down to the taste test. Honestly, it was disappointing. Yes, I could taste the texture of the scallops and the egg white but where was the lobster? And if eaten alone without the wanton skin, it proved to be a tad too salty for my liking. Eaten with the skin, it was really nothing nothing to shout about, coming across as average and not something I would pay $6 a portion for.
Kailan - The vegetables were tasty but rather limp, probably due to overcooking and the gravy was a tad too starchy for my liking.
Five Spices Fried Pork Chop - Sorry about the literal translation but theres no English name for this dish in the menu. The pork chop was undoubtedly the best dish of the evening, with the meat tender yet lightly sweet and chewy. It actually tasted like very tender char siew, albeit of a different colour. Couldn't quite make out the five spices though.
Deep Fried Cod Fish - I liked the fact that the cod fish came with nice small tomatoes alongside to spruce up the entire dish. What I didn't like was that the fish meat was bland and soft, nothing like the firm yet smooth meat good cod fish should have. The accompanying sauce was rather bland as well, tasting like a watered down version of oyster sauce.
Red Bean Paste Pancake - I've always been biased towards red bean paste pancakes but this one was a little let down. Though fragrant, the flour was too thick which made it rather chewy overall. On a positive note, the red bean filling was generous and not too sweet.
The 3 of us chalked up a bill of about $81, which is rather expensive given that the quality of food was merely slightly above average and portions are lacking in size. On a side note, I'm suitably impressed with the level of service at Shatin Kitchen, something lacking in alot of small Chinese eateries nowadays. However, all the hype surrounding this eatery is totally uncalled for in my humble opinion and I highly doubt that I'll be back.
After reading all the above great reviews for UNO, I decided to try it out. Not quite sure where Blk 51 is, we ended up driving a big round around Toa Payoh central. But when we saw the bright orange lightbox sign welcoming us at the carpark entrance, we knew great steak is just nearby.
Going back to TPY brought back many wonderful memories to me, I used to stay at TPY. Looking at the blocks around me, I felt as if I was brought back 15 years. The old and retro looking blocks with the elderly ah gong and ah ma sitting near the door looking out to whatever that comes into their sight. Feel so much like I was back to my childhood days.
UNO beef house was not packed yet when we arrived. We ordered the Black Pepper Rib Eye ($9) and Fish and Chips ($5). Both came in less than 10 mins. And both looks equally delicious.
Had a medium-rare steak and it was cooked just right. It's pretty cheap considering that the size of the steak was pretty big. But I had a better one the day before. (IMO)
The one that I thought was fantastic is the Fish & Chips. When eaten hot, its very crispy outside and soft inside. The batter used is different from the usual fish & chips you find at the usual hawkers. It was so good I had to pack one home for Mum to try. But due to jam, the fish was cold when mum had it. Not too nice anymore. But still, I'll sure go back for more of their fish & chips.
Go by 7pm for dinner else you might need to wait a little while longer after that when the crowd starts forming.
Cosmopolitan club street has a new entrant - Eden Cafe, which opened its doors to a soft launch only last Wednesday. New as the cafe may be, the man at the helm, Clement Ronald, is certainly no stranger to the culinary scene, having appeared in many television and magazines write ups in the past year due to his unique blend of cooking which involves plants, dubbed "floral cooking". He used to preside over the kitchen at Helios Cafe at Marina Square, but unfortunately that space is available only for private functions now.
Occupying a small unit just opposite liberty insurance, Eden Cafe threatens to be overshadowed by its more illustrious neighbours like Senso, Indochine, Spizza, Jerry's, just to name a few. The interior is tiny (I'm guessing about 20pax) and simplistic, opting for a more laid back setting with soft music in the background.
Jumbo prawns wrapped in Bacon - Prawns wrapped in bacons are always nice. Ideally the saltiness from the not too fatty bacon should complement the raw sweetness of the prawns. However it didn't happen in this case. The prawns were smaller than I had expected and the bacon wasn't grilled throughly enough, resulting in a softer than I would have liked texture. But overall still a rather decent dish, especially with the freshness of the tomato salsa salad by the side.
Saffron Cream Sauce Salmon - I don't usually like salmon because they have this raw fishy taste which I detest. Not this one however. The salmon's meat was firm minus the fishy overtones and together with the buttery and flavourful home concocted gravy, made for a light yet pleasing dish. However I could detect some inconsistencies in the dish, with some parts of the salmon being a lot saltier than others. The whole portabello mushroom that came with it was good for lapping up the tasty gravy, just that it was a little too soft for my liking.
Red Wine Beef - I would have liked this dish quite a bit if it wasn't that raw. The meat slab was thick which probably explains the rawness in some areas. The red wine sauce had a nice sweet red wine taste (naturally!) without being too overpowering. There was garlic in it, but I couldn't quite make it out. The mashed potatos were great with the sauce by the way.
We had one other main, the Rosemary Chicken, which I unfortunately do not have a shot of because I stupidly deleted it by accident and data recovery doesn't seem to work. Well I have asked around and hopefully someone has it so that I can post it up if they are willing to send it to me. That aside, as the name suggests, the chicken was cooked with rosemary and lavender, which gave it a rather fruity/leafy slant. The chicken was rather tender and moist but certain parts could get quite strong on the rosemary taste, especially the outer layer, which I personally couldn't quite take
Crème Brûlée - According to Clement, the Crème Brûlées are made from real vanilla beans, not vanilla essence or extract like most other places. The little black dots within are proof of that. Clement personally handled the melting of the sugar atop and I must complement his technique as the layer of sugar was thin and evenly coagulated. The pudding was soft and wobbly and didn't come across as too sweet. Definitely one of the better Crème Brûlées that I've tasted.
Brandy Chocolate - Now this is one sinful dessert with rich and unadulterated chocolate. Nothing fancy, just pure milk chocolate with brandy. However I couldn't quite make out the brandy which was a bummer really. Definitely not for the health conscious!
Tiramisu - The Tiramisu was covered by a layer of rich chocolate, very different from others I've eaten. But that doesn't not necessarily mean that its better. I could barely taste the cake in it and overall it was very dense with quite a strong rum taste in certain areas. My guess is that the mixing wasn't done thoroughly enough.
Hibiscus Cheese Phyllo - Undoubtedly the star of the desserts (at least for me), the Hibiscus Cheese Phyllo (or filo if you so wish) came looking very much like an egg omelette. The filling looked like yam ice cream instead of cheese, which was really quite interesting. Texture and taste wise, it reminded me of a partially melted cheese flavoured ice cream with a slight fruity connotation. A delectable dish but one not one I would recommend to consume too much of as the cheese taste can be a little overwhelming after a while.
Total bill for 8 pax with drinks cost about $337, which is definitely not expensive given the quality and amount of food. Dinner is unhurried and pleasant with great service from Clement himself as well as the other wait staff. There is this little herb garden in which Clement grows his own flora for use in his dishes. Do ask to see it if you happen to dine at Eden's. How about an encore folks? Seedless grape chicken? ;)
Since I dun own a car, public transport to me is very important. Ever since they keep increasing their fare every year, my expectation for them is also getting higher and higher.
Since around my work place, I have to take SBS bus to work every weekeday. I ahve to say that I am quite happy with the bus conditions. However they can work on the bus frequencies, like the bus supposed to come in every 5 mins during peak hours but then one bus decided to come earlier, and the bus will be pretty empty. Then the next bus that came on time, will be damned packed as the waiting time for the bus is longer.
I do find sometimes the bus a bit dirty as well but then if everyone of us take good care of it, I think the bus will be cleaner and no need to wait for the cleaners to clean the buses.
I am quite happy with the IRIS service as now I will always use it to find out how long does it take the next bus to arrive to the bus stop. I does cut down my waiting time as well. However the sms service only limited to Singtel users oly so I cannot use it.
Only 1 request, stop asking to increase fare every year and buck up on the frequency and condition of the buses.
I have been a Hubber for sometime now and I am happy to say that I made the right choice to sign up with them.
MaxOnline for me is really good and cheap. They had been giving us more bandwidth from time to time as well. I seldom had any problem with connection.
I hooked it up to a wireless router so that I can use my laptop anywhere in my flat and it proved to be good. I mainly use it for work and school wise and dun really play online games with it. So to me the speed is really more then enough.
Being a Hubber I got 10% discount some more. So I really find it a good deal!
1=SGD 0.0587
Long time had not eaten at NYDC so yesterday popped in to have a meal.
Since I was in before 5pm, decided to go for their set lunch.
Main course Coffee / Tea / Soft Drinks Soup of the day.
It is only additional $5 on top of the main course's price. If you decided to have cake of the date, you jz need to pay additional $7.5 on top of the main course's price. Main course can be their salads, baked rice or pasta, or pizzas.
So I order my fav Farmboy Salad! Be warned that the serving is big enough for a main course and plus it is healthy too. Haa... Tons of lettuce, almond flaks, cucumber, chicken shreds, and big pcs if toasted garlic bread. The combination together with Thousand Island (3 dressings to choose from) was heavenly! It is a must try!
Their soup of the day was cream of mushroom. It was think and creamy with big slices of button mushroom in the soup. Good.
Got myself an ice lemon tea. They brewed the tea then served with syrup. So you can do your own mix and match.
Of course one BIG thing @ NYDC is to have their mudpie! I have tasted all of their mudpies and have to say that my fav is the cookie monster. Like the chucky cookies inside the ice cream with a think oreao crust base. Jz loved it. It is one of my happy food, food that will make me happy when I am feeling sad.
The service there was on the spot and fast. Food was served fast and the waitress are pro when taking orders as well.
Always enjoyed my meal there!
Rating given:
Caught one of the Chinese variety shows, HDB Tai Tai, recommending Bermuda Triangle, a bistro selling western food in the heartlands. First time I went there, it was full and I didn't really fancy waiting an hour just to have my dinner. I got lucky the second time though and there were a few tables left when I arrived with my gf at about 630pm.
Tucked away in a sleepy neighbourhood of Ang Mo Kio just below a block of HDBs, Bermuda Triangle is barely visible even from the main road, which is rather ironical as the flats are just next to the road. I guess that says alot about its visibility. Inside its rather small and crampish interior, mini flags of different countries adorn the place and theres a pool table to boot. Overall a very nice and cosy environment, the kind where you would go for a nice after dinner drink and just relax. Now whats missing is a fireplace if you ask me.
Cream of Mushroom Soup - I like the cream of mushroom soup solely for the fact that it was served in a bread bowl and nothing else. The soup was tasteless and a little on the runny side. It was quite bad actually and we had to resort to adding salt in to make it more palatable. To give it credit, it tasted like it was homemade and not straight of out of the can kind. The bread, though warm and slightly crisp, was just your regular round baguette which you can buy off the shelves at any bakery.
Jimi Hendrix Chicken Steak - I honestly do not see the association between Jimi Hendrix the singer and a piece of teriyaki chicken. Nevertheless, aesthetics wise, it was a mess with the chicken overly dark and not the least bit appetising. Soft and moist, the chicken was rather rather charred and devoid of the teriyaki taste, which is surprisingly really, given that its supposed to be teriyaki chicken. To top it off, the accompanying fries were limp and soggy. Jimi Hendrix was a success. The chicken was a failure.
Toad in the Hole - Traditional Oven Baked Yorkshire Sausage Pudding Served with Onion Gravy - A most interesting name and one of the dishes recommended by the variety show. I had seen beautiful images on television and I had expected something similar or at least something not too far from the original image. Imagine my shock when I saw this dish. The sausages were badly charred at the ends and the whole dish looked like a kid's cooking class gone wrong. The pudding itself tasted rather bland save for an eggy taste. I haven't eaten too many Yorkshire puddings in my life to comment on what a good pudding should be like but if its going to turn out like this, I'm swearing off Yorkshire pudding for good. Okay I exaggerate. Its not as bad as it seems. Still palatable but not something I'll wanna eat again if given a choice. I did like the onion gravy though, which tasted very similar to mashed potato gravy.
What did I say about never trusting commercial reviews? Now I got myself burnt once again. Sure, $28 for 2 pax isn't expensive, but its $28 too much. The place is cosy and service is excellent, but I'll think twice before eating there again.
See all my pictures here
Rating given:
Had an impromptu dinner last night with a few of my makan khakis at Morton's Steakhouse. The choice was initially IL-Lido, but they didn't have tables until 9pm so we settled for Mortons. (Actually Mortons didn't have a table till 9 as well, but it was in town, so that made it easier for everyone)We were punctual for our reservation and was promptly shown to our table. Even at 9pm, the place was still packed to the brim and rather noisy due to the incessant chatter from the customers. Ironically, the noise made the entire atmosphere pretty exciting and relaxing at the same time. Conversation wasn't difficult as the decibel level was within a reasonable range. That being our first visit to Mortons, we were given a thorough introduction to the variety of mains, sides and desserts as well as the cuts of meat available by a very friendly waitress who tended to us that evening. After some recommendations, we ordered the Double Cut Fillet Mignon, Porterhouse Steak, sides of Hashbrown Potato, Sautéed Wild Mushrooms, Steamed Fresh Broccoli, with the Morton's Famous Hot Chocolate Cake and the Upside Down Apple Pie as desserts.
Breads are always a bad way to start off your meals as they fill you up really fast, but I couldn't help stuffing myself with the complementary Onion Bread that was served. Served with smooth butter, it was really quite good. However, we ate it after it had turned cold as we were busy taking photos, so my guess would be that it would taste much better if it had been taken fresh from the oven.
The star of the mains was undoubtedly the Double Cut Fillet Mignon. Perfectly done medium rare and emanating unadulterated sweetness with every bite, chewing on it was sheer ecstasy. The outside of the steak was slightly charred, giving it a nice and subtle grilled taste. Everyone liked it, no questions about it. It was a little small though. We estimated it to be about 16-18 oz only. By the way, just for general information, the fillet mignon is one of the best cuts, if not THE best cut and its also the leanest.
The Porterhouse was one side Rib Eye and the other Fillet Mignon. I had some grouses with this one. The steak was a little underdone. Medium rare turned out almost rare, which was a little too much for me to bear as there was this metallic taste. The Fillet Mignon side of the steak was also a little underdone, but tasted really good, as with the Double Cut Fillet Mignon that we had ordered. This Porterhouse was a giant, weighing in at 24 oz. (There's the double Porterhouse as well, at 48 oz)Nice big steak. Pity about the cooking though.
The sides were a gargantuan affair. Each side was simply huge. I mean they are supposed to be sides, yet they look like mains! Nevertheless, we polished every bit of them. The Hashbrown Potato tasted and looked just like Rossi which is(was) sold at Marche. I had expected it to look like those hashbrowns in MacDonalds, so surprise surprise. Top the hashbrown with sour cream and freshly grilled bacon bits and you are ready to go. A little charred and crispy on the inside, soft on the inside. The Steamed Broccoli looked nothing out of the ordinary, yet it was nicely steamed with a tinge of buttery slickness. The Sautéed Wild Mushrooms were pan fried I believe and was quite tasty. However, I did find it a little too soft for my liking.
What's a meal without desserts? The desserts didn't disappoint one bit. The Upside Down Apple Pie was made from top grade apples and tasted a little sourish. Complementing and balancing the sourish taste was a scoop of smooth homemade ice cream.(Vanilla I presume)
Morton's signature Hot Chocolate Cake was simply my favourite. Hot Godiva chocolate encapsulated within layers of soft and dense sponge cake with a slightly hardened exterior. Slicing the cake allows the hot and thick chocolate to slowly ooze out. Extremely sweet and sinful. No wonder many ladies are said to have taken a liking to it.
All in all, an extremely hearty meal. Good food and good companionship - one of the simple pleasures of life. Grand total was about $315 for 3 pax. Definitely expensive, but well worth the money paid. Service was excellent with our waitress being friendly and chatty. Ambience wise, it isn't really a romantic restaurant, but it does have private rooms which look nice and exclusive. I highly recommend checking this place out. On a side note, Oriental Hotel has a very pretty interior. Seeing is believing :)
See all my pictures here
Rating given:
It's been maybe a year since I've been to Billy Bombers. I remember trying their burgers there. Quite a couple in fact. A few of us were there and we ordered different ones to try and share. The impression I had of the place was a good one and I thought that I'd be back one day ( that "one day" came only a year later..)
This time we order two main courses to share, out of which one was their promotion 4-meal-set-course. It's actually just a drink, soup, dessert and a main course. Nothing as special as they made it sound like.
The service there was ok I must say. Maybe because it wasn't their busiest time yet, and so we were always attended to immediately. Also, our food was served almost immediately, it was good because I was starving!
My soup came first. It was ok, but nothing different from the Cream of Chicken you get at most places. The "exciting" ones were the main course. We had a sirloin steak and half a grilled honey chicken with BBQ sauce.
The steak was horrible. I wanted my steak to be done medium. It came out with part of it well done like it was over-cooked. It was really tough and more than a quarter of the steak was just fats and there was effectively very little meat left considering it was a small piece to begin with. It was served with 2 side dishes - creamy spinach and potato salad. They both had a weird smell/ taste. Probably the same cream or sonemething used? And the spinach just looked horrible - cream with soggy spinach. It spoils your appetite.
As for the chicken, it wasn't exactly well done. The taste was fine, but it wasn't well done because you can still see red parts on the chicken. It's common you'd say, but it's not what I'd expect from a place like Billy Bombers.
When I left the place after dinner, I didn't feel full at all. Even though they've got nice interior decoration and acceptable service, the food that I had today wasn't worth what I paid. I don't think I'll frequent the place in future..
Rating given:
Glasil is a relatively new store managed by a lady who makes the items herself. I had the honour of watching her in action whilst I was in the store.
The display of the store is amazing. She has bracelets and earrings all over. But most of the items are quite simple and not very complicated. The materials are less common but not the design itself. The finished products are priced about $5 to $100 for those with precious stones.
The materials she sells for DIY are in small quantities and there isn't much variety. She has mainly glass and czech crystal stuff so they are all quite pricey. Even plastic items are not cheap either. It's for the casual maker making for herself really. As for findings and wires there's also very little to choose from.
At the back of the store she sells some bags which are quite interesting. The material may not be good but they are quite cheap.
The owner herself is quite knowledgeable about the materials she sells but her staff isn't. They had to consult her many times on what the material is and where are certain items placed.
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There are 2 faces to Geylang - the notorious red light district thronged by "social escorts" and the food haven where tiny shops and restaurants line every nook and cranny, serving up good food. Shatin Kitchen obviously falls into the latter category and is helmed by chef Tonny Chan.
Newspaper articles adorn the walls of this unpretentious air conditioned eatery located right at the beginning of Geylang road. Decor is simplistic and reminiscent of a typical Chinese restaurant without the frills.
Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon - In case you are wondering, no, chef Tonny didn't name this dish after Lee Ang's Oscar winning movie. It is so named because of the ingredients in the dish - egg white, lobster and scallops as well as the way it is presented - in a basket made from deep fried wanton skin. This dish won chef Tonny an award in a cooking competition some years back and was featured in the recent 100 best dishes article published by the Straits Times. With the accolades aside, it was down to the taste test. Honestly, it was disappointing. Yes, I could taste the texture of the scallops and the egg white but where was the lobster? And if eaten alone without the wanton skin, it proved to be a tad too salty for my liking. Eaten with the skin, it was really nothing nothing to shout about, coming across as average and not something I would pay $6 a portion for.
Kailan - The vegetables were tasty but rather limp, probably due to overcooking and the gravy was a tad too starchy for my liking.
Five Spices Fried Pork Chop - Sorry about the literal translation but theres no English name for this dish in the menu. The pork chop was undoubtedly the best dish of the evening, with the meat tender yet lightly sweet and chewy. It actually tasted like very tender char siew, albeit of a different colour. Couldn't quite make out the five spices though.
Deep Fried Cod Fish - I liked the fact that the cod fish came with nice small tomatoes alongside to spruce up the entire dish. What I didn't like was that the fish meat was bland and soft, nothing like the firm yet smooth meat good cod fish should have. The accompanying sauce was rather bland as well, tasting like a watered down version of oyster sauce.
Red Bean Paste Pancake - I've always been biased towards red bean paste pancakes but this one was a little let down. Though fragrant, the flour was too thick which made it rather chewy overall. On a positive note, the red bean filling was generous and not too sweet.
The 3 of us chalked up a bill of about $81, which is rather expensive given that the quality of food was merely slightly above average and portions are lacking in size. On a side note, I'm suitably impressed with the level of service at Shatin Kitchen, something lacking in alot of small Chinese eateries nowadays. However, all the hype surrounding this eatery is totally uncalled for in my humble opinion and I highly doubt that I'll be back.
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After reading all the above great reviews for UNO, I decided to try it out. Not quite sure where Blk 51 is, we ended up driving a big round around Toa Payoh central. But when we saw the bright orange lightbox sign welcoming us at the carpark entrance, we knew great steak is just nearby.
Going back to TPY brought back many wonderful memories to me, I used to stay at TPY. Looking at the blocks around me, I felt as if I was brought back 15 years. The old and retro looking blocks with the elderly ah gong and ah ma sitting near the door looking out to whatever that comes into their sight. Feel so much like I was back to my childhood days.
UNO beef house was not packed yet when we arrived. We ordered the Black Pepper Rib Eye ($9) and Fish and Chips ($5). Both came in less than 10 mins. And both looks equally delicious.
Had a medium-rare steak and it was cooked just right. It's pretty cheap considering that the size of the steak was pretty big. But I had a better one the day before. (IMO)
The one that I thought was fantastic is the Fish & Chips. When eaten hot, its very crispy outside and soft inside. The batter used is different from the usual fish & chips you find at the usual hawkers. It was so good I had to pack one home for Mum to try. But due to jam, the fish was cold when mum had it. Not too nice anymore. But still, I'll sure go back for more of their fish & chips.
Go by 7pm for dinner else you might need to wait a little while longer after that when the crowd starts forming.
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Cosmopolitan club street has a new entrant - Eden Cafe, which opened its doors to a soft launch only last Wednesday. New as the cafe may be, the man at the helm, Clement Ronald, is certainly no stranger to the culinary scene, having appeared in many television and magazines write ups in the past year due to his unique blend of cooking which involves plants, dubbed "floral cooking". He used to preside over the kitchen at Helios Cafe at Marina Square, but unfortunately that space is available only for private functions now.
Occupying a small unit just opposite liberty insurance, Eden Cafe threatens to be overshadowed by its more illustrious neighbours like Senso, Indochine, Spizza, Jerry's, just to name a few. The interior is tiny (I'm guessing about 20pax) and simplistic, opting for a more laid back setting with soft music in the background.
Jumbo prawns wrapped in Bacon - Prawns wrapped in bacons are always nice. Ideally the saltiness from the not too fatty bacon should complement the raw sweetness of the prawns. However it didn't happen in this case. The prawns were smaller than I had expected and the bacon wasn't grilled throughly enough, resulting in a softer than I would have liked texture. But overall still a rather decent dish, especially with the freshness of the tomato salsa salad by the side.
Saffron Cream Sauce Salmon - I don't usually like salmon because they have this raw fishy taste which I detest. Not this one however. The salmon's meat was firm minus the fishy overtones and together with the buttery and flavourful home concocted gravy, made for a light yet pleasing dish. However I could detect some inconsistencies in the dish, with some parts of the salmon being a lot saltier than others. The whole portabello mushroom that came with it was good for lapping up the tasty gravy, just that it was a little too soft for my liking.
Red Wine Beef - I would have liked this dish quite a bit if it wasn't that raw. The meat slab was thick which probably explains the rawness in some areas. The red wine sauce had a nice sweet red wine taste (naturally!) without being too overpowering. There was garlic in it, but I couldn't quite make it out. The mashed potatos were great with the sauce by the way.
We had one other main, the Rosemary Chicken, which I unfortunately do not have a shot of because I stupidly deleted it by accident and data recovery doesn't seem to work. Well I have asked around and hopefully someone has it so that I can post it up if they are willing to send it to me. That aside, as the name suggests, the chicken was cooked with rosemary and lavender, which gave it a rather fruity/leafy slant. The chicken was rather tender and moist but certain parts could get quite strong on the rosemary taste, especially the outer layer, which I personally couldn't quite take
Crème Brûlée - According to Clement, the Crème Brûlées are made from real vanilla beans, not vanilla essence or extract like most other places. The little black dots within are proof of that. Clement personally handled the melting of the sugar atop and I must complement his technique as the layer of sugar was thin and evenly coagulated. The pudding was soft and wobbly and didn't come across as too sweet. Definitely one of the better Crème Brûlées that I've tasted.
Brandy Chocolate -
Now this is one sinful dessert with rich and unadulterated chocolate. Nothing fancy, just pure milk chocolate with brandy. However I couldn't quite make out the brandy which was a bummer really. Definitely not for the health conscious!
Tiramisu - The Tiramisu was covered by a layer of rich chocolate, very different from others I've eaten. But that doesn't not necessarily mean that its better. I could barely taste the cake in it and overall it was very dense with quite a strong rum taste in certain areas. My guess is that the mixing wasn't done thoroughly enough.
Hibiscus Cheese Phyllo - Undoubtedly the star of the desserts (at least for me), the Hibiscus Cheese Phyllo (or filo if you so wish) came looking very much like an egg omelette. The filling looked like yam ice cream instead of cheese, which was really quite interesting. Texture and taste wise, it reminded me of a partially melted cheese flavoured ice cream with a slight fruity connotation. A delectable dish but one not one I would recommend to consume too much of as the cheese taste can be a little overwhelming after a while.
Total bill for 8 pax with drinks cost about $337, which is definitely not expensive given the quality and amount of food. Dinner is unhurried and pleasant with great service from Clement himself as well as the other wait staff. There is this little herb garden in which Clement grows his own flora for use in his dishes. Do ask to see it if you happen to dine at Eden's. How about an encore folks? Seedless grape chicken? ;)
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Since I dun own a car, public transport to me is very important. Ever since they keep increasing their fare every year, my expectation for them is also getting higher and higher.
Since around my work place, I have to take SBS bus to work every weekeday. I ahve to say that I am quite happy with the bus conditions. However they can work on the bus frequencies, like the bus supposed to come in every 5 mins during peak hours but then one bus decided to come earlier, and the bus will be pretty empty. Then the next bus that came on time, will be damned packed as the waiting time for the bus is longer.
I do find sometimes the bus a bit dirty as well but then if everyone of us take good care of it, I think the bus will be cleaner and no need to wait for the cleaners to clean the buses.
I am quite happy with the IRIS service as now I will always use it to find out how long does it take the next bus to arrive to the bus stop. I does cut down my waiting time as well. However the sms service only limited to Singtel users oly so I cannot use it.
Only 1 request, stop asking to increase fare every year and buck up on the frequency and condition of the buses.
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I have been a Hubber for sometime now and I am happy to say that I made the right choice to sign up with them.
MaxOnline for me is really good and cheap. They had been giving us more bandwidth from time to time as well. I seldom had any problem with connection.
I hooked it up to a wireless router so that I can use my laptop anywhere in my flat and it proved to be good. I mainly use it for work and school wise and dun really play online games with it. So to me the speed is really more then enough.
Being a Hubber I got 10% discount some more. So I really find it a good deal!
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