Located at the basement, I thought it was quite a secluded area as there were not many people walking around, but I was surprised when I saw the place at least half full.
I like Han's because of the good price they offer, along with a reasonable amount of food that would fill my stomach. Of course this good price would apply more to the set meals they have, which comes with a drink, soup, main course and a dessert.
This place has a mixture of both chinese and western food, which I feel is good as it caters to most people's taste. So you can have a big group of people going there to eat, and everyone would probably be able to find something they like.
I just went there recently and I ordered a Black pepper chicken. I thought the meat was quite chewy, not over cooked but nothing too great but it was good enough. But one thing bad was that there was this whole layer of fat on the chicken and some at the side. Effectively, your chicken was only 3/4 the size. And the dessert that came with the set meal was just one slice of watermelon, whereas elsewhere serves one slice of cake instead. I was quite disappointed and decided to get something else as dessert. I ordered a peach tart and I must say their peach tart is GOOD!
The tart itself is not too hard, just right, and has a sweet taste to it. Then there's a really big piece of peach on top of the tart, with a layer of sweet cream below it. It would have been better though, if there were more cream in the tart. But other than that, the peach tart was really good!
eBlackboard is just a stall in a coffee shop. Don't be fooled by that cool name. It's not all that cool after all. Basically, this is a stall that sells western food. Only somehow, I don't know why, they chose to adopt this restaurant-like style. There are too many workers around, with more than 2 chefs, 1 cashier and at least 3 waitresses. It's not hard to spot them because they're all in uniform. I would say it's a good effort to try to be different from the others. Nonetheless, the (coffee shop) ambience just spoils the whole "restaurant" feel.
As mentioned above, they have too many workers. And when I say this, I really mean it. Why? Firstly, they do not really have a big restaurant to manage. With so many workers, what are they trying to improve on? Efficiency? No, because my second point would tell you, their service is bad. Perhaps it's because I expect them to be more efficient with so many workers around, thus end up being more disappointed.
I don't really think too highly of their food too. Their coleslaw tasted weird, along with some weird tasting sauce they had over the chicken that I ate. Maybe others would beg to differ. But this is not a place that I would recommend you to go too many times, because their food is not cheap. Fish and chips costs $6, when you can get it at around $4.50 at any hawker centre/ coffee shop. You can imagine the price of other things (they have a price range of about $6 to $15) . Though they have really good(-sounding) stuff like Salmon, the price of it is far more than anyone would be willing to pay when at a coffee shop.
I've heard that this place was really popular many many years ago. Unfortunately, now, it's not as popular as before. It is located at a pretty secluded place in Shaw Centre (the building near Lido, with that Macdonald's along the way to Pacific Plaza). However, when you manage to find the place, this "ulu" location might just serve as a good reason why people choose to go there. It has a nice and quiet (during weekend's dinner time at least) ambience, and quite a nice interior decor with interesting pictures around the place.
I've been to this place quite some time back, and I like it because the food were at quite a reasonable price and the service was good. This place sells not just western food, but some chinese food too. I was told that they sell pretty good chicken rice, and people working in the vicinity would go down during lunch hours for the pretty cheap set lunch.
I would suggest that those who intend to go, go during dinner time when it's less noisy (unless you don't mind).
After seeing the first review, I decided to drop by this place when I was at PS. I was totally fascinated by the large range of embellishments and cute little things they have there. I never thought of how someone could come up with things like that and I was totally amazed. Being a not-very-creative person, the whole range of paper and little decorative items allowed me to come up with many different ideas in mind to create a scrapbook of my own (not that I do though). You can find designs of all sorts of colours and different themes that you can come up with. Great place!
I like the way the things are displayed there too. It has quite an attractive interior with mirrors placed strategically to make the place look very creative. The items are mostly displayed in a position that makes it easy to browse through the items. Also, there is ample walking space in the shop and, as opposed to a cramp and crowded shop, it allows you to take your time looking for anything you want.
However, I thought some things there were really expensive and could be self-made. Perhaps these things are actually really expensive, I have no idea. But I just felt that some things could be cheaper, or would definitely be cheaper if you made it yourself by getting the materials from Bras Basah complex.
I've tried Gloria Jean's in school! I never knew this shop existed anywhere. I guess I haven't been out at the malls for a long long time. But when I tried it, it was in school on a hot day during a sports event. I was looking for a good cold drink to quench my thirst, and Gloria Jean's looked like an alternative to some great cold coffee (like maybe having a drink from coffee bean in school), so I ordered an Iced Latte.
I thought I'd have a good drink, but unfortunately, the latte was diluted and absolutely bitter. I know coffee beans are bitter before you add anything to it, but I felt that this was too bitter as compared to what I've tried before, and it was definitely over-diluted.
I was quite disappointed by the standard of the drink. Probably because of that, I didn't really bother to remember this shop nor look out for it when I'm out. I haven't tried the drinks from their proper shop though, perhaps it is much better, based on Snowbringer's review. But I must say I wasn't too pleased with it.
I agree! Carl's Junior is quite different in terms of style and all. I think it's totally imported from the States or something, with the huge servings and all. Great for huge eaters! But it's definitely not a good choice for dining if you're on a budget. It's slightly more expensive than other fast food restaurants and you're not paying for much service nor ambience.
But there are some places where you have to try before you know whether you like it or not. And if you're looking for a fast food that's slightly different (with free flow of drinks), I would recommend Carl's too! :)
The perfect place to chill out without the crowd up on the "highest" peak in Singapore....actually not so high. But the couch view by the window is good. The floor to ceiling glass window allows you to get a good view of the cable car paths as well as Sentosa and the Singapore Harbour. So just sit back, relax and enjoy the views.
Serve standard drinks and cocktails. One plus point is that this place is frequented by both local and foreign celebrities, so you might just catch a glimpse of them or hear the staffs talking about it...that's if you are in to celebrities. Otherwise the glass atmosphere and cozy surroundings might just be what you can enjoy here.
You might like to make a reservation if you are going in larger groups. Have seen many larger groups of about 5-6 people coming in and going out because of not being able to find a place here.
Parking in Mount Faber can be a problem if you come later in the night. But then you can always use the valet service at $5 if you like. Saves you all the walking and trouble.
Ice cream like you have never had before. This is what we found at Tom's Palette. The perfect place for a stopover after dinner. It used to be Swensens but now, it is Tom's Palette! For some reason, Swensens does not seem to appeal to us, but then again that is another story.
So what is good at Tom's Palette?
The local flavours that you will not find at Swensens and Hagen D. The following is a list of flavours you can find there:-
- Tau Sar Piah!!??
- Chrysanthemum
- Lavender
- Apple Pie
- Oreo Cheese
- Blue Berry Cheese
- Hazelnut
- Logan and Red Dates
- Chocolate
- Coffee
- Real Strawberries
- Horlicks (if you just love it)
- and more to come...perhaps we should just give them some suggestions for new flavours! Why not have kiwi, chicken!!??, guava, and maybe some sorbets!!
If you are confused and not certain which one to try, just request to sample them. Try not to take it too far by sampling all the flavours....but it might just happen! Portions are generous and comes in 3 different servings. If you go by after dinner, perhaps the smallest portion would be the right serving. You get 2 scoops in the serving and that will allow you to savour your favourite flavours! All that at less than $3 per cup...it is reasonably priced.
Staffs are friendly and patient. Perhaps they like to see the look on your face in wondering what in the world does it taste like! But jokes aside they always have a smile even though you cannot decide which flavour you would like.
We specially make the trip there to eat their ice creams and also bring our friends there for a short stopover....to try Singapore ice cream. Highly recommended!!
I was never really into Black Forest cakes, but after I tried the Black Forest cake from Secret Recipe, I have to say it's one of the nicer cakes I've ever had! So, I decided to go for dessert at Secret Recipe after dinner one day. I've tried Chocolate Banana and Mango Delight.
I must say Black Forest and Chocolate Banana are highly recommended cakes! There is a tasty chocolate layer on the cake that does not taste too rich and won't make you get sick of it so easily. The banana slices are huge slices buried within layers of the cake. What's good is that the taste of the banana is not covered by the chocolate and the bananas used are really sweet. As for the Mango Delight, the mango slices within the cake are the sweet and delicious mango, unlike other cakes that use half riped or sour mangoes.
Although I haven't tried the other cakes, but from the looks of it, the other cakes seem not bad too! Definitely a good place for desserts!
Gramophone is a little like HMV. Another major music store vying for the same group of consumers. Just like HMV, they have a whole collection of music CDs and videos of different genres. The atmosphere of the shop is very different from HMV. It gives a less commercialized feeling than HMV and, with all the dark-grained wooden furniture plus jazz or classical music they play most of the time, it gives the place a rather comfortable yet classy feel.
Plus I made a new discovery today (perhaps this has been out for awhile already)! Gramophone does rentals of movies now (maybe HMV does also?) and they reach out to people of different races in Singapore as they have not just English and Chinese movies, but quite a collection of Hindi movies as well! The price for movie rentals are about $5 per show, which is quite a fair price. Plus, with their wide variety of movies available, one is spoilt for choice! And for those interested in Bollywood movies, you can find quite a few good ones here.
1=SGD 0.0587
Located at the basement, I thought it was quite a secluded area as there were not many people walking around, but I was surprised when I saw the place at least half full.
I like Han's because of the good price they offer, along with a reasonable amount of food that would fill my stomach. Of course this good price would apply more to the set meals they have, which comes with a drink, soup, main course and a dessert.
This place has a mixture of both chinese and western food, which I feel is good as it caters to most people's taste. So you can have a big group of people going there to eat, and everyone would probably be able to find something they like.
I just went there recently and I ordered a Black pepper chicken. I thought the meat was quite chewy, not over cooked but nothing too great but it was good enough. But one thing bad was that there was this whole layer of fat on the chicken and some at the side. Effectively, your chicken was only 3/4 the size. And the dessert that came with the set meal was just one slice of watermelon, whereas elsewhere serves one slice of cake instead. I was quite disappointed and decided to get something else as dessert. I ordered a peach tart and I must say their peach tart is GOOD!
The tart itself is not too hard, just right, and has a sweet taste to it. Then there's a really big piece of peach on top of the tart, with a layer of sweet cream below it. It would have been better though, if there were more cream in the tart. But other than that, the peach tart was really good!
Rating given:
eBlackboard is just a stall in a coffee shop. Don't be fooled by that cool name. It's not all that cool after all. Basically, this is a stall that sells western food. Only somehow, I don't know why, they chose to adopt this restaurant-like style. There are too many workers around, with more than 2 chefs, 1 cashier and at least 3 waitresses. It's not hard to spot them because they're all in uniform. I would say it's a good effort to try to be different from the others. Nonetheless, the (coffee shop) ambience just spoils the whole "restaurant" feel.
As mentioned above, they have too many workers. And when I say this, I really mean it. Why? Firstly, they do not really have a big restaurant to manage. With so many workers, what are they trying to improve on? Efficiency? No, because my second point would tell you, their service is bad. Perhaps it's because I expect them to be more efficient with so many workers around, thus end up being more disappointed.
I don't really think too highly of their food too. Their coleslaw tasted weird, along with some weird tasting sauce they had over the chicken that I ate. Maybe others would beg to differ. But this is not a place that I would recommend you to go too many times, because their food is not cheap. Fish and chips costs $6, when you can get it at around $4.50 at any hawker centre/ coffee shop. You can imagine the price of other things (they have a price range of about $6 to $15) . Though they have really good(-sounding) stuff like Salmon, the price of it is far more than anyone would be willing to pay when at a coffee shop.
Rating given:
I've heard that this place was really popular many many years ago. Unfortunately, now, it's not as popular as before. It is located at a pretty secluded place in Shaw Centre (the building near Lido, with that Macdonald's along the way to Pacific Plaza). However, when you manage to find the place, this "ulu" location might just serve as a good reason why people choose to go there. It has a nice and quiet (during weekend's dinner time at least) ambience, and quite a nice interior decor with interesting pictures around the place.
I've been to this place quite some time back, and I like it because the food were at quite a reasonable price and the service was good. This place sells not just western food, but some chinese food too. I was told that they sell pretty good chicken rice, and people working in the vicinity would go down during lunch hours for the pretty cheap set lunch.
I would suggest that those who intend to go, go during dinner time when it's less noisy (unless you don't mind).
Rating given:
After seeing the first review, I decided to drop by this place when I was at PS. I was totally fascinated by the large range of embellishments and cute little things they have there. I never thought of how someone could come up with things like that and I was totally amazed. Being a not-very-creative person, the whole range of paper and little decorative items allowed me to come up with many different ideas in mind to create a scrapbook of my own (not that I do though). You can find designs of all sorts of colours and different themes that you can come up with. Great place!
I like the way the things are displayed there too. It has quite an attractive interior with mirrors placed strategically to make the place look very creative. The items are mostly displayed in a position that makes it easy to browse through the items. Also, there is ample walking space in the shop and, as opposed to a cramp and crowded shop, it allows you to take your time looking for anything you want.
However, I thought some things there were really expensive and could be self-made. Perhaps these things are actually really expensive, I have no idea. But I just felt that some things could be cheaper, or would definitely be cheaper if you made it yourself by getting the materials from Bras Basah complex.
Rating given:
I've tried Gloria Jean's in school! I never knew this shop existed anywhere. I guess I haven't been out at the malls for a long long time. But when I tried it, it was in school on a hot day during a sports event. I was looking for a good cold drink to quench my thirst, and Gloria Jean's looked like an alternative to some great cold coffee (like maybe having a drink from coffee bean in school), so I ordered an Iced Latte.
I thought I'd have a good drink, but unfortunately, the latte was diluted and absolutely bitter. I know coffee beans are bitter before you add anything to it, but I felt that this was too bitter as compared to what I've tried before, and it was definitely over-diluted.
I was quite disappointed by the standard of the drink. Probably because of that, I didn't really bother to remember this shop nor look out for it when I'm out. I haven't tried the drinks from their proper shop though, perhaps it is much better, based on Snowbringer's review. But I must say I wasn't too pleased with it.
Rating given:
I agree! Carl's Junior is quite different in terms of style and all. I think it's totally imported from the States or something, with the huge servings and all. Great for huge eaters! But it's definitely not a good choice for dining if you're on a budget. It's slightly more expensive than other fast food restaurants and you're not paying for much service nor ambience.
But there are some places where you have to try before you know whether you like it or not. And if you're looking for a fast food that's slightly different (with free flow of drinks), I would recommend Carl's too! :)
Rating given:
The perfect place to chill out without the crowd up on the "highest" peak in Singapore....actually not so high. But the couch view by the window is good. The floor to ceiling glass window allows you to get a good view of the cable car paths as well as Sentosa and the Singapore Harbour. So just sit back, relax and enjoy the views.
Serve standard drinks and cocktails. One plus point is that this place is frequented by both local and foreign celebrities, so you might just catch a glimpse of them or hear the staffs talking about it...that's if you are in to celebrities. Otherwise the glass atmosphere and cozy surroundings might just be what you can enjoy here.
You might like to make a reservation if you are going in larger groups. Have seen many larger groups of about 5-6 people coming in and going out because of not being able to find a place here.
Parking in Mount Faber can be a problem if you come later in the night. But then you can always use the valet service at $5 if you like. Saves you all the walking and trouble.
Rating given:
Ice cream like you have never had before. This is what we found at Tom's Palette. The perfect place for a stopover after dinner. It used to be Swensens but now, it is Tom's Palette! For some reason, Swensens does not seem to appeal to us, but then again that is another story.
So what is good at Tom's Palette?
The local flavours that you will not find at Swensens and Hagen D. The following is a list of flavours you can find there:-
- Tau Sar Piah!!??
- Chrysanthemum
- Lavender
- Apple Pie
- Oreo Cheese
- Blue Berry Cheese
- Hazelnut
- Logan and Red Dates
- Chocolate
- Coffee
- Real Strawberries
- Horlicks (if you just love it)
- and more to come...perhaps we should just give them some suggestions for new flavours! Why not have kiwi, chicken!!??, guava, and maybe some sorbets!!
If you are confused and not certain which one to try, just request to sample them. Try not to take it too far by sampling all the flavours....but it might just happen! Portions are generous and comes in 3 different servings. If you go by after dinner, perhaps the smallest portion would be the right serving. You get 2 scoops in the serving and that will allow you to savour your favourite flavours! All that at less than $3 per cup...it is reasonably priced.
Staffs are friendly and patient. Perhaps they like to see the look on your face in wondering what in the world does it taste like! But jokes aside they always have a smile even though you cannot decide which flavour you would like.
We specially make the trip there to eat their ice creams and also bring our friends there for a short stopover....to try Singapore ice cream. Highly recommended!!
Rating given:
I was never really into Black Forest cakes, but after I tried the Black Forest cake from Secret Recipe, I have to say it's one of the nicer cakes I've ever had! So, I decided to go for dessert at Secret Recipe after dinner one day. I've tried Chocolate Banana and Mango Delight.
I must say Black Forest and Chocolate Banana are highly recommended cakes! There is a tasty chocolate layer on the cake that does not taste too rich and won't make you get sick of it so easily. The banana slices are huge slices buried within layers of the cake. What's good is that the taste of the banana is not covered by the chocolate and the bananas used are really sweet. As for the Mango Delight, the mango slices within the cake are the sweet and delicious mango, unlike other cakes that use half riped or sour mangoes.
Although I haven't tried the other cakes, but from the looks of it, the other cakes seem not bad too! Definitely a good place for desserts!
Rating given:
Gramophone is a little like HMV. Another major music store vying for the same group of consumers. Just like HMV, they have a whole collection of music CDs and videos of different genres. The atmosphere of the shop is very different from HMV. It gives a less commercialized feeling than HMV and, with all the dark-grained wooden furniture plus jazz or classical music they play most of the time, it gives the place a rather comfortable yet classy feel.
Plus I made a new discovery today (perhaps this has been out for awhile already)! Gramophone does rentals of movies now (maybe HMV does also?) and they reach out to people of different races in Singapore as they have not just English and Chinese movies, but quite a collection of Hindi movies as well! The price for movie rentals are about $5 per show, which is quite a fair price. Plus, with their wide variety of movies available, one is spoilt for choice! And for those interested in Bollywood movies, you can find quite a few good ones here.
Highly recommended!
Rating given: