My boss recommended this place when I said I wanted a light birthday lunch, and how excellent a choice!
The place is decked out like a very old school chinese restaurant, complete with stoned-faced staff and 2 captains in black jackets and sometimes-grouchy faces.
Century Egg Porridge - this came in portions enough for 2pax per order. It was not the best I've tried but good enough for me, although some will find it a bit bland. The captain told us surly that "this one 2 people can eat. SHARE.". Er okay, instructions noted.
Peking Duck Roll - 6 small rolls neatly placed on a plate. The sauce was already part of the roll, and I suspect there were more meat than skin in it but quite tasty!
Chicken Feet - A little too soggy but flavour was good. Also more generous a portion than most places.
Char Siew Puff - very good! Small triangular puffs (which were still warm after leaving it out for a while) made freshly from the kitchen and lean char siew although can be a little too sweet for some people.
Har Gao -bigger sized than alot of places with fresh crunchy prawns, what's not to like?
Siew Mai - big sized too and extremely fresh. I dont usually like these but here, I actually do!
Fried Carrot Cake - Long-shaped ones fried with bean sprouts - a refreshing combi. The cake was superbly browned, not oily, some crispy. and the bean sprouts crunchy. I like!
Chee Chong Fun - thin flour skins complete with lean char siew fillings. Good~
Glutinous rice - it uses a mix of brown and white rice and I know its' supposed to be more healthy but somehow this combi made it lose its sinful taste.
Vegetable roll - this is served chilled and basically just a mix of beansprouts, carrots, beancurd etc, with some sort of plum sauce in them. Quite refreshing but a little soggy for me.
Peanut Mochi - Tasted like it was fresh from the kitchen, with just the right chew and plenty plenty peanuts. The insides are black saseme paste which I liked.
Almost all dishes were good and will definitely return, if I can ignore the service thingy. It was a treat so I don't know how much was each dish but I think it totalled up to about $120?
Passed by this place so many times on the bus and I remember thinking what a cute signage and possibly a new vegetarian place to explore. So when an vegetarian colleague asked for lunch, it was a good chance to check this place out.
The place can be quite hard to find if you're driving, least to say parking, but easier if you take the bus as it's located right behind the prominent bus stop near Eunos MRT.
The place was empty when we arrived at 12:15pm on a weekday but it slowly filled up around 1pm. The setting presents a very clean cut look with bench chairs and neat tables comfortably spaced out. The menu is a huge signboard behind the counter - you order, take a number, and wait for your burger to be served at the table. A selection of about 5 burgers plus their special (Rendang Burger) and a small selection of sides etc is available.
Smokey BBQ ($6.85 / $10.85 for set) - organic rye bread with wholemeal grains, oven baked mushroom patty, with tomato and alfalfa - the set came in a big mess tin sort of container with the accompanying fries. The bun was not toasted enough and still cold in the middle, the lettuce pieces were almost not green and I had the hard parts of the leaves which I didnt quite like. The alfalfa could have been more too. The patty was the only nice thing in it - very mushroomy and earthy.
Seaweed Fries - golden and fluffy, sprinkled with 100% organic seaweed flakes - its not fluffy at all, but golden yes. Its also the way that the fries are being packed into the side of the container that made it all soggy after a while. No seaweed taste too although the flakes were there. The sauce was also sorely lacking in smokey taste.
Spinach wheatgrass juice - I had the impression that this was freshly made, as its ala carte price was $3.50. Silly me. It was poured out from a dispenser and no taste of either greens - it in fact tasted like a a soft drink.
I think the novelty concept of a veg burger place attracts me more than the food. I had honestly expected much more taste and quality so am a a tad disappointed. But the place is still a good option for vegetarians of course.
The first thing I tried here was their whoopie pies - it was quite a refreshing taste but its dependent on flavours I realized.
Being strategically located at Taka is a definite bonus, and it attracts curious stares from those who incidentally walk past. Its pinkish and fun ambience is a stark contrast to KFC next door. Chef Pang is the name here and thus the desserts. All Day Breakfast category - 2Egg breakfast - American Favourite ($7.50) - this has bacon, 2 eggs cooked any style and your choice of english muffin or white toast. I had mine sunny side up and picked english muffin. The eggs were not underdone which I appreciated, the bacon a little too fatty for me, and the muffin quite nice but I suspect over toasted as it was a tad too crunchy for me. Overall it was nice and definitely comfort food but maybe some will baulk at paying this price.
Latte ($5) - Average and the foam was carelessly done, not consistent with my 1st experience although that time, my latte was more of a capp. Hot iron waffle ($8) - Humongous with a big scoop of ice cream on it. The waffle is actually quite good even when its no longer warm, plus the caramel walnut ice cream is good too although it can be less sweet.
Whoopie Pie ($2.15) - a specialty here, and I think for a good reason. I actually dont know what is the outer bit made but its similar to gingerbread without the ginger taste; the inside is marshmallow fluff. Nice: the traditional chocolate one, the PB&J, and the salty caramel. Not nice: lemon meringue which tasted chemical-ish.
Service is generally okay with its young team but sometimes small things are forgotten like serviettes and some cutleries which are supposed to be in the cutlery bucket on each table. The small seating also means that waiting time can take some time if you're in the queue.
I havent tried the cakes yet but I may for my return visit.
I was a little hesitant to try after reading the reviews but I went ahead anyway and I am glad I did. The place was already packed at 7pm on a Saturday night, and we were settled in quite quickly in our seats.
The order system is a DIY system where the menu is categorized under 4 different order sheets. You tick the items and indicate the quantity you want and pass it to the staff to process.
But I realized the problem is then sometime you lose track of the items ordered and you dont know even if they dont arrive. Like my pizza which took 2hours before it finally was plonked onto my table. And be prepared to wait as the food takes its own sweet time to arrive even when the place is only half full. It seemed like they wait for a few orders of the same thing to come in and cook it in batches.
The food was not so bad for me. What I had:
- Sashimi
- chawamushi
- endamame
- one mouth crab (tiny deep fried crabs)
- tempura
- garlic fried rice
- spaghetti
- grilled mushrooms, ginko nuts, lady fingers
- jap fish cake
- grilled chicken
- miso soup
- chilled soba
- chicken pieces in wasabi mayo
Amongst many. All were not too bad for me, and with the $33 per pax for dinner, it is quite a good deal for me. Plus they have this amazing Yuzu sake at $40 per bottle - terribly addictive when very chilled. They also serve their food in teeny weeny portions, good for small eaters.
I'd probably return but not in the near future as their menu pretty much remains the same. Plus slow service annoys me too. Lets see.
I must admit that the $10 facial voucher they were dangling at Orchard Central a few weekends ago was too attractive to resist. And so off I went with a friend to the Taka outlet after making sure the salesperson called to book the appointment at the point of our purchase.
I did expect hard selling as $10 is really too cheap but its still annoying to have to sit through it.
We were ushered into a room to wait, and strangely enough, they did things in tiny steps eg. bring us forms, bring us water, collect forms etc all with waiting in between. This wasted half hour of our time, from the supposedly 2.5 total time needed.
Then I was ushered to another room separate from my friend because the room 'only has one scanner and will save time' - but was made to wait again.
2 consultants then came into the room. They did the same scanner to face thingy and started saying oh your skin is dehydrated etc, blackheads etc. They launched almost immediately into their sales talk - since I'm already here why dont i upgrade to a better treamtment. When I said I have no money, they replied that its not expensive, even students can afford it (are they insulting me??!).
They then changed tactic to asking if I want to combine my 2 treatments into one better one, no need to top up any cash (my $10 voucher entitled me to 2x sessions). And they never did explain what's the difference between the 'normal' and the 'better' one. So I said no, I'd like to keep it to 2 sessions.
I think the lady got a bit fed up and said something to the effect of "okay so you obviously just want to come for the $10 promotion right". Why else would I be there, so silly.
I was then ushered to begin my treatment to a big room with partitioned curtains similar to those at hospitals. The air con was freezing and they ask you to change into the facial sort of robe that exposes your shoulders and up. Be prepared to freeze for the rest of the treatment.
I have to be honest and say that the treatment was actually not bad although the therapist did not explain what was being put on my face. Midway through, they said a lady named Esther gave a complimentary upgrade for some collagen thingy and put it on half my face apparently for me to see the effect. After that the therapist asked again if I would like to combine the 2 treatments into 1 to enjoy a detox massage and a detox mask. So smart of them to ask when you are half naked, freezing, and couldnt see them because your eyes are covered with cotton pads. So I said yes, sigh, also to save myself the hassle of returning to endure the sales talk.
The therapist was abit impatient and callous towards the end of the treatment for some reason. When it finally ended and I could feel my toes again, they asked me to acknowledge the treatment and tried to persuade me to sign up for a package again, saying that is is a waste of my time to come without finding out what's the problem with my skin...with the package, they can treat the root of the problems etc. I said no, and they asked 'so why did you buy the voucher since you dont want to find out about your skin?'. -- "Because it was $10" was my reply.
Bottom line is, my skin did feel better after the treatment and all that but goodness it really took me from 4pm to 7pm to step out of the branch. $10 is a superb value for this experience in terms of the skin but the sales talk was just simply annoying.
And I later found out that the therapist that my friend had quoted her $2k for 10 sessions. They must really be mad.
When a kind anonymous reader left me a comment on my blog about discovering a place that served poutine a couple of weeks back, I was naturally delighted as it's been almost a decade since I had poutine (bar Yella Fellas, which has gone the way of the dodo). And so there I was at Hummerstons, on a lovely Saturday morning, just 2 weeks into brunch service.
Hummerston's interior features visible white bricks and warm lighting coupled with a bar counter and wooden furniture. Rather inviting I must admit but we chose to sit outside on the sidewalk instead, in acknowledgement of the beautiful weather.
Classic Poutine - Evenly cut fries with skin? Check. Brown gravy? Check. Cheese curds? Where's my cheese curds?! Apparently emmental cheese is used in Hummerston's rendition of this classic Canadian dish but honestly, the cheese was almost nonexistent - pathetic to say the least. Give me copious amounts of fresh cheese curds any day. The gravy tasted like the real deal although it did come across as a little too sweet for my liking. Having said that, I'll still recommend giving this dish a try, even if it costs $11 for a rather small portion (think Macdonalds regular fries portion).
Carbonara - This was a very different carbonara from what I'm used to. Al dente spaghetti with generous bacon bits and mushrooms but surprise surprise, no cream sauce. Lots of oil though, which reminded me more of aglio olio than carbonara. But the absence of the cream sauce meant that I could chug down more pasta without feeling nauseous. I sincerely hope, for everyone's health, that the oil Hummerston uses in this dish is olive oil.
Brunch Burger - I loved the burger bun to bits. I kid you not. It was probably the best I've had in eons. Warm, crusty, topped with sesame seeds and layered with a thin spread of mayonnaise. So good that I could just eat it on its own! The patty was done medium well as per request and had crisp bits on the surface with a nice grilled beefy taste. Topped with cheese, egg, bacon, caramelised onions and mushrooms. How's that for a mouth watering combination? A couple of gripes though. The meat had a nicely uneven texture but came across as a little too soft for my liking. Also, get a load on the amount of oil! The accompanying fries were a little too limp and oily for my liking as well. But I did like the tomato chili aioli dip, which had a sweet mild chilli taste sans the heat.
Flourless Chilli Chocolate Torte - Although we were stuffed through and through, we were adamant about trying out Hummerston's desserts. First up was the flourless chocolate torte - dense, rich and not too sweet. I couldn't make out any chili though even though I am quite sensitive to it. Still a decent eat though.
Blackforest Gateau - The blackforest cake was decent but not impressive. Light and airy but lacking in the taste of kirsch. Honestly it would have tasted like pure chocolate cake if not for the pockets of cherries.
A fantastic but heart seizing (oily!) brunch cost the both of us to the tune of $84 after taxes. Not ridiculously expensive if you ask me, especially for the quality of food (desserts are optional though). And service was warm and heart felt. I would definitely be back in a heartbeat for the burger or if I'm craving for poutine. Only condition? Less oil please.
This was a choice for a family dinner for a celebratory occasion. Picked the Vivo outlet as this has a nice waterside vibe to it and not so crowded too.
A queue had already formed before 5pm on a working Friday evening, probably because of the happy hour prices which makes their beer a rather good deal. Got an alfresco table for our group of 8pax but that turned out to be a miscalculation as the warm weather can make the alfresco sitting a tad uncomfortable.
Hefe Weissbier ($12.50 for 0.5litres) - their lightest beer brewed freshly. Super drinkable and good for ladies!
Onion Soup ($9.50) - Very good, with onion strips in it. Not too watery either.
Garden Salad ($9.50 for S) - Surprisingly fresh and crispy greens, carrots etc with a tangy dressing on the side.
Sausage platter ($32.50) - For 8 sausages, this comes across as a tad pricey for me even though I know they are more pricey then normal sausages. Nice sauerkraut and potato salad though, especially the onion strips on top of it.
Bacon Pizza ($16.50) - Rather big sized but crust was way too hard for me, almost biscuit-like.
Pork knuckle ($36) - Good! I reluctantly took a bite and realized why people have been saying it's nice. Perfectly roasted crunchy skin with the meat not having that sometimes overpowering pork smell. A bit dry though as no sauce is served with it.
Typical Bavarian pretzel ($3.50) - My personal favorite especially when its served warm.
Basket of selected German bread ($5.80) - Ordered a second basket as the bread was so good, even when cold.
Service was nothing to complain about. Have less pics this time as was busy chatting haha~
OverTime is more established in Malaysia than here, with this outlet and the one at Holland trying to occupy a slice of the beer / chill out market.
They pride themselves on fresh German beer freshly brewed every day; I've tried the one in KL and it was good! Chanced upon this excellent promotion of SGD100nett per 2litre barrel inclusive of buffet dinner for 4pax (2nd barrel onwards SGD$8nett) and headed there on a Friday early evening with 3 friends.
It was rather empty when we reached at 6:30pm but the crowd started coming in at about 7pm, and most came for the promo. As expected, the buffet was really more like zi char (low cost) and consist of plain rice, char kway teow, fish, vegetables, roast meat / char siew and cut fruits. I had called to make a booking previously and asked what is offered at the buffet and the staff said items from their menu. Way off actually. Starker Aromatic - The beer: still as good as I remembered! You have options of the Starker Lager or the Aromatic but I prefer the aromatic as its more fruity and much easier to drink. You get chilled mugs too, and they have a system of replacing your mugs with chilled ones sporadically so that's a bonus.
Prawn cakes and Chicken wings - I've tried these 2 bites in KL and I assume they should not be too different. The prawn crackers are really more like your Ngoh Hiang crackers, and the chicken wings were nice albeit a little oily.
The service here was nothing to complain about. A live band starts at 9pm daily too - not bad too! Although when I passed by the Holland Village branch previously, the staff were all sitting down and chatting inside and ignored me and my friend completely even though we stood there flipping the menu for a good 5mins. They saw us but obviously cannot be bothered.
BUT now that the barrel promotion is no longer valid, they definitely have to find some way to lower their ala carte price of $22 per pint. This is too expensive even for fresh beer, which explains why other places are more crowded I guess.
*Rating for 'value' is based on what I paid with the promotion which added up to about $$27 per person for dinner plus 2x 2litre barrel.
Kha, a modern Thai restaurant under the Epicure group (which also counts modern Australian outfit, Graze, in it's stable of restaurants) has not so recently relocated from it's original site in Hort Park to No.38 Martin Road, a rather upscale residential condominium. To that note, I had the opportunity to dine there one evening, courtesy of the restaurant.
The restaurant is dim by default and I like the use of dark furniture and various vintage items to bring out a contemporary yet authentically Thai feel to the whole place. The faded Thai newspaper lookalike menu completes the picture. One gripe I have though, is that the place is a holding area for noise due to its boxed up interior and concrete ceilings, to a certain extent.
Ruby Starlet ($12) - This mocktail was great - lychee sweetness coupled with a refreshing breath of mint in a lemony twist. So good that I couldn't resist the offer of a second glass.
Rare Grilled Red Curry Rubbed Wagyu Beef ($29) - The wagyu beef was very good. Well grilled, as evident by the dark lines running down the meat, yet succulent with a nice brush of salt and smoky tenderness. Great way to start off the meal!
Tom Yum Goong ($18) - Nicely spicy but overly salty with the prawns a little too soft for comfort. Personally I also thought that the soup could do with a little more tartness.
Toad Man Poo ($17) - Meaty without being overly nausea inducing due to the use of minimal flour and the addition of sweet chilli sauce. Probably one of the better crab cakes I've eaten so far.
Papa Adun's Phad Tow Hu ($14) - The tofu cubes were crisp but boringly pedestrian. I couldn't make much much flavour from the tofu itself and the center seemed hollow. The supposed three flavour sauce was almost non existent. A richer sauce would have probably saved this dish from the deep abyss of disappointment.
Phad Pak ($8) - Greens are healthy but this wok fried vegetable dish was laden with so much oil that it was gross. And there was no wok hei even though the vegetables had a nice fragrant whiff to it. Tasted more like a dish of convenience than one of quality.
Kheaw Wan Poo ($30) - The soft shell crab green curry wasn't anything to shout about in my humble opinion. The crabs had a nice crispy layer but somehow the overall bite was missing. I didn't quite take to the curry as well as it seemed a little lacking in flavour.
Crispy Whole Chilli Filled with Pork and Herbs ($14) - I'll be upfront and state that I'm not a fan of stuffed peppers or chillis. So that means no stuffed jalapenos and the likes. But this was something interesting. For starters, the chilli was coated with a layer of batter and deep fried, giving it a nice crisp on the outside and as you bite into it, you get hit by a bitter taste which slowly melts into a hint of pork and herbs. Nice to try in small quantities but probably not something I would order again.
Khao Neaw Ma Muang ($14) - I'm a sucker for mango/durian sticky rice so this dessert suited me just fine. I liked the coconut pandan sauce which infused the not overly sticky rice with a nice pandan fragrance. I can't say the same for the mango slices though, which lacked any discernible fragrance but still came across as sweet.
Thap Thim Krwap ($13) - I didn't find the red ruby dessert to be anything really special. It was essentially chilled coconut jasmine syrup with shaved ice and chewy red rubies. There were also these flower petals that had a bitter taste to them.
We ended our meal with a big mug of espresso. Great way to end off a filling but hardly satisfying dinner. There were honestly more misses than hits. Maybe I'm just not their target audience. Nonetheless, I must still thank Kha and its PR consultancy for presenting me the opportunity to dine there. Thank you!
This was my 2nd visit, the first being a treat by my boss and I remembered all the dim sum dishes were very good.
The décor is your typically Chinese lux décor with plenty of booth seats, which they even give to groups of 2pax but I suspect that is during non-peak hours. My 2 friends and I arrived at 6pm on a Saturday to be offered a table which needed to be vacated by 7pm due to a prior booking which was fine with us.
Roasted pork 脆皮靓烧肉 ($8.50) – This was the top dish I remembered from my 1st visit and it was still good! A lot of places’ similar dishes contain such an overwhelming pork smell / taste that is simply not edible (hint: a very popular chinese restaurant in Ion), but this was not. The skin was super crispy and comes with a mustard-y sort of spicy sauce. Served with a sprinkling of peanuts. Roasted Chicken (half chicken) 脆皮炸子鸡 ($14) – This was sort of average for me as I don’t take the skin; the chicken was tender though. But for me, roast chicken is really hard to be excellent or different. Seasonal vegetables poached with 3 eggs 金银蛋菠菜 ($16) – My friend wanted to order this vegetable dish which had century egg and we decided this was it – salted egg and chicken egg made up the remaining quota. The vegetables were not overcooked and the sauce was made very nicely savory by the salted egg which went very well with plain rice. Seafood Hor Fun 滑蛋海鲜炒河粉 ($18) – This is the most expensive hor fun I have ever had. No doubt it has wok hei and very fresh prawns, fish and scallops but $18 is overpriced I think.
Service was less than average, as I have this feel that they serve families or big groups better. And they have this annoying habit of perpetually checking if we are done starting from the 6:30pm mark. I mean, I know we’ve promised to vacate and will understand that they need to make sure we do but is there really a need to check every 5mins??!! And we were seated in a booth seat so it was very obvious as they had to literally walk over to the side of our booth to sight our ‘process’. I was irritated and amused at the same time – there has to be a better way of doing it!
I feel some items are overpriced although they are nice; not sure if I will come back.
1=SGD 0.0587
My boss recommended this place when I said I wanted a light birthday lunch, and how excellent a choice!
The place is decked out like a very old school chinese restaurant, complete with stoned-faced staff and 2 captains in black jackets and sometimes-grouchy faces.
Century Egg Porridge - this came in portions enough for 2pax per order. It was not the best I've tried but good enough for me, although some will find it a bit bland. The captain told us surly that "this one 2 people can eat. SHARE.". Er okay, instructions noted.
Peking Duck Roll - 6 small rolls neatly placed on a plate. The sauce was already part of the roll, and I suspect there were more meat than skin in it but quite tasty!
Chicken Feet - A little too soggy but flavour was good. Also more generous a portion than most places.
Char Siew Puff - very good! Small triangular puffs (which were still warm after leaving it out for a while) made freshly from the kitchen and lean char siew although can be a little too sweet for some people.
Har Gao -bigger sized than alot of places with fresh crunchy prawns, what's not to like?
Siew Mai - big sized too and extremely fresh. I dont usually like these but here, I actually do!
Fried Carrot Cake - Long-shaped ones fried with bean sprouts - a refreshing combi. The cake was superbly browned, not oily, some crispy. and the bean sprouts crunchy. I like!
Chee Chong Fun - thin flour skins complete with lean char siew fillings. Good~
Glutinous rice - it uses a mix of brown and white rice and I know its' supposed to be more healthy but somehow this combi made it lose its sinful taste.
Vegetable roll - this is served chilled and basically just a mix of beansprouts, carrots, beancurd etc, with some sort of plum sauce in them. Quite refreshing but a little soggy for me.
Peanut Mochi - Tasted like it was fresh from the kitchen, with just the right chew and plenty plenty peanuts. The insides are black saseme paste which I liked.
Almost all dishes were good and will definitely return, if I can ignore the service thingy. It was a treat so I don't know how much was each dish but I think it totalled up to about $120?
Rating given:
Passed by this place so many times on the bus and I remember thinking what a cute signage and possibly a new vegetarian place to explore. So when an vegetarian colleague asked for lunch, it was a good chance to check this place out.
The place can be quite hard to find if you're driving, least to say parking, but easier if you take the bus as it's located right behind the prominent bus stop near Eunos MRT.
The place was empty when we arrived at 12:15pm on a weekday but it slowly filled up around 1pm. The setting presents a very clean cut look with bench chairs and neat tables comfortably spaced out. The menu is a huge signboard behind the counter - you order, take a number, and wait for your burger to be served at the table. A selection of about 5 burgers plus their special (Rendang Burger) and a small selection of sides etc is available.
Smokey BBQ ($6.85 / $10.85 for set) - organic rye bread with wholemeal grains, oven baked mushroom patty, with tomato and alfalfa - the set came in a big mess tin sort of container with the accompanying fries. The bun was not toasted enough and still cold in the middle, the lettuce pieces were almost not green and I had the hard parts of the leaves which I didnt quite like. The alfalfa could have been more too. The patty was the only nice thing in it - very mushroomy and earthy.
Seaweed Fries - golden and fluffy, sprinkled with 100% organic seaweed flakes - its not fluffy at all, but golden yes. Its also the way that the fries are being packed into the side of the container that made it all soggy after a while. No seaweed taste too although the flakes were there. The sauce was also sorely lacking in smokey taste.
Spinach wheatgrass juice - I had the impression that this was freshly made, as its ala carte price was $3.50. Silly me. It was poured out from a dispenser and no taste of either greens - it in fact tasted like a a soft drink.
I think the novelty concept of a veg burger place attracts me more than the food. I had honestly expected much more taste and quality so am a a tad disappointed. But the place is still a good option for vegetarians of course.
Rating given:
The first thing I tried here was their whoopie pies - it was quite a refreshing taste but its dependent on flavours I realized.
Being strategically located at Taka is a definite bonus, and it attracts curious stares from those who incidentally walk past. Its pinkish and fun ambience is a stark contrast to KFC next door. Chef Pang is the name here and thus the desserts.
All Day Breakfast category - 2Egg breakfast - American Favourite ($7.50) - this has bacon, 2 eggs cooked any style and your choice of english muffin or white toast. I had mine sunny side up and picked english muffin. The eggs were not underdone which I appreciated, the bacon a little too fatty for me, and the muffin quite nice but I suspect over toasted as it was a tad too crunchy for me. Overall it was nice and definitely comfort food but maybe some will baulk at paying this price.
Latte ($5) - Average and the foam was carelessly done, not consistent with my 1st experience although that time, my latte was more of a capp.
Hot iron waffle ($8) - Humongous with a big scoop of ice cream on it. The waffle is actually quite good even when its no longer warm, plus the caramel walnut ice cream is good too although it can be less sweet.
Whoopie Pie ($2.15) - a specialty here, and I think for a good reason. I actually dont know what is the outer bit made but its similar to gingerbread without the ginger taste; the inside is marshmallow fluff. Nice: the traditional chocolate one, the PB&J, and the salty caramel. Not nice: lemon meringue which tasted chemical-ish.
Service is generally okay with its young team but sometimes small things are forgotten like serviettes and some cutleries which are supposed to be in the cutlery bucket on each table. The small seating also means that waiting time can take some time if you're in the queue.
I havent tried the cakes yet but I may for my return visit.
Rating given:
I was a little hesitant to try after reading the reviews but I went ahead anyway and I am glad I did. The place was already packed at 7pm on a Saturday night, and we were settled in quite quickly in our seats.
The order system is a DIY system where the menu is categorized under 4 different order sheets. You tick the items and indicate the quantity you want and pass it to the staff to process.
But I realized the problem is then sometime you lose track of the items ordered and you dont know even if they dont arrive. Like my pizza which took 2hours before it finally was plonked onto my table. And be prepared to wait as the food takes its own sweet time to arrive even when the place is only half full. It seemed like they wait for a few orders of the same thing to come in and cook it in batches.
The food was not so bad for me. What I had:
- Sashimi
- chawamushi
- endamame
- one mouth crab (tiny deep fried crabs)
- tempura
- garlic fried rice
- spaghetti
- grilled mushrooms, ginko nuts, lady fingers
- jap fish cake
- grilled chicken
- miso soup
- chilled soba
- chicken pieces in wasabi mayo
Amongst many. All were not too bad for me, and with the $33 per pax for dinner, it is quite a good deal for me. Plus they have this amazing Yuzu sake at $40 per bottle - terribly addictive when very chilled. They also serve their food in teeny weeny portions, good for small eaters.
I'd probably return but not in the near future as their menu pretty much remains the same. Plus slow service annoys me too. Lets see.
Rating given:
I must admit that the $10 facial voucher they were dangling at Orchard Central a few weekends ago was too attractive to resist. And so off I went with a friend to the Taka outlet after making sure the salesperson called to book the appointment at the point of our purchase.
I did expect hard selling as $10 is really too cheap but its still annoying to have to sit through it.
We were ushered into a room to wait, and strangely enough, they did things in tiny steps eg. bring us forms, bring us water, collect forms etc all with waiting in between. This wasted half hour of our time, from the supposedly 2.5 total time needed.
Then I was ushered to another room separate from my friend because the room 'only has one scanner and will save time' - but was made to wait again.
2 consultants then came into the room. They did the same scanner to face thingy and started saying oh your skin is dehydrated etc, blackheads etc. They launched almost immediately into their sales talk - since I'm already here why dont i upgrade to a better treamtment. When I said I have no money, they replied that its not expensive, even students can afford it (are they insulting me??!).
They then changed tactic to asking if I want to combine my 2 treatments into one better one, no need to top up any cash (my $10 voucher entitled me to 2x sessions). And they never did explain what's the difference between the 'normal' and the 'better' one. So I said no, I'd like to keep it to 2 sessions.
I think the lady got a bit fed up and said something to the effect of "okay so you obviously just want to come for the $10 promotion right". Why else would I be there, so silly.
I was then ushered to begin my treatment to a big room with partitioned curtains similar to those at hospitals. The air con was freezing and they ask you to change into the facial sort of robe that exposes your shoulders and up. Be prepared to freeze for the rest of the treatment.
I have to be honest and say that the treatment was actually not bad although the therapist did not explain what was being put on my face. Midway through, they said a lady named Esther gave a complimentary upgrade for some collagen thingy and put it on half my face apparently for me to see the effect. After that the therapist asked again if I would like to combine the 2 treatments into 1 to enjoy a detox massage and a detox mask. So smart of them to ask when you are half naked, freezing, and couldnt see them because your eyes are covered with cotton pads. So I said yes, sigh, also to save myself the hassle of returning to endure the sales talk.
The therapist was abit impatient and callous towards the end of the treatment for some reason. When it finally ended and I could feel my toes again, they asked me to acknowledge the treatment and tried to persuade me to sign up for a package again, saying that is is a waste of my time to come without finding out what's the problem with my skin...with the package, they can treat the root of the problems etc. I said no, and they asked 'so why did you buy the voucher since you dont want to find out about your skin?'. -- "Because it was $10" was my reply.
Bottom line is, my skin did feel better after the treatment and all that but goodness it really took me from 4pm to 7pm to step out of the branch. $10 is a superb value for this experience in terms of the skin but the sales talk was just simply annoying.
And I later found out that the therapist that my friend had quoted her $2k for 10 sessions. They must really be mad.
Rating given:
When a kind anonymous reader left me a comment on my blog about discovering a place that served poutine a couple of weeks back, I was naturally delighted as it's been almost a decade since I had poutine (bar Yella Fellas, which has gone the way of the dodo). And so there I was at Hummerstons, on a lovely Saturday morning, just 2 weeks into brunch service.
Hummerston's interior features visible white bricks and warm lighting coupled with a bar counter and wooden furniture. Rather inviting I must admit but we chose to sit outside on the sidewalk instead, in acknowledgement of the beautiful weather.
Classic Poutine - Evenly cut fries with skin? Check. Brown gravy? Check. Cheese curds? Where's my cheese curds?! Apparently emmental cheese is used in Hummerston's rendition of this classic Canadian dish but honestly, the cheese was almost nonexistent - pathetic to say the least. Give me copious amounts of fresh cheese curds any day. The gravy tasted like the real deal although it did come across as a little too sweet for my liking. Having said that, I'll still recommend giving this dish a try, even if it costs $11 for a rather small portion (think Macdonalds regular fries portion).
Carbonara - This was a very different carbonara from what I'm used to. Al dente spaghetti with generous bacon bits and mushrooms but surprise surprise, no cream sauce. Lots of oil though, which reminded me more of aglio olio than carbonara. But the absence of the cream sauce meant that I could chug down more pasta without feeling nauseous. I sincerely hope, for everyone's health, that the oil Hummerston uses in this dish is olive oil.
Brunch Burger - I loved the burger bun to bits. I kid you not. It was probably the best I've had in eons. Warm, crusty, topped with sesame seeds and layered with a thin spread of mayonnaise. So good that I could just eat it on its own! The patty was done medium well as per request and had crisp bits on the surface with a nice grilled beefy taste. Topped with cheese, egg, bacon, caramelised onions and mushrooms. How's that for a mouth watering combination? A couple of gripes though. The meat had a nicely uneven texture but came across as a little too soft for my liking. Also, get a load on the amount of oil! The accompanying fries were a little too limp and oily for my liking as well. But I did like the tomato chili aioli dip, which had a sweet mild chilli taste sans the heat.
Flourless Chilli Chocolate Torte - Although we were stuffed through and through, we were adamant about trying out Hummerston's desserts. First up was the flourless chocolate torte - dense, rich and not too sweet. I couldn't make out any chili though even though I am quite sensitive to it. Still a decent eat though.
Blackforest Gateau - The blackforest cake was decent but not impressive. Light and airy but lacking in the taste of kirsch. Honestly it would have tasted like pure chocolate cake if not for the pockets of cherries.
A fantastic but heart seizing (oily!) brunch cost the both of us to the tune of $84 after taxes. Not ridiculously expensive if you ask me, especially for the quality of food (desserts are optional though). And service was warm and heart felt. I would definitely be back in a heartbeat for the burger or if I'm craving for poutine. Only condition? Less oil please.
See all my pictures here.
Rating given:
This was a choice for a family dinner for a celebratory occasion. Picked the Vivo outlet as this has a nice waterside vibe to it and not so crowded too.
A queue had already formed before 5pm on a working Friday evening, probably because of the happy hour prices which makes their beer a rather good deal. Got an alfresco table for our group of 8pax but that turned out to be a miscalculation as the warm weather can make the alfresco sitting a tad uncomfortable.
Hefe Weissbier ($12.50 for 0.5litres) - their lightest beer brewed freshly. Super drinkable and good for ladies!
Onion Soup ($9.50) - Very good, with onion strips in it. Not too watery either.
Garden Salad ($9.50 for S) - Surprisingly fresh and crispy greens, carrots etc with a tangy dressing on the side.
Sausage platter ($32.50) - For 8 sausages, this comes across as a tad pricey for me even though I know they are more pricey then normal sausages. Nice sauerkraut and potato salad though, especially the onion strips on top of it.
Bacon Pizza ($16.50) - Rather big sized but crust was way too hard for me, almost biscuit-like.
Pork knuckle ($36) - Good! I reluctantly took a bite and realized why people have been saying it's nice. Perfectly roasted crunchy skin with the meat not having that sometimes overpowering pork smell. A bit dry though as no sauce is served with it.
Typical Bavarian pretzel ($3.50) - My personal favorite especially when its served warm.
Basket of selected German bread ($5.80) - Ordered a second basket as the bread was so good, even when cold.
Service was nothing to complain about. Have less pics this time as was busy chatting haha~
Rating given:
OverTime is more established in Malaysia than here, with this outlet and the one at Holland trying to occupy a slice of the beer / chill out market.
They pride themselves on fresh German beer freshly brewed every day; I've tried the one in KL and it was good! Chanced upon this excellent promotion of SGD100nett per 2litre barrel inclusive of buffet dinner for 4pax (2nd barrel onwards SGD$8nett) and headed there on a Friday early evening with 3 friends.
It was rather empty when we reached at 6:30pm but the crowd started coming in at about 7pm, and most came for the promo. As expected, the buffet was really more like zi char (low cost) and consist of plain rice, char kway teow, fish, vegetables, roast meat / char siew and cut fruits. I had called to make a booking previously and asked what is offered at the buffet and the staff said items from their menu. Way off actually.
Starker Aromatic - The beer: still as good as I remembered! You have options of the Starker Lager or the Aromatic but I prefer the aromatic as its more fruity and much easier to drink. You get chilled mugs too, and they have a system of replacing your mugs with chilled ones sporadically so that's a bonus.
Prawn cakes and Chicken wings - I've tried these 2 bites in KL and I assume they should not be too different. The prawn crackers are really more like your Ngoh Hiang crackers, and the chicken wings were nice albeit a little oily.
The service here was nothing to complain about. A live band starts at 9pm daily too - not bad too! Although when I passed by the Holland Village branch previously, the staff were all sitting down and chatting inside and ignored me and my friend completely even though we stood there flipping the menu for a good 5mins. They saw us but obviously cannot be bothered.
BUT now that the barrel promotion is no longer valid, they definitely have to find some way to lower their ala carte price of $22 per pint. This is too expensive even for fresh beer, which explains why other places are more crowded I guess.
*Rating for 'value' is based on what I paid with the promotion which added up to about $$27 per person for dinner plus 2x 2litre barrel.
Rating given:
Kha, a modern Thai restaurant under the Epicure group (which also counts modern Australian outfit, Graze, in it's stable of restaurants) has not so recently relocated from it's original site in Hort Park to No.38 Martin Road, a rather upscale residential condominium. To that note, I had the opportunity to dine there one evening, courtesy of the restaurant.
The restaurant is dim by default and I like the use of dark furniture and various vintage items to bring out a contemporary yet authentically Thai feel to the whole place. The faded Thai newspaper lookalike menu completes the picture. One gripe I have though, is that the place is a holding area for noise due to its boxed up interior and concrete ceilings, to a certain extent.
Ruby Starlet ($12) - This mocktail was great - lychee sweetness coupled with a refreshing breath of mint in a lemony twist. So good that I couldn't resist the offer of a second glass.
Rare Grilled Red Curry Rubbed Wagyu Beef ($29) - The wagyu beef was very good. Well grilled, as evident by the dark lines running down the meat, yet succulent with a nice brush of salt and smoky tenderness. Great way to start off the meal!
Tom Yum Goong ($18) - Nicely spicy but overly salty with the prawns a little too soft for comfort. Personally I also thought that the soup could do with a little more tartness.
Toad Man Poo ($17) - Meaty without being overly nausea inducing due to the use of minimal flour and the addition of sweet chilli sauce. Probably one of the better crab cakes I've eaten so far.
Papa Adun's Phad Tow Hu ($14) - The tofu cubes were crisp but boringly pedestrian. I couldn't make much much flavour from the tofu itself and the center seemed hollow. The supposed three flavour sauce was almost non existent. A richer sauce would have probably saved this dish from the deep abyss of disappointment.
Phad Pak ($8) - Greens are healthy but this wok fried vegetable dish was laden with so much oil that it was gross. And there was no wok hei even though the vegetables had a nice fragrant whiff to it. Tasted more like a dish of convenience than one of quality.
Kheaw Wan Poo ($30) - The soft shell crab green curry wasn't anything to shout about in my humble opinion. The crabs had a nice crispy layer but somehow the overall bite was missing. I didn't quite take to the curry as well as it seemed a little lacking in flavour.
Crispy Whole Chilli Filled with Pork and Herbs ($14) - I'll be upfront and state that I'm not a fan of stuffed peppers or chillis. So that means no stuffed jalapenos and the likes. But this was something interesting. For starters, the chilli was coated with a layer of batter and deep fried, giving it a nice crisp on the outside and as you bite into it, you get hit by a bitter taste which slowly melts into a hint of pork and herbs. Nice to try in small quantities but probably not something I would order again.
Khao Neaw Ma Muang ($14) - I'm a sucker for mango/durian sticky rice so this dessert suited me just fine. I liked the coconut pandan sauce which infused the not overly sticky rice with a nice pandan fragrance. I can't say the same for the mango slices though, which lacked any discernible fragrance but still came across as sweet.
Thap Thim Krwap ($13) - I didn't find the red ruby dessert to be anything really special. It was essentially chilled coconut jasmine syrup with shaved ice and chewy red rubies. There were also these flower petals that had a bitter taste to them.
We ended our meal with a big mug of espresso. Great way to end off a filling but hardly satisfying dinner. There were honestly more misses than hits. Maybe I'm just not their target audience. Nonetheless, I must still thank Kha and its PR consultancy for presenting me the opportunity to dine there. Thank you!
See all my pictures here.
Rating given:
This was my 2nd visit, the first being a treat by my boss and I remembered all the dim sum dishes were very good.
The décor is your typically Chinese lux décor with plenty of booth seats, which they even give to groups of 2pax but I suspect that is during non-peak hours. My 2 friends and I arrived at 6pm on a Saturday to be offered a table which needed to be vacated by 7pm due to a prior booking which was fine with us.
Roasted pork 脆皮靓烧肉 ($8.50) – This was the top dish I remembered from my 1st visit and it was still good! A lot of places’ similar dishes contain such an overwhelming pork smell / taste that is simply not edible (hint: a very popular chinese restaurant in Ion), but this was not. The skin was super crispy and comes with a mustard-y sort of spicy sauce. Served with a sprinkling of peanuts.
Roasted Chicken (half chicken) 脆皮炸子鸡 ($14) – This was sort of average for me as I don’t take the skin; the chicken was tender though. But for me, roast chicken is really hard to be excellent or different.
Seasonal vegetables poached with 3 eggs 金银蛋菠菜 ($16) – My friend wanted to order this vegetable dish which had century egg and we decided this was it – salted egg and chicken egg made up the remaining quota. The vegetables were not overcooked and the sauce was made very nicely savory by the salted egg which went very well with plain rice.
Seafood Hor Fun 滑蛋海鲜炒河粉 ($18) – This is the most expensive hor fun I have ever had. No doubt it has wok hei and very fresh prawns, fish and scallops but $18 is overpriced I think.
Service was less than average, as I have this feel that they serve families or big groups better. And they have this annoying habit of perpetually checking if we are done starting from the 6:30pm mark. I mean, I know we’ve promised to vacate and will understand that they need to make sure we do but is there really a need to check every 5mins??!! And we were seated in a booth seat so it was very obvious as they had to literally walk over to the side of our booth to sight our ‘process’. I was irritated and amused at the same time – there has to be a better way of doing it!
I feel some items are overpriced although they are nice; not sure if I will come back.
Rating given: