Hubs the restaurant is not open to the public as this is an exclusive club reserved only for the employees of Singapore Airlines. So how did i get in to have a meal and even do a review on this place? Well, i play badminton here almost every week and basically, my dad's a member so i get to visit the place for a meal when i want to. On to the important part then!
3 course set lunch for $9.90
Soup of the day (Mushroom Soup) - Being from the service industry, i can say that the service rendered by the floor manager at Hubs is impeccably good. He made a good attempt to engage me in conversation, find me a seat even though the restaurant was packed and made me feel comfortable even though i was at a totally foreign place with no one i knew of. Having lunch alone is weird actually. The soup was nothing noteworthy i should say, just a simple mushroom soup probably fresh out of a campbell's can. A little salty but still alright.
Sweet and Sour Dory with Mashed Potatoes - I like the mashed potatoes on this one. Very soft and still maintaining a little spring to it. The dory is normal. Basically, sweet and sour pork but replayed with fish. Nothing too fancy but not entirely bad either.
Chendol? Red Bean? - There was dessert as well and this was actually warm. I have no idea what this is but its got coconut milk, red beans and jelly in it as well. Its not too sweet and honestly, i was quite amused by the taste. To round off the entire meal was a cup of coffee. Again, nothing out of the ordinary but still sufficient.
The bill came up to $11.65 for one person for a 3 course meal.
Given the price, i'd say its a pretty good deal to have lunch here. 3 course meal that actually fills you up, tastes average and yet provide a nice environment. Its pretty much a steal. There are ala carte items which i'm pretty sure will be worth a try. Will attempt a revisit sometime in the future.
Japanese food. I love Japanese food but not just any run of the mill japanese food. I only like good Japanese food. It was this thought that i joined our dear friend, HFB's invitation to try out a place which he has raved about since his visit. 3 times in 2 months? Definitely a must try for foodies when a tongue as tough to please as his, wags praises about a restaurant.
First up, it took us a long time to locate the restaurant because it was supposed to be found in UE square. The truth of the matter is, it can be found along the sides of UE square. In fact, its directly opposite Mohammad Sultan road and next to another restaurant called Bonta. En jap also boasts 2 different settings for seating. There's the semi alfresco seats on the outside and the oily and stuffy seats on the inside. Good thing for us, HFB managed to secure the alfresco seats which was still a double edged sword at best. Why is that so? Because the weather is so darn warm, its impossible not to sweat regardless of where you sit in this restaurant. However, a good point is that the waiters noticed that and actually turned the fans in our direction. Thats a good start in terms of service.
2 x Salmon Belly Sashimi ($13 x 2) - Recommended by HFB as the must eat and must have dish of the day, we had 2 servings of this elusive salmon sashimi. Well, i'm no expert but i have to say its rather interesting. Unlike normal salmon sashimi, it has a layer of fats which gives it a certain new degree of texture. The salmon is fresh and sweet but not cold enough even with all that ice beneath it. Its nice but sinful due to the fats.
maiyu Salad ($15) - Yummy. Appetising and definitely a must try. The Imaiyu salad comes with generous salmon sashimi pieces scattered throughout the immaculately chosen greens. Its also topped with delicious sour dressing which serves its purpose well in whetting our appetites. Definitely worth the time and effort to enjoy.
Beef Carpaccio ($16) - The star of the day in my book. This beef carpaccio beats every other beef carpaccio i've eaten thus far. Tender and thinly sliced beef smothered in something akin to cheese and a sweet and sour soya sauce dressing that has to be tasted to be believed. You can taste the fragrant cheesy taste in every bite and the beef is literally juicy and melts in your mouth. Must try this!
Kushi Mori ($17) - HFB introduced that En Jap is actually famous for their skewered meat but unfortunately on this case, i have to say i disagree. I had minimal tastings of the above but from what i did have, basically the bacon and asparagus and the chicken, it tasted fairly normal to me. Nothing particularly interesting about the item at all.
Unagi Fried Rice ($13) - Now this is a close second when it was served. Unagi fried rice. The fragrance of the rice is unbearable to the point that smelling it invariably makes you want to savor the dish immediately, but it was the generous serving of unagi mingled with the rice that makes it so much more special. When had together, its simply sweet, fragrant and undeniably good, not to mention the portion was generous as well. A must have on any visit!
Satsuma Age ($7) - We were nearing the end when we ordered this and honestly, it looked so much more promising on the menu. When it was served, we were slightly taken aback that we had ordered fish cake. And worst of all, its 2 miserly pieces at a whooping $7. Now this takes the cake as a royal waste of money. How it tastes like? Just like any 50 cent fish cake you can find outside, and i'm not even trying to be nasty.
Salmon Belly ($13) Mekajiki ($12) Tako ($11.50) = $36.50 - Another sashimi platter which we ordered. Needless to say, the salmon belly is as fresh as ever and the same goes for the squid and the swordfish pieces. I didn't get to try much of the rest but i'd say that for the price, they really could have given more sashimi. The portions as above were miserly at best and a rip off at worst.
Wafu Steak ($17) - Recommended by HFB as one of the better items on the menu as well, this was our last order of the day. Juicy thick cubes of beef prepared simply can still turn out to be an art form. Fresh juices accompany each bite of this little gem and is a joy to have. The only gripe here is that its too oily and there's too little beef to go around. Other then that, i'd love to have it again.
A semi satisfying and interesting meal turned out to be $173.16 for 5 people. Effectively, i'm a happy man because of the company and some of the hits we've found.
Thank you HFB for introducing the place. Its pretty good. Not excellent, but pretty good still. The good items like the carpaccio, unagi fried rice and the Imaiyu Salad are items not to be missed while the rest are either too miserly portioned to recommend or simply don't measure up. I've heard comments that the standard is inconsistent as well but overall, i'm still happy with my visit here. Definitely return for the value items and the carpaccio.
InQbox is an interesting concept whereby the object of your affection is split into many different boxes or storage cabinets for purchase.
It is basically a clever ploy to allow companies who wish to spend less on acquiring shop space to have a space on the shelf by being affordable yet profitable.
Shopping in Inqbox is like a treasure hunt because you never know what you will find in the little display counters. Sometimes, you can find rare items like handmade music boxes while sometimes, even apples and pears make it into the boxes(i swear this is true).
However, even at such low rental prices, the items are priced at a premium due to the location. Music boxes can cost upwards of $500 and bags upwards for $70. It goes to show that rental is a killer though and that profit margins are either sky high or drop dead low.
Theres an employed shopkeeper who'll introduce items to you and help you out in making purchase decisions but otherwise, its all do it yourself.
An interesting concept but impratical in practice for the displayers. I haven't bought a thing yet so that says something about the items there. Still interesting though, you never know what you will find there.
Went to Tampines round market last night for dinner because the traffic to the cinema was horrible. Thus, what to do? Try out a 30 star winner stall to save money and have a nice dinner of course! Was it really good though?
Recently featured on the television show for stalls that needed "rescueing" due to extremely bad business, the stall has since been revamped and the chef retrained to serve much better food....or rather, thats the idea anyway.
A note is that basically, the stallholders do not like anyone to take photos so please try to refrain from that. The lady boss is scary when mad.
We basically ordered only 2 items last night.
A plate of stingray ($10) and a plate of vegetables (nai bai $4) and 2 bowls of rice (30 cents). Haven't had a cheap meal in like forever so this is a refreshing start.
They made their name by getting 30 out of 30 votes for their food on zhi ca.
The stingray is actually quite big and theres a lot of chili and meat available to pick through. I'm not too sure about the freshness of the fish since the chili manages to mask the taste overall. No denying that the meat is plenty though. However i did find the chili to need more work as its too dry and not very tasty. Thank goodness for the accompanying sour sauce or something. Which gave it much needed dimension. Overall, not too bad.
I liked the greens for sure. Its pretty much my favorite way of cooking and the greens were fresh. A winner in my books.
Total meal only cost me $14.60 which is like OMG! Dirt cheap.
Brewerkz is the place to go for drinks in the afternoon. Why the afternoon? Because the last i know. A jug of beer in the afternoon cost less then a glass of beer at night.
Its with this information that i visited Brewerkz 3 times and each time. Its was a different experience.
First time i was there was with the guys. Being little boys, we wanted a liltte of everything and ordered the sampler platter which costs somewhere between $21-28 dollars. you get to try every single beer they have on offer and needless to say, some were winners and some tasted horrible. Honorable mentions include their golden ale and fruitbrews which changes everyday.
We also ordered the chilli cheese fries which were really really big.And honestly, it tasted good. Very much better then i thought. Thick creamy melting cheese accompanied with red hot chilli sauce and thick french fries. It was good enough to recommend.
Second time and third time around, we were there just to drink and have a meal. My gf had the beer braised salmon which was terribly bitter and just plain bad with a fishy aftertaste and i had a beer braised beef which was also....quite badly done. But the golden ale and fruit beer saved the day and heck, they were cheaper then the darn main course.
I don't see that offer on the website anymore though. So i'm not sure if they still have the happy hour charges for noon. Give them a call though. I remembered that a JUG of beer, cost my $9.90 when i went. Now thats value for money.
1=SGD 0.0587
3 course set lunch for $9.90
Soup of the day (Mushroom Soup) - Being from the service industry, i can say that the service rendered by the floor manager at Hubs is impeccably good. He made a good attempt to engage me in conversation, find me a seat even though the restaurant was packed and made me feel comfortable even though i was at a totally foreign place with no one i knew of. Having lunch alone is weird actually.
The soup was nothing noteworthy i should say, just a simple mushroom soup probably fresh out of a campbell's can. A little salty but still alright.
Sweet and Sour Dory with Mashed Potatoes - I like the mashed potatoes on this one. Very soft and still maintaining a little spring to it. The dory is normal. Basically, sweet and sour pork but replayed with fish. Nothing too fancy but not entirely bad either.
Chendol? Red Bean? - There was dessert as well and this was actually warm. I have no idea what this is but its got coconut milk, red beans and jelly in it as well. Its not too sweet and honestly, i was quite amused by the taste.
To round off the entire meal was a cup of coffee. Again, nothing out of the ordinary but still sufficient.
The bill came up to $11.65 for one person for a 3 course meal.
Given the price, i'd say its a pretty good deal to have lunch here. 3 course meal that actually fills you up, tastes average and yet provide a nice environment. Its pretty much a steal. There are ala carte items which i'm pretty sure will be worth a try. Will attempt a revisit sometime in the future.
Login to add your comment. Or, Register for an account now. It's free!
First up, it took us a long time to locate the restaurant because it was supposed to be found in UE square. The truth of the matter is, it can be found along the sides of UE square. In fact, its directly opposite Mohammad Sultan road and next to another restaurant called Bonta. En jap also boasts 2 different settings for seating. There's the semi alfresco seats on the outside and the oily and stuffy seats on the inside. Good thing for us, HFB managed to secure the alfresco seats which was still a double edged sword at best. Why is that so? Because the weather is so darn warm, its impossible not to sweat regardless of where you sit in this restaurant. However, a good point is that the waiters noticed that and actually turned the fans in our direction. Thats a good start in terms of service.
2 x Salmon Belly Sashimi ($13 x 2) - Recommended by HFB as the must eat and must have dish of the day, we had 2 servings of this elusive salmon sashimi. Well, i'm no expert but i have to say its rather interesting. Unlike normal salmon sashimi, it has a layer of fats which gives it a certain new degree of texture. The salmon is fresh and sweet but not cold enough even with all that ice beneath it. Its nice but sinful due to the fats.
maiyu Salad ($15) - Yummy. Appetising and definitely a must try. The Imaiyu salad comes with generous salmon sashimi pieces scattered throughout the immaculately chosen greens. Its also topped with delicious sour dressing which serves its purpose well in whetting our appetites. Definitely worth the time and effort to enjoy.
Beef Carpaccio ($16) - The star of the day in my book. This beef carpaccio beats every other beef carpaccio i've eaten thus far. Tender and thinly sliced beef smothered in something akin to cheese and a sweet and sour soya sauce dressing that has to be tasted to be believed. You can taste the fragrant cheesy taste in every bite and the beef is literally juicy and melts in your mouth. Must try this!
Kushi Mori ($17) - HFB introduced that En Jap is actually famous for their skewered meat but unfortunately on this case, i have to say i disagree. I had minimal tastings of the above but from what i did have, basically the bacon and asparagus and the chicken, it tasted fairly normal to me. Nothing particularly interesting about the item at all.
Unagi Fried Rice ($13) - Now this is a close second when it was served. Unagi fried rice. The fragrance of the rice is unbearable to the point that smelling it invariably makes you want to savor the dish immediately, but it was the generous serving of unagi mingled with the rice that makes it so much more special. When had together, its simply sweet, fragrant and undeniably good, not to mention the portion was generous as well. A must have on any visit!
Satsuma Age ($7) - We were nearing the end when we ordered this and honestly, it looked so much more promising on the menu. When it was served, we were slightly taken aback that we had ordered fish cake. And worst of all, its 2 miserly pieces at a whooping $7. Now this takes the cake as a royal waste of money. How it tastes like? Just like any 50 cent fish cake you can find outside, and i'm not even trying to be nasty.
Salmon Belly ($13) Mekajiki ($12) Tako ($11.50) = $36.50 - Another sashimi platter which we ordered. Needless to say, the salmon belly is as fresh as ever and the same goes for the squid and the swordfish pieces. I didn't get to try much of the rest but i'd say that for the price, they really could have given more sashimi. The portions as above were miserly at best and a rip off at worst.
Wafu Steak ($17) - Recommended by HFB as one of the better items on the menu as well, this was our last order of the day. Juicy thick cubes of beef prepared simply can still turn out to be an art form. Fresh juices accompany each bite of this little gem and is a joy to have. The only gripe here is that its too oily and there's too little beef to go around. Other then that, i'd love to have it again.
A semi satisfying and interesting meal turned out to be $173.16 for 5 people. Effectively, i'm a happy man because of the company and some of the hits we've found.
Thank you HFB for introducing the place. Its pretty good. Not excellent, but pretty good still. The good items like the carpaccio, unagi fried rice and the Imaiyu Salad are items not to be missed while the rest are either too miserly portioned to recommend or simply don't measure up. I've heard comments that the standard is inconsistent as well but overall, i'm still happy with my visit here. Definitely return for the value items and the carpaccio.
Login to add your comment. Or, Register for an account now. It's free!*Slurps!* I want more! Anyone wanna treat? :P
01 May 2008 at 2:41 am
Agree.. The Food is nice.. :)
01 May 2008 at 9:42 am
It is basically a clever ploy to allow companies who wish to spend less on acquiring shop space to have a space on the shelf by being affordable yet profitable.
Shopping in Inqbox is like a treasure hunt because you never know what you will find in the little display counters. Sometimes, you can find rare items like handmade music boxes while sometimes, even apples and pears make it into the boxes(i swear this is true).
However, even at such low rental prices, the items are priced at a premium due to the location. Music boxes can cost upwards of $500 and bags upwards for $70. It goes to show that rental is a killer though and that profit margins are either sky high or drop dead low.
Theres an employed shopkeeper who'll introduce items to you and help you out in making purchase decisions but otherwise, its all do it yourself.
An interesting concept but impratical in practice for the displayers. I haven't bought a thing yet so that says something about the items there. Still interesting though, you never know what you will find there.
Login to add your comment. Or, Register for an account now. It's free!
Recently featured on the television show for stalls that needed "rescueing" due to extremely bad business, the stall has since been revamped and the chef retrained to serve much better food....or rather, thats the idea anyway.
A note is that basically, the stallholders do not like anyone to take photos so please try to refrain from that. The lady boss is scary when mad.
We basically ordered only 2 items last night.
A plate of stingray ($10) and a plate of vegetables (nai bai $4) and 2 bowls of rice (30 cents). Haven't had a cheap meal in like forever so this is a refreshing start.
They made their name by getting 30 out of 30 votes for their food on zhi ca.
The stingray is actually quite big and theres a lot of chili and meat available to pick through. I'm not too sure about the freshness of the fish since the chili manages to mask the taste overall. No denying that the meat is plenty though. However i did find the chili to need more work as its too dry and not very tasty. Thank goodness for the accompanying sour sauce or something. Which gave it much needed dimension. Overall, not too bad.
I liked the greens for sure. Its pretty much my favorite way of cooking and the greens were fresh. A winner in my books.
Total meal only cost me $14.60 which is like OMG! Dirt cheap.
Wouldn't mind returning for the good value.
Login to add your comment. Or, Register for an account now. It's free!
Its with this information that i visited Brewerkz 3 times and each time. Its was a different experience.
First time i was there was with the guys. Being little boys, we wanted a liltte of everything and ordered the sampler platter which costs somewhere between $21-28 dollars. you get to try every single beer they have on offer and needless to say, some were winners and some tasted horrible. Honorable mentions include their golden ale and fruitbrews which changes everyday.
We also ordered the chilli cheese fries which were really really big.And honestly, it tasted good. Very much better then i thought. Thick creamy melting cheese accompanied with red hot chilli sauce and thick french fries. It was good enough to recommend.
Second time and third time around, we were there just to drink and have a meal. My gf had the beer braised salmon which was terribly bitter and just plain bad with a fishy aftertaste and i had a beer braised beef which was also....quite badly done. But the golden ale and fruit beer saved the day and heck, they were cheaper then the darn main course.
I don't see that offer on the website anymore though. So i'm not sure if they still have the happy hour charges for noon. Give them a call though. I remembered that a JUG of beer, cost my $9.90 when i went. Now thats value for money.
Login to add your comment. Or, Register for an account now. It's free!Went there a few yrs back and had one of the pies~ really nice!
29 Apr 2008 at 11:45 pm
Oh really? I still love the beer, but havent been there a long time.
04 May 2008 at 10:13 pm