The infamous Gelare Tuesdays, the only time of the week when you get waffles at half price. Sounds good doesn't it? Except you can expect to wait for eons for your waffles to be served.
We waited for a good 40 minutes before our simple waffle with two scoops of ice-cream got served.
If they couldn't keep up with the service standard, or to train their staffs to politely inform us of a possible long wait, they might as well not try stunts like this. It only serves to stain their brand name.
And I totally agree with Polarbear above, no free water is a bad move. It's the little perks that keep customers coming back, and the little irks that keep them away.
I had a chance to take a ride on the Singapore Flyer before it was officially opened to public. I was very very excited and was looking forward to the flight. I was there at night and as it was not open to public yet, there wasn't much people there. The flyer was lighted in blue neon color at night and gives a very dreamy feeling at night.
Everyone has to pass through a security check, like at the customs, before entering the boarding area. To get to the flyer itself takes abit of walking and couple of escalator. And before stepping onto the boarding platform, everyone will enter into a mock up of the capsule where photos will be taken. ($15 for the first photo, $10 for subsequent copies.) This photo is supposed to be superimposed into the back drop and show as if we took it while riding on the Singapore Flyer. You can buy the photo after the flight with the magnetic tag passed to you at the mock up photo taking area.
Finally we saw the capsule! Boarding the capsule can be rather tricky. It continues to move as everyone rushed up to get into the capsule before the boarding period passes. I wonder if they carter for handicaps entrance. Probably they'll have to stop the moving flyer for such boardings. The capsule was not as big as I’d imagined. 24 of us standing around the capsule already seemed rather packed and it was rather warm inside the capsule. Can't imagine hot hot it might be in the day when the sun is above.
The view from the top of the capsule was magnificent. You get to see the beautiful skyline from high above. It's recommended that you move around the capsule and enjoy the entire 360-degree view. If you are planning to take photos, its advisable to bring a tripod and set it up before you're 1/4 way up the flight. The glass used isn't suitable for photo taking with flash. So you'll have to have very steady hands or use flash and missed out the beautiful backdrop in the background of your photo.
I'll probably return for another flight when the construction of Marina Bay is complete. Now only one side has got good view.
The first impression I got when I stepped into the cafe is the use of bright colors and 2 huge Jalapeno plushie on display at the capsule display near the entrance. There's a row of booth seats thats great for big group gatherings. Very cosy place to chill out and enjoy the night with friends.
As I was there for an event, I didn't get to take a look at their menu. Everyone was served a sampler plate with fried calamari, wedges, soft burrito and some jalapeno-liked thing with stuffings. I like the fried calamari as it was tasty and crispy. Would surely order this if I go back again. And the jalapeno was as flavorful, not sure wat's inside the stuffing thou as I was too hungry to slowly taste and analyzes them.
Perhaps Yebbers can arrange a gathering there? Hmm...
Seasons Reasons was featured on TV a few times and finally I got a chance to settle for lunch one day. The place is hidden at a corner and easily missed if one isn't noticing. The place can hold about 30-40 pax and is simply decorated with white tables and chairs. Good place for quick meal but not so comfortable for chilling out with friends.
The choice of food is quite small, and I settled with something special that day. I ordered the Spicy Spaghetti Goreng Topped with Mussels & Shrimps @ $13.90 and a glass of Orange Spice. When the spaghetti was served, the smell of Tom Yum filled my senses. I was attracted to it and wanted to deep my fork in it as fast as I could. The presentation was enticing too. The color makes it appealing enough for even my friend who came later to order the same dish. After my first taste of it, I knew immediately I'll return for more if I've the chance. The spaghetti is cooked with some spice that resembles those used in Tom Yum. Very fragrance and nice. Shrimps were plentiful and the mussels were fresh. Serving is big enough to fill any hungry man/woman. Yummilicious pasta!
After hearing about Waffletown from His Food Blog in the shoutbox, I went there to give it a try since I was around the vicinity. The place looks very retro and brings back memory of the A&W days, without the big brown bear wearing the orange top. There were many students when we arrived. Half of them eating cup noodles! Strangely, waffletown is more like a cafeteria that serves other kind of food other than waffles and fried chicken.
As recommended, I ordered the Strawberry Ala Mode Waffles. The waffles are rectangle and topped with real strawberries, whipped cream and a scoop of ice cream of choice. I've to agree that the waffles is simply divine! I fell in love at first bite! I'm craving for their waffles now! *drooools*
I also tried their fried chicken set that comes with whipped potato and coslaw. Quite disappointing with this one thou. The chicken was rather small and there's nothing special about it. Arnold's chicken is much more yummy lah. So Wafflestown is just for waffles huh.
Had passed by Chewy Juniors couple of time when I was at Bugis Junction, but the queue was long most of the time. When I saw that there wasn't any queue one day, I bought a box of 6 to try. There were quite a number of choices and I settled with the more common ones. Couple of toppings worth mentioning is the Strawberry Cheesecake and Blueberry Cheesecake. I like the blend of sweetness and sourness from the cheese.
Chewy Juniors is almost like a combination of donuts and cream puff. With an almost crispy outside and soft chewy inside. Toppings just gave the puff more texture and taste. Can give it a try if you're craving for something sweet.
After reading the two very different takes on this place, I went last week to try it out myself. The place looks very different from how I'd pictured it. It was nicely done up and looks very appealing. When I was there around 5.30pm, there were already 2 families ordering in the restaurant. One thing I've to agree with Lucardia is that the photos in the menu really did make the food look more appealing than it really was. And I've also spotted the reason why the above reviews were so different. They've actually changed their menu after genesis review and before Lucardia went. They'd also increased their pricing! I suspect that they've changed the cook too.
Anyway, since I was already there, we went ahead to order. I ordered a medium-rare Cumin-rubbed Sirloin Steak @ $12.90, my bf ordered a medium done Sizzling Sirloin with blackpepper sauce @ $10.90. The Gratinated half mussels, @ $6.90, looked interesting so we ordered it too. For drinks, we had a sarsi float @ $3 and a mocha latte ice blended @ $5.
The wait for the food took alittle too long since there wasn't much people around. While waiting, our drinks came and they gave us a complimentary basket of chips. This chip tasted like some Hari Raya goodies. They should probably just use potato chips instead. The mocha latte was badly done. It was too diluted and didn't taste like mocha latte at all. Sarsi float was alright since its just normal soda with ice cream.
Soon, our steak came, before the starters (or tapas as they'd called it). It didn't look as appealing as seen on the photos in the menu, but still the smell was pretty good. When I cut into my steak, the steak was overcooked to medium done instead of my medium-rare. It was too tough and the layer of fats was pretty big as compared to the rest I'd seen elsewhere. Taste wise, its nothing to rave about. Soon my bf's sizzling sirloin came. And guess what! His was cooked to medium-rare! Bravo! They'd mixed up our steak! We ended up eating the other's order instead since he's not a fan of bloody steak. The blackpepper sauce was pretty good as compared to the cumin one.
The mussels were the best catch for us that day. Interesting taste with the toppings, which tasted like cheese and some flakes-like toppings.
Before we left, the person on duty told us that the restaurant is there to serve the community. All the earnings from the restaurants actually goes back to charity and to help the needy. It's under the management of Jeewa Ltd and incooperation with Jamiyah Singapore.
Overall, the experience at J's Wok and Grill was quite a disappointment. Considering we actually drove around Bedok just to find the place.
At an event I attended recently, they had CJS catering for tea break and lunch. The presentation was simple and the food didn't look appertising to me. Tea break looks normal with puffs and sandwiches. Didn't taste them as I wasn't hungry. By lunch, everyone was hungry, and I joined the queue for the buffet spread. There was the usual cauliflower, sweet and sour fish, beef stew, some chicken cooked with cheese and vege spring rolls. Almost all the dishes tasted blend in my opinion. The only passable one is the sweet and sour fish. I'm sure not going to recommend this to anyone who's looking for caterers.
The Mint Museum! TP's right, most people might think that this is a place to display MONEY! haha But it isn't!
My first trip there was with another guide, Randolph and we had the privilege of having him to two of us only.. he patiently answered all our questions and we took a 2 hour tour!! We scrutinized the toys and he threw plenty of interesting facts at us... We saw Batman, Superman, Felix, Mickey, Star Wars. There were toys we knew and grew up with and stuff we just didn't know anything about.
My second trip there was with the other Yebbers in a Safra event. There was a small tea reception in the museum itself. The food was prepared by the cafe in the basement of the building. The food was acceptable for a buffet-style like that I guess. I think we need to try out the cafe to really know.
Richard was the guide of the day and he's also the curator of the museum. As the tour was scheduled to last only 45 minutes, he talked really fast but still managed to squeeze in plenty of facts.
One major flaw with the museum though. Touring the museum is not the same without a guide. Yet they only provide guides for larger groups. So maybe a guidebook or more details about the toys should be put up so that people can read and understand more about the toys.
I had the chance to visit Bosses this CNY season and was glad to finally try this place out after reading FZ's review.
I liked the decor and the ambience of the place a lot. It was mostly done up in black and they had booth seats lining up the sides. They had nice spinning lanterns down the centre of the restaurant. The squarish black tables had little drawers which had the menus in them. This caused us some confusion as we were given the seasonal menu on the table and were clueless about the daily one in the drawer until I discovered it much much later. The server didn't point that out when we asked if there were other dishes so that was a minus really.
We wanted to order stuff to share... but with the limited choices, we picked one-dish stuff instead.
Food Ordered: 川湖辣子 - Fried Chicken with Chilli When this dish arrived, we were stunned. My friend commented that it was pretty hard to find the chicken bits. We did in the end, and counted 12 small pieces. Nonetheless, it was very tasty. The chilli taste is not just on the exterior of the chicken but it's in the meat too.
云吞鸡拉面汤- Wanton Chicken Noodles This was mine. It came in a very nice bowl with two sides which was interesting. My noodles were in the larger section and the tasty soup and wanton was in the other. This soup is the sort where they cook with plenty of meat so that they needn't add in MSG (not too much anyway). I finished the soup totally. The chicken was marinated and not just the plain chicken slices you would usually find. Very tasty dish but the quantity was really really small, since even I, a small-eater, didn't find it quite enough.
秘制牛白腩拉面汤- Beef Noodles My companion thought that the noodles was fine but the beef had a lot of fatty bits in them and some parts were so bad it was hardly edible. He also finished it in a jiffy since the serving was small.
鲜虾海鲜拉面汤 - Seafood Noodles The friend who had this felt that the taste was good and the seafood was fresh. The soup base was tasty but again, a small serving.
香港腊味红米饭 - Rice dish This was fried rice wrapped in a leaf. It came really later, after two reminders and when everyone else had finished their food. The texture of it was good and the rice was tasty. But there isn't any special ingredient in it which made it feel like stuff you can get from any Zhi Char stall.
The bill came up to about $90 for the 4 of us, including a pot of Jasmine Tea. Expensive really considering that we ordered four small servings of one-dish meals and one side to share. I was quite undecided as to what rating to give, since I felt that the quality of the food was pretty good. The service was really bad and need a lot of improvement though. Hmm a 2.5?
** My apologies for not knowing the English names.
1=SGD 0.0587
The infamous Gelare Tuesdays, the only time of the week when you get waffles at half price. Sounds good doesn't it? Except you can expect to wait for eons for your waffles to be served.
We waited for a good 40 minutes before our simple waffle with two scoops of ice-cream got served.
If they couldn't keep up with the service standard, or to train their staffs to politely inform us of a possible long wait, they might as well not try stunts like this. It only serves to stain their brand name.
And I totally agree with Polarbear above, no free water is a bad move. It's the little perks that keep customers coming back, and the little irks that keep them away.
Rating given:
I had a chance to take a ride on the Singapore Flyer before it was officially opened to public. I was very very excited and was looking forward to the flight. I was there at night and as it was not open to public yet, there wasn't much people there. The flyer was lighted in blue neon color at night and gives a very dreamy feeling at night.
Everyone has to pass through a security check, like at the customs, before entering the boarding area. To get to the flyer itself takes abit of walking and couple of escalator. And before stepping onto the boarding platform, everyone will enter into a mock up of the capsule where photos will be taken. ($15 for the first photo, $10 for subsequent copies.) This photo is supposed to be superimposed into the back drop and show as if we took it while riding on the Singapore Flyer. You can buy the photo after the flight with the magnetic tag passed to you at the mock up photo taking area.
Finally we saw the capsule! Boarding the capsule can be rather tricky. It continues to move as everyone rushed up to get into the capsule before the boarding period passes. I wonder if they carter for handicaps entrance. Probably they'll have to stop the moving flyer for such boardings. The capsule was not as big as I’d imagined. 24 of us standing around the capsule already seemed rather packed and it was rather warm inside the capsule. Can't imagine hot hot it might be in the day when the sun is above.
The view from the top of the capsule was magnificent. You get to see the beautiful skyline from high above. It's recommended that you move around the capsule and enjoy the entire 360-degree view. If you are planning to take photos, its advisable to bring a tripod and set it up before you're 1/4 way up the flight. The glass used isn't suitable for photo taking with flash. So you'll have to have very steady hands or use flash and missed out the beautiful backdrop in the background of your photo.
I'll probably return for another flight when the construction of Marina Bay is complete. Now only one side has got good view.
Rating given:
The first impression I got when I stepped into the cafe is the use of bright colors and 2 huge Jalapeno plushie on display at the capsule display near the entrance. There's a row of booth seats thats great for big group gatherings. Very cosy place to chill out and enjoy the night with friends.
As I was there for an event, I didn't get to take a look at their menu. Everyone was served a sampler plate with fried calamari, wedges, soft burrito and some jalapeno-liked thing with stuffings. I like the fried calamari as it was tasty and crispy. Would surely order this if I go back again. And the jalapeno was as flavorful, not sure wat's inside the stuffing thou as I was too hungry to slowly taste and analyzes them.
Perhaps Yebbers can arrange a gathering there? Hmm...
Rating given:
Seasons Reasons was featured on TV a few times and finally I got a chance to settle for lunch one day. The place is hidden at a corner and easily missed if one isn't noticing. The place can hold about 30-40 pax and is simply decorated with white tables and chairs. Good place for quick meal but not so comfortable for chilling out with friends.
The choice of food is quite small, and I settled with something special that day. I ordered the Spicy Spaghetti Goreng
Topped with Mussels & Shrimps @ $13.90 and a glass of Orange Spice. When the spaghetti was served, the smell of Tom Yum filled my senses. I was attracted to it and wanted to deep my fork in it as fast as I could. The presentation was enticing too. The color makes it appealing enough for even my friend who came later to order the same dish. After my first taste of it, I knew immediately I'll return for more if I've the chance. The spaghetti is cooked with some spice that resembles those used in Tom Yum. Very fragrance and nice. Shrimps were plentiful and the mussels were fresh. Serving is big enough to fill any hungry man/woman. Yummilicious pasta!
Rating given:
After hearing about Waffletown from His Food Blog in the shoutbox, I went there to give it a try since I was around the vicinity. The place looks very retro and brings back memory of the A&W days, without the big brown bear wearing the orange top. There were many students when we arrived. Half of them eating cup noodles! Strangely, waffletown is more like a cafeteria that serves other kind of food other than waffles and fried chicken.
As recommended, I ordered the Strawberry Ala Mode Waffles. The waffles are rectangle and topped with real strawberries, whipped cream and a scoop of ice cream of choice. I've to agree that the waffles is simply divine! I fell in love at first bite! I'm craving for their waffles now! *drooools*
I also tried their fried chicken set that comes with whipped potato and coslaw. Quite disappointing with this one thou. The chicken was rather small and there's nothing special about it. Arnold's chicken is much more yummy lah. So Wafflestown is just for waffles huh.
Rating given:
Had passed by Chewy Juniors couple of time when I was at Bugis Junction, but the queue was long most of the time. When I saw that there wasn't any queue one day, I bought a box of 6 to try. There were quite a number of choices and I settled with the more common ones. Couple of toppings worth mentioning is the Strawberry Cheesecake and Blueberry Cheesecake. I like the blend of sweetness and sourness from the cheese.
Chewy Juniors is almost like a combination of donuts and cream puff. With an almost crispy outside and soft chewy inside. Toppings just gave the puff more texture and taste. Can give it a try if you're craving for something sweet.
Rating given:
After reading the two very different takes on this place, I went last week to try it out myself. The place looks very different from how I'd pictured it. It was nicely done up and looks very appealing. When I was there around 5.30pm, there were already 2 families ordering in the restaurant. One thing I've to agree with Lucardia is that the photos in the menu really did make the food look more appealing than it really was. And I've also spotted the reason why the above reviews were so different. They've actually changed their menu after genesis review and before Lucardia went. They'd also increased their pricing! I suspect that they've changed the cook too.
Anyway, since I was already there, we went ahead to order. I ordered a medium-rare Cumin-rubbed Sirloin Steak @ $12.90, my bf ordered a medium done Sizzling Sirloin with blackpepper sauce @ $10.90. The Gratinated half mussels, @ $6.90, looked interesting so we ordered it too. For drinks, we had a sarsi float @ $3 and a mocha latte ice blended @ $5.
The wait for the food took alittle too long since there wasn't much people around. While waiting, our drinks came and they gave us a complimentary basket of chips. This chip tasted like some Hari Raya goodies. They should probably just use potato chips instead. The mocha latte was badly done. It was too diluted and didn't taste like mocha latte at all. Sarsi float was alright since its just normal soda with ice cream.
Soon, our steak came, before the starters (or tapas as they'd called it). It didn't look as appealing as seen on the photos in the menu, but still the smell was pretty good. When I cut into my steak, the steak was overcooked to medium done instead of my medium-rare. It was too tough and the layer of fats was pretty big as compared to the rest I'd seen elsewhere. Taste wise, its nothing to rave about. Soon my bf's sizzling sirloin came. And guess what! His was cooked to medium-rare! Bravo! They'd mixed up our steak! We ended up eating the other's order instead since he's not a fan of bloody steak. The blackpepper sauce was pretty good as compared to the cumin one.
The mussels were the best catch for us that day. Interesting taste with the toppings, which tasted like cheese and some flakes-like toppings.
Before we left, the person on duty told us that the restaurant is there to serve the community. All the earnings from the restaurants actually goes back to charity and to help the needy. It's under the management of Jeewa Ltd and incooperation with Jamiyah Singapore.
Overall, the experience at J's Wok and Grill was quite a disappointment. Considering we actually drove around Bedok just to find the place.
Rating given:
At an event I attended recently, they had CJS catering for tea break and lunch. The presentation was simple and the food didn't look appertising to me. Tea break looks normal with puffs and sandwiches. Didn't taste them as I wasn't hungry. By lunch, everyone was hungry, and I joined the queue for the buffet spread. There was the usual cauliflower, sweet and sour fish, beef stew, some chicken cooked with cheese and vege spring rolls. Almost all the dishes tasted blend in my opinion. The only passable one is the sweet and sour fish. I'm sure not going to recommend this to anyone who's looking for caterers.
Rating given:
The Mint Museum! TP's right, most people might think that this is a place to display MONEY! haha But it isn't!
My first trip there was with another guide, Randolph and we had the privilege of having him to two of us only.. he patiently answered all our questions and we took a 2 hour tour!! We scrutinized the toys and he threw plenty of interesting facts at us... We saw Batman, Superman, Felix, Mickey, Star Wars. There were toys we knew and grew up with and stuff we just didn't know anything about.
My second trip there was with the other Yebbers in a Safra event. There was a small tea reception in the museum itself. The food was prepared by the cafe in the basement of the building. The food was acceptable for a buffet-style like that I guess. I think we need to try out the cafe to really know.
Richard was the guide of the day and he's also the curator of the museum. As the tour was scheduled to last only 45 minutes, he talked really fast but still managed to squeeze in plenty of facts.
One major flaw with the museum though. Touring the museum is not the same without a guide. Yet they only provide guides for larger groups. So maybe a guidebook or more details about the toys should be put up so that people can read and understand more about the toys.
Rating given:
I had the chance to visit Bosses this CNY season and was glad to finally try this place out after reading FZ's review.
I liked the decor and the ambience of the place a lot. It was mostly done up in black and they had booth seats lining up the sides. They had nice spinning lanterns down the centre of the restaurant. The squarish black tables had little drawers which had the menus in them. This caused us some confusion as we were given the seasonal menu on the table and were clueless about the daily one in the drawer until I discovered it much much later. The server didn't point that out when we asked if there were other dishes so that was a minus really.
We wanted to order stuff to share... but with the limited choices, we picked one-dish stuff instead.
Food Ordered:
川湖辣子 - Fried Chicken with Chilli
When this dish arrived, we were stunned. My friend commented that it was pretty hard to find the chicken bits. We did in the end, and counted 12 small pieces. Nonetheless, it was very tasty. The chilli taste is not just on the exterior of the chicken but it's in the meat too.
云吞鸡拉面汤- Wanton Chicken Noodles
This was mine. It came in a very nice bowl with two sides which was interesting. My noodles were in the larger section and the tasty soup and wanton was in the other. This soup is the sort where they cook with plenty of meat so that they needn't add in MSG (not too much anyway). I finished the soup totally. The chicken was marinated and not just the plain chicken slices you would usually find. Very tasty dish but the quantity was really really small, since even I, a small-eater, didn't find it quite enough.
秘制牛白腩拉面汤- Beef Noodles
My companion thought that the noodles was fine but the beef had a lot of fatty bits in them and some parts were so bad it was hardly edible. He also finished it in a jiffy since the serving was small.
鲜虾海鲜拉面汤 - Seafood Noodles
The friend who had this felt that the taste was good and the seafood was fresh. The soup base was tasty but again, a small serving.
香港腊味红米饭 - Rice dish
This was fried rice wrapped in a leaf. It came really later, after two reminders and when everyone else had finished their food. The texture of it was good and the rice was tasty. But there isn't any special ingredient in it which made it feel like stuff you can get from any Zhi Char stall.
The bill came up to about $90 for the 4 of us, including a pot of Jasmine Tea. Expensive really considering that we ordered four small servings of one-dish meals and one side to share. I was quite undecided as to what rating to give, since I felt that the quality of the food was pretty good. The service was really bad and need a lot of improvement though. Hmm a 2.5?
** My apologies for not knowing the English names.
Rating given: