And when a new restaurant is being helm by chef Sufian Bin Zain’ who helped his previous restaurant Iggy’s being listed as one of the world’s top 100 restaurants, it’s not surprising that everyone will rush to the new establishment. I am not one of those that like to chase after new restaurants, that’s one of the reasons that it took me until now to drop by L’Entrepot Bistrot.

I’m not sure if you’ve noticed, but I hardly blog about restaurants in Clarke Quay, there’s nothing wrong with the area; in fact it is a well-known places for tourists to dine at, when visiting Singapore. And that’s precisely the problem. Awesome riverside view, gorgeous restaurants interiors, but I’d imagine it comes with hefty bills and the made-for-tourist stamp too.

For restaurants, set lunches are one of the ways to attract more customers and increase sales. In times like this, not everyone can still afford to splurge on extravagant lunches, and that’s when you have value set lunches. Given that a normal meal and a drink in a food court will probably cost you six dollars upwards, an affordable lunch for $15 nett in a nice restaurant with everything plated nicely, is very tempting.

Besides the perfect excuse to indulge in a good lunch, it’s an opportunity to check out the restaurant and see if it’s worth coming back for dinner. On normal occasions, L’Entrepot Bistrot’s normal 2 course lunch is $25 , while the 3 course menu will set you back by $30 , but there’s a current promotion for all the Clarke Quay restaurants where a 2 course set lunch is $15 nett.

The promotional menu is almost identical to the normal lunch menu, with a few exceptions. One of those is the escargot which we wanted to get, but since it wasn’t available for the promotion, we went for the French Onion Soup, served with Emmenthal Cheese. It was a good decision, the onion soup is the classic example of the rustic French Bistro food.

On this visit, I chose the Vongole, which came with clams amidst the leeks, onions tomato and spaghetti. There was a subtle white wine taste in the spaghetti sauce. The generosity of clams were admirable, but the presence of leeks drove me to verge of irritation; I ain’t no fan of leek.

I’m not one who will always order fish for main courses while it comes to dining outside. I like fish, but it pales in comparison when you can have steak, chicken, or duck – meat in general. But still, I love fish, it sounds fickle but I am only human, you know. So I was glad when my Evangeline ordered the Pan Fried Seabass, with mashed potatoes. It may sound very ordinary, but the seabass was actually pretty good. It sounds like a layer of crispy pan-fried skin with the fillet nicely settled underneath.

It was a toss between Creme Brulee and Profiteroles when it came to desserts, but as Tampopo deli is nearby, we went for the former. Now, there will be vanilla beans inside, I’m sure. And true enough, there were tiny speckles of them in the custard, and the surface was caramelized beautifully.

Long story short, if you like my review please do come by ladyironchef . . . for the delicious in you

Tonkichi is one of the many restaurants that surround the fountain of wealth at the basement of Suntec City. Occupying a reasonably large space, the restaurant's decor is simple and definitely catered to the masses.

Kuro Cheese Katsu - My initial plan was to order the Kurobuta Hire Katsu but they were out of it so I had to settle for the Kuro Cheese Katsu, which turned out to be a mistake. Sure, the katsu was nicely breaded and deep fried without coming across as overly oily, but being minced up meant that the texture was left wanting. To me, mincing beef kurobuta up is akin to mincing wagyu beef up to make patties - a total waste. Not even the very elastic cheese could save this dish.

Prawn & Hire - On the contrary, I thought that this "normal" pork (and prawn) dish fared a great deal better than its more illustrious cousin. The pork was tender, juicy and nicely breaded without the oily residue. Personally I preferred the prawns though, which were relatively large and bursting with natural sweetness that there was no need for any tartar sauce to give it taste.

I see promise in Tonkichi's food. And at about $50 for 2 pax , it would be a great place to have a nice tonkatsu dinner without bursting your wallet. Service was good and I'll be sure not to order any minced pork tonkatsu or the likes.

See all my pictures here.

Tucked away along the row of shophouses at Serangoon Gardens where the new NTUC is and just a stones throw away from Astons, MOS suffers from low visibility as the entire row of shops face away from the central bus stop. This particular unit has changed hands quite a few times due to low human traffic so it remains to be seen if MOS can thrive in such an obscure location.

Mushroom Soup - You have the option of adding $3 and getting a calamansi drink a soup, which happened to be mushroom soup. The soup was rather watered down but at least it was decently creamy and had bits of mushroom in it. Not too bad for the price.

Pork Chops - With a name like Ministry of Steak, pork chops probably aren't their forte but this dish didn't turn out half as bad as I expected it to be. Sure, the meat was a little too chewy in certain areas and the garlic sauce a little too runny, but portions were generous and it beats eating tough pork chops served at some places.

Prime Sirloin - Cheapo me chose the cheapest steak on the menu - the prime sirloin. I must say that I was quite impressed by the handling and preparation of the meat. Beautifully grilled to medium rare as per my request and harbouring a moderate hint of salt, the steak was succulent and boasted natural beefy sweetness. You get 2 sides with every main course and my coleslaw and fries tasted decently fresh. Nothing to holler about though.

Black Pepper Steak - This was essentially the same cut as the prime sirloin, except that it came with black pepper instead of garlic sauce. And if it looks darker, yes it is, due to the fact that it was done medium well. A little drier and tougher, but still good for those who can't stand really stand the sight of blood.

The emergence of MOS in the area is sure to give Astons a terrific run for its money, given its quality and competitive pricing (3 of us spent $35). Throw in air conditioning and decent service and I know where I'll be satisfying my steak cravings again. This time I might just be tempted to try out the grade 5 wagyu for $30.

See all my pictures here.

EDIT as of 7th Feb 2010: I have received notification that the owner of MOS has left to open up a new steakhouse else.

Decorated in a manner that is sure to look inviting to students, we do see a lot of polaroids from past visitors (with their faces doodled).

As mentioned by the previous reviewers, you'll have to order and pay over the counter and wait for your number to be called. What we did not like was the hard to figure menu written in chalk above the counter and the noisy sound system which often interrupts our conversations.

Looking at the menu, seems to be fusion kind of burger joint where we ordered the Katsu burger, Mushroom swiss burger where I changed the bun for their "fluffy~ garlic butter rice" True to the description, the rice was so fluffy~~~ I thought they put a hamster in my plate! (nah~~) I do feel the taste of garlic can come out more instead of being over taken by the smell of butter. Perhaps its the side effects of doing away with the buns, the meat patty tasted too salty. And it was quite strange to eat scattered mushroom, meat patty and rice together.

Couldn't comment on the Katsu burger as I did not try it but my companion mentioned that the meat was "katsu" too much that it became too tough. He didn't like the idea of having the katsu between sesamed buns too.

An additional compliment to Burger Shack was that, our order was late. Lolx~ how was that a compliment? Well, our number was called way after it should and the cashier had sent us complimentary ice cream voluntarily. (Note: We didn't even noticed our order was late -.-") Good customer service I would say.
And so great tasting was their ice cream that we decided to be gluttony and ordered their brownie and apple pie. Brownie was a disappointment although it will be unfair of me to say that as its my personal preference towards crispy brownies and theirs was not. However, I do love the smell of the buttery crust and its texture of .. of ... pineapple tarts?

It will not be a place I'll frequent since its rather out of my way. With its limited menu, it will be difficult to choose as a venue for gatherings nor for frequent dining (will get sick of the food).

Dar ordered Chicken Teriyaki Pasta and incomparison, this dish is not as nice as the curry. Not sure whether its the chicken or the teriyaki sauce they used but there was a "fishy smell" to the dish that puts me off trying it after 1 bite.

We got free drinks as we ordered pasta dishes. We chose ice lemon tea which we all agreed that it doesn't taste nice at all but the macha tea tasted great.. With me, dessert is of course a must. Haha.... I chose light soft serve that goes easy on my stomach and digestion. Of course the desserts came out satisfying as even the passive Dar persuaded me to sign for the MOF citizen card so that we will enjoy discounts and rebates the next time we visit. Its $10 for member fees and if you show your UOB card, the member fees reduces to $6 for 2 years.

Located at B3 of the swanky shopping mall, ITNCH utilises an electronic queue system, which seems to be more rampant nowadays. The interior is seemingly cramp and reminiscent of your typical casual dining Chinese restaurant.

BBQ Combination - We opted for a roast pork/BBQ pork combination which was quite decent. The roasted pork had a thin layer of crisp skin coupled with a nice proportion of fat whereas the BBQ pork was mildly fibrous without coming across as overly sweet.

Fried Hor Fun with Egg and Prawn - Carrying a fleeting hint of wok hei, the hor fun was smooth without clumping together. The gravy was a little lacklustre even though it was flush with egg strands. I did like the prawns though, which were relatively big in size with a nice crunch to them.

Beancurd with Oyster Sauce - An average dish, the beancurd wasn't silky smooth nor savoury but the oyster sauce did help though. Came served with mushrooms and vegetables.

Yang Chow Fried Rice - I personally thought that this was quite well done. The rice had a comforting wok hei taste with a nice homogenous egg coating and little bits of BBQ pork and prawns that made for a rather enjoyable plate of fried rice. Then again, maybe we were hungry.

The bill totaled about $61 for the 3 of us, which wasn't too unreasonable given the decent service and food. This place beats any of the lower end Crystal Jade outlets that I've tried and I'll certainly be looking out for the Imperial Treasure brand name the next time I'm searching for a casual, convenient and inexpensive Chinese restaurant option.

See all my pictures here.

The number of types of toppings really amazed me. Toppings like pormegranate, nata de coco, pomelo and the various cereals which are not common in yogurt houses. Toppings were fresh and the yogurt soft, a tinee bit too strong of the "cultured" taste for me but besides that, its quite a great choice if you would like something different and light after meals.

If you work near iluma, its even better as you get to taste different flavours of yogurt everyday, take fruits and healthy cultures~

We ordered Crisscut fries, Grilled Dory with Mushroom sauce, Figo Grilled Seafood (or seafood platter for 1). the mushroom sauce (note: the sauce only) and the crisscut fries were at least decent to taste though we have some reservations on the taste of the rice. Even though this place was called fig&olives, the olive rice was nothing much but spiced/buttered rice with a few pickled olives on top with not much of a taste too. The fish were cooked too oily though the texture was tender and well done.

The seafood platter for 1 cost a whopping $21.30 and contained only 4 prawns and 3 mussels with a whole heap of rice. Certainly not worth the price. Not to mention that the waiters there took the wrong order, failed to respond to our calls and proceeded to bill us for the wrong order. They were certainly in a hurry and is only able to refill the plain water for whichever cup we gestured to even though all the rest of the cups beside it were empty too.

I repeat again, definitely not worth a visit again. At least not this branch.

I'm surprised they really use real Swarovski crystals. I've bought accessories before from another blogstore which I was so disappointed in. They promised Swarovski crystals but their so-called crystals dont shine as much as those I got from this blogstore.

Thus, I find the price relatively cheap for the quality they provide, and most of all, I certainly like the designs.

I have asked them to make bracelets for my bridesmaids for my wedding. =)

P.S. I didnt add rating for my previous post. =b

There are so many aspects to make a good restaurant; other than delicious food, there’s the training of your staff, gorgeous interior design, an accessible and attracting location, a good wine list, visual-appealing menu, handling the suppliers and one, ten, twenty other small minor details.

The Muthu’s Flavors is the latest brainchild by renowned Muthu’s curry on Race course road. Now you get to enjoy the same good Indian food in a contemporary restaurant setting, with everything plated nicely, in the lush Dempsey hill.

Interior design wise – I’m a sucker for white. It’s interesting to see a traditional Indian restaurant using a bold and unique orange-white combination, and this actually makes The Muthu’s Flavors different from the original Muthu’s Curry. Well I can’t say for all the staff service wise, but I do think that they have a good manager in Joseph, and his assistant is equally knowledgeable about all the food.

Even though I can’t really take spicy food well, I do enjoy Indian cuisine. Many people dream of opening their own restaurant or cafe one day, I’m sorry to burst your bubble, but not everyone has what it takes to be a restaurateur.

There are so many aspects to make a good restaurant; other than delicious food, there’s the training of your staff, gorgeous interior design, an accessible and attracting location, a good wine list, visual-appealing menu, handling the suppliers and one, ten, twenty other small minor details.

Pappadam, the Indian flat bread was used instead of the typical toasted bread for the Pappadam Bruschetta ($5.50). I always have a thing for diced tomatoes. I’m not sure why, but somehow, they just look so appealing when it’s diced into tiny squares.

Eating the Crab meat stir-fried with fennel ($18.9), it makes me think that I’m eating chicken floss, with the addition of green chili and onions.

I was tweeting the previous night before this dinner, that I’m craving for some awesome curry, lo and behold, the famous Muthu’s Fish Head Curry ($25). Served with ladies finger and pineapple chunks in a rich gravy of aromatic spices, the tangy, slightly spicy sweet curry gravy makes me blush, like a young boy meets love.

Why do we even bother to order the other dishes? This is as good as it gets, and no, we are not going to debate on the ‘best curry fish head in Singapore’ topic. Pour the curry gravy on fragrance white rice, and that’s my dinner.

Tomato and garlic marinated chicken served with Cheese naan, frankly speaking, I could not recall much of the Chicken Tikka Masala ($15.5). Barring the fact that I was already sweating profusely after the sensation from the curry fish head, I stuffed myself with cheese naan.

Between the Massala prawn and the Muthu’s Prawns 65 ($17.9), we decided to go for both. I have no idea of the reason behind the inclusion of 65 in the name, but all of us agreed unanimously that Massala prawn was a better choice as the freshness of the prawns were lost in the deep-frying process.

The Massala Prawns ($23.9) were definitely much better. Huge tiger prawns cooked with a combination of chilies, tomatoes and spices. It’s one of the sweetest thing in life to have someone peeling prawns or crabs for you, some love to get their hands dirty, while others either try to use a fork and spoon to shell the prawns, or simply refused to eat it.

In between our debates over the proper terms of whether it is called de-prawning or de-shelling the prawns, here’s my version of ‘how to peel a prawn‘. 1) Use both hands and hold the god-damn prawn steady. 2) Remove the head and all the tiny legs. 3) De-shell the shell starting from the legs area 4) Pull off the tail and eat your prawn.

Okay fine, so I got greedy. We were full but still, the Lamb Rack Ananas ($22.9) was too alluring for us (or rather, me) to resist. I like how they barbecue the pineapple and add the distinct fruity flavor to the meat. They look good. They smell good. I like to hold it by the bone, gnaw it right up and finish every single bit.

Lamb rack aside, I didn’t know barbecued pineapple can actually taste so good! The others were too full to finish the rack. If the lamb isn’t attractive enough – there’s the tantalizing tandoori chicken beckoning to us.

This Tandoori Chicken ($16.9) is a wonderful all-weather kind of food: I’d imagine holding the drumstick and biting off the meat on a cold rainy day, and feasting on the flavorful chicken during summer. I usually don’t like chicken breast because it’s tough, dry and unappetizing (at least to me), but you know what?

I absolutely love the chicken breast here. It was so tender, and moist. This is the first time I’m giving such high praises to a chicken breast, and I actually like the breast as much as the drumstick.

So, it was a choice between Kulfi or Masala Chai Flan ($7.9), I never enjoy the Indian style ice cream, and having a good impression of a flan dessert helps. The ladies thought that the flan was too sweet; if you’re anything like me, I bet you’d happily finish the whole dessert on your own – I did.

This, is the Beetroot Halwa ($6.9). I know what you are thinking. Beetroot, and dessert? Weird? Yes. As much as I agree that beetroot is always very interesting as it provides the natural reddish purple coloring, but I’m sorry darling; beetroot just don’t work very well with dessert, for me.

Being a new restaurant, there are still a lot of teething problems to sort out, but it will be interesting how people react to the new Muthu’s Flavors concept. Purist and loyal supporter of Muthu’s Curry at Race course road may, or may not receive well to the idea of dining in such a classy and contemporary Indian restaurant, but I’m sure the younger crowd, and especially those who frequent Dempsey often, will be happy to have a new option for good and affordable Indian food.

I’ll like to thank Rayner from Contagious and the folks behind Muthu’s Curry for the invitation to the food tasting session. If you are keen to try out the food, The Muthu’s Flavors, Dempsey is having a 25% off total bill promotion from now until 28th Feb, and they have a new outlet at 313 @ Somerset too.

Long story short, if you like my review please do come by ladyironchef . . . for the delicious in you

We had the Boston Clam Chowder and Tokyo Chicken Stew, Smoked Salmon wrap (had to pay abit more for this) and Roast Beef Wasabi wrap. The set also came with a drink and bag of Lay’s chips.

The food was good and reasonably priced and the service was good. Perhaps it was off-peak hour so the staff even delivered all the food to our table. Will definitely be back to try the bread bowl!

We ordered a chicken pot pie, quarter chicken, with 2 sides each. Both cost about $13 or $14, can’t really remember the exact prices. The chicken pot pie was HUGE, and the quarter chicken was yummy as usual. We were served a corn muffin each with the mains ordered.

Drinks were IBC Rootbeer and Apple Snapple at $3 each. Snapple came sealed, but the IBC rootbeer was opened, although we knew it was probably opened beforehand so that the staff did not need to open it at our table, but somehow we would have preferred if they opened it in front of us.

Service was acceptable, nothing much to rave about, especially when the place became more crowded, the noise level was quite high too, not too convenient to talk, so we didn’t linger. Overall, a nice western meal, enjoyed the food!

So we decided to celebrate my elder sis's bday on a Sunday noon at Rider's Cafe.

So sis & I shared the Rider's Breakfast which consist of 2pcs of triangle toast bread, scramble eggs, 2 sausages, very nice baked beans, few grapes & a strawberry jam. This is very yummilicious except the toast is a little cold for the butter to melt & spread easily.

Then we shared another main, Seafood Marinara! This is absolutely yummy! The sauce is just nice seafood is fresh except the linguine is a little overcooked but overall it is very very delicious!

Ambience is definitely the kinda weekend morning or afternoon where u wanna spend it with a relaxing mind & mood ;) love it.

Boulangerie turned out to be a disaster as well. I will not say much except that the macarons were Bakerzin quality and retailed for $2.30 instead of a dollar. The shells weren't crisp and tasted very stale. The other desserts purportedly had an Asian "twist" to them but some of them just turned out plain weird. Case in point, the Satin, a coconut cream dessert topped with pineapple. It tasted like Thai salad to me, which was just unnerving considering that its dessert. The raspberry tarte had a base that reminded me of compressed Danish cookies which would have been fine until you consider how hard it was. It was literally steel against rock as I tried to spear a piece of the tart with my fork.
Only consolation of this place? They serve complimentary sky juice.

See all my pictures here.

I had tried 2 different kind of pasta dishes, the fish & chips, paella, sausages and rosti and they are all pretty decent to me. The rosti is fine and cripsy and I felt that it tasted so much better than what I had in Marche before.

So far for the 3 times we had visited them, the food were still up to our standard. Hopefully the standard will remain. I will definitely be back for more meals!

For the appetizer, we were served this Lotus Root in Salted egg yolk. This was PURE LOVE for me as I simply love anything fried with salted egg yolk. The lotus root was sliced so thin and fried till so crispy then you simply cannot stop at one or 2 pieces. There is also this Salad with Smoked Duck. The veggies were so freshly green and you can hear the crisp in every bite. The duck was also very nicely done and just tender enough.

For our steamboat, we opted for the Ma La Soup and the non-spicy chicken soup. Both soup were a bit too saltish for my more “senior” colleagues but youngsters like me and my other colleagues thought it was OK. They have quite a variety of interesting items like one that is Mushrooms wrapped in Tofu, Fishball with mozerella cheese, just to name a few.

We had the set meal meant for 8pax for the group of 9 of us and we simply cannot finish all the food. Total bill came up to about $400 (we ordered a $88 red wine and other ala carte items) The place is a hidden gem in Robertson Walk and a great place for friends gathering over a nice yummy steamboat session.

The food came packed nicely in alimunuim trays, and the delivery was on time.

Samosa's were tasty and not too spicy. The Pav were basically hamburger buns that were to be eaten with the curry ( Bhaji). The Bhaji was definitely Spicy. Gulab Jamun were bit too sweet.

Best Indian Food Catering did not provide disposable plates. But Overall we enjoyed the food.

My first encounter with Eggs benedict was a bitter-sweet one, back then I looked at the eggs ben, and then I saw the price; I wasn’t willing to splurge twenty bucks on two poached eggs, or what I called the most-expensive-eggs-you-ever-eaten.

I immediately regretted it when I saw the heavenly holladaise sauce that was drizzled on top of the gorgeous poached eggs. And ever since then, I went on a brunch-frenzy to make up for what I have been missing out; to seek all the lovely breakfast food all over the island.

Excluding the ones that I had while I was traveling overseas, it suddenly occurred to me that it was a long time ago since I last had brunch in Singapore. There’s nothing like an all day brunch when you can have breakfast at any time of the day, as and when you crave for it. Cafe Hacienda does not serves all day brunch, but it’s pretty close – they have brunch till late afternoon everyday.

I find the idea of having my breakfast in the afternoon very alluring; sitting down in a chic and cozy cafe, sipping a cup of coffee and tweeting “I’m having brunch while the rest of you are busy at work”.

The credits go to Choupinette of course, it’s a shame that I have not tried eggs benedict and holladaise sauce before that, but it really does not matter now. Although I’m twenty years late, but it’s always better to be late than never isn’t it? Honestly, I do not understand what’s the big fuss with wild rocket, Yes, it’s pretty as an adornment, but other than that, it doesn’t really goes down well in the mouth, or maybe it’s just me.

Hacienda’s Eggs Benedict ($13.50) is a replication of Prive’s, I always preferred bacon rather than salmon with poached eggs; there’s nothing like a sinful fried bacon streak to make me go ga-ga.

Memories they say, are the stuff that make our life worth living for. I remember a ferrero rocher cake that I had a year ago, it was definitely one of the best I had – it was awesome. Fast forward to the present, taking a sniff of the cake, I actually felt butterflies inside my stomach.

Please, please let this be good.

I leaned forward cautiously, desperately wanting to get back the moment that I’ve before; I took the dessert with a fork, and carefully placed it into the tip of my tongue. The cake went down, and I refused to acknowledge the ugly truth, so I took another mouthful, and another mouthful, until it was evident that the Hazelnut Praline ($6.80) was really not as good as before.

This, to me, is a great disappointment. My friends had warned me that the cake had lost it’s former glory – I refused to believe it until I tasted it myself. The praline base used to be one of the thickest, but now it’s reduced to a mere thin layer which lacked the crunch of the ferrero rocher cake.

* * *

Cafe Hacienda is Prive without the seafront view, but nestled in the greens of Dempsey. It’s no secret that I’m a big fan of Michel Lu, the dining concept that he brings about is simplicity; a nice cafe that serves delicious comfort food at a reasonable price – but some people just don’t get it. See you there!

Long story short, if you like my review please do come by ladyironchef . . . for the delicious in you

Her tone of voice and attitude was totally lousy. First, she asked if I worked in the food court upstairs cause she said I smelt. (maybe she felt that those works in the food court does not fit to step in their salon)

She asked what kind of hairstyle I want, I showed her a pic I brought and asked for her opinion. she jus took a glance from far and said the style is meant for people who is trendy and fashionable. ( is she hinting that I am old fashion?) I asked her to recommend, she just coldly replied by saying without colouring it just wont look nice no matter wat style she cut. ( maybe she is unhappy because I do not want to colour my hair ?) then she said she will cut whatever I wanted and just started to cut .I noticed whenever there's hair landed or fell on her arm she will quickly dust it away like somekind of germs .then while she blow dry my hair ,she was criticising my hair of being oily and smelly . she even asked me if I can smell it. ( she just washed it for me and all this while my previous hairstylist told me that my hair is too dry ). Then a colleague came to ask her to go for lunch . To my horror she told her she is about to finish, she went behind the cubicle and came out with some gel on her palm..she apply it on my hair, while she doing this , she shouted at the cashier to collect payment from me and she wished me happy new year and start clearing her things without even looking at me.

i certainly won't go back there.