No queue?? We were surprised when we passed by this place on the first Sunday of May as we have read a lot of reviews regarding the food. We ordered the following :
1. HK Style Pork Chop Cheese Baked Rice ( $10.90 ) –This was a popular dish found in most HK-styled cafés in Singapore. The chicken was juicy and well covered by generous portion of cheese melted on top of it. The rice was fragrant and not so dry. A small cup of soup was also served with the main dish.
2. Stone Grilled Unagi Rice ( $13.90 ) – The dish has unagi ( eel ) well marinated and fried to perfection. The only letdown was that the rice was not whole grain and fluffy but looked like small broken rice grains. Maybe because it was served in a hot stone bowl with an egg on it, it would be easier to stir and mixed the egg with the rice.
3. Deep Fried Chicken With Mushroom Rice ( $6.90 ) – The rice with small strips of mushrooms was well-fried with aromatic olive oil. Though the strips of chicken meat was deep fried, it was moist and not oily.
4. Cold Honey Pamelo Tea ( $3.20 ) – This drink was refreshing and has a small bits of pamelo in a cute jar.
We also saw that they serve instant noodles with luncheon meat. Cannot remember the price but knew that it is rather expensive as this can be a home-cooked meal. Surprisingly we saw the next table ( teenagers ) ordering it. We shook our heads and agreed that maybe nowadays, diners are willing to pay for ambience and convenience.
After paying our bill, we were still pondering why this place is always crowded. Food wise, it was so so only. Maybe we didnt make the right selection but hey, when you looked at the menu, it was so confusing that we saw every diner asking the staff for clarification.
I happened to walk into this tiny café situated at the corner of the Stationery Dept. Since I was also feeling a bit hungry, I decided to check out what they have to offer. This place is run by 3 youngsters – 2 of them having brightly coloured hairs at some section of their head. Hmm… they definitely caught my attention.
I ordered a cup of coffee and a plate of black pepper chicken chop with rice. Although there was another family of three, the food really took a long time to be served. And it was very noisy… coming from the staff that yelled and joked at the top of their voices.
My coffee was served first which was three-quarters full. When I put the powdered creamer into the cup, it floated on top. Immediately I touched the cup and realized that it was semi-cold, not lukewarm at all. I called the staff who took my order. Before I could bring her attention to the cold coffee, she immediately apologized and replaced a hot cup for me.
When the grilled chicken was served, I was quite skeptical whether it would be cold like the coffee. It turned out surprisingly hot. The chicken meat was tender and juicy. Just when I was about to eat the second portion, I overheard the next table complaining that the rice was burnt. I decided to taste mine since both of us ordered the same dish. Aiyah… it was not burnt rice but leftover rice from last nite. Very pungent smell. The chef ( if she is qualified ) must have scrapped right to the bottom and served the brownish portion to us.
When I paid my bill, I highlighted to them to be more professional if they want to stay in the food industry.
This place was highly recommended for its unique taste of Cantonese food.
As we were walking towards our destination, we saw a big banner showing Chef Kang with newspaper and magazine write-up about his signature dishes.
We decided to sample some of the must-try recommendations :
1. Bacon-wrapped prawns in mayonnaise cream
We cannot visualize how this can be good but then, one bite into the prawns, hoolala.. you can taste the freshness and sweetness of the prawns with the bacon melting in your mouth. The prawns were crunchy and with the mayonnaise cream, it really made a good combination of sweet, salty and creamy delight
2. Pork Ribs in two sauces
There were two versions of pork ribs – One version was marinated with honey ( or sweet fruit sauce ) and the other version cooked in coffee. These double taste ("yuan yang") pork ribs were delicious - crispy on the outside and tender with each bite. The coffee-flavoured coating on each rib was also generous.
3. Fried Eggplant with Pork Floss
The eggplant was sautéed to get the flavour and topped with fluffy pork floss. Quite an unique dish. It was not oily and the after taste was quite seductive that we ate non-stop until the next dish arrived.
4. Steamed Crab
This dish was the restaurant’s masterpiece and almost every table of diners ordered it. We were lucky to get Sri Lanka crabs steamed with fried glutinous rice, garlic and mushrooms. The whole dish was then presented in a dim sum basket. Although the glutinous rice was soaked with the sweetness of the crab, it was not soggy. Instead we found it to be very chewy when eaten with the strong aromatic garlic.
In all, the food were fantastically good with kudos to true wok hei ( fire ).
Ambience is average and service is bearable as most of the staff are employed from China. But all in all, with these yummy authentic Cantonese food, we can choose to remember only the good sides of things…
Vanilla Pod is a small restaurant set in fairy tale-like glass building in the Mandai Orchids Garden. From the front view, this place was just next to an aquatic landscape. Upon entering, we could see the full glass windows that wrapped around the restaurant and that gave us a very unique greenhouse feeling.
We were there for lunch and would like to enjoy nature but unfortunately because of the afternoon heat, we chose to dine in the air-conditioned section and at the same time admiring the great views of the various blooming orchids that were planted in the nearby garden.
We ordered Pollo Porcini, Aglio Olio Fish, Seafood Platter and Norwegian Salmon and Mushroom Soup.
When the soup was served, we stared at it and couldn’t believe that it is quite a big serving. This was not the normal cheap creamy mushroom-flavoured soup. Each spoonful was guaranteed to contain chunky bits of button and shitake mushroom.
When the main course were served, we were equally surprised on the generous portion of the food. The Pollo Porcini ( chicken breast with mushroom ) was very well marinated and it was balanced with vegetables to give a wholesome meal. The Norwegian Salmon was a thickly sliced piece which was pan-fried and accompanied by pasta. The Aglio Olio Fish ( grilled fish topped with spaghetti ) was quite presentable but the Seafood Platter was awesome. It consist of half a lobster, green mussels, fish fillet, fresh scallops ( with shells intact ) and calamari rings all grilled to perfection.
Total spending – about $140/- The cost maybe a bit on the high side for lunch but the freshness and generous portion of each dish was worth the price especially the chunky mushroom soup.
After a satisfying meal, we would like to take a small walk round the orchid garden but were told that admission fee of $3 per person was required. We were disappointed but realized that even Botanic Gardens charges $5/- to visit their National Orchid Garden.
This place is worth going back again as it is not easy to find another eatery that is far away from the busy, noisy and hectic environment. Morever, it is almost pollution-free and plenty of fresh air to breathe too.
Heard a lot about this place ( word of mouth recommendation ) and decided to check out last weekend.
Being kiasu, we went there at 5pm and were at the car park cruising for a lot when we realized that there was already a short queue at the side of the coffee shop.
When we started to queue, we saw that almost all tables were taken up. Some of the diners were staring at us with mouthful of bee hoon and every table has ordered at least one version of cooking the crabs.
We waited about half hour before we were handed the menu and advised to order while waiting for a table. We chose the highly recommended claypot crab with bee hoon , butter crabs, tapioca leaves fried in sambal and chicken meat wrapped in otah.
The butter crabs were first to be served and at one glance, we wondered whether we made the right choice instead of the usual black pepper or chillie crabs. The crabs were covered with this yellowish cream and decorated with two small corianders. But dipping one small man tou ( deep fried bun ) into the sauce and hmm…the strong butter gravy fried with curry leaves was fantastically sinful but delicious. A class of its own..
The fried tapioca leaves were superb spicy and goes well with the rice. Next, fried chicken meat thinly sliced with otah stuffed in the middle. It was crispy and the combination blended well too.
The main star attraction - claypot bee hoon was finally served. The buttery taste of the soup was unique and flooded with sweetness from the crabs. We totally enjoyed the crabs as they were meaty and surprisingly very fresh and juicy.
claudsaid: Yummy! Well written one! Makes me drool for crab! I'm sure andy will agree with me since he'd been craving for crab the entire day! haha! 25 Mar 2008 at 12:09 am
Muffysaid: give this place a try. You wont regret it except maybe for the service 04 Apr 2008 at 12:09 am
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1=SGD 0.0587
1. HK Style Pork Chop Cheese Baked Rice ( $10.90 ) –This was a popular dish found in most HK-styled cafés in Singapore. The chicken was juicy and well covered by generous portion of cheese melted on top of it. The rice was fragrant and not so dry. A small cup of soup was also served with the main dish.
2. Stone Grilled Unagi Rice ( $13.90 ) – The dish has unagi ( eel ) well marinated and fried to perfection. The only letdown was that the rice was not whole grain and fluffy but looked like small broken rice grains. Maybe because it was served in a hot stone bowl with an egg on it, it would be easier to stir and mixed the egg with the rice.
3. Deep Fried Chicken With Mushroom Rice ( $6.90 ) – The rice with small strips of mushrooms was well-fried with aromatic olive oil. Though the strips of chicken meat was deep fried, it was moist and not oily.
4. Cold Honey Pamelo Tea ( $3.20 ) – This drink was refreshing and has a small bits of pamelo in a cute jar.
We also saw that they serve instant noodles with luncheon meat. Cannot remember the price but knew that it is rather expensive as this can be a home-cooked meal. Surprisingly we saw the next table ( teenagers ) ordering it. We shook our heads and agreed that maybe nowadays, diners are willing to pay for ambience and convenience.
After paying our bill, we were still pondering why this place is always crowded. Food wise, it was so so only. Maybe we didnt make the right selection but hey, when you looked at the menu, it was so confusing that we saw every diner asking the staff for clarification.
Login to add your comment. Or, Register for an account now. It's free!
I ordered a cup of coffee and a plate of black pepper chicken chop with rice. Although there was another family of three, the food really took a long time to be served. And it was very noisy… coming from the staff that yelled and joked at the top of their voices.
My coffee was served first which was three-quarters full. When I put the powdered creamer into the cup, it floated on top. Immediately I touched the cup and realized that it was semi-cold, not lukewarm at all. I called the staff who took my order. Before I could bring her attention to the cold coffee, she immediately apologized and replaced a hot cup for me.
When the grilled chicken was served, I was quite skeptical whether it would be cold like the coffee. It turned out surprisingly hot. The chicken meat was tender and juicy. Just when I was about to eat the second portion, I overheard the next table complaining that the rice was burnt. I decided to taste mine since both of us ordered the same dish. Aiyah… it was not burnt rice but leftover rice from last nite. Very pungent smell. The chef ( if she is qualified ) must have scrapped right to the bottom and served the brownish portion to us.
When I paid my bill, I highlighted to them to be more professional if they want to stay in the food industry.
Login to add your comment. Or, Register for an account now. It's free!so kind of you, should be 1 star.
06 May 2008 at 12:47 pm
As we were walking towards our destination, we saw a big banner showing Chef Kang with newspaper and magazine write-up about his signature dishes.
We decided to sample some of the must-try recommendations :
1. Bacon-wrapped prawns in mayonnaise cream
We cannot visualize how this can be good but then, one bite into the prawns, hoolala.. you can taste the freshness and sweetness of the prawns with the bacon melting in your mouth. The prawns were crunchy and with the mayonnaise cream, it really made a good combination of sweet, salty and creamy delight
2. Pork Ribs in two sauces
There were two versions of pork ribs – One version was marinated with honey ( or sweet fruit sauce ) and the other version cooked in coffee. These double taste ("yuan yang") pork ribs were delicious - crispy on the outside and tender with each bite. The coffee-flavoured coating on each rib was also generous.
3. Fried Eggplant with Pork Floss
The eggplant was sautéed to get the flavour and topped with fluffy pork floss. Quite an unique dish. It was not oily and the after taste was quite seductive that we ate non-stop until the next dish arrived.
4. Steamed Crab
This dish was the restaurant’s masterpiece and almost every table of diners ordered it. We were lucky to get Sri Lanka crabs steamed with fried glutinous rice, garlic and mushrooms. The whole dish was then presented in a dim sum basket. Although the glutinous rice was soaked with the sweetness of the crab, it was not soggy. Instead we found it to be very chewy when eaten with the strong aromatic garlic.
In all, the food were fantastically good with kudos to true wok hei ( fire ).
Ambience is average and service is bearable as most of the staff are employed from China. But all in all, with these yummy authentic Cantonese food, we can choose to remember only the good sides of things…
- 2 more comments »
Login to add your comment. Or, Register for an account now. It's free!U really makes it sound very good!
22 Apr 2008 at 9:53 pm
yah, swear by the prawns, crabs and fluffy pork floss... hee hee
22 Apr 2008 at 10:45 pm
whats the price like?
26 Apr 2008 at 4:24 pm
We were there for lunch and would like to enjoy nature but unfortunately because of the afternoon heat, we chose to dine in the air-conditioned section and at the same time admiring the great views of the various blooming orchids that were planted in the nearby garden.
We ordered Pollo Porcini, Aglio Olio Fish, Seafood Platter and Norwegian Salmon and Mushroom Soup.
When the soup was served, we stared at it and couldn’t believe that it is quite a big serving. This was not the normal cheap creamy mushroom-flavoured soup. Each spoonful was guaranteed to contain chunky bits of button and shitake mushroom.
When the main course were served, we were equally surprised on the generous portion of the food. The Pollo Porcini ( chicken breast with mushroom ) was very well marinated and it was balanced with vegetables to give a wholesome meal. The Norwegian Salmon was a thickly sliced piece which was pan-fried and accompanied by pasta. The Aglio Olio Fish ( grilled fish topped with spaghetti ) was quite presentable but the Seafood Platter was awesome. It consist of half a lobster, green mussels, fish fillet, fresh scallops ( with shells intact ) and calamari rings all grilled to perfection.
Total spending – about $140/- The cost maybe a bit on the high side for lunch but the freshness and generous portion of each dish was worth the price especially the chunky mushroom soup.
After a satisfying meal, we would like to take a small walk round the orchid garden but were told that admission fee of $3 per person was required. We were disappointed but realized that even Botanic Gardens charges $5/- to visit their National Orchid Garden.
This place is worth going back again as it is not easy to find another eatery that is far away from the busy, noisy and hectic environment. Morever, it is almost pollution-free and plenty of fresh air to breathe too.
- 3 more comments »
Login to add your comment. Or, Register for an account now. It's free!Sigh.... too bad the place is a bit ulu.
06 Apr 2008 at 8:29 pm
true lah.. but if you need a quiet and romantic place to dine, at least u know such place existed locally
22 Apr 2008 at 10:50 pm
woo.. romantic place to go. noted! haha. but whats the range for the mains?
26 Apr 2008 at 4:25 pm
Being kiasu, we went there at 5pm and were at the car park cruising for a lot when we realized that there was already a short queue at the side of the coffee shop.
When we started to queue, we saw that almost all tables were taken up. Some of the diners were staring at us with mouthful of bee hoon and every table has ordered at least one version of cooking the crabs.
We waited about half hour before we were handed the menu and advised to order while waiting for a table. We chose the highly recommended claypot crab with bee hoon , butter crabs, tapioca leaves fried in sambal and chicken meat wrapped in otah.
The butter crabs were first to be served and at one glance, we wondered whether we made the right choice instead of the usual black pepper or chillie crabs. The crabs were covered with this yellowish cream and decorated with two small corianders. But dipping one small man tou ( deep fried bun ) into the sauce and hmm…the strong butter gravy fried with curry leaves was fantastically sinful but delicious. A class of its own..
The fried tapioca leaves were superb spicy and goes well with the rice. Next, fried chicken meat thinly sliced with otah stuffed in the middle. It was crispy and the combination blended well too.
The main star attraction - claypot bee hoon was finally served. The buttery taste of the soup was unique and flooded with sweetness from the crabs. We totally enjoyed the crabs as they were meaty and surprisingly very fresh and juicy.
All in all, this place is worth the wait…
Login to add your comment. Or, Register for an account now. It's free!Yummy! Well written one! Makes me drool for crab! I'm sure andy will agree with me since he'd been craving for crab the entire day! haha!
25 Mar 2008 at 12:09 am
give this place a try. You wont regret it except maybe for the service
04 Apr 2008 at 12:09 am