A cosy cafe that serves super-delicious (macau styled) fast food situated conveniently between the bus interchange and the NEX shopping mall.
The beautiful Neon signboard coupled by the aroma of fried pork attracted us into this all new cafe. I fell in love with the interior deco which made it looked like a cafe by the street of macau and they even had lamp post for lighting. Like any fast food joints, you may sit freely and ordering can be done at the counter yet food is served by friendly staff and you don't have to pay for service charges. The place is pretty clean and seats are cosy, especially for butt-warmers like me who liked to chat away.
Ordering was simple and quick with the easy to read sign-board menu and we ordered quite a few signature items which arrived quickly and I must say of a good portion.
1)Curry FishBall - $4.90 are chewy fresh fishballs soaked in a bowl of curry which i find is more nonya styled curry. I love the milky and tangy taste of the curry and well fish balls are a good pairing.
2) 猪扒包 (Signature PorkChop Bun) - $6.90 is a good serving of carefully marinated porkchops cooked to its best sandwiched between 2 crispy buns. Tasted like what I ever had in Macau yet not as salty and while i chew on the soft pork chop, the aroma of spices and herbs lingered around even after I've finished. One good porkchop bun i must say...
3) Polo Pork Chop Bun - $6.90 is as good as the pork chop bun however the sweetish and super soft polo bun made the difference to the entire experience. Interesting combination of savoury and sweet.. delectable....
4) Macau Chicken Wing Noodles - $7.90 is a combination of specially made chewy noodles with a generous spread of marinated well executed mid part of the chicken wings. I find this dish the best value as its rather filling and have got loads of side ingredients (matter of fact i couldn't quite see the noodles beneath)
5) SawDust Cake - $3.50 with 2 flavours to choose from, this made an ultimate sweet ending to our lunch. The cake was more ice-creamy then anything with biscuit dust in various layers. Extremely interesting and not too sweet. Its a must try dessert...
The drinks selection was also good with HongKong styled Milk Teas and coffee and of course a variety of soft drinks. Its a pretty nice place to hang out with friends or if you are looking for a quick meal, this place serves delectable food in a fast pace.
We love the concept and the food was of good value, not to mention the good taste involved. Staff was attentive and gave good recommendations on our orders. Falling in love with it and will return to enjoy more of these macau styled yummy delights. Really affordable and worth it...
One of my favourite all new restaurants in Jurong Point, simply because the food is yummy, generous portions and lovely interior design that reminded of a similar jap - western fusion cafe that i loved to hang whenever I am in taichung, taiwan.
Wall papers that mimick red bricks and wooden furniture that age beautifully with time coupled by wooden booth seats with a menu drawer at the opening end that houses the menus simply made me fall in love with the place. Great for groups of friends to gather for a chit chat while noise containment was pretty okay though I could eves drop on my neighbours, please practice social etiquette by not speaking too rowdily.
The selection on the menu was really my kind as every dish seemed to appeal to me especially all day breakfast that appeared in an old fashioned plate/bowl with delectable pastries and poached eggs for some however for dinner we decided on the house pasta, a potato salad, cheese fondue and fried chicken.
The Kabe Pasta was amazingly yummy. Filled up to the brim with spaghetti and loads and loads of ingredient such as egg, sausage, minced meat with tomato based sauce and topped with a ball of cream, it is value for money and had an interestingly big taste.
The cheese fondue came in a candled pot of melted cheese sauce with a variety of breads to dip in. The melted cheese is a little diluted for my delight however tasted balance and delicious.
The potato salad is really yummy, cool and refreshing.
Fried chicken was crispy and of a good size, would recommend to order as you eat, though you have to wait for food preparation because I didn't stick to this rule and had always over ordered because everything on the menu is super yummy and the portion is always generous. You could also make your main a set by adding on a selection of sides like soup and salad, coffee or dessert or even additional noodles for a small fee.
I was always too ambitious, as such didn't managed to try any desserts which looked mouth watering from the display cabinet next to the counter.
I had heard about the rather exclusive (served in limited quantities on a first come first serve basis and only during lunch) but delicious lobster rolls at The Naked Finn and decided to try my luck one weekday afternoon.
But first, getting a table. Strolling into the place at 12pm sharp got me the very last counter seat. And boy was I grateful. The place is tiny, with approximately 10 counter seats and another 10 table seats inside the seemingly make shift premises. Outside there are probably another 10 seats but unfortunately those are not open during lunch.
Lobster Roll With Homemade Mayonnaise - 90g of warm, sweetly succulent lobster chunks wedged between a crisp on the outside yet soft on the inside, pan fried brioche that boasted a smooth butteriness. The dollop of homemade mayonnaise imbued a smooth and creamy finish with a nice piquant aftertaste. Very good! Only gripe I had was pertaining to the fries, which were double fried till extremely dry and in some cases, burnt. Good fries should retain a certain degree of moisture beneath a crisp surface in my humble opinion.
Lobster Roll With Crème Fraîche - As I was still hungry after my first lobster roll, I had a go at another one but this time opting for the other alternative on the menu; Lobster roll with crème fraîche instead of homemade mayonnaise. And the verdict? The crème fraîche was noticeably lighter on the palate but it killed the butteriness of the brioche and dulled the crustacean sweetness of the lobster. Homemade mayonnaise is definitely the way to go in my humble opinion. Did I also mention that shortly after my order was sent to the kitchen, the place ran out of lobster rolls for the day? And it was barely past 1pm!
ps: I skipped the fries, naturally.
A cholesterol level busting lunch cost just shy of $70, which isn't expensive for lobster rolls, especially in Singapore. Quality was very good and just a wee bit below that of Burger & Lobster in London but marginally better than Luke's Lobster in New York. Service was good and I liked that sky juice was served free of charge as well. There were other things on the menu that seemed interesting as well but somehow I can't quite reconcile paying almost $30 for a bowl of prawn noodles vis-à-vis topping up a few dollars more for a lobster roll. I'll definitely be back!
Update - And I went back 3 times in the space of 3 weeks, with varying degrees of quality in the fries (twice burnt and once perfectly fried with a touch of salt. Quality control issues?). The lobster rolls remained delicious though but during my third visit, the buns seemed to have lost a bit of their butteriness and came across as a tad dry.
A spanking new cafe located at the iconic shop houses along Tanjong Katong road was sprouting with young patrons from the nearby school munching on fried potatoes and soft serve. While I appreciate the hard metal frames of the industrial themed deco, I was pleasantly distracted by the aroma of freshly baked pastry that made my sweet tooth tingle.
The menu was interesting... though was a simple one page issue, it was packed with loads of interesting stuffs and I must mention interesting names. The selection was a good choice of appetizers and snacks, mains, a good array of unique desserts (*slurp*) and choice of chilling drinks. So we picked a few and our verdict below...
1) Oyster Mushroom (Quirky name: Mario Mario) $8 - is a deep fried appetizer, lightweight and crunchy, great to go down with a slush of coke while contributing to the ambient noise with our waggling tongues.
2) Garlic Wings (Quirky name:Dracular Wings) $12 - indeed made vampires run away from us as the wing is well seasoned, garlicky and savoury with juicy insides... slurplicious.....
3) Blue Cheese Burger (Quirky name: Blue Moo) $23 - our first mains that made us went gaga.... For blue cheese lover or not, you would love this burger as the minced beef patty well seasoned with blue cheese with a generous portion. Its quite a big burger and we loved it.
4) Thai Style Chicken (Quirky name: Agogo Chicks) $17 - didn't manage to make us dance the ah go go but our tongue tingled with great joy... Paired with buttery mash and poached veg, this is a very balanced dish and we love the concoction of spice on the chicken.
5) Coconut Butter Tart $9 - was one of the best tarts i've ever had, the buttery skin with warm gula melaka laced shreds of coconut balanced by a generous dose of soft serve and lemon sauce is simply heavenly... - definitely a must try... one of my favourite.....
6) Sticky Toffee pudding $9 - is like a date cake yet better... when drizzled with toffee sauce and topped with mix fruits and nuts. The pudding was soft and slightly spongy giving it a fabulous texture while its not too sweet. One of the pretty well executed date cakes I've ever eaten.... and this is also one of the MUST TRYS.. you will get hooked like me.....
Sure to return especially for fabulous desserts.... Though the appetizers and mains are nice... i'm mostly hooked on the desserts.. thanks to my sweetish dentals......
Great place to laze and have a cuppa coffee while watching the busy road outside. Place is comfy with plenty of seats for gathering of good friends. Love the windows and the industrialist look, feels relaxing and easy.
Punggol end used to be just Jumbo seafood, a roundabout for bus 82 and a place where I used to catch spiders when I was a kid. Now it has been revamped (and renamed to Punggol Promenade) to include a handful of restaurants and pubs, a cycling track/boardwalk and even a small scale supermarket. Upon a recommendation, the six of us dropped by Horizon Bistronomy for dinner one relatively quiet weekday evening.
Located on the second floor of the building and playing neighbours to a Thai food outlet and a pub, Horizon Bistronomy offers both indoors and alfresco seating, with the latter obviously being more popular due to an unblocked view of the Singapore/Johor Straits.
Chilled Crab Meat Angel Hair - To start, I had the crab meat angel hair, which came topped with three substantial chunks of chilled, crunchy crab meat and chorizo oil (pork sausage) that had bits of crisp chorizo for that nice bacon-like texture and taste. Finished off with salty, crunchy salmon roe. Although the angel hair had a touch of truffle oil which gave it a light fragrance and smoothness, it was a tad too thick in my humble opinion. Overall a very decent dish but not something I would go wow over.
Horizon Pork 2 Way - The two way refers to a 24hrs slow braised pork belly and a kurobuta pork tenderloin. The former was melt in your mouth tender and topped with mild grape mustard but as it had quite a substantial amount of fat, the nausea kicked in really quickly. I personally preferred the latter, which was tender with a nice smokey taste to it. The accompanying cauliflower puree was smooth but could do with a little butter. All in all, a pretty good dish!
Chocolate Textures - The name of this dessert brought back wonderful memories of Quay's rendition. But the end result was vastly different. A brownie like chocolate base topped with 66% valrhona chocolate mousse, seperated by a thin layer of orange marmalade and finished with a coffee sauce. Contrary to the menu's claim that this dessert is "simply divine!", the orange marmalade weighed in too strong on the flavours, effectively diluting the taste of the chocolate whilst the bitterness of the coffee sauce didn't quite jell with the whole dish in my humble opinion. Maybe a vanilla bean sauce would have been more appropriate?
Garden By The Bay - A chef's special that's not on the menu, the Garden By The Bay came looking like a few random greens growing out of a pot of soil. Beneath the soil (which is actually chocolate crumbs with bits of nuts) was a thick layer of smooth and light but rather bland vanilla mousse with strawberries, apple slices etc thrown into the mix. I personally liked the chocolate soil, which had a nice crunch coupled with a mild nutty flavour.
The 6 of us spent close to $250 which wasn't too expensive quantitatively but portion sizes did seem a tad small and quality was somewhat a mixed bag. Some items, like the pork and angel hair pasta, were decent but others, like the King of the Sea (not featured because I forgot to take a photo of it) came across as average (salmon was bland and king prawn wasn't fresh). Desserts are definitely not a forte at this place as well. On the upside, service was good with a great view to boot. That, coupled with the pork dish, might well be enough to warrant a revisit.
llao llao frozen yoghurt had just got into my list of favourite desserts. Despite the long queue which I quote a friend "is never ending one! You queue, it will move one" is an exclamation of her addiction for the thirst she always have for llao llao, is one dessert you can never get sick of.
So here we are at this spanking new outlet with the never ending queue, got into the queue with the other excited girls and indecisive men considering the toppings and sauces they want on their froyos.... The selection menu is a simple choice of sizes and ready mix of concocted sundaes... So it could be confusing and I say... forget about the rest just go for the standard S, M, L, sizes where you get a standard 1,2 or 3 toppings according to sizes.
However watching people walk out with these plastic cups filled with colourful toppings made me wonder and alas... i ordered a SANUM which gave me a choice of a crunch, 3 toppings and a sauce sandwiched in yummy frozen yogurt.
My favourite combination would be:
Crunch: Caramelized SunFlower seeds
Fruits: Kiwi, Strawberry, Blue Berry
Sauce: Caramel or Rum & Raisin.
I must say Sanum looked too pretty and every mouthful is filled with toppings. The froyo is creamy and yummy while the sauce is a tad too sweet but i simply couldn't resist the rum and raisin sauce...
It was really yummy and this outlet has got quite some space for seats which made me very happy overlooking the Jurong East MRT...
Great location, superlicious frozen yoghurt, great fast service and reasonable prices... Its WORTH IT for the size... loved it and will go back for more.... (no wonder the super long forever queues)
This is a place where we call little thailand in Singapore and not without much truths. A shopping mall that has been around since I was a little girl, depicted by a thai god shrine outside of the building and lots of tourist bus that goes as far as Thailand.
I could faintly remember taking coaches from here to Genting Highlands and even Penang when I was rather tiny, the feeling of excitement and anticipation that comes with it. Now as I revisit the place I found the outside a little older n dirtier than many other malls in Singapore yet there are many treasures hidden inside.
The first nice smell i recognise despite some weird sourish and stale notes was flowers, yes.. frangipani I guess that came from a stall which sold decorations and wares for worship and BBQ meat.... Yes, this place has many stalls that sells authentic thai food owned by thai migrants and we couldn't help but had to seat down for a good meal of Mookata, Thai mango / papaya salad, tomyum soup and green curry. Food served are of a generous portion of spice and herbs... authentically thai.
While we finished our dinner we took a walk around and spotted some thai discos that served thai beer and music. Pretty interesting and loaded with flower garlands that you could use to honor a good singer. There is also a supermarket upstairs that sell a good range of anything you want to find in thailand. I found some green curry instant noodles and even vietnamese instant pho and of course yummy snacks from thailand like dried banana crisps. The supermarket also has a fresh food in cold storage section as such we spotted some weird animal parts and fresh seafood.
Apart from these, we managed to find some BBQ sausage that apparently don't look too cook. Its kinda like seasoned raw meat sausages that is pan fried outside but inside is a moist meat. I ate it and my tummy took it well. Lastly, there are many smaller shops that sells authentic thai fashion and hand made stuffs and even thai boxing gear... I heard of a muay thai gym around level 2 but have yet to find it....
Its a pretty interesting place to walk around if you have some time to spare and yes... great thai food. But the place does smell alittle funny and I didn't use the toilet and I didn't have the guts...*strong bladder strong bladder* otherwise you could pop by food centre opposite the road by crossing the overhead bridge or even the community centre which I guess would have nicer and cleaner loos.
I've had popcorns all my life, be it at the circus or in the movie theatres but Garrett had indeed brought this healthy everyday snack into somewhat a higher level of tastiness and well... its now richer and more fattening but I simply couldn't help my mouth...
Walking down this crispy cool corridor of the City Link mall, I could detect a faint hint of burnt caramel which was quite pleasing to my sweet tooth and as i approach the stall, the fragrance of this aromatically sweet dessert snack simply filled up my senses.
While I stood there taking in as much as I could this delicious aroma of caramel and butter... a sweet smiling staff offered me a small cup popcorn and proceeded to introduce to me the different flavours and even better she offered to let me try each of them.
So I tried:
1) Plain Buttered - Was crunchy and nice with fragrant buttery taste 2) Caramel Flavoured- This is my favourite, its crispy and every popcorn is coated with a thick layer of caramel and butter... extremely addictive 3) Cheese Flavoured - Coated my fingers with a layer of yellowish cheese powder... totally tamed our savoury rush 4) Caramel with almonds or Macademia - no joke, the nuts are plentiful and we loved it.
We got ourselves a medium bag and the staff scooped our corns into this resealable bag in royal blue...
Though its a little pricier then what we get elsewhere, its totally worth it. corns and fresh and crunchy and generous with the toppings... loving it in everywhere... I'm off to buy more for myself... Beware.. super addictive...
Inagiku was long gone (since 2012) and in its place, Mikuni, a Japanese restaurant helmed by Executive Chef Moon Kyung Soo (who is Korean by the way). After seeing all the wonderful reviews about the place (mostly invites though), we decided to drop by for lunch one weekday afternoon.
I really don't know how to begin describing the interior of Mikuni. It had sort of a weird vibe to it, like they couldn't decide whether to make it techno-ish or modern Japanese (what's with the blue overhanging lights?) and tables were placed relatively close to each other. I could make out what the tables to our left and right were talking about which was quite a turn off in my humble opinion, the tron legacy lights notwithstanding (reminded me a little of Eva Air's Infinity Lounge @ Taipei as well).
Appetiser - And we started off with a bowl of complimentary salad and some thin, crustacean crisps (I believe it was ebi) with dashes of spice. Pretty nice.
Sashimi Set - Very fresh sashimi; Tuna, creamily smooth sea urchin, salmon, swordfish, squid and amberjack. Need I say more? Served with a cup of chawanmushi (more on that later) and a rather tasty agedashi tofu sporting a somewhat elastic skin.
Australian Beef & Ebi Ougon Sauce Set - Although portions were a tad dainty, this teppanyaki set offered a pretty good sampling of beef and prawn. The beef was tender and flavourful with bits of fat even though it came almost well done instead of my requested medium. However, the highlight was the prawns; Fresh, crunchy and smothered in creamy yet lightly savoury golden sauce (The old Inagiku's rendition was slightly richer and better in my humble opinion though). I personally loved the addition of the fried garlic chips to the dish for that strong garlic infusion and crunch.
The set also included a bowl of fragrant garlic fried rich and a cup of chawanmushi, with the latter silky smooth with bits of prawn and meat inside without coming across as too eggy.
Espresso Ice Cream & Petit Fours - I'm usually not a big fan of coffee ice creams but the espresso ice cream was pretty good; Not too strong or acidic and went well with the blob of cream in the center. Biscuit crumbs atop provided a nice crunchy texture to the equation.
The petit fours included rather interesting red bean squares that had a smooth, melt in your mouth texture (similar to paste) but appeared gelatin like. Matcha balls (matcha cream encapsulated by a thin white chocolate shell and dusted with matcha powder) completed the picture and I personally liked how the bitterness of the matcha complemented the sweetness of the chocolate.
If it wasn't for the Feed At Raffles discount, our lunch would have been exorbitantly priced. Thankfully, with the 50% discount, it was a more affordable $103 for two. Food quality was pretty decent but I wouldn't describe it as mind blowing. More like reliable if you ask me. Service was good but the ambience wasn't ideal (lose the blue lights please). However, at such a price point (with the 50% discount) and food quality, I'll be inclined to return.
I was lured by the 6 for $12 promo and yes I got myself a box of 6 different flavors as I'm not sure which one i should choose.
Its pretty much like donuts with fudge and toppings luxuriously creamed on top and well, the flavors a available could be pretty confusing.
The cinnamon buns at the bottom are pretty big and while the lady packed up my box, i noticed my toppings got messed up by the box cover but well.... a sweet mess sounds yummy....
So i brought the bulky box home and while I shared with my family, this pretty mess... we simply couldn't finish the entire box even when there is 5 of us with 6 star cinnamon buns. The buns are fluffy with a heavy texture and laced with loads of sugar. The toppings generous but I find them too drippy... and well way too sweet a combi.
It was too much to eat and we kinda felt sick half way through it. The sweetest flavor I experienced would be the caramel cheese and the double chocolate was overwhelming... perhaps they should consider using bitter chocolate to balance the taste of the full bodied cinnamon bun.
It kinda felt a little too sugary for me... and i'm cutting down on flab!!!
1=SGD 0.0587
A cosy cafe that serves super-delicious (macau styled) fast food situated conveniently between the bus interchange and the NEX shopping mall.
The beautiful Neon signboard coupled by the aroma of fried pork attracted us into this all new cafe. I fell in love with the interior deco which made it looked like a cafe by the street of macau and they even had lamp post for lighting. Like any fast food joints, you may sit freely and ordering can be done at the counter yet food is served by friendly staff and you don't have to pay for service charges. The place is pretty clean and seats are cosy, especially for butt-warmers like me who liked to chat away.
Ordering was simple and quick with the easy to read sign-board menu and we ordered quite a few signature items which arrived quickly and I must say of a good portion.
1)Curry FishBall - $4.90 are chewy fresh fishballs soaked in a bowl of curry which i find is more nonya styled curry. I love the milky and tangy taste of the curry and well fish balls are a good pairing.
2) 猪扒包 (Signature PorkChop Bun) - $6.90 is a good serving of carefully marinated porkchops cooked to its best sandwiched between 2 crispy buns. Tasted like what I ever had in Macau yet not as salty and while i chew on the soft pork chop, the aroma of spices and herbs lingered around even after I've finished. One good porkchop bun i must say...
3) Polo Pork Chop Bun - $6.90 is as good as the pork chop bun however the sweetish and super soft polo bun made the difference to the entire experience. Interesting combination of savoury and sweet.. delectable....
4) Macau Chicken Wing Noodles - $7.90 is a combination of specially made chewy noodles with a generous spread of marinated well executed mid part of the chicken wings. I find this dish the best value as its rather filling and have got loads of side ingredients (matter of fact i couldn't quite see the noodles beneath)
5) SawDust Cake - $3.50 with 2 flavours to choose from, this made an ultimate sweet ending to our lunch. The cake was more ice-creamy then anything with biscuit dust in various layers. Extremely interesting and not too sweet. Its a must try dessert...
The drinks selection was also good with HongKong styled Milk Teas and coffee and of course a variety of soft drinks. Its a pretty nice place to hang out with friends or if you are looking for a quick meal, this place serves delectable food in a fast pace.
We love the concept and the food was of good value, not to mention the good taste involved. Staff was attentive and gave good recommendations on our orders. Falling in love with it and will return to enjoy more of these macau styled yummy delights. Really affordable and worth it...
Rating given:
One of my favourite all new restaurants in Jurong Point, simply because the food is yummy, generous portions and lovely interior design that reminded of a similar jap - western fusion cafe that i loved to hang whenever I am in taichung, taiwan.
Wall papers that mimick red bricks and wooden furniture that age beautifully with time coupled by wooden booth seats with a menu drawer at the opening end that houses the menus simply made me fall in love with the place. Great for groups of friends to gather for a chit chat while noise containment was pretty okay though I could eves drop on my neighbours, please practice social etiquette by not speaking too rowdily.
The selection on the menu was really my kind as every dish seemed to appeal to me especially all day breakfast that appeared in an old fashioned plate/bowl with delectable pastries and poached eggs for some however for dinner we decided on the house pasta, a potato salad, cheese fondue and fried chicken.
The Kabe Pasta was amazingly yummy. Filled up to the brim with spaghetti and loads and loads of ingredient such as egg, sausage, minced meat with tomato based sauce and topped with a ball of cream, it is value for money and had an interestingly big taste.
The cheese fondue came in a candled pot of melted cheese sauce with a variety of breads to dip in. The melted cheese is a little diluted for my delight however tasted balance and delicious.
The potato salad is really yummy, cool and refreshing.
Fried chicken was crispy and of a good size, would recommend to order as you eat, though you have to wait for food preparation because I didn't stick to this rule and had always over ordered because everything on the menu is super yummy and the portion is always generous. You could also make your main a set by adding on a selection of sides like soup and salad, coffee or dessert or even additional noodles for a small fee.
I was always too ambitious, as such didn't managed to try any desserts which looked mouth watering from the display cabinet next to the counter.
Service is good, friendly and prompt.
Will sure to return with or without friends....
Rating given:
I had heard about the rather exclusive (served in limited quantities on a first come first serve basis and only during lunch) but delicious lobster rolls at The Naked Finn and decided to try my luck one weekday afternoon.
But first, getting a table. Strolling into the place at 12pm sharp got me the very last counter seat. And boy was I grateful. The place is tiny, with approximately 10 counter seats and another 10 table seats inside the seemingly make shift premises. Outside there are probably another 10 seats but unfortunately those are not open during lunch.
Lobster Roll With Homemade Mayonnaise - 90g of warm, sweetly succulent lobster chunks wedged between a crisp on the outside yet soft on the inside, pan fried brioche that boasted a smooth butteriness. The dollop of homemade mayonnaise imbued a smooth and creamy finish with a nice piquant aftertaste. Very good! Only gripe I had was pertaining to the fries, which were double fried till extremely dry and in some cases, burnt. Good fries should retain a certain degree of moisture beneath a crisp surface in my humble opinion.
Lobster Roll With Crème Fraîche - As I was still hungry after my first lobster roll, I had a go at another one but this time opting for the other alternative on the menu; Lobster roll with crème fraîche instead of homemade mayonnaise. And the verdict? The crème fraîche was noticeably lighter on the palate but it killed the butteriness of the brioche and dulled the crustacean sweetness of the lobster. Homemade mayonnaise is definitely the way to go in my humble opinion. Did I also mention that shortly after my order was sent to the kitchen, the place ran out of lobster rolls for the day? And it was barely past 1pm!
ps: I skipped the fries, naturally.
A cholesterol level busting lunch cost just shy of $70, which isn't expensive for lobster rolls, especially in Singapore. Quality was very good and just a wee bit below that of Burger & Lobster in London but marginally better than Luke's Lobster in New York. Service was good and I liked that sky juice was served free of charge as well. There were other things on the menu that seemed interesting as well but somehow I can't quite reconcile paying almost $30 for a bowl of prawn noodles vis-à-vis topping up a few dollars more for a lobster roll. I'll definitely be back!
Update - And I went back 3 times in the space of 3 weeks, with varying degrees of quality in the fries (twice burnt and once perfectly fried with a touch of salt. Quality control issues?). The lobster rolls remained delicious though but during my third visit, the buns seemed to have lost a bit of their butteriness and came across as a tad dry.
See all my pictures here.
Rating given:
A spanking new cafe located at the iconic shop houses along Tanjong Katong road was sprouting with young patrons from the nearby school munching on fried potatoes and soft serve. While I appreciate the hard metal frames of the industrial themed deco, I was pleasantly distracted by the aroma of freshly baked pastry that made my sweet tooth tingle.
The menu was interesting... though was a simple one page issue, it was packed with loads of interesting stuffs and I must mention interesting names. The selection was a good choice of appetizers and snacks, mains, a good array of unique desserts (*slurp*) and choice of chilling drinks. So we picked a few and our verdict below...
1) Oyster Mushroom (Quirky name: Mario Mario) $8 - is a deep fried appetizer, lightweight and crunchy, great to go down with a slush of coke while contributing to the ambient noise with our waggling tongues.
2) Garlic Wings (Quirky name:Dracular Wings) $12 - indeed made vampires run away from us as the wing is well seasoned, garlicky and savoury with juicy insides... slurplicious.....
3) Blue Cheese Burger (Quirky name: Blue Moo) $23 - our first mains that made us went gaga.... For blue cheese lover or not, you would love this burger as the minced beef patty well seasoned with blue cheese with a generous portion. Its quite a big burger and we loved it.
4) Thai Style Chicken (Quirky name: Agogo Chicks) $17 - didn't manage to make us dance the ah go go but our tongue tingled with great joy... Paired with buttery mash and poached veg, this is a very balanced dish and we love the concoction of spice on the chicken.
5) Coconut Butter Tart $9 - was one of the best tarts i've ever had, the buttery skin with warm gula melaka laced shreds of coconut balanced by a generous dose of soft serve and lemon sauce is simply heavenly... - definitely a must try... one of my favourite.....
6) Sticky Toffee pudding $9 - is like a date cake yet better... when drizzled with toffee sauce and topped with mix fruits and nuts. The pudding was soft and slightly spongy giving it a fabulous texture while its not too sweet. One of the pretty well executed date cakes I've ever eaten.... and this is also one of the MUST TRYS.. you will get hooked like me.....
Sure to return especially for fabulous desserts.... Though the appetizers and mains are nice... i'm mostly hooked on the desserts.. thanks to my sweetish dentals......
Great place to laze and have a cuppa coffee while watching the busy road outside. Place is comfy with plenty of seats for gathering of good friends. Love the windows and the industrialist look, feels relaxing and easy.
Rating given:
Punggol end used to be just Jumbo seafood, a roundabout for bus 82 and a place where I used to catch spiders when I was a kid. Now it has been revamped (and renamed to Punggol Promenade) to include a handful of restaurants and pubs, a cycling track/boardwalk and even a small scale supermarket. Upon a recommendation, the six of us dropped by Horizon Bistronomy for dinner one relatively quiet weekday evening.
Located on the second floor of the building and playing neighbours to a Thai food outlet and a pub, Horizon Bistronomy offers both indoors and alfresco seating, with the latter obviously being more popular due to an unblocked view of the Singapore/Johor Straits.
Chilled Crab Meat Angel Hair - To start, I had the crab meat angel hair, which came topped with three substantial chunks of chilled, crunchy crab meat and chorizo oil (pork sausage) that had bits of crisp chorizo for that nice bacon-like texture and taste. Finished off with salty, crunchy salmon roe. Although the angel hair had a touch of truffle oil which gave it a light fragrance and smoothness, it was a tad too thick in my humble opinion. Overall a very decent dish but not something I would go wow over.
Horizon Pork 2 Way - The two way refers to a 24hrs slow braised pork belly and a kurobuta pork tenderloin. The former was melt in your mouth tender and topped with mild grape mustard but as it had quite a substantial amount of fat, the nausea kicked in really quickly. I personally preferred the latter, which was tender with a nice smokey taste to it. The accompanying cauliflower puree was smooth but could do with a little butter. All in all, a pretty good dish!
Chocolate Textures - The name of this dessert brought back wonderful memories of Quay's rendition. But the end result was vastly different. A brownie like chocolate base topped with 66% valrhona chocolate mousse, seperated by a thin layer of orange marmalade and finished with a coffee sauce. Contrary to the menu's claim that this dessert is "simply divine!", the orange marmalade weighed in too strong on the flavours, effectively diluting the taste of the chocolate whilst the bitterness of the coffee sauce didn't quite jell with the whole dish in my humble opinion. Maybe a vanilla bean sauce would have been more appropriate?
Garden By The Bay - A chef's special that's not on the menu, the Garden By The Bay came looking like a few random greens growing out of a pot of soil. Beneath the soil (which is actually chocolate crumbs with bits of nuts) was a thick layer of smooth and light but rather bland vanilla mousse with strawberries, apple slices etc thrown into the mix. I personally liked the chocolate soil, which had a nice crunch coupled with a mild nutty flavour.
The 6 of us spent close to $250 which wasn't too expensive quantitatively but portion sizes did seem a tad small and quality was somewhat a mixed bag. Some items, like the pork and angel hair pasta, were decent but others, like the King of the Sea (not featured because I forgot to take a photo of it) came across as average (salmon was bland and king prawn wasn't fresh). Desserts are definitely not a forte at this place as well. On the upside, service was good with a great view to boot. That, coupled with the pork dish, might well be enough to warrant a revisit.
See all my pictures here.
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llao llao frozen yoghurt had just got into my list of favourite desserts. Despite the long queue which I quote a friend "is never ending one! You queue, it will move one" is an exclamation of her addiction for the thirst she always have for llao llao, is one dessert you can never get sick of.
So here we are at this spanking new outlet with the never ending queue, got into the queue with the other excited girls and indecisive men considering the toppings and sauces they want on their froyos.... The selection menu is a simple choice of sizes and ready mix of concocted sundaes... So it could be confusing and I say... forget about the rest just go for the standard S, M, L, sizes where you get a standard 1,2 or 3 toppings according to sizes.
However watching people walk out with these plastic cups filled with colourful toppings made me wonder and alas... i ordered a SANUM which gave me a choice of a crunch, 3 toppings and a sauce sandwiched in yummy frozen yogurt.
My favourite combination would be:
Crunch: Caramelized SunFlower seeds
Fruits: Kiwi, Strawberry, Blue Berry
Sauce: Caramel or Rum & Raisin.
I must say Sanum looked too pretty and every mouthful is filled with toppings. The froyo is creamy and yummy while the sauce is a tad too sweet but i simply couldn't resist the rum and raisin sauce...
It was really yummy and this outlet has got quite some space for seats which made me very happy overlooking the Jurong East MRT...
Great location, superlicious frozen yoghurt, great fast service and reasonable prices... Its WORTH IT for the size... loved it and will go back for more.... (no wonder the super long forever queues)
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This is a place where we call little thailand in Singapore and not without much truths. A shopping mall that has been around since I was a little girl, depicted by a thai god shrine outside of the building and lots of tourist bus that goes as far as Thailand.
I could faintly remember taking coaches from here to Genting Highlands and even Penang when I was rather tiny, the feeling of excitement and anticipation that comes with it. Now as I revisit the place I found the outside a little older n dirtier than many other malls in Singapore yet there are many treasures hidden inside.
The first nice smell i recognise despite some weird sourish and stale notes was flowers, yes.. frangipani I guess that came from a stall which sold decorations and wares for worship and BBQ meat.... Yes, this place has many stalls that sells authentic thai food owned by thai migrants and we couldn't help but had to seat down for a good meal of Mookata, Thai mango / papaya salad, tomyum soup and green curry. Food served are of a generous portion of spice and herbs... authentically thai.
While we finished our dinner we took a walk around and spotted some thai discos that served thai beer and music. Pretty interesting and loaded with flower garlands that you could use to honor a good singer. There is also a supermarket upstairs that sell a good range of anything you want to find in thailand. I found some green curry instant noodles and even vietnamese instant pho and of course yummy snacks from thailand like dried banana crisps. The supermarket also has a fresh food in cold storage section as such we spotted some weird animal parts and fresh seafood.
Apart from these, we managed to find some BBQ sausage that apparently don't look too cook. Its kinda like seasoned raw meat sausages that is pan fried outside but inside is a moist meat. I ate it and my tummy took it well. Lastly, there are many smaller shops that sells authentic thai fashion and hand made stuffs and even thai boxing gear... I heard of a muay thai gym around level 2 but have yet to find it....
Its a pretty interesting place to walk around if you have some time to spare and yes... great thai food. But the place does smell alittle funny and I didn't use the toilet and I didn't have the guts...*strong bladder strong bladder* otherwise you could pop by food centre opposite the road by crossing the overhead bridge or even the community centre which I guess would have nicer and cleaner loos.
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Revolutionizing popcorns...
I've had popcorns all my life, be it at the circus or in the movie theatres but Garrett had indeed brought this healthy everyday snack into somewhat a higher level of tastiness and well... its now richer and more fattening but I simply couldn't help my mouth...
Walking down this crispy cool corridor of the City Link mall, I could detect a faint hint of burnt caramel which was quite pleasing to my sweet tooth and as i approach the stall, the fragrance of this aromatically sweet dessert snack simply filled up my senses.
While I stood there taking in as much as I could this delicious aroma of caramel and butter... a sweet smiling staff offered me a small cup popcorn and proceeded to introduce to me the different flavours and even better she offered to let me try each of them.
So I tried:
1) Plain Buttered - Was crunchy and nice with fragrant buttery taste
2) Caramel Flavoured- This is my favourite, its crispy and every popcorn is coated with a thick layer of caramel and butter... extremely addictive
3) Cheese Flavoured - Coated my fingers with a layer of yellowish cheese powder... totally tamed our savoury rush
4) Caramel with almonds or Macademia - no joke, the nuts are plentiful and we loved it.
We got ourselves a medium bag and the staff scooped our corns into this resealable bag in royal blue...
Though its a little pricier then what we get elsewhere, its totally worth it. corns and fresh and crunchy and generous with the toppings... loving it in everywhere... I'm off to buy more for myself...
Beware.. super addictive...
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Inagiku was long gone (since 2012) and in its place, Mikuni, a Japanese restaurant helmed by Executive Chef Moon Kyung Soo (who is Korean by the way). After seeing all the wonderful reviews about the place (mostly invites though), we decided to drop by for lunch one weekday afternoon.
I really don't know how to begin describing the interior of Mikuni. It had sort of a weird vibe to it, like they couldn't decide whether to make it techno-ish or modern Japanese (what's with the blue overhanging lights?) and tables were placed relatively close to each other. I could make out what the tables to our left and right were talking about which was quite a turn off in my humble opinion, the tron legacy lights notwithstanding (reminded me a little of Eva Air's Infinity Lounge @ Taipei as well).
Appetiser - And we started off with a bowl of complimentary salad and some thin, crustacean crisps (I believe it was ebi) with dashes of spice. Pretty nice.
Sashimi Set - Very fresh sashimi; Tuna, creamily smooth sea urchin, salmon, swordfish, squid and amberjack. Need I say more? Served with a cup of chawanmushi (more on that later) and a rather tasty agedashi tofu sporting a somewhat elastic skin.
Australian Beef & Ebi Ougon Sauce Set - Although portions were a tad dainty, this teppanyaki set offered a pretty good sampling of beef and prawn. The beef was tender and flavourful with bits of fat even though it came almost well done instead of my requested medium. However, the highlight was the prawns; Fresh, crunchy and smothered in creamy yet lightly savoury golden sauce (The old Inagiku's rendition was slightly richer and better in my humble opinion though). I personally loved the addition of the fried garlic chips to the dish for that strong garlic infusion and crunch.
The set also included a bowl of fragrant garlic fried rich and a cup of chawanmushi, with the latter silky smooth with bits of prawn and meat inside without coming across as too eggy.
Espresso Ice Cream & Petit Fours - I'm usually not a big fan of coffee ice creams but the espresso ice cream was pretty good; Not too strong or acidic and went well with the blob of cream in the center. Biscuit crumbs atop provided a nice crunchy texture to the equation.
The petit fours included rather interesting red bean squares that had a smooth, melt in your mouth texture (similar to paste) but appeared gelatin like. Matcha balls (matcha cream encapsulated by a thin white chocolate shell and dusted with matcha powder) completed the picture and I personally liked how the bitterness of the matcha complemented the sweetness of the chocolate.
If it wasn't for the Feed At Raffles discount, our lunch would have been exorbitantly priced. Thankfully, with the 50% discount, it was a more affordable $103 for two. Food quality was pretty decent but I wouldn't describe it as mind blowing. More like reliable if you ask me. Service was good but the ambience wasn't ideal (lose the blue lights please). However, at such a price point (with the 50% discount) and food quality, I'll be inclined to return.
See all my pictures here.
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I was lured by the 6 for $12 promo and yes I got myself a box of 6 different flavors as I'm not sure which one i should choose.
Its pretty much like donuts with fudge and toppings luxuriously creamed on top and well, the flavors a available could be pretty confusing.
The cinnamon buns at the bottom are pretty big and while the lady packed up my box, i noticed my toppings got messed up by the box cover but well.... a sweet mess sounds yummy....
So i brought the bulky box home and while I shared with my family, this pretty mess... we simply couldn't finish the entire box even when there is 5 of us with 6 star cinnamon buns. The buns are fluffy with a heavy texture and laced with loads of sugar. The toppings generous but I find them too drippy... and well way too sweet a combi.
It was too much to eat and we kinda felt sick half way through it. The sweetest flavor I experienced would be the caramel cheese and the double chocolate was overwhelming... perhaps they should consider using bitter chocolate to balance the taste of the full bodied cinnamon bun.
It kinda felt a little too sugary for me... and i'm cutting down on flab!!!
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