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Helmet's Reviews

       23 Oct 2009 at 10:52 am
    Category: Fusion, Steakhouses
    candice candice says:

    This steakhouse is one of the most underrated gems of Serangoon Gardens. It's been there for as long as I remember, since I first moved into the area when I was about 11.

    In truth, I haven't been to Borshch in years. With so much good food along Serangoon Gardens, this little Steakhouse with almost opaque black windows tends to get overlooked.

    Once you step in, you'd find that it looks like a typical old school Hong Kong cafe. Decor and ambience isn't much to talk about, but it's the food I'm here for.

    So how does a $13.80 Set Dinner sound? Pretty affordable? Well here's what they served:

    Caviar with Egg
    Nothing much to rave about. A little blob of caviar on a nicely carved egg, served with salad.

    Borsch Soup
    My very first memory of this place is its borsch soup - it's hard to describe, hard to explain. Definitely not fresh out of a can, try it for yourself to know what I mean.

    Sirloin Steak
    Served with fries and long beans on a hot plate, the slice of steak is small (hey, remember you're not paying much) but potent. Sizzling with a slab of butter of top, it's a cheap little slice of heaven. The mixture of butter and steak melts so well in your mouth.

    Fancy Pancake
    A small crepe-like sweet pancake topped with whipped cream, a little slice of cherry and peach, with a banana wedged in between. Perfect sweet dessert to a savoury meal!

    Hot Tea
    Tastes like Lipton tea. I don't know about you, but there's something very satisfying about sipping hot tea after a nice full meal.

    I suppose with its Executive, Supreme and normal set dinners, it really is quite value for money to dine at Borshch. You should try it out for yourself - just manage your expectations and don't expect too much just because it's a restaurant. Think of it as a air-conditioned coffee shop and you'll realise that the food there is really a steal.

    If you're curious about its exact location, it sits along the same row as the Guardian pharmacy and Sushi Tei, if I'm not wrong. It's at the car park opposite the bus stop, actually. It's pretty nondescript so you've got to keep an eye out.


    Rating given:Rating: 4 out of 5Rating: 4 out of 5Rating: 4 out of 5Rating: 4 out of 5Rating: 4 out of 5

       20 Oct 2009 at 3:26 pm
    candice candice says:

    This zi char stall has many outlets - I'm not sure about the others, but short of having a gun pointed to your head, I suggest you give this one a wide berth.

    You may have heard of this zi char stall - it has been featured on some TV shows. That's how my mom came across it, and that's how we ended up patronizing this stall on a Monday night. Now hear my tale of extremely bad customer service from a business who doesn't believe that pissing off customers is bad for business.

    We ordered the dishes featured on TV - some sort of stir-fried, long bean lookalike served with pork floss, flat roasted chicken, milk powdered crayfish and some other form of fish.

    Let me mention up front that those dishes were average at best, the chicken was tough and not the least bit juicy, while the long bean lookalike was just mediocre. The milk powdered crayfish does deserve special mention, banking purely on its novelty rather than taste. I like the combination, but I have an inkling that other zi char stalls might fare better if they took a shot at this dish.

    What about the fish, you say? Well, it never did arrive. We almost finished the three aforementioned dishes and the fish still wasn't here. This was half an hour after they served the first dish. So, we asked one waitress where our fish was, and she never got back to us. We asked a second one, and she never got back either.

    The third time round, my dad went to the counter to ask about the fish again, but was told that it was "coming soon". After waiting another 10 minutes, we decided to cancel the order of the fish since there was no point waiting. Do note - no apologies were offered.

    At this point, I was still trying to finish my milk powder crayfish when the waitress promptly brought the bill to our table. Now I was pissed. I told her that we have not called for the bill yet, and just because we canceled our order of fish, were they afraid that we were going to run away without paying?

    Still no apologies from any of them. This was absolutely ridiculous, it was absurd to treat customers this way. We weren't even being difficult when we asked for our fish, we were just, clearly, tired of waiting.

    With incredulously rude staff & sub par food standards, I don't believe I'll ever step anywhere near this stall ever again and I suggest you don't either.


    Rating given:Rating: 1 out of 5Rating: 1 out of 5Rating: 1 out of 5Rating: 1 out of 5Rating: 1 out of 5

       16 Oct 2009 at 2:27 pm
    Category: Japanese
    candice candice says:

    Ok a little trivia for you buffet addicts... Did you know... This is one of the few branches of Sakae Sushi that offers weekday buffet dinner?

    Now before you condemn me, let me tell you that this outlet's food is actually decent. I know that Sakae Sushi has a bad reputation with foodies, but it's really quite okay. Palatable, at least. And much better than the one at Raffles Place, which also offers weekday dinner buffets.

    So if you're someone with easy-to-please taste buds, you should try it out.

    Gotta warn you that the service isn't much to speak of, and do not, I repeat, DO NOT under the pain of death order the Maguro. I have never been so repulsed by sashimi before. Instead of being a deep red, it was a dull brown and tasted days old.

    The salmon is okay though, go ahead and stuff your faces with the rest of the buffet menu, it's pretty safe.

    If you do intend to head there in a group, make a reservation in advance, seats are limited (:


    Rating given:Rating: 3 out of 5Rating: 3 out of 5Rating: 3 out of 5Rating: 3 out of 5Rating: 3 out of 5

       13 Oct 2009 at 10:56 am
    Category: Indian
    candice candice says:

    Definitely my favourite, favourite, FAVOURITE prata place of all time.

    Casuarina Curry and RK Eating House do make it into my charts, but sorry, the top spot still belongs to THE Roti Prata House.

    Their crispy prata is legendary. Crispy but not too oily and served with chicken curry, it has long been the subject of many of my late night cravings.

    My love affair with The Roti Prata House began when I was just a young girl of five. My parents would bring us here every Sunday for breakfast, and boy was it good. We always had several crispy pratas and the formidable mutton curry.

    Many many years later, since evolving from an early bird to a night owl, The Roti Prata House is ideal for supper any time of the night since it opens 24/7. Their maggi goreng packs a punch, paper prata is awesome, plaster prata is good too, and their milo & horlicks dinosaur is definitely diabetes-inducing.

    A great place for sinful indulgence (:

    New drivers beware - parallel parking only ;)


    Rating given:Rating: 5 out of 5Rating: 5 out of 5Rating: 5 out of 5Rating: 5 out of 5Rating: 5 out of 5

       08 Oct 2009 at 2:49 pm
    Category: Fishing
    candice candice says:

    Prawning, prawning. What an experience! It's nothing like fishing I must say.

    It's extremely commercialized for one, but for some strange reason extremely addictive. I found myself going back to that place two nights in a row.

    There are a few ponds there, but I like going to the one down the back alley and stairs because the barbecue pits are right next to the ponds.

    So here's how it works - you pick a rod, check the number on it, go to the counter and pay for the number of hours you want to rent it.

    1 hour - $15
    2 hours - $25
    3 hours - $30

    It's definitely more economical to get the 3 hour package, because seriously, how many prawns can you catch in a hour? I took one hour on my first visit, and ended up with four prawns. It was embarrassing to say the least.

    Okay, once you've gotten your rods, get the bait (chicken heart I think?) from the counter, find an auspicious spot, pull a chair and sit and wait.

    Read my full and comprehensive prawning guide here.

    Don't worry about there being not enough prawns in the ponds - they release live prawns into each pond every hour.

    If you've got time and cash to spare, you definitely have to try this out. It's a bit pricey but worth the experience (:

    It's open 24 hours and shares the same car park as the driving range next to Bishan Park, so it's quite hard to miss this place!


    Rating given:Rating: 4 out of 5Rating: 4 out of 5Rating: 4 out of 5Rating: 4 out of 5Rating: 4 out of 5

       25 Sep 2009 at 5:49 pm
    Category: Japanese
    candice candice says:

    It seems to me that Orchard Central has quite a number of Japanese Restaurants, so much so that shoppers are totally spoilt for choice!

    Anyhow, we decided on Tonkichi because firstly, it looked damn good. Secondly, there was a long queue, and thirdly, there were Japanese folks queuing to get a seat too. That's a definite indication that this place serves good Jap food, no?

    They were famous for their Tonkatsu (fried pork fillet) so how could we pass that up?

    Ok let's cut to the chase, here are the highlights of what we ordered:

    Sashimi ($40 for 14 slices)
    Definitely not cheap, but pretty value for money? The slices were fresh, extremely thick and served cold. I'm a sucker for sashimi so this dish was gone in less than 5 minutes.

    Oyster & Hire Katsu Set ($24)
    Served with rice, a mountain of shredded cabbage and miso soup was two big oysters and three slices of pork fillet, all fried to a crisp. Thankfully, it wasn't oily and the pork fillet was quite tender. Loved it!

    Premium Rosu Katsu Set ($25)
    This is one big piece of pork loin pre-cut for your convenience, served with rice, shredded cabbage and miso soup. There really is a difference between the Premium range (these pigs were supposedly grain-fed and from Australia) and the Original Tonkatsu. The former is much, much more tender and juicy.

    We also ordered some form of ramen though I can't remember what and didn't get to taste any so I can't quite comment. But they have a set meal with certain ramen so it's quite worth it, do check it out!

    The service is pretty fast. To my surprise, a waitress came along and asked if we wanted a second helping of the shredded cabbage since it was free-flow. Free-flow cabbage, imagine that! That's a first for me. But I already had a mountain of it on my plate that I couldn't finish, so I politely declined.

    I loved the Tonkatsu, will definitely go back again for more!


    Rating given:Rating: 4 out of 5Rating: 4 out of 5Rating: 4 out of 5Rating: 4 out of 5Rating: 4 out of 5

    7. Home’s Favourite   
       22 Sep 2009 at 10:50 am
    Category: Bakeries
    candice candice says:

    Ah, who can resist an extremely good durian mooncake, especially since mid-autumn festival is right around the corner?

    I came across this particular brand at the mid-autumn festival fair at Ngee Ann City. They boasted a mean D24 Pure Durian Mooncake, and so I succumbed. I'm a sucker for the strong tasting, mind-numbing, unabashedly delightful flavour of durian, and no durian lover can resist this.

    Having tried the durian mooncake from both Goodwood Park and Home's Favourite, I've got to say they're pretty much on par. It's very dependent on individual taste. The latter is cheaper, though ;)

    I bought a box of 4 for $41 (original price at $48, but they had a 10% promotion going on) and it all came individually packed in styrofoam boxes in little gold trays. It had to be kept frozen, so this is a huge plus point for packaging. The pretty floral white box with cream and pink ribbons as the handles make this durian mooncake an ideal gift for friends and family, or even as corporate gifts.

    They have other flavours as well, like the Black Durian Mooncake and Golden Phoenix Durian Mooncake. I was quite tempted to try the Lycheetini Mooncake, but I was on a budget, so maybe I'd go back and indulge myself after payday... After all, mid-autumn festival only comes once a year, right?

    No pictures because I was too eager to eat those yummy yummy mooncakes :P


    Rating given:Rating: 5 out of 5Rating: 5 out of 5Rating: 5 out of 5Rating: 5 out of 5Rating: 5 out of 5

       17 Sep 2009 at 11:34 am
    candice candice says:

    If you don't live around the area, you probably wouldn't know this place exists. Tucked away under a HDB block next to the Toa Payoh industrial park, it's easy to get lost especially when you're driving.

    Nonetheless, it was a traditional Chinese restaurant boasting good seafood, so how could I resist?

    Though it looked like the typical zi char stall, it had an air-conditioned section cordoned off specially for the restaurant. Plus points for comfort!

    There were only four of us, but we were hungry and we ordered...

    Jin Du Spare Ribs
    Tender and sweet, I love how it wasn't chewy and average like the other zi char stalls.

    Three Type Egg with Kow Kee
    A dish cooked with normal eggs, salted eggs, century eggs and Kow Kee. The gravy wasn't thick and flavourful enough but it wasn't bad either.

    Pumpkin Custard Baked Live Prawn
    Now this is a dish with an identity crisis. It had pumpkin, it had custard, it had curry leaves... I wasn't quite sure how to react! The curry taste overshadowed the pumpkin taste, and the strange slightly spicy and sweet taste reminded me of Japanese curry. Not a bad dish, but could be better

    Chilli Crab
    How can you go to a restaurant with the name of Famous Crab King and not order crabs? We ordered only one chilli crab, and the plate that arrived was humongous. There was so much gravy that we had to order an extra plate of Fried Mantou. The Fried Mantou was awesome, though. The outside was crispy but when I tore it in half, the insides were so soft and fluffy it was almost cotton-like.

    But I digress. Back to the Chilli Crab! The sauce was much more spicy than your regular chilli crab sauce. Loved it to death.

    The pincers were HUGE and the shell was so thick that even the crab shell cracker couldn't even dent it. The meat inside was so juicy that the juices keep running down my hands as I was trying to get the meat out in one piece.

    My only gripe is that the shell was so huge but the meat inside was only 2/3 the size of it... Paid $51 for the crab itself...
    The shell was so hard and thick I think we were paying more for the shell than anything else!

    While I was there, I saw the next table order things like Suckling Pig and Lobsters and I'm so tempted to try them... I think this warrants a trip back sometime soon, when I have lots of money to burn.


    Rating given:Rating: 4 out of 5Rating: 4 out of 5Rating: 4 out of 5Rating: 4 out of 5Rating: 4 out of 5

    9. Magical Tannsu   
       11 Sep 2009 at 2:24 pm
    Category: Blog Stores, Cosmetics
    candice candice says:

    I bought two make-up palettes from Magical Tannsu - the 88 Ultra Shimmery Eye Palette and the 66 Lip Palette as a gift for my friend, as I know she has been meaning to get them but never got around to doing it.

    These palettes claim to be from the supplier of Coastal Scents, a claim I can neither refute nor confirm.

    Anyhow, there are many blogshops selling the same item but I needed these palettes urgently, therefore I decided to buy them from this store as it was the only one that had both items in stock. Otherwise, I would have purchased them from My Classy Closet - they have better reviews and lower prices anyway.

    So here's my experience - I added everything to cart, checked out and got an automated invoice instantly. There was no instruction on payment mode, I had to scour her very unorganized blog site before I found the "Payment Procedure" tucked away in a obscure corner of the sidebar.

    There were 2 options - make my payment first to speed things up or wait for her email. I opted for the former, obviously because it was urgent.

    After making my payment, I emailed her (Tues night) and politely requested for an immediate shipment the next day as it was a really urgent order.

    I did not get a reply until Thursday afternoon. She confirmed my payment and stated that my parcel will be mailed out 3 days after payment. Obviously, she did not bother to read my emails, or she failed to understand the concept of urgency.

    You may think that I'm being impatient, but let me point out what's wrong:

    1) Other blogshops reply within 24hrs
    2) Other blogshops send shipments the next working day after receiving payment.
    3) While looking for her HP number on her blog, I realised she had time to update her many blogs, but did not have the time to check her emails, which, let me remind you, are the main source of her income, and the logic in that is completely beyond me.
    4) She did not offer any explanation for the late reply, even though I emailed twice chasing for her to at least confirm my payment.

    Fine, maybe she's too busy to read emails. I decided to text her and request for a self-collection instead, since it couldn't possibly reach me in time by post anymore. After some discussion, we decided on Thursday night itself. She said I could collect the items at her block anytime after 9pm and I could just text or call her when I was there.

    So Thursday night, I reached her block at around 9.15pm. I called her phone. It was switched off. Naturally, I feared that I had been scammed. I tried to text, and called several more times. It was still switched off.

    I gave her the benefit of the doubt still - maybe her battery died? I waited 5 minutes and called again. This time it was turned on but it rang and rang and rang until it got cut off and she still did not pick up. I gave her a total of 11 missed calls.

    At 9.45pm, she called me back and said she just reached home and she was coming down with my package now.

    She came down, with no apology, no explanation and handed me the items for me to inspect. I was fuming, but I kept quiet, because you don't reprimand the waiter before he serves you the food, right? I checked the items, they looked fine, and I left.

    What I don't understand is, if you tell your customer to collect something after 9pm, you make sure you're bloody home by 8.45pm right? Instead, I was kept waiting, with no explanation. Even if she was going to be late, at least have the decency to inform me beforehand. I, the customer, was made to wait like a fool.

    I find her absolutely irresponsible and inefficient. I will never buy from her blogshop again, and I strongly advise you not to either.


    Rating given:Rating: 1 out of 5Rating: 1 out of 5Rating: 1 out of 5Rating: 1 out of 5Rating: 1 out of 5

    10. Tommy Print   
       07 Sep 2009 at 5:37 pm
    Category: Photo and Print
    candice candice says:

    It is pretty hassle-free and cheap to print namecards here. Much can be improved about the service though.

    After many back and forth emails about how my image is not in the right colour mode, after me changing it several times, they finally provided me with a screenshot about what they meant.

    It was such a duh moment, they could have provided me with a screenshot right from the start, I bet it's a common occurrence especially when most people design in RGB rather than CMYK.

    So anyhow that got settled, and they told me I could collect it on 1 Sept but they will call me when it was ready.

    1 September came and went, with no calls.

    So I emailed them to ask about my order, only then did they reply to tell me that my order was ready.

    When businesses promise a service or a product, make damn sure they deliver it, or it'll just reflect really badly on their image.

    But I've got to admit, it's cheap and the quality's pretty okay for its price.


    Rating given:Rating: 3 out of 5Rating: 3 out of 5Rating: 3 out of 5Rating: 3 out of 5Rating: 3 out of 5

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