Indulge in a filling breakfast early in the morning, in the outdoors with fresh air surrounding you!
As are most diners, hidden in a corner in Dempsey Road along Harding Road I believe, is PS Cafe. A great place that's somewhat secluded, and so allows you to enjoy the peace and serenity - something you seldom get in our little over-crowded city. Nonetheless, I do understand that the place is much more crowded by noon, which I believe you will not experience it so long as you're there and leave before 11 or so?
Also, they allow you the choice of an indoor pseudo-outdoor experience with the air-con and slow-turning fans or the real open air outside, with smoking and non-smoking area. Despite being a non-smoker, and would really hate it if someone was gonna smoke there, the smoker's corner was really pretty cool with some yellow chairs that look real good to laze in and coffee tables in the middle.
When I was there in the morning, it wasn't packed yet. Only the tables outside at the non-smoking corner (probably also because the smoker's corner does not have proper dining tables) were fully occupied. However, there seemed to be quite a reasonable number of waiters around who were pretty quick to respond to your needs. Efficient waiters make a hungry man happy.
Along with my breakfast buddy, we had, to share, a big breakfast and blueberry pancakes. Save for the "blueberry", it really does sound like 2 portions of Macdonalds' breakfast meal (that's a joke of course).
Let me begin with my favourite - the blueberry pancake. Simple as it was, garnished with blueberries and strawberries, it tasted oh-so-good. Credits go to not just the maple syrup, but the pancakes itself too. The maple syrup was good in that it wasn't too sweet and so doesn't totally cover the taste of the blueberry pancake. Also, the pancakes were absolutely delectable. It was soft, came with quite some blueberry jam/ blueberries in the pancake itself and served in a generous portion of 3 large slices. It was so tasy (and again, not too sweet) that you could eat it without the maple syrup.
The big breakfast did not pale in comparison either. Again, another reasonably large serving. The breakfast came with scrambled eggs (or other choice of eggs eg poached/fried eggs), bread under the eggs, a stick of roasted asparagus, beef sausages, English bacon, roasted tomato dressed with basil leaves and a little serving of baked beans. The bread was buttery and tasty; the egg was nicely done and not over-scrambled, and went really nicely with tomato sauce (!); beef sausage was not salty nor tough. I didn't eat the asparagus nor tomato, but it seemed like my breakfast buddy enjoyed it. Baked beans didn't seem out of the can, as it wasn't as sweet as those.
All in all, I thought the breakfast was good as the flavour of the food served wasn't too strong for the first meal of the day. And being outdoors made it even more refreshing (despite the occasional falling leaves). Along with a mocha and hot chocolate, the breakfast was complete. (Of course this was only based on my breakfast experience, I didn't try their desserts/ lunch etc).
Although I may have sound like I enjoyed my time there, it really isn't a place I'd go to everyday. The bill came up to just over $60 for 2 and I think that explains my previous line. Apart from that, it is not a very accessible place for a person who doesn't drive. Nonetheless, if you're planning on going, do not worry as PS Cafe has impressed me by the provision of a card with all the numbers you can call to get yourself a taxi out of the place. Interesting and impressing.
So if you're looking to pamper yourself for a day, after a look week of hard work perhaps, maybe PS Cafe would be nice, albeit not an everyday-place.
ladyironchefsaid: its been a while since u last write reviews! what kept them coming? lol! yeah must try out ps cafe soon :) 08 Feb 2009 at 10:33 pm
zihuisaid: yeah ps cafe is good. there are a few outlets but i think the dempsey one's nicer. at least you get the ambience with the price. 09 Feb 2009 at 8:21 am
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I'm one of those people who's rather particular about my haircut. And I'm particularly particular about it. Nonetheless, haircuts are getting more and more expensive (that's if you choose to go to a more expensive place for that little bit more security - that's me), plus mid-length hair usually cost more too. Desperately needing a trim, I decided upon a random shop where there was an available hairdresser.
The haircut was $22.50 flat. And I didn't have to wait long to get started. At the same time, there were quite a number of people, thus making it seem like the place was rather popular. So having given the abovementioned reasons, I stepped into the shop.
First impression: Oh man, this place is full of people who spells of "I-just-smoked-and-so-I-smell-like-this". The smell got me feeling rather giddy for a little while till I got used to it.
All I did there was get a trim and thin my hair a little, but allow me to illustrate my experience within my "short" (it was much longer than necessary) time spent there:
1) I wasn't offered a drink, despite there being an obvious sign placed on the table that there are free drinks. I thought it wasn't anything much until I saw the same person cutting my hair serving another customer a drink, then I wondered why the double standards.
2) The floor is extremely dirty and nobody bothers to sweep the hair from the floor (till maybe the end of business everyday).
3) When I asked for some suggestions on what I could do about my hair to make it look less messy, all the advice I received was "oh, rebond your hair lor". How wise.
4) I was brought to the back to wash my hair. The water temperature was not adjusted and the hairwash was literally simply a hairwash. No other value-added services like a massage at the same time (which I get very often from other place, and so I presume it's the norm for most salons).
5) After washing, the person in charge didn't even bother to towel-dry my hair. He merely put a towel on my head and expected me to walk out. I could feel water dripping from my hair down to my ankles.
6) The towel that he put on my head was black, and stained from the many occasions it was used to dye someone else's hair. No doubt the colour wouldn't get on my clothes/ head, but it was a disgusting sight to see dirty towels on your hair, especially just after a wash.
7) Lastly, while drying my hair halfway, a customer came into their shop. She was around several minutes before and was told to come back again. So when she did do so, the guy cutting my hair stopped and brought her in to get a seat (without even saying a word to me either). Not only did he do just that, he even went on to getting her a drink and mixing the hair dye for her hair. All that took awhile. And in the meantime, my hair was strewn all over my face, half wet half dry. And then I waited. And waited. And waited. Till he came back, and didn't say a word.
Lastly, the person cutting my hair didn't even appear to be interested in his job or seemed very confident of what he was doing. It was a nightmare. Personally, I will never go back there again.
However, it does seem like they have rather good business though. A number of regular customers and perhaps cheaper service. Maybe I was just unlucky. But I'd still say: I'm never going back.
If you're looking for a quiet and pleasant place for French cuisine, I would say Vis-A-Vis would satisfy your requirements. The warm orange lightings and neatly furnished restaurant makes one feel very comfortable. On top of that, the restaurant is usually peaceful and is not very crowded. However, beware - this is not the place to go if you're on a budget.
Service Something I noticed and was surprised for some unknown reason - the waiters were all middle-aged men, minus the lady behind the bar in charge of the bill (whom I reckon is the boss/ co-owner).
Upon entering, it seems like there would always be someone attending to you, hence minimizing your waiting time. A waiter is assigned to the table and is always ready to take your order or answer any queries. While I have to give them credit for their effort in providing good service, it occasionally felt like the waiters were "doing too much". Having them looking over at your table all the time sometimes did make me feel a little uneasy.
Food and Price We ordered a Christmas special that was $86 (original: $78, but we changed the dessert for something else outside the set) and is fairly cheap, relative to the prices of their individual items. All in all, we ordered an additional Clam Chowder, Roasted Lamb, Roasted Prime Rib, Creme Brulee Ice Cream, Escargots and a bisque (but I forgot what was in it).
I especially liked the Clam Chowder. It was unexpected but a pleasant surprise. The soup tasted sweet and came in a large portion. Also, it did not have any clams in it. Where did the clams go? That's where it's different. On the side, they served a strip of bamboo clam flambed in whisky, topped with garlic and some spices. So now we have Clam Chowder, with the whole Clam! Perfect for clam-lovers. I'd say it was great.
The Escargots were part of the set and came in a bowl with some salad and half a potato. And the verdict? Disappointing. There were only 4 pieces of escargots (and I was expecting the usual 6...) that was garnished with some butter and garlic I believe, which made it rather tasty I admit. However, the potato used was that of a boiling potato rather than a baking potato, which is a whole world of difference. To me, it was rather shocking to know that a restaurant like this would serve potatoes that we usually use in making clear soup (and perhaps with some tomato and pork).
The Lamb (medium) was well-decorated and looked very appetizing. So was the Prime Rib. However, the gravy that came along with the Lamb had a smell that usually comes with the meat. Ironically, the meat did not have that smell. However it was rather soft and chewy. The Prime Rib (medium-rare) was not too bad, but just a little over-done. This could be because it was a really thin slice. The beef was sweet and tender, but had a little more fat than expected. So part of the slice of steak was wasted.
So, everything but dessert was done. Wasn't all satisfied, considering how much they cost, but the dessert was.. worse. We had a Creme Brulee Ice Cream. Firstly, it tasted from like coffee/ dark chocolate ice cream. It tasted nothing like caramel/ cream. Then, there were 3 balls of fritters that was stuffed with sweet potato, with some melted chocolate in it. Not exactly the best French dessert combination, plus the fact that I'm not a fan of sweet potato. On the other hand, my friend quite liked it for the slight bitterness and sweet potato with chocolate. So it couldn't be all that bad.
Along with the meal, we had a glass of red wine and rose wine. The whole meal came up to came up to $220 . The lamb was about $50. For your information, deserts are priced at $20 , soups are slightly below 20, main course above $40. Final verdict? It was alright, but I wouldn't go back again even though it tasted alright. But for this price, alright shouldn't be what you expect.
Because of how "ulu" the place is, I was pretty surprised yet glad to see that Blooie's isn't that unheard of after all. I'd say it's well-snugged in a corner of the east side of Singapore. And gave the impression of them trying to be like little America! Albeit a little too little. Perhaps being inexperienced in nightlife, I felt like I was in a foreign land with the "dim lighting and dark wood", as quoted from above.
My experience there was fine as I was with a company of 2, before the crowd came. First of all, I'd say this place is not so much recommended for big groups due to the lack of space and seats. Furniture is arranged to meet the diner's maximum capacity so yes, I can imagine it would be pretty hard to move around later into the night.
Main courses at Blooie's seems generally ok to me. We had:
Seafood Pasta - $17 with Marinara sauce and choice of penne or spaghetti. There were 3 good-sized mussels that was cooked (I'm not a semi-cooked/raw-shell-meat person) just well and easy to remove from the shell. Juicy and chewy, rather fresh to the tastebuds. Along with a few slices of fish, squids and prawns. Excess toppings of onions and capsicums, not my idea of tasty-food nor acceptable amount. Nonetheless, I would say this is something you can try!
Mushroom Cheese Bacon Burger - $15 (I can't remember the exact name) with no mushroom. The kitchen was nice to cut our burger into 3 even portions for easy divide of food. However, the mushrooms did not seem to have been divided equally as out of the 3, 2 slices had no mushrooms, unfortunately. The beef patty was pretty dry and disintegrated under the slicing of my knife. Apart from that, bacon was tasty and pleasant to the tastebuds, along with what little cheese was left.
From what my friend says, the chef's recommendations are safe to try (which was what we had). From the 2 dishes we ordered, I'd agree with her. Besides, the portions are pretty large and price is good.
Apart from that, alcoholic drinks are at lower price at happy hour, form 4pm - 8pm. Just an idea of what the price is like:
Frozen Margarita (with choice of fruit flavour) @ $8.80
Vodka lime/lemon etc @ $8 (instead of $12)
Even when it's not happy hour, drinks there seem to be relatively cheaper too. Along with the available televisions that seemed to play on sports channels, it could be a nice place to chill for sports fanatics.
No doubt it's a pub, it doesn't come across as a sleazy place despite being hidden in a corner away from others. It seems to me that many expats visit the place with their children. Has to be rather decent and suitable for a night out with your family members. It kinda reminds me of Hog's Breath, but way better than that.
For the price and portion of food, and of course relatively acceptable quality of food, I'd say this place is ok to go again (maybe at a later time, just to see if it's really a decent place, perhaps). But definitely not an awesome, jaw-dropping chill-out pub nor restaurant. Acceptable, yes.
Yet another TCC experience. Only this time, it wasn't a coffee-day but a main course-day.
Menus at TCC vary slightly from place to place. But most of them are the same, other than the one at the Airport - has less food items, more coffee and drinks.
I notice that the food at TCC is rather American/Italian style but extremely localized. The ingredients used in their dishes tend to be common local dish ingredients e.g tofu, chicken, mushrooms, seafood etc. They do more sandwich and pasta, with generous portions of soup serving that's better to be shared between 2, or you'll be so full after the soup you can't finish your main course.
I tried their:
Tofu Beef Panini Sandwich Tender slices of beef between the sandwich, along with soft velvet tofu that melts in your mouth. There's fish flakes (I think. The kind they put in your takopachi!) in the sandwich, and along with the sauce that gives it its flavour (which may be a little too salty for some).
I found the whole sandwich really messy to eat because it's so huge and has multiple layers. Personally, I didn't quite like the taste of the sandwich. I didn't think the taste went together very well and it was odd having tofu with bread. Nonetheless, it did seem like an attempt at trying to cater to the locals' tastebuds.
Seafood Aglio Olio I liked this pasta because it was spicy! There were visible slices of chilli padi in it. The pasta was topped with prawns and scallop.
Eat it while it's hot. This is when it's at its best. However when the pasta turns cold, the spaghetti would lump together and it becomes very dry to the mouth, you start getting sick of eating it.
It's a rather oily dish though, and hence left a very uncomfortable feeling around my mouth. I didn't like how it was so oily and yet so dry when it turned cold.
Service:
The lay out of this TCC outlet is much better than the one at the Airport. It is definitely not a problem to spot the waiters and vice versa. However I felt that the waiters were not very attentive, hence not that efficient.
On the whole, I feel that TCC is best suited for coffee and desserts only. Their main courses have a weird flavour and is not to the liking of someone like me, who is less adventurous when it comes to food.
Between 2 of us, we had a pasta, a sandwich and a Frappe. The bill came up to slightly more than $40 with GSt. Rather pricey too I would say. If you're looking for a place with good food to dine at, I don't quite recommend this place for the price and quality.
(PS: rating is based on food; their coffee is good!)
1=SGD 0.0587
As are most diners, hidden in a corner in Dempsey Road along Harding Road I believe, is PS Cafe. A great place that's somewhat secluded, and so allows you to enjoy the peace and serenity - something you seldom get in our little over-crowded city. Nonetheless, I do understand that the place is much more crowded by noon, which I believe you will not experience it so long as you're there and leave before 11 or so?
Also, they allow you the choice of an indoor pseudo-outdoor experience with the air-con and slow-turning fans or the real open air outside, with smoking and non-smoking area. Despite being a non-smoker, and would really hate it if someone was gonna smoke there, the smoker's corner was really pretty cool with some yellow chairs that look real good to laze in and coffee tables in the middle.
When I was there in the morning, it wasn't packed yet. Only the tables outside at the non-smoking corner (probably also because the smoker's corner does not have proper dining tables) were fully occupied. However, there seemed to be quite a reasonable number of waiters around who were pretty quick to respond to your needs. Efficient waiters make a hungry man happy.
Along with my breakfast buddy, we had, to share, a big breakfast and blueberry pancakes. Save for the "blueberry", it really does sound like 2 portions of Macdonalds' breakfast meal (that's a joke of course).
Let me begin with my favourite - the blueberry pancake. Simple as it was, garnished with blueberries and strawberries, it tasted oh-so-good. Credits go to not just the maple syrup, but the pancakes itself too. The maple syrup was good in that it wasn't too sweet and so doesn't totally cover the taste of the blueberry pancake. Also, the pancakes were absolutely delectable. It was soft, came with quite some blueberry jam/ blueberries in the pancake itself and served in a generous portion of 3 large slices. It was so tasy (and again, not too sweet) that you could eat it without the maple syrup.
The big breakfast did not pale in comparison either. Again, another reasonably large serving. The breakfast came with scrambled eggs (or other choice of eggs eg poached/fried eggs), bread under the eggs, a stick of roasted asparagus, beef sausages, English bacon, roasted tomato dressed with basil leaves and a little serving of baked beans. The bread was buttery and tasty; the egg was nicely done and not over-scrambled, and went really nicely with tomato sauce (!); beef sausage was not salty nor tough. I didn't eat the asparagus nor tomato, but it seemed like my breakfast buddy enjoyed it. Baked beans didn't seem out of the can, as it wasn't as sweet as those.
All in all, I thought the breakfast was good as the flavour of the food served wasn't too strong for the first meal of the day. And being outdoors made it even more refreshing (despite the occasional falling leaves). Along with a mocha and hot chocolate, the breakfast was complete. (Of course this was only based on my breakfast experience, I didn't try their desserts/ lunch etc).
Although I may have sound like I enjoyed my time there, it really isn't a place I'd go to everyday. The bill came up to just over $60 for 2 and I think that explains my previous line. Apart from that, it is not a very accessible place for a person who doesn't drive. Nonetheless, if you're planning on going, do not worry as PS Cafe has impressed me by the provision of a card with all the numbers you can call to get yourself a taxi out of the place. Interesting and impressing.
So if you're looking to pamper yourself for a day, after a look week of hard work perhaps, maybe PS Cafe would be nice, albeit not an everyday-place.
Login to add your comment. Or, Register for an account now. It's free!its been a while since u last write reviews! what kept them coming? lol! yeah must try out ps cafe soon :)
08 Feb 2009 at 10:33 pm
yeah ps cafe is good. there are a few outlets but i think the dempsey one's nicer. at least you get the ambience with the price.
09 Feb 2009 at 8:21 am
The haircut was $22.50 flat. And I didn't have to wait long to get started. At the same time, there were quite a number of people, thus making it seem like the place was rather popular. So having given the abovementioned reasons, I stepped into the shop.
First impression: Oh man, this place is full of people who spells of "I-just-smoked-and-so-I-smell-like-this". The smell got me feeling rather giddy for a little while till I got used to it.
All I did there was get a trim and thin my hair a little, but allow me to illustrate my experience within my "short" (it was much longer than necessary) time spent there:
1) I wasn't offered a drink, despite there being an obvious sign placed on the table that there are free drinks. I thought it wasn't anything much until I saw the same person cutting my hair serving another customer a drink, then I wondered why the double standards.
2) The floor is extremely dirty and nobody bothers to sweep the hair from the floor (till maybe the end of business everyday).
3) When I asked for some suggestions on what I could do about my hair to make it look less messy, all the advice I received was "oh, rebond your hair lor". How wise.
4) I was brought to the back to wash my hair. The water temperature was not adjusted and the hairwash was literally simply a hairwash. No other value-added services like a massage at the same time (which I get very often from other place, and so I presume it's the norm for most salons).
5) After washing, the person in charge didn't even bother to towel-dry my hair. He merely put a towel on my head and expected me to walk out. I could feel water dripping from my hair down to my ankles.
6) The towel that he put on my head was black, and stained from the many occasions it was used to dye someone else's hair. No doubt the colour wouldn't get on my clothes/ head, but it was a disgusting sight to see dirty towels on your hair, especially just after a wash.
7) Lastly, while drying my hair halfway, a customer came into their shop. She was around several minutes before and was told to come back again. So when she did do so, the guy cutting my hair stopped and brought her in to get a seat (without even saying a word to me either). Not only did he do just that, he even went on to getting her a drink and mixing the hair dye for her hair. All that took awhile. And in the meantime, my hair was strewn all over my face, half wet half dry. And then I waited. And waited. And waited. Till he came back, and didn't say a word.
Lastly, the person cutting my hair didn't even appear to be interested in his job or seemed very confident of what he was doing. It was a nightmare. Personally, I will never go back there again.
However, it does seem like they have rather good business though. A number of regular customers and perhaps cheaper service. Maybe I was just unlucky. But I'd still say: I'm never going back.
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Service
Something I noticed and was surprised for some unknown reason - the waiters were all middle-aged men, minus the lady behind the bar in charge of the bill (whom I reckon is the boss/ co-owner).
Upon entering, it seems like there would always be someone attending to you, hence minimizing your waiting time. A waiter is assigned to the table and is always ready to take your order or answer any queries. While I have to give them credit for their effort in providing good service, it occasionally felt like the waiters were "doing too much". Having them looking over at your table all the time sometimes did make me feel a little uneasy.
Food and Price
We ordered a Christmas special that was $86 (original: $78, but we changed the dessert for something else outside the set) and is fairly cheap, relative to the prices of their individual items. All in all, we ordered an additional Clam Chowder, Roasted Lamb, Roasted Prime Rib, Creme Brulee Ice Cream, Escargots and a bisque (but I forgot what was in it).
I especially liked the Clam Chowder. It was unexpected but a pleasant surprise. The soup tasted sweet and came in a large portion. Also, it did not have any clams in it. Where did the clams go? That's where it's different. On the side, they served a strip of bamboo clam flambed in whisky, topped with garlic and some spices. So now we have Clam Chowder, with the whole Clam! Perfect for clam-lovers. I'd say it was great.
The Escargots were part of the set and came in a bowl with some salad and half a potato. And the verdict? Disappointing. There were only 4 pieces of escargots (and I was expecting the usual 6...) that was garnished with some butter and garlic I believe, which made it rather tasty I admit. However, the potato used was that of a boiling potato rather than a baking potato, which is a whole world of difference. To me, it was rather shocking to know that a restaurant like this would serve potatoes that we usually use in making clear soup (and perhaps with some tomato and pork).
The Lamb (medium) was well-decorated and looked very appetizing. So was the Prime Rib. However, the gravy that came along with the Lamb had a smell that usually comes with the meat. Ironically, the meat did not have that smell. However it was rather soft and chewy. The Prime Rib (medium-rare) was not too bad, but just a little over-done. This could be because it was a really thin slice. The beef was sweet and tender, but had a little more fat than expected. So part of the slice of steak was wasted.
So, everything but dessert was done. Wasn't all satisfied, considering how much they cost, but the dessert was.. worse. We had a Creme Brulee Ice Cream. Firstly, it tasted from like coffee/ dark chocolate ice cream. It tasted nothing like caramel/ cream. Then, there were 3 balls of fritters that was stuffed with sweet potato, with some melted chocolate in it. Not exactly the best French dessert combination, plus the fact that I'm not a fan of sweet potato. On the other hand, my friend quite liked it for the slight bitterness and sweet potato with chocolate. So it couldn't be all that bad.
Along with the meal, we had a glass of red wine and rose wine. The whole meal came up to came up to $220 . The lamb was about $50. For your information, deserts are priced at $20 , soups are slightly below 20, main course above $40. Final verdict? It was alright, but I wouldn't go back again even though it tasted alright. But for this price, alright shouldn't be what you expect.
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My experience there was fine as I was with a company of 2, before the crowd came. First of all, I'd say this place is not so much recommended for big groups due to the lack of space and seats. Furniture is arranged to meet the diner's maximum capacity so yes, I can imagine it would be pretty hard to move around later into the night.
Main courses at Blooie's seems generally ok to me. We had:
Seafood Pasta - $17 with Marinara sauce and choice of penne or spaghetti. There were 3 good-sized mussels that was cooked (I'm not a semi-cooked/raw-shell-meat person) just well and easy to remove from the shell. Juicy and chewy, rather fresh to the tastebuds. Along with a few slices of fish, squids and prawns. Excess toppings of onions and capsicums, not my idea of tasty-food nor acceptable amount. Nonetheless, I would say this is something you can try!
Mushroom Cheese Bacon Burger - $15 (I can't remember the exact name) with no mushroom. The kitchen was nice to cut our burger into 3 even portions for easy divide of food. However, the mushrooms did not seem to have been divided equally as out of the 3, 2 slices had no mushrooms, unfortunately. The beef patty was pretty dry and disintegrated under the slicing of my knife. Apart from that, bacon was tasty and pleasant to the tastebuds, along with what little cheese was left.
From what my friend says, the chef's recommendations are safe to try (which was what we had). From the 2 dishes we ordered, I'd agree with her. Besides, the portions are pretty large and price is good.
Apart from that, alcoholic drinks are at lower price at happy hour, form 4pm - 8pm. Just an idea of what the price is like:
Frozen Margarita (with choice of fruit flavour) @ $8.80
Vodka lime/lemon etc @ $8 (instead of $12)
Even when it's not happy hour, drinks there seem to be relatively cheaper too. Along with the available televisions that seemed to play on sports channels, it could be a nice place to chill for sports fanatics.
No doubt it's a pub, it doesn't come across as a sleazy place despite being hidden in a corner away from others. It seems to me that many expats visit the place with their children. Has to be rather decent and suitable for a night out with your family members. It kinda reminds me of Hog's Breath, but way better than that.
For the price and portion of food, and of course relatively acceptable quality of food, I'd say this place is ok to go again (maybe at a later time, just to see if it's really a decent place, perhaps). But definitely not an awesome, jaw-dropping chill-out pub nor restaurant. Acceptable, yes.
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Menus at TCC vary slightly from place to place. But most of them are the same, other than the one at the Airport - has less food items, more coffee and drinks.
I notice that the food at TCC is rather American/Italian style but extremely localized. The ingredients used in their dishes tend to be common local dish ingredients e.g tofu, chicken, mushrooms, seafood etc. They do more sandwich and pasta, with generous portions of soup serving that's better to be shared between 2, or you'll be so full after the soup you can't finish your main course.
I tried their:
Tofu Beef Panini Sandwich
Tender slices of beef between the sandwich, along with soft velvet tofu that melts in your mouth. There's fish flakes (I think. The kind they put in your takopachi!) in the sandwich, and along with the sauce that gives it its flavour (which may be a little too salty for some).
I found the whole sandwich really messy to eat because it's so huge and has multiple layers. Personally, I didn't quite like the taste of the sandwich. I didn't think the taste went together very well and it was odd having tofu with bread. Nonetheless, it did seem like an attempt at trying to cater to the locals' tastebuds.
Seafood Aglio Olio
I liked this pasta because it was spicy! There were visible slices of chilli padi in it. The pasta was topped with prawns and scallop.
Eat it while it's hot. This is when it's at its best. However when the pasta turns cold, the spaghetti would lump together and it becomes very dry to the mouth, you start getting sick of eating it.
It's a rather oily dish though, and hence left a very uncomfortable feeling around my mouth. I didn't like how it was so oily and yet so dry when it turned cold.
Service:
The lay out of this TCC outlet is much better than the one at the Airport. It is definitely not a problem to spot the waiters and vice versa. However I felt that the waiters were not very attentive, hence not that efficient.
On the whole, I feel that TCC is best suited for coffee and desserts only. Their main courses have a weird flavour and is not to the liking of someone like me, who is less adventurous when it comes to food.
Between 2 of us, we had a pasta, a sandwich and a Frappe. The bill came up to slightly more than $40 with GSt. Rather pricey too I would say. If you're looking for a place with good food to dine at, I don't quite recommend this place for the price and quality.
(PS: rating is based on food; their coffee is good!)
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