There are so many Haagen-Dazs outlets in Singapore but somehow, I feel particularly comfortable at this outlet. I like this outlet because it is pretty quiet at all times. Most of the time, when I'm there, there seems to be less than 5 other customers there. I have no idea why the place is never full, but I'm not complaining! The place is always quiet, it's wonderful!
I like Haagen-Dazs' ice-cream, especially their Flower Blossom! This is better than those Banana Splits and whatnots. Why? Because it's SIX FLAVOURS in one wafer bowl! And guess what, you get to choose the flavours! This thing is less than $20 and it's big enough for 2 people to eat. I like this the most because you get to try so many flavours and I think it's the most worth it, relative to the other items they have.
Other than their ice cream, things like their coffee isn't really that worth it. What with the GST hike, the prices of their drinks hiked by more than 2 percentage points! Things are so expensive now. I think paying more than $7 for a cup of coffee is really not worth.
Service wise, this place does not have exceptionally good service but it's acceptable. They'd smile once in awhile and stuff. But at least they don't do absurd things that make you angry. Haha.
Try this Haagen Dazs if you're looking for a quiet place to go (:
Walking along orchard road in a bright hot sunny day always make me craved so something cold and yummy. This first thing that came into my mind is definitely ICE CREAM!
Ok, i am quite a fan for ice cream, be it those from the roadside trishaw uncle ones or those from the designers cafe ones. Since this particular outlet is located somewhere in the middle of the orchard road, it is also one of my usual patronised store.
Located right in the enterance, one will never going to miss this store when entering the centerpoint shopping centre. They have a great varieties of ice cream and for those ladies who are afraid of being fat, there are sorbet for you to choose from.
For me, i still prefer ice cream than sorbet as sorbet seems like eating ice rather than ice cream. hee hee. I have tried quite a few flavours from them, but ultimately i still prefer their unique melon flavour.
Why do i say it is unique? That is definitely because of their strong melon taste ( but not over powering) and their real melon bits in their ice cream. Their melon bits is not those super small size kind that can hardly be seen.
I can taste their melon bits in almost every bite of the ice cream. A rather generous amount of melon used, i think. Beside their smooth creamy ice cream, the next nicest thing would definitely be their biscuit waffle cone.
Their waffle cone has a very nice biscuitte taste and seems to make a perfect combi with the ice cream. Strongly recommend to try their ice cream in their waffle cone. However, they now charge an additional one dollar for ice cream in waffle cone. Pretty sad thing for ice cream lovers i can say.
Jurong Hilltop Restaurant was an ad hoc dinner we had due simply because the other venue we had planned has been closed down (oh the horror!!) and so, since i traveled half of Singapore already to be there, I wasn't going to leave till I at least had a semi-decent meal. And since blogger friend FatPig was there to bring us up the hill, we persevered, climbed and conquered huge-O Jurong Hill for our little rendezvous.
I'll be honest, i would almost never have found the place had it not been for my friend. There was a long winding dark road up to the restaurant which simply isn't the kind of road i would willingly drive up for fun. And when we found it, i was surprised to see many people already there, which was quite a surprise as this location was, to me at least, an extremely ulu place. So maybe it serves good food @ a reasonable price?
Appetisers - The appetizers were pretty normal but served its intended purpose of whetting my appetite.
Stir Fried Venison with ginger and pepper ($16) - The venison was tender and sweet but i suppose its possible to have almost the same quality at normal zhi ca outside minus the show and having a lot more msg and oil. So, in light of health concerns, i'd prefer this one.
Pork ($14) - I found the pork a tad dry at first but later discovered some parts to be more evenly cooked than others. Still, a pretty nicely done dish (that means alot mind you, i'm not a pork lover)
Tofu ($8 for 2 servings) - A must-have staple dish for me. The tofu they have is of the egg bean curd variety which is decent, smooth and soft in texture but i can't help feeling its possible to get this from any grocery store outside. It certainly doesn't look or taste like it was made in-house nor does it feel imported but i may be wrong. Still, tofu is something i must have whenever its offered and this is passable.
Fresh Mushroom ($10 for 2 servings) - As the name implies, fresh mushroom is indeed fresh. Nicely done, succulent and tasty. Pity about the portion though, which was rather small after being split into 3 portions.
Bean sprouts Aka Dao gay - The filler section for the menu. You can't expect to be full after eating only the meats do you? And also, which teppenyaki would be complete without a good healthy serving of bean sprouts? This one was good as it didn't have the 'greenish' vegetable taste that happens when bean sprouts are not cooked properly. It was neither too salty nor too oily either which is very good.
Sirloin Steak Completed ($22) - From what i understand about the fire procedure, its very dangerous for the chef as his hands may have residue of oil and catch fire during the process resulting in severe burns. However, its supposed to be a necessary process to cook the beef to a suitable level of 'doneness'? Correct me if i'm wrong please.
For the sirloin, the initial reaction is that its still a little tough maybe because it was slightly overcooked. It thus lacked the juiciness of whole steaks which i liked but in its cube form, this is still quite good. FatPig did comment that the meat wasn't really fresh though.
The meal came up to be about $85 for 3 people.
The place was pretty nice despite being found in an out-of-the-way location and i'm pretty sure its been there for quite some time given the number of people who willingly trekked there to eat. The food is pretty good and portion size was reasonable since it could be split by 3 people filling us up reasonably well. Its worth a visit for the experience and some nice Japanese Teppenyaki. The peace and quiet is also very much appreciated after the hustle and bustle of everyday life.
There seems to be a growing trend of opening what used to be deemed more exclusive food (Italian, French etc) in food/hawker centres with competitive prices to boot. Ragazzi the Italian Kitchen is one such outlet to jump on the bandwagon to offer quality Italian food at coffeeshop prices.
Located at a rather obscure coffeeshop under a block of flats in the Ghim Moh estate, Ragazzi is owned and run by Gabriel Cher, ex chef-de partie of The Oriental's Dolce Vita (Interestingly, Dolce Vita serves Mediterranean food now, not Italian). Business was rather slow on a wet Saturday evening and one can only wonder if its the lack of publicity, wet weather or quality of food thats keeping the crowds at bay.
Zuppa alla Funghi - For $2.50 a pop, I certainly wasn't expecting much. But I was pleasantly surprised to find out that the soup was made from grounded mushrooms and onions, which was evident from the taste and texture. Only thing that could been improved was its thickness. It did come across as a little too watery but hey, its definitely value for money.
The bruschetta ($3) could have been good but was let down by a few factors. The good things first. Well toasted with the sides a little charred but soft and warm within. Now for the bad part. There was an way too much olive oil on the middle portion of the bread, which made it a little too soggy. Tomatoes on the top didn't look very fresh but did provide the necessary texture and zest.
Melanzane al Forno - I've never been a fan of eggplants and this wasn't about to change anything. The eggplant was a little too soft for my liking but I did like the layer of grilled cheese on top.
Carbonara ($7) - Being a cream based pasta lover, I naturally ordered the Carbonara to be on the safe side. The pasta was a tad too overcooked and the gravy did come across as a little too thick, rendering me nauseous after a while. However I would still say its very decent with the respectable bacon toppings and definitely better than anything pasta mania or the likes can whip up.
Del Bosco ($6) - As with the Carbonara, the Del Bosco's pasta was a tad too overcooked as well but what won me over were the sausages, which tasted thoroughly smoked but was a tad too salty. The tomato sauce wasn't outstanding, being average at best.
Tiramisu ($4.50) - I would be lying if I said that the Tiramisu was decent. To be honest, it was terrible. For one, the sponge fingers weren't soaked in Kahlua. It tasted more like fruit essence or something. Also, the mascarpone cheese was a little too dense and the whole thing was rather watery(water logged would have been appropriate too) at the bottom. It definitely didn't help that too much Cocoa powder was added as well.
All in all, a very filling dinner for 2 pax cost $27.50, which is very pricey by hawker standards but cheap by restaurant standards. Overall food quality is still decent so you might want to give this place a shot if you are craving for Italian food but not willing to fork out the dough for it.
Yet again, i brought my gf for dinner on this day. This time at a location much closer to home. This restaurant has been featured on television before for its unique location and quality of its food. The program raved about its food but i've never been a believer of commercial reviews so its more or less my own thoughts right here.
For starters, i liked the environment and the view. The location is quiet and though there were quite a few people there, it didn't come across as packed as there were plenty of leg space for everyone which is what i like.
(Bliss Special) Crab meat soup - My gf ordered a bliss special meal which consisted of a soup, main course and a dessert. All for $13.90 which was quite a shock for me as the price was rather low for what i envisioned to be a medium priced location. I was however, soon to realise why it could come at such a price.
The crab meat soup they served was not unlike the broth used in shark's fin soup. It had little pieces of carrot, radish, some crab meat and quite a bit of pepper. Nothing amazing but what do you expect for the price eh?
Stella Artois ($7.50) - Our drink for the day. A word of caution, the place DOES NOT SERVE cold water. So you MUST buy a drink. On further notice, i realise the place serves a pretty decent selection of wine, mostly old world wines at a pretty hefty price. If my memory serves me well, it does not serve wine by the glass. @ $7.50 a bottle, it does strike me as rather expensive for a simple beer but i may just be a miser. =P
Baked Seafood Rice ($14.90) - My main course of the day. It was a rather large serving so that earns it plus points. Beneath the thick layer of cheese contains 2 medium sized prawns, 2 huge mussels and assorted pieces of fish interlaced with the rice. Not to mention the 2 squid rings you see on top.
To be honest, i was rather excited when i got my dish. It smelled great and i love tomato based stuff, be it pasta or rice. And looking at the huge serving with the ingredients they offered just made my mouth water. However, it looks better then it tastes honestly, so that really disappointed me. Don't get me wrong, the rice was great and so was the cheese layer but the crucial part of its seafood just didn't quite cute it for me. The prawns were moderately fresh but the mussel and squid ring couldn't be called good which is such a waste considering the nicely done rice. Overall, this is passable but the seafood alone was not worth the money.
(Bliss Special) Smoked Salmon Pasta - Once again, the presentation of the dish is excellent. The serving of salmon it came with was quite generous i must say. However, the salmon didn't taste fresh yet again, just like the seafood in my baked rice. I would have really liked if they could give reasonably fresh seafood for their dishes, because the pasta tasted pretty well done as did the rice. Maybe the chef's specialty is actually in these instead of seafood? Because it sure tasted that way. The pasta was springy and had enough seasoning to make it taste slightly salty yet not overbearing. Needless to say, the pasta was finished but the salmon remained.
Tiramisu ($5.90) - This disappointed me to no end. I wanted a good dessert to end the rather mundane dinner offering but it just didn't do the dessert justice. The top layer was way too soft and watery as was the bottom layer. The rum soaked and completely destroyed the cake layer beneath and worse, the rum didn't taste like rum at all! This has got to be the worst tiramisu i've had thus far. Do NOT try it.
Not shown is my gf's dessert which is also equally bad. Mango ice cream from a really bad manufacturer i suspect. Not worth mentioning as well.
Total bill for 2 came up to $42.20
I like the place and the lack of service charge and GST. I also like the rice and spaghetti but the seafood really didn't do anything for me in the meal except make me sigh in disappointment. The dessert served was outrageously bad as well and the lack of iced water is simply a sin. Service was nice but difficult to get and given the bad seafood, the price to pay for this 'Blissful' meal simply wasn't worth it.
I was assigned to a important task during weekend and that is to help my mother to choose some bedsheets from aussino. Well, i guess its more to be a helping hand than a helping eye. hee hee.
This aussino store sells mainly bedsheets (different categories like oriential theme, children theme, luxury theme, etc). Beside the bedsheets, they also sells towels, slipper and sleeping robes. A rather wide range of products related to sleeping can be found here.
My mother started to browse around the shop and finally settled her eyes on a 200 threads bedsheet. Ok, their bedsheets are categoried by the number of threads. Take for an example, if you choose one with the highest number of threads, the bedsheets will be the smoothest and the most comfy one.
This particular set of bedsheets comes in two different colours - One is yellow colour and the other is pink colour. My mother prefers the pink colour one much more than the yellow one, but she did not see any pink colour bedsheets left on the shelves anymore.
Thus, she went to ask one of the sales girl if there are any more pink colour ones left. I was expecting the sales girl to say its all there - those find yourself kind of attitude.
To my surprise, this sales girl offered to help my mother search for the pink one. In the end, they managed to find some pink colour bed sheets but its of a different size.
Perhaps, my mother disappointment is shown greatly on her face, this sales girl even offered to check the other outlets for her. I was really impressed by the helpful service provided by them.
After reading the above reviews, I decided to give this place a try. Couldn't find the place at first, but thanks to Lucardia, I managed to find it.
The concept of the ice-cream sticks ordering system is interesting, but if fact I feel that its quite inconvenient for the customers. Let's just say, we still pay 10% service charge but we do half the work for them, i.e. ordering. The sushi belt is right in the center of the place and you have to carry them back to your seats. The tray they provide is small. The most you can put is 4 plates at a go. Well, still consider alright since there aren't that many options to choose form.
99cents for a plate of sushi is cheap. But that's all they are. Cheap. The other dishes available looks normal. Ordered Fried Ebi and Fried Tofu. Tasted nice. But not fantastic.
One thing I don't like is the after-smell that's stuck with you event up till now. The spell that I call the "foodcourt smell". (That's one reason why I avoid eating at foodcourts.) So ya, I'll be avoiding this place too.
Love cheesecake? Love the Cheesecake Cafe! After your main course at some food outlet around Siglap, do pop by this Cafe to try their cheesecakes!
I love the interior of the place. Although the place is dimly lit on purpose, I quite like the place as it has quite a romantic ambience. If you look around, you'll notice many little details in the room which reflects the effort put in by the store owner in decorating the place. I like the little angel statues hung around the place! Plus, the combination of the lights and the yellow wall gives the place a pretty cosy feel too.
Unfortunately, the place isn't very big, so if you're not early you may not be able to get a place inside. Nonetheless, this won't stop you from trying their cheesecakes!
Being a rather specialized place, this shop has a variety of cheesecakes you'd be spoilt for choice! The flavours of their cheesecakes are well-balanced such that the flavour does not come out too strong, still leaving the natural taste of the cheesecake itself. I like the texture of the cake too, along with its crust.
Lovely place that I'd visit over and over again! Unfortunately, Siglap is not a very convenient area for me, especially if you don't drive. Also, they only open in the evening, do take note if you intend to go down! (:
Nihon Mura or Japanese Village literally is located to the side of Tampines Swimming Complex. (Of all the places)
Decorations are pretty good with bamboos and teak taking the bulk of the ambiance but seat lay outs do tend to be on the crowded side during dinner.
The twist in Nihon Mura is their 99 cents sushi (2 per plate) and their stick ordering system.
The ordering system is quite unique in that all you have to do is collect sticks from the various counters containing your order and bring it back to your table. This includes everything from drinks to dessert to rice. The only exception are the sushi which you collect from the now familiar conveyor.
Sushi wise, the shop is nothing to shout about. I found the rice used of average quality and lacking in taste, some were also not packed properly so thats a few points off. Its still decent for its price mind you.
Having been there twice as of now. I'd say the service was very good. I ordered a beef bowl rice (sorry i forgot the name) which cost me about $10 but i couldn't taste the beef. I confirmed with my gf that its tastes more like Pork Liver then beef before i called the supervisor over to reason with him. When i told him to try, he promptly offered to change the dish for another beef rice bowl even though we have consumed close to half of the current bowl. The second bowl brought to us was newly made and cost lesser, this time, with the beef taste i so desire. Add the fact that the rice is served in a rock bowl which was heated, giving the rice a wok hei taste and you have a good experience.
The other item we had was the fried tofu which is a staple dish for me at any japanese outlet. Their rendition was good but somehow pales in comparison with Sakae's crispier skinned ones. Overall though, still a good Tofu.
Pan Fried Salmon (about $7) - only this dish was plainly a waste of money. Small, overly tough and lacking taste whasoever, something nobody should order regardless of the circumstance.
My experience at Nihon Mura is a mixed affair. Food wise, the place really isn;t much to shout about but services wise, i'm very impressed with the staff. Also, the beef rice is indeed very nice and fragrant. Which i heartily recommend.
Do try out the place for the kick of it. After all, 2 filling meals there cost me a total of $60.
Located in Changi Airport Terminal 1, Popeyes is a simple fast food restuarant in the vein of Macdonalds and KFC. Given its location, one would deduce it to have a relatively short queue and waiting time. However, that would be grossly wrong since queues are generally LONG and waiting time will usually be about 20-25 minutes. Well, i hated queuing and i was there with my gf to just take a stroll, dinner here was more or less ad hoc.
I've always loved the cartoon Popeye the sailor man. I guess its all about muscles and who would have thought spinach gave you superhuman powers? Its just a really funny cartoon at the time and age. So the draw for this place was simply nostalgia for me as they had a corner doing constant reruns of the show. No spinach on the menu though.
Ok, this was the queue that greeted me which i joined to begin my 25 minute journey to the counter of friendly, tired staff and slow moving staff.
Fries - Nothing spectacular but it does have an additional herbish taste (maybe spinach?) that makes it taste slightly better than others. It did come across as a little too dry though.
Mashed Potato - The mashed potato came in a small serving thats only slightly bigger then KFC. The sauce however tasted better in my opinion as its less watery and less salty compared to KFC. The potato also had small chunks in it which i suspect is yam but i'm not too sure on that.
3 Piece Chicken Meal ($8.65) - Its called Popeye's Chicken and Biscuits so obviously, this should be its main draw. Its biscuit is nicely fragrant and warm which does differentiate it from usual fast food chains which give horrible tasting buns. The chicken was fried to a crisp and yet managed to maintain its juiciness unlike KFC which usually comes off as a tad dry or sometimes undercooked. The seasoning is not unlike its mashed potato sauce which made it fragrant with each bite. I like the fact that the chicken meat was firm and tender at the same time which was surprisingly uniform throughout the 3 different chicken parts. (Please note that requests for specific chicken parts result in a 50 cents charge each)
Seafood in a basket ($7.95) - For this meal which i ordered for my fish loving girl, we're actually quite torn about our opinions for it. I liked the fish and the shrimp because this was usually served piping hot unlike its "left to cool in warm container chicken". I felt the fish was tender and reasonably good tasting but she felt it was less tender nor fresh than other offerings. Also, she commented that the fish was fried after being taken out of the fridge which gave it a 'frozen' taste. The shrimp was relatively small and so is the serving. It was crunchy and like everything here, is full of batter and flour which may or may not appeal to everyone. For the shrimp, our debate is mostly on whether the crunchiness of it is chemically enhanced or naturally preserved. But you can't fault that it tastes better the way it is now.
Suggestions - Oooo...this piece of paper is so important. I'd only hope they take a look at the suggestions written into serious consideration. Firstly, they need to have another outlet. Secondly, they need more counters and faster serving staff. Thirdly, chicken parts should be given by request and not chargeable.
The queue when we left - Yes, this is the queue throughout our entire meal. It never quite diminished and i doubt it will reduce by much anytime soon. Management needs to look into this soon, for the customers sake and for their staffs sake.
In all honesty, this place isn't half bad. The chicken is actually better then KFC in many ways and tastes a notch above the other fast food chains. However, queuing and its location didn't really make me enjoy the experience much. The price was on par with about every other fast food restaurant (the meal cost $16.60) so the only weak links are its queues and its obscure location. Do try for yourself and find out if you like it.
1=SGD 0.0587
There are so many Haagen-Dazs outlets in Singapore but somehow, I feel particularly comfortable at this outlet. I like this outlet because it is pretty quiet at all times. Most of the time, when I'm there, there seems to be less than 5 other customers there. I have no idea why the place is never full, but I'm not complaining! The place is always quiet, it's wonderful!
I like Haagen-Dazs' ice-cream, especially their Flower Blossom! This is better than those Banana Splits and whatnots. Why? Because it's SIX FLAVOURS in one wafer bowl! And guess what, you get to choose the flavours! This thing is less than $20 and it's big enough for 2 people to eat. I like this the most because you get to try so many flavours and I think it's the most worth it, relative to the other items they have.
Other than their ice cream, things like their coffee isn't really that worth it. What with the GST hike, the prices of their drinks hiked by more than 2 percentage points! Things are so expensive now. I think paying more than $7 for a cup of coffee is really not worth.
Service wise, this place does not have exceptionally good service but it's acceptable. They'd smile once in awhile and stuff. But at least they don't do absurd things that make you angry. Haha.
Try this Haagen Dazs if you're looking for a quiet place to go (:
Rating given:
Walking along orchard road in a bright hot sunny day always make me craved so something cold and yummy. This first thing that came into my mind is definitely ICE CREAM!
Ok, i am quite a fan for ice cream, be it those from the roadside trishaw uncle ones or those from the designers cafe ones. Since this particular outlet is located somewhere in the middle of the orchard road, it is also one of my usual patronised store.
Located right in the enterance, one will never going to miss this store when entering the centerpoint shopping centre. They have a great varieties of ice cream and for those ladies who are afraid of being fat, there are sorbet for you to choose from.
For me, i still prefer ice cream than sorbet as sorbet seems like eating ice rather than ice cream. hee hee. I have tried quite a few flavours from them, but ultimately i still prefer their unique melon flavour.
Why do i say it is unique? That is definitely because of their strong melon taste ( but not over powering) and their real melon bits in their ice cream. Their melon bits is not those super small size kind that can hardly be seen.
I can taste their melon bits in almost every bite of the ice cream. A rather generous amount of melon used, i think. Beside their smooth creamy ice cream, the next nicest thing would definitely be their biscuit waffle cone.
Their waffle cone has a very nice biscuitte taste and seems to make a perfect combi with the ice cream. Strongly recommend to try their ice cream in their waffle cone. However, they now charge an additional one dollar for ice cream in waffle cone. Pretty sad thing for ice cream lovers i can say.
Rating given:
Jurong Hilltop Restaurant was an ad hoc dinner we had due simply because the other venue we had planned has been closed down (oh the horror!!) and so, since i traveled half of Singapore already to be there, I wasn't going to leave till I at least had a semi-decent meal. And since blogger friend FatPig was there to bring us up the hill, we persevered, climbed and conquered huge-O Jurong Hill for our little rendezvous.
I'll be honest, i would almost never have found the place had it not been for my friend. There was a long winding dark road up to the restaurant which simply isn't the kind of road i would willingly drive up for fun. And when we found it, i was surprised to see many people already there, which was quite a surprise as this location was, to me at least, an extremely ulu place. So maybe it serves good food @ a reasonable price?
Appetisers - The appetizers were pretty normal but served its intended purpose of whetting my appetite.
Stir Fried Venison with ginger and pepper ($16) - The venison was tender and sweet but i suppose its possible to have almost the same quality at normal zhi ca outside minus the show and having a lot more msg and oil. So, in light of health concerns, i'd prefer this one.
Pork ($14) - I found the pork a tad dry at first but later discovered some parts to be more evenly cooked than others. Still, a pretty nicely done dish (that means alot mind you, i'm not a pork lover)
Tofu ($8 for 2 servings) - A must-have staple dish for me. The tofu they have is of the egg bean curd variety which is decent, smooth and soft in texture but i can't help feeling its possible to get this from any grocery store outside. It certainly doesn't look or taste like it was made in-house nor does it feel imported but i may be wrong. Still, tofu is something i must have whenever its offered and this is passable.
Fresh Mushroom ($10 for 2 servings) - As the name implies, fresh mushroom is indeed fresh. Nicely done, succulent and tasty. Pity about the portion though, which was rather small after being split into 3 portions.
Bean sprouts Aka Dao gay - The filler section for the menu. You can't expect to be full after eating only the meats do you? And also, which teppenyaki would be complete without a good healthy serving of bean sprouts? This one was good as it didn't have the 'greenish' vegetable taste that happens when bean sprouts are not cooked properly. It was neither too salty nor too oily either which is very good.
Sirloin Steak Completed ($22) - From what i understand about the fire procedure, its very dangerous for the chef as his hands may have residue of oil and catch fire during the process resulting in severe burns. However, its supposed to be a necessary process to cook the beef to a suitable level of 'doneness'? Correct me if i'm wrong please.
For the sirloin, the initial reaction is that its still a little tough maybe because it was slightly overcooked. It thus lacked the juiciness of whole steaks which i liked but in its cube form, this is still quite good. FatPig did comment that the meat wasn't really fresh though.
The meal came up to be about $85 for 3 people.
The place was pretty nice despite being found in an out-of-the-way location and i'm pretty sure its been there for quite some time given the number of people who willingly trekked there to eat. The food is pretty good and portion size was reasonable since it could be split by 3 people filling us up reasonably well. Its worth a visit for the experience and some nice Japanese Teppenyaki. The peace and quiet is also very much appreciated after the hustle and bustle of everyday life.
Rating given:
There seems to be a growing trend of opening what used to be deemed more exclusive food (Italian, French etc) in food/hawker centres with competitive prices to boot. Ragazzi the Italian Kitchen is one such outlet to jump on the bandwagon to offer quality Italian food at coffeeshop prices.
Located at a rather obscure coffeeshop under a block of flats in the Ghim Moh estate, Ragazzi is owned and run by Gabriel Cher, ex chef-de partie of The Oriental's Dolce Vita (Interestingly, Dolce Vita serves Mediterranean food now, not Italian). Business was rather slow on a wet Saturday evening and one can only wonder if its the lack of publicity, wet weather or quality of food thats keeping the crowds at bay.
Zuppa alla Funghi - For $2.50 a pop, I certainly wasn't expecting much. But I was pleasantly surprised to find out that the soup was made from grounded mushrooms and onions, which was evident from the taste and texture. Only thing that could been improved was its thickness. It did come across as a little too watery but hey, its definitely value for money.
The bruschetta ($3) could have been good but was let down by a few factors. The good things first. Well toasted with the sides a little charred but soft and warm within. Now for the bad part. There was an way too much olive oil on the middle portion of the bread, which made it a little too soggy. Tomatoes on the top didn't look very fresh but did provide the necessary texture and zest.
Melanzane al Forno - I've never been a fan of eggplants and this wasn't about to change anything. The eggplant was a little too soft for my liking but I did like the layer of grilled cheese on top.
Carbonara ($7) - Being a cream based pasta lover, I naturally ordered the Carbonara to be on the safe side. The pasta was a tad too overcooked and the gravy did come across as a little too thick, rendering me nauseous after a while. However I would still say its very decent with the respectable bacon toppings and definitely better than anything pasta mania or the likes can whip up.
Del Bosco ($6) - As with the Carbonara, the Del Bosco's pasta was a tad too overcooked as well but what won me over were the sausages, which tasted thoroughly smoked but was a tad too salty. The tomato sauce wasn't outstanding, being average at best.
Tiramisu ($4.50) - I would be lying if I said that the Tiramisu was decent. To be honest, it was terrible. For one, the sponge fingers weren't soaked in Kahlua. It tasted more like fruit essence or something. Also, the mascarpone cheese was a little too dense and the whole thing was rather watery(water logged would have been appropriate too) at the bottom. It definitely didn't help that too much Cocoa powder was added as well.
All in all, a very filling dinner for 2 pax cost $27.50, which is very pricey by hawker standards but cheap by restaurant standards. Overall food quality is still decent so you might want to give this place a shot if you are craving for Italian food but not willing to fork out the dough for it.
See all my pictures here
Rating given:
Yet again, i brought my gf for dinner on this day. This time at a location much closer to home. This restaurant has been featured on television before for its unique location and quality of its food. The program raved about its food but i've never been a believer of commercial reviews so its more or less my own thoughts right here.
For starters, i liked the environment and the view. The location is quiet and though there were quite a few people there, it didn't come across as packed as there were plenty of leg space for everyone which is what i like.
(Bliss Special) Crab meat soup - My gf ordered a bliss special meal which consisted of a soup, main course and a dessert. All for $13.90 which was quite a shock for me as the price was rather low for what i envisioned to be a medium priced location. I was however, soon to realise why it could come at such a price.
The crab meat soup they served was not unlike the broth used in shark's fin soup. It had little pieces of carrot, radish, some crab meat and quite a bit of pepper. Nothing amazing but what do you expect for the price eh?
Stella Artois ($7.50) - Our drink for the day. A word of caution, the place DOES NOT SERVE cold water. So you MUST buy a drink. On further notice, i realise the place serves a pretty decent selection of wine, mostly old world wines at a pretty hefty price. If my memory serves me well, it does not serve wine by the glass. @ $7.50 a bottle, it does strike me as rather expensive for a simple beer but i may just be a miser. =P
Baked Seafood Rice ($14.90) - My main course of the day. It was a rather large serving so that earns it plus points. Beneath the thick layer of cheese contains 2 medium sized prawns, 2 huge mussels and assorted pieces of fish interlaced with the rice. Not to mention the 2 squid rings you see on top.
To be honest, i was rather excited when i got my dish. It smelled great and i love tomato based stuff, be it pasta or rice. And looking at the huge serving with the ingredients they offered just made my mouth water. However, it looks better then it tastes honestly, so that really disappointed me. Don't get me wrong, the rice was great and so was the cheese layer but the crucial part of its seafood just didn't quite cute it for me. The prawns were moderately fresh but the mussel and squid ring couldn't be called good which is such a waste considering the nicely done rice. Overall, this is passable but the seafood alone was not worth the money.
(Bliss Special) Smoked Salmon Pasta - Once again, the presentation of the dish is excellent. The serving of salmon it came with was quite generous i must say. However, the salmon didn't taste fresh yet again, just like the seafood in my baked rice. I would have really liked if they could give reasonably fresh seafood for their dishes, because the pasta tasted pretty well done as did the rice. Maybe the chef's specialty is actually in these instead of seafood? Because it sure tasted that way. The pasta was springy and had enough seasoning to make it taste slightly salty yet not overbearing. Needless to say, the pasta was finished but the salmon remained.
Tiramisu ($5.90) - This disappointed me to no end. I wanted a good dessert to end the rather mundane dinner offering but it just didn't do the dessert justice. The top layer was way too soft and watery as was the bottom layer. The rum soaked and completely destroyed the cake layer beneath and worse, the rum didn't taste like rum at all! This has got to be the worst tiramisu i've had thus far. Do NOT try it.
Not shown is my gf's dessert which is also equally bad. Mango ice cream from a really bad manufacturer i suspect. Not worth mentioning as well.
Total bill for 2 came up to $42.20
I like the place and the lack of service charge and GST. I also like the rice and spaghetti but the seafood really didn't do anything for me in the meal except make me sigh in disappointment. The dessert served was outrageously bad as well and the lack of iced water is simply a sin. Service was nice but difficult to get and given the bad seafood, the price to pay for this 'Blissful' meal simply wasn't worth it.
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I was assigned to a important task during weekend and that is to help my mother to choose some bedsheets from aussino. Well, i guess its more to be a helping hand than a helping eye. hee hee.
This aussino store sells mainly bedsheets (different categories like oriential theme, children theme, luxury theme, etc). Beside the bedsheets, they also sells towels, slipper and sleeping robes. A rather wide range of products related to sleeping can be found here.
My mother started to browse around the shop and finally settled her eyes on a 200 threads bedsheet. Ok, their bedsheets are categoried by the number of threads. Take for an example, if you choose one with the highest number of threads, the bedsheets will be the smoothest and the most comfy one.
This particular set of bedsheets comes in two different colours - One is yellow colour and the other is pink colour. My mother prefers the pink colour one much more than the yellow one, but she did not see any pink colour bedsheets left on the shelves anymore.
Thus, she went to ask one of the sales girl if there are any more pink colour ones left. I was expecting the sales girl to say its all there - those find yourself kind of attitude.
To my surprise, this sales girl offered to help my mother search for the pink one. In the end, they managed to find some pink colour bed sheets but its of a different size.
Perhaps, my mother disappointment is shown greatly on her face, this sales girl even offered to check the other outlets for her. I was really impressed by the helpful service provided by them.
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After reading the above reviews, I decided to give this place a try. Couldn't find the place at first, but thanks to Lucardia, I managed to find it.
The concept of the ice-cream sticks ordering system is interesting, but if fact I feel that its quite inconvenient for the customers. Let's just say, we still pay 10% service charge but we do half the work for them, i.e. ordering. The sushi belt is right in the center of the place and you have to carry them back to your seats. The tray they provide is small. The most you can put is 4 plates at a go. Well, still consider alright since there aren't that many options to choose form.
99cents for a plate of sushi is cheap. But that's all they are. Cheap. The other dishes available looks normal. Ordered Fried Ebi and Fried Tofu. Tasted nice. But not fantastic.
One thing I don't like is the after-smell that's stuck with you event up till now. The spell that I call the "foodcourt smell". (That's one reason why I avoid eating at foodcourts.) So ya, I'll be avoiding this place too.
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Love cheesecake? Love the Cheesecake Cafe! After your main course at some food outlet around Siglap, do pop by this Cafe to try their cheesecakes!
I love the interior of the place. Although the place is dimly lit on purpose, I quite like the place as it has quite a romantic ambience. If you look around, you'll notice many little details in the room which reflects the effort put in by the store owner in decorating the place. I like the little angel statues hung around the place! Plus, the combination of the lights and the yellow wall gives the place a pretty cosy feel too.
Unfortunately, the place isn't very big, so if you're not early you may not be able to get a place inside. Nonetheless, this won't stop you from trying their cheesecakes!
Being a rather specialized place, this shop has a variety of cheesecakes you'd be spoilt for choice! The flavours of their cheesecakes are well-balanced such that the flavour does not come out too strong, still leaving the natural taste of the cheesecake itself. I like the texture of the cake too, along with its crust.
Lovely place that I'd visit over and over again! Unfortunately, Siglap is not a very convenient area for me, especially if you don't drive. Also, they only open in the evening, do take note if you intend to go down! (:
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Nihon Mura or Japanese Village literally is located to the side of Tampines Swimming Complex. (Of all the places)
Decorations are pretty good with bamboos and teak taking the bulk of the ambiance but seat lay outs do tend to be on the crowded side during dinner.
The twist in Nihon Mura is their 99 cents sushi (2 per plate) and their stick ordering system.
The ordering system is quite unique in that all you have to do is collect sticks from the various counters containing your order and bring it back to your table. This includes everything from drinks to dessert to rice. The only exception are the sushi which you collect from the now familiar conveyor.
Sushi wise, the shop is nothing to shout about. I found the rice used of average quality and lacking in taste, some were also not packed properly so thats a few points off. Its still decent for its price mind you.
Having been there twice as of now. I'd say the service was very good. I ordered a beef bowl rice (sorry i forgot the name) which cost me about $10 but i couldn't taste the beef. I confirmed with my gf that its tastes more like Pork Liver then beef before i called the supervisor over to reason with him. When i told him to try, he promptly offered to change the dish for another beef rice bowl even though we have consumed close to half of the current bowl. The second bowl brought to us was newly made and cost lesser, this time, with the beef taste i so desire. Add the fact that the rice is served in a rock bowl which was heated, giving the rice a wok hei taste and you have a good experience.
The other item we had was the fried tofu which is a staple dish for me at any japanese outlet. Their rendition was good but somehow pales in comparison with Sakae's crispier skinned ones. Overall though, still a good Tofu.
Pan Fried Salmon (about $7) - only this dish was plainly a waste of money. Small, overly tough and lacking taste whasoever, something nobody should order regardless of the circumstance.
My experience at Nihon Mura is a mixed affair. Food wise, the place really isn;t much to shout about but services wise, i'm very impressed with the staff. Also, the beef rice is indeed very nice and fragrant. Which i heartily recommend.
Do try out the place for the kick of it. After all, 2 filling meals there cost me a total of $60.
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Located in Changi Airport Terminal 1, Popeyes is a simple fast food restuarant in the vein of Macdonalds and KFC. Given its location, one would deduce it to have a relatively short queue and waiting time. However, that would be grossly wrong since queues are generally LONG and waiting time will usually be about 20-25 minutes. Well, i hated queuing and i was there with my gf to just take a stroll, dinner here was more or less ad hoc.
I've always loved the cartoon Popeye the sailor man. I guess its all about muscles and who would have thought spinach gave you superhuman powers? Its just a really funny cartoon at the time and age. So the draw for this place was simply nostalgia for me as they had a corner doing constant reruns of the show. No spinach on the menu though.
Ok, this was the queue that greeted me which i joined to begin my 25 minute journey to the counter of friendly, tired staff and slow moving staff.
Fries - Nothing spectacular but it does have an additional herbish taste (maybe spinach?) that makes it taste slightly better than others. It did come across as a little too dry though.
Mashed Potato - The mashed potato came in a small serving thats only slightly bigger then KFC. The sauce however tasted better in my opinion as its less watery and less salty compared to KFC. The potato also had small chunks in it which i suspect is yam but i'm not too sure on that.
3 Piece Chicken Meal ($8.65) - Its called Popeye's Chicken and Biscuits so obviously, this should be its main draw. Its biscuit is nicely fragrant and warm which does differentiate it from usual fast food chains which give horrible tasting buns. The chicken was fried to a crisp and yet managed to maintain its juiciness unlike KFC which usually comes off as a tad dry or sometimes undercooked. The seasoning is not unlike its mashed potato sauce which made it fragrant with each bite. I like the fact that the chicken meat was firm and tender at the same time which was surprisingly uniform throughout the 3 different chicken parts. (Please note that requests for specific chicken parts result in a 50 cents charge each)
Seafood in a basket ($7.95) - For this meal which i ordered for my fish loving girl, we're actually quite torn about our opinions for it. I liked the fish and the shrimp because this was usually served piping hot unlike its "left to cool in warm container chicken". I felt the fish was tender and reasonably good tasting but she felt it was less tender nor fresh than other offerings. Also, she commented that the fish was fried after being taken out of the fridge which gave it a 'frozen' taste. The shrimp was relatively small and so is the serving. It was crunchy and like everything here, is full of batter and flour which may or may not appeal to everyone. For the shrimp, our debate is mostly on whether the crunchiness of it is chemically enhanced or naturally preserved. But you can't fault that it tastes better the way it is now.
Suggestions - Oooo...this piece of paper is so important. I'd only hope they take a look at the suggestions written into serious consideration. Firstly, they need to have another outlet. Secondly, they need more counters and faster serving staff. Thirdly, chicken parts should be given by request and not chargeable.
The queue when we left - Yes, this is the queue throughout our entire meal. It never quite diminished and i doubt it will reduce by much anytime soon. Management needs to look into this soon, for the customers sake and for their staffs sake.
In all honesty, this place isn't half bad. The chicken is actually better then KFC in many ways and tastes a notch above the other fast food chains. However, queuing and its location didn't really make me enjoy the experience much. The price was on par with about every other fast food restaurant (the meal cost $16.60) so the only weak links are its queues and its obscure location. Do try for yourself and find out if you like it.
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