When my colleagues decided to give Kuishin Bo a try, after reading about it here, we didn't know it was a buffet place. We got excited when we saw the great variety of food on display as we were lead to our table.
The place was packed with hungry customers ogling at the spread of Japanese food at the buffet area. The seats at Kuishin Bo was either trying to create the Japanese dining feel or its purpose is to hurry people to eat and leave, as its not at all comfortable for prolong sitting. It kinda makes it hard to truely enjoy the food. It's also pretty hard to browse and take food from the buffet area as a part of it has only a narrow lane. Not possible for 3 people to past at one time. (Imagine 1 standing to take food, 2 trying to walk in the opposite directions. Not possible.)
As mentioned by the others above, the food to some is good but some feels that its average. For me, I find some of the food not bad. My favorite are the teppanyaki wayu beef and the alaskan crab legs which are hugeeee! The desserts were pretty good too. Especially the chocolate eclair (hidden in a mini fridge near the drink machine).
One thing unique about Kuishin bo is the specials that only first 20/30 diners who queued when the announcement came on will get. The announcement comes after a Kuishin bo jingle that some find irritating while the others find it refreshing and catchy. We managed to get a serving of a special dessert that's wrapped in egg crepe.
Ladies, if you're planning to go, go on a Tuesday as it's ladies night. You get special price for dinner. I'll probably go back again on a Tuesday with my girlfriends for more beef and crabs!
A food blogger’s life is tough. On the glamorous part, we always travel around in search of good food.
“Wow, you all always get to eat good food at expensive places!”
Behind the scenes, not many people understand what the group of us (foodies) go through. When others are happily enjoying their meals, we labored on to take perfect shots of the delicacy for the sake of showing to our share-readers. Pictures after all tell a thousand words.
And thats just the beginning, thinking of the way to describe the food, how to phrase the sentence, what to write so as to make the review more reader-friendly and interesting. All these take times, and writing a review nowadays is not a laughing matter.
We have to be creative in our writing otherwise all our readers run away (who wants to read a boring review?). So foodies have to crack their brain (at least for me) and spending at least 3 hours on a review has become part and parcel of my life.
But don’t get me wrong, i was just ranting about our “tough life” because Relish was supposed to LIC first food outing. Tons of people were supposed to turn up, but for some reason or other almost all of them cannot make it last minute. For the sake of reviewing though, i bravely forged on and went to Relish with a friend.
Organizing a food outing is no easy feat. I learned a few lessons, never do it on weekends, and at ulu places like Bukit timah. Hopefully the next food outing in May will go out smoothly.
Burgers, when we think of them, fast food chains like MacDonald’s, Burger King, Mos Burger, Carl’s Jr instantly comes into mind. Understandably, the price range associates with fast food are naturally cheaper.
Relish is the sister restaurant of the more popular-known Wild Rocket @ Mount Emily is a casual chic joint dedicated to burgers. Putting it in a simpler term, Gourmet Burger Restaurant.
Now the question is, how do we define a Gourmet Burger? Other than the prices are at a hefty $17-$19 range, Relish also provides special creations like the BBQ charsiew soft-bone pork open foccacia burger, a garam masala lamb and mint hummus pita burger and even a portebello to-fu burger with eggplant salsa.
Seafood Burger with lemon mayo ($19) The Seafood burger comprises of crab, fish, prawn, squid, and toppled with generous serving of the lemon mayo and veggies. Every burger at Relish is accompanied with fries.
Colossal is the word to describe the seafood patty! We were quite astonished when the staff served us the burger, and the surprise soon turns to excitement as we figure out whats the best way to consume the burger. Should we ignore everything and just pick up the whole burger and bite, or should we take the fork and knife to cut? Well in the end we took the first massive bite, after that we came to a decision that using the knife is a better option.
This burger is for all the seafood lovers out there. The lemon mayo is the key here. It combined well with the seafood patty, & added an refreshing taste to the patty. The burger was really huge and it took quite an appetite to finish the whole thing.
One special thing to note about Relish, they actually came up with gourmet beers to go along with the gourmet burgers, interesting idea right? For the seafood burger, it’s best with Titje (Belgian beer)
Curry Chicken Burger ($17) Chicken Pattie dished up with curry mayo, caramelized onions and curry leaves. The curry mayonnaise mix was nice, with the inclusion of the curry leaves further enhancing the “curry flavor”.
However, the chicken pattie was a tad too dry for our liking. The curry mayonnaise sauce in a regular burger would have been enough “wetness” as mayonnaise is a main ingredient for making a burger not too dry. But because the pattie was a chicken and not beef, it tends to dry out due to the longer cooking time required.
We lamented the fact that the chicken mayo was not enough, and the Curry Chicken burger was overall too dry to finish. Anyway, the burger is best served with Australian Rogers beer.
LIC discussed the definition of good fries with my friend. To us, good fries mean that it should have a salty start in the first bite, but it should not be too salty to the extent that you can’t taste the slightly sweet finish of the potato. A bit buttery flavor of the fries will also be good. But unfortunately, the fries at Relish are also too dry and lack the “buttery” taste.
Total Bill for 2 was $42.37. Relish is a interesting concept, by far there isn’t any restaurant that delicates to serving gourmet burgers. Kudos to lawyer-turn-chef Willin who came up with Relish!
However LIC still find the price of a gourmet burger slightly on the high side. If the price will drop a little, or there is some other promotions, you will surely see the other burgers surfacing at LIC. Perhaps we didn’t order their signatures like the wild rocket burger, and other interesting ones like the BBQ char siew burger, Ram-lee burger. My friend doesn’t eat beef (most of the inclusion), lamb and pork. This left us with limited options.
If you are the type that doesn’t conclude burger as a under $10 dish, then Relish could just be the place for you. Do remember to make a reservation before you go, when we went there at 1pm on a Sunday, it was packed to the crowd. By the way, do try the wildrocket signature cheesecake, we didn’t had any because we went to Melvados (just opposite) for our brownie dessert. But their cheesecakes are really awesome, i had it the last time i went to Wild Rocket
You are always welcome to visit ladyironchef for a full-up on this trip. Whatever written above are my genuine feelings expressed in words that may be subjected to my personal distortion or biasness. Please do not feel emotional or distress should you have any violent objections. Kindly click the little X at the upper, extreme right of your screen if negative adjectives would be derived. Otherwise, feel free to furnish me with comments, may it be positive or negative : )
On a day where I am alone, I like to find a quiet and nice place to relax, read a book and fill my tummy. For a long time, I'd not been to the library, so I decided to drop by on a Sunday afternoon.
I settled at Cafe Galilee inside Sengkang Library with a book and ordered some food. With my failing memory, I can't recall the name of the drink and food I ordered! But the experience is still fresh in my mind.
The drink ordered was refreshing, especially for a hot day. Its blended fruit juice with wheatgrass. Seems healthy to me. Haha!
I ordered the BBQ sauce chicken chop hoping to fill my tummy. There wasn't any photo to refer to when I ordered at the cashier. But the staff described to me that it'll come with pasta and bread. So I presumed it'll be not bad. When it was served, I was quite disappointed. The piece of chicken was a tad small, and the pasta and bread was kinda sad to look at. (Refer to picture)
The sauce on the chicken was overpowering and the taste of chicken was totally lost in it. The pasta and its sauce was cold when served. The bread seemed to have been left out for awhile, its cold, tough to bite and the cheese was blunt.
Could have been alot better if they'd heated up the pasta sauce and bread before serving.
Tong Shui Cafe (TSC) is one of the many Hong Kong Cafe located in Singapore. Frankly speaking, I disliked Hong Kong Cafe, because i felt that they are rip-offs for the food that they provided. One bowl of instant noodles, a sunny side-up, and luncheon meat for 5-6 bucks? Give me the money, i’ll gladly cooked it for ya!
You get my meaning? Hong Kong cafe that serves authentic Hong Kong food are definitely good, but they are sadly nowhere to be found in Singapore.
The branch that we visited was at Zion Road, opposite Great World City.We went there for desserts after finishing the meal at Al Den Pronto (yes i know, its been ages ago, but i forgot to make this post).
A quick glance into the small cafe tells it all, bright colorful backgrounds are the theme for Tong Shui. The menu is quite comprehensive, with quite a variety of food available, but we skipped all of those having had dinner already.
TSC tuttii fruitti summit ($11.90) The extra large fruit pudding for 2 persons and more. A single pudding on its own cost $3.9 on its own, while we ordered the jumbo-size one at $11.90, doing some simple maths actually there is no “discount” for ordering the big version. Perhaps the serving is better than ordering three separates one? It can be anyone’s guess.
With choices of durian tutti fruitti, mango tutti fruitti, kiwi tutti fruitti, and strawberry tutti fruitti. We left out durian since not all people can said to enjoy the fruit. Mango tutti fruitti is good, everyone loves mango, well at least i do.
The kiwi one does not taste very nice (i don’t like kiwi), and the strawberry one has an over-strong milky taste which does not taste right for a pudding.
Tong Shui Cafe slogan is “more than just desserts“, but sad to say, I’m afraid that they are really a place just for desserts. Well maybe its based on my personal opinion on the standards of Hong Kong Cafe in Singapore, the last time i went to another Hong Kong Cafe, Xin Wang Cafe was also for desserts. Maybe LIC is biased, will someone like to prove me wrong?
You are always welcome to visit ladyironchef for a full-up on this trip. Whatever written above are my genuine feelings expressed in words that may be subjected to my personal distortion or biasness. Please do not feel emotional or distress should you have any violent objections. Kindly click the little X at the upper, extreme right of your screen if negative adjectives would be derived. Otherwise, feel free to furnish me with comments, may it be positive or negative : )
What hasn't been said of this now famous prata stall? Maybe the fact that they have finally beaten off the prata stall next door who used to leech on their name to make a quick buck i suppose. Other then that, i've been eating at this place since my national service days and the food price has just continued to rise and excel in ways i can't imagine.
Prata Kosong (80 cents a piece) - What is a roti prata? Its basically flour, squashed to dough form and later twirled around like some pancake or circus act in the air before being put on a flat metal cooking stove and cooked to doneness depending on the chef. So essentially, its just flour, some eggs, some oil and a little skill.
Thasevi's has been around a long long time, 48 years to be exact and they've been residing in Jalan Kayu since then. There used to be a competitor next to the stall but it has finally been beaten off. Both were fighting for the "Original Jalan Kayu Prata" title. Guess we now know who is the real one. However, with this exclusion, i can't help but notice that there's a cockiness instilled into the survivor that is ..... not pleasing at all. Rude and cocky describes it but i guess thats what winners do.
To the prata itself, their version is actually quite normal. I honestly can't find anything to justify why their prata is better then others. Maybe its the consistently small serving? Or the extremely oily and soft prata? No matter, what i'm saying is, its nothing special to me and i've had better. If my memory serves me right, the competitor that is now gone had crispier and more fragrant prata.
To its credit, Thesavi has reasonably tasty curry. Its all authentic and spicy stuff but there's a price to pay for them as well. Last i had, it was about $5 for the curry with a piece of chicken or mutton. This is a place you can easily spend $20 just eating something thats 400% to 600% less that amount.
The life saving thing about the place is that its 24 hours and people can come anytime. Other than that, its just average at best and seriously overpriced at worst. I wouldn't return since there are much better prata at decent prices with good service to round it all up.
Four seasons Durians made a name for themselves by pandering durians in creative new ways. Fancy a durian crepe? Or durian mochi? How does a durian cheese cake sound? Durian jam? Swiss roll? Dadar? Yes, you can find all that and more at this little place which has sinced been franchised to a few other places. AMK hub being one of them.
Well, basically, i was in the vicinity and had nothing else to do at the time plus the fact that there was an undeniable fragrance of durians in the air conditioned air that is difficult to ignore. Now, the time was 9.45pm when i got there and to my utter surprise, the queue was horrendously long. Waiting time was at least half an hour for your order and another 15 minutes to just get your hands on the delectable pancakes.
I'm also surprised that so many people were willing to pay $1.50 for each pancake when the cost price is obviously 300% below that at least. But in the end, i ended up paying the same amount anyway, so i'm a dork as well i suppose. I got my hands on 10 of these pancakes and paid another $3.50 for durian puffs for a box of 4. Needless to say, i'm probably not repeating this stunt again.
That is not to say the durian pancakes were not good tasting though. The durians in the pancake were grade A stuff. Sweet and a little firm despite obviously being prepared for some time before they were used. The pancakes were made fresh because that is the reason for waiting in line for that ridiculously long waiting time. Also, the pancakes were slightly crispy yet extremely soft to the bite. Its good enough to recommend. The puffs were pretty normal to me, with the exception of it being slightly bigger but still, hardly worth the price.
For a snack, i don't know how it can command a price as high as this and still get away with it. For my part, the only reason i bought was because i was stupid enough to stand in line for 15minutes before realising it cost $1.50 per piece. By then, not buying would mean i've stood in line for nothing. You know the feeling, between a rock and a hard place.
This, being durian, its totally up to preference on whether you really like the fruit or not. That said, i'm not paying the same price for it again because quite simply, buy your own load of durians, use ready mix pancake and you'll pretty much get the same taste at a much cheaper price and minus the waiting time to boot. Thats just what i think of course.
I've been coming to coffee club so many times its amazing. You can view my previous 3 visits here. It does get a little boring if i keep returning to the same branch so this time, we switched to the branch along East Coast road for a try.
Garlic Prawn Pasta ($14.20) - I've reviewed this dish in my previous post and i'm glad to say its still as good as ever. Please refer to my previous post here. The only difference this time was that it was a little salty but otherwise, just as delicious.
Warm Confit Duck Salad ($9.80) - Something new to whet our appetites, the warm confit duck salad came in moderately warm duck slivers atop a bed of steamed tomatoes, greens, potatoes and some nuts thrown in for good measure. All covered with a generous dose of balsamic vinaigrette. As far as an appetiser goes, this is pretty heavy stuff since its firstly a big platter and secondly has a good dose of potatoes in it. The meat was a little dry and lackluster in the taste department but i still found the salad and potatoes itself to my liking, maybe i just like the heavy dosage of sweet and sour vinaigrette but IMHO, its passable.
Crusted Dory Gremolata ($13.90) - My Gf's dish. Another new item in Coffee Club. Plenty of chopped garlic, bread crumbs and olive oil make up this dish. There are also 2 reasonably sized dory fillets piled atop a standing ovation of potato salad. I tried a little of it and it tasted quite bland to me, the fillets are a little dry on the outside while only having hints of garlic and pan fried crumbs. The salad was also a little too....plain for my tastes but my gf liked it. She did say the dory was sweet but ultimately not filling enough.
Apple Crumble With Vanilla Ice Cream ($6.90) - Now this is an excellent dessert. Thus far, i have yet to have an apple crumble to rival this version. Caramelized apples form a small tower base while the top portion consists of a cumbly crust of nuts that surprisingly enhances the overall experience by a fair bit. Topped with a humble vanilla ice cream and this dessert is a winner. Warm and cold desserts are my favorite and this one takes the crown thus far. The apples hover between sweet and mildly sour just well with the nuts providing each bite a texture and fragrance that is totally different. Having it with ice cream as well simply makes this an indulgence not to be missed.
Chocolate Delice ($7) - Chocolate mousse cake with vanilla ice cream littered with chocolate chips. The mousse cake is of the dark chocolate variety and is quite rich. Smooth and filling describes it best while the ice cream, though normal, had chocolate chips strewn in it for a surprise crunch when eaten. Reasonably good.
Filling and satisfying. This meal came to $54.87 and is an invitation to revisit again. Which we did.
Based on the impression that Coffee Club has so far done no wrong and have yet to disappoint, we returned again and this time, tried to eat within a fixed budget as we were trying to have a cheap meal.
Fish And Chips ( $12.50) - I was intrigued that the restaurant so far had done no wrong that i thought they must serve a different version of fish and chips which would probably surprise me somehow. I was wrong. The fish and chips were very normal, too much so since i have the impression i could have gotten 2 servings at the same price. 2 reasonably portioned slices of fish fried in light batter with fries... The batter was quite thick actually while the fish, written as Cod Fillets in the menu if i'm not wrong, tasted the same as dory to me. In the end, this is my first true disappointment at Coffee Club.
Swiss Mushroom Melt Sandwich($9.90) - My gf's order turned out to be much better then mine. A warm toasted baguette with chopped mushrooms, tomatoes, cheese and lettuce was simply a healthier and better choice then mine. The bread was crunchy and soft at the same time with the cheese melting and oozing between the pieces of mushrooms. Simply divine.
Modern Lychee Tart ($7.50) - Another disappointment this time around was again, my order of the lychee tart. As of now, i've had every dessert in Coffee Club and basically, the apply crumble is still the best. The lychee tart is firstly very very small portioned. Secondly, it was not cold as i thought but rather room temperature and very soft, akin to unsolidified mousse. It also didn't taste like much but girls may be happy to know it tastes "light as air" to the point you wouldn't feel sinful after finishing it. I definitely won't order this again for sure.
This meal came up to $35.19 despite trying to keep costs down. So its quite obvious that a good budget is necessary to dine here.
Out of 5 visits, i've had only one visit which the food did not go too well. Service level is generally excellent so far and basically, for the one failed visit, its mostly due to the wrong choice in food. In summary, the food is still good and if you order only the recommendations i've had so far, you are guaranteed to be at least reasonably satisfied by the end of the day. My take on the place is, go for the good stuff and you won't regret it, but come with a good budget as well.
It was a great lunch outing and boy the food! If not for the bright bright sun from out the window, it might seem like we were having a dinner feast! Ha!
The spread was good. But there's two item that I enjoyed most! And both are prawns!
The first prawn dish was an add on to the set menu ordered. This is one of their signature dish, the Wasabi Prawn balls. The wasabi prawn wasn't powerful enough. It tasted more like salad prawn with all the fruits (honeydew, dragonfruit bits and strawberries) that came with it. Nevertheless, it was nice and easy to eat too. (No need to peel the shell mah! Haha!) Give me this dish alone and I'll be happy to eat it with a bowl of rice.
The next one was from the set menu, not sure about the name, but it seems like cereal butter prawn. (Picture) Before the prawn was served, waiter brought a bowl of lemon water and everyone started discussing whether the ladies or the men will be doing the peeling. Haha! Everyone sighed a sign of relief when the prawn was served. The prawn was big and fragrant. The mixed of dried chilli, curry leaves and dried shrimp makes the whole dish very flavorful and yummy. Enjoyed it!
Hidden in an obscure corner of the Changi Market is a lesser known western bar cum restaurant. Recommended by Makansutra as "Don't try, regret ah!", i made it my personal agenda to pay the place a visit. Charlie's corner has always been more of a 'watering hole' location to me as they serve an astonishing variety of beer. Pretty close to 80 different beers from around the world can be found here, though not on tap. This time however, i was there for the food.
There's really nothing much to say about the interior nor exterior really, its just a make shift corner with cheap metal chairs and alfresco dining qualities in an Asian way. Thats not to say its without it charm of course, and honestly, after a few beers, it doesn't matter where you are at.
Kilkenny ($10.90), Hoegarden ($9) - My 2 favorite sins. Kilkenny and Hoegarden. Both are bottled and served in their respective glasses but i really do find the price a little too steep. I can get a pint of Hoegarden at $7 and triple the volume shown here. That said, how can you fault a smooth and melt in your mouth Kilkenny and an ice cold sweet Hoegarden? Regardless of the price, its still going to be good.
Charlie's Famous Fish and Chips ($13.90) - Charlie's famous fish and chips is kind of an overstatement if you ask me. First of all, it really doesn't look like much. At first glance, i thought its was breaded fried fish which isn't too far from the truth. The good thing about the fish and chips is that its thick and juicy and has a light sweetness. The crust is also nicely done and well fried for a crumbling crispy finish. However, i still think its overpriced.
Chicken Chop ($12.90) - The chicken chop was a joke really. The meat was quite tender to its merit but tasteless even with the mushroom sauce accompaniment which basically renders it salty. My gf commented that its very average and just not satisfying. And at this price, i could have gotten 2 chicken chops from the market just around the corner.
Spicy Chicken Wings ($7.50) - The spicy chicken wings were served only with the central portion of the wing which is touted and the most tender and meaty portion of a chicken wing. This version came in 6 pieces but i really would have preferred having the entire wing given the price. The thing is, these wings were the best items we had that night (aside from the beer of course). Fried to perfection and still retaining its meat juices inside, the wings were delectable. Add the fact that the sauce is a mix between chili and rodeo sauce and its basically a fragrant juicy and tender experience. Have it piping hot with an ice cold beer for best effect.
This below average meal cost me $54.20 which really shocked my socks off.
Somehow, its either i ordered the wrong items or the Makansutra guy got special treatment. To me, the place is good for lazy gatherings and quiet drink sessions but the food offerings, in terms of main courses, needed much improvement. At this stage, it still feels like a bonafide rip off. And honestly, the drinks were overpriced as well. Its difficult for me to find a reason to return sadly.
Many would have known by now that I've been suffering from teeth problems for a few weeks now. I had been the patient of a popular dental chain until recently when the last job by them was poorly done and was very painful.
The last job started to give me problems and I asked around for recommendations. My colleague gave me the address of this clinic and I booked an appointment. There are four inhouse dentists so it's quite easy to get an appointment.
I went for my first visit which was pretty normal. A Dr. Chan (I think), a lady dentist, tended to me and she explained that she needed to do a re-filling. She was gentle and professional but certainly didn't waste any time with me. I was out in a jiffy so that she could move on to the next patient. No complaints I guess. But she did mention that the refilling might not help things as the damage might be too bad. So she told me to go back if the pain continues.
True enough, the pain came back fast and more furious. So I called them and managed to get an appointment with Dr. Leonard Tan in a few days.
Dr. Tan is the reason why I'm writing this review really. With the pain I was having I was really afraid when I went into the room as my gums and teeth were really sensitive at that point. But Dr. Tan was really gentle and I felt at ease in the chair. He was really careful when probing the affected area and didn't poke too hard until he was sure I wouldn't scream. (heh) Then he took me over for an X-ray and while waiting for the X-ray results, he patiently explained to me my options if the results were BAD.
He clearly explained what the root canal treatment was and told me exactly how much it cost. He didn't harp on it and told me I have other options like having the problem extracted.
When the results came back and were not conclusive, he advised me to tolerate the pain a bit and told me to do a number of things to see if they spark off unbearable pain which will point to damaged nerves.
What I really liked was how he wasn't money-minded and gave me my options and let me make the choice. He didn't charge me for this consultation and he gave me painkillers for free too. He only charged me $15 for the X-ray. Very reasonable isn't it?
Immensely happy with the service, I think I will make Dr. Tan my regular dentist. My colleague also recommended Dr. Zhou whom she said had plenty of experience.
1=SGD 0.0587
When my colleagues decided to give Kuishin Bo a try, after reading about it here, we didn't know it was a buffet place. We got excited when we saw the great variety of food on display as we were lead to our table.
The place was packed with hungry customers ogling at the spread of Japanese food at the buffet area. The seats at Kuishin Bo was either trying to create the Japanese dining feel or its purpose is to hurry people to eat and leave, as its not at all comfortable for prolong sitting. It kinda makes it hard to truely enjoy the food. It's also pretty hard to browse and take food from the buffet area as a part of it has only a narrow lane. Not possible for 3 people to past at one time. (Imagine 1 standing to take food, 2 trying to walk in the opposite directions. Not possible.)
As mentioned by the others above, the food to some is good but some feels that its average. For me, I find some of the food not bad. My favorite are the teppanyaki wayu beef and the alaskan crab legs which are hugeeee! The desserts were pretty good too. Especially the chocolate eclair (hidden in a mini fridge near the drink machine).
One thing unique about Kuishin bo is the specials that only first 20/30 diners who queued when the announcement came on will get. The announcement comes after a Kuishin bo jingle that some find irritating while the others find it refreshing and catchy. We managed to get a serving of a special dessert that's wrapped in egg crepe.
Ladies, if you're planning to go, go on a Tuesday as it's ladies night. You get special price for dinner. I'll probably go back again on a Tuesday with my girlfriends for more beef and crabs!
Rating given:
A food blogger’s life is tough. On the glamorous part, we always travel around in search of good food.
“Wow, you all always get to eat good food at expensive places!”
Behind the scenes, not many people understand what the group of us (foodies) go through. When others are happily enjoying their meals, we labored on to take perfect shots of the delicacy for the sake of showing to our share-readers. Pictures after all tell a thousand words.
And thats just the beginning, thinking of the way to describe the food, how to phrase the sentence, what to write so as to make the review more reader-friendly and interesting. All these take times, and writing a review nowadays is not a laughing matter.
We have to be creative in our writing otherwise all our readers run away (who wants to read a boring review?). So foodies have to crack their brain (at least for me) and spending at least 3 hours on a review has become part and parcel of my life.
But don’t get me wrong, i was just ranting about our “tough life” because Relish was supposed to LIC first food outing. Tons of people were supposed to turn up, but for some reason or other almost all of them cannot make it last minute. For the sake of reviewing though, i bravely forged on and went to Relish with a friend.
Organizing a food outing is no easy feat. I learned a few lessons, never do it on weekends, and at ulu places like Bukit timah. Hopefully the next food outing in May will go out smoothly.
Burgers, when we think of them, fast food chains like MacDonald’s, Burger King, Mos Burger, Carl’s Jr instantly comes into mind. Understandably, the price range associates with fast food are naturally cheaper.
Relish is the sister restaurant of the more popular-known Wild Rocket @ Mount Emily is a casual chic joint dedicated to burgers. Putting it in a simpler term, Gourmet Burger Restaurant.
Now the question is, how do we define a Gourmet Burger? Other than the prices are at a hefty $17-$19 range, Relish also provides special creations like the BBQ charsiew soft-bone pork open foccacia burger, a garam masala lamb and mint hummus pita burger and even a portebello to-fu burger with eggplant salsa.
Seafood Burger with lemon mayo ($19)
The Seafood burger comprises of crab, fish, prawn, squid, and toppled with generous serving of the lemon mayo and veggies. Every burger at Relish is accompanied with fries.
Colossal is the word to describe the seafood patty! We were quite astonished when the staff served us the burger, and the surprise soon turns to excitement as we figure out whats the best way to consume the burger. Should we ignore everything and just pick up the whole burger and bite, or should we take the fork and knife to cut? Well in the end we took the first massive bite, after that we came to a decision that using the knife is a better option.
This burger is for all the seafood lovers out there. The lemon mayo is the key here. It combined well with the seafood patty, & added an refreshing taste to the patty. The burger was really huge and it took quite an appetite to finish the whole thing.
One special thing to note about Relish, they actually came up with gourmet beers to go along with the gourmet burgers, interesting idea right? For the seafood burger, it’s best with Titje (Belgian beer)
Curry Chicken Burger ($17)
Chicken Pattie dished up with curry mayo, caramelized onions and curry leaves. The curry mayonnaise mix was nice, with the inclusion of the curry leaves further enhancing the “curry flavor”.
However, the chicken pattie was a tad too dry for our liking. The curry mayonnaise sauce in a regular burger would have been enough “wetness” as mayonnaise is a main ingredient for making a burger not too dry. But because the pattie was a chicken and not beef, it tends to dry out due to the longer cooking time required.
We lamented the fact that the chicken mayo was not enough, and the Curry Chicken burger was overall too dry to finish. Anyway, the burger is best served with Australian Rogers beer.
LIC discussed the definition of good fries with my friend. To us, good fries mean that it should have a salty start in the first bite, but it should not be too salty to the extent that you can’t taste the slightly sweet finish of the potato. A bit buttery flavor of the fries will also be good. But unfortunately, the fries at Relish are also too dry and lack the “buttery” taste.
Total Bill for 2 was $42.37. Relish is a interesting concept, by far there isn’t any restaurant that delicates to serving gourmet burgers. Kudos to lawyer-turn-chef Willin who came up with Relish!
However LIC still find the price of a gourmet burger slightly on the high side. If the price will drop a little, or there is some other promotions, you will surely see the other burgers surfacing at LIC. Perhaps we didn’t order their signatures like the wild rocket burger, and other interesting ones like the BBQ char siew burger, Ram-lee burger. My friend doesn’t eat beef (most of the inclusion), lamb and pork. This left us with limited options.
If you are the type that doesn’t conclude burger as a under $10 dish, then Relish could just be the place for you. Do remember to make a reservation before you go, when we went there at 1pm on a Sunday, it was packed to the crowd. By the way, do try the wildrocket signature cheesecake, we didn’t had any because we went to Melvados (just opposite) for our brownie dessert. But their cheesecakes are really awesome, i had it the last time i went to Wild Rocket
You are always welcome to visit ladyironchef for a full-up on this trip. Whatever written above are my genuine feelings expressed in words that may be subjected to my personal distortion or biasness. Please do not feel emotional or distress should you have any violent objections. Kindly click the little X at the upper, extreme right of your screen if negative adjectives would be derived. Otherwise, feel free to furnish me with comments, may it be positive or negative : )
” Casual chic gourmet burger joint “
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On a day where I am alone, I like to find a quiet and nice place to relax, read a book and fill my tummy. For a long time, I'd not been to the library, so I decided to drop by on a Sunday afternoon.
I settled at Cafe Galilee inside Sengkang Library with a book and ordered some food. With my failing memory, I can't recall the name of the drink and food I ordered! But the experience is still fresh in my mind.
The drink ordered was refreshing, especially for a hot day. Its blended fruit juice with wheatgrass. Seems healthy to me. Haha!
I ordered the BBQ sauce chicken chop hoping to fill my tummy. There wasn't any photo to refer to when I ordered at the cashier. But the staff described to me that it'll come with pasta and bread. So I presumed it'll be not bad. When it was served, I was quite disappointed. The piece of chicken was a tad small, and the pasta and bread was kinda sad to look at. (Refer to picture)
The sauce on the chicken was overpowering and the taste of chicken was totally lost in it. The pasta and its sauce was cold when served. The bread seemed to have been left out for awhile, its cold, tough to bite and the cheese was blunt.
Could have been alot better if they'd heated up the pasta sauce and bread before serving.
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Tong Shui Cafe (TSC) is one of the many Hong Kong Cafe located in Singapore. Frankly speaking, I disliked Hong Kong Cafe, because i felt that they are rip-offs for the food that they provided. One bowl of instant noodles, a sunny side-up, and luncheon meat for 5-6 bucks? Give me the money, i’ll gladly cooked it for ya!
You get my meaning? Hong Kong cafe that serves authentic Hong Kong food are definitely good, but they are sadly nowhere to be found in Singapore.
The branch that we visited was at Zion Road, opposite Great World City.We went there for desserts after finishing the meal at Al Den Pronto (yes i know, its been ages ago, but i forgot to make this post).
A quick glance into the small cafe tells it all, bright colorful backgrounds are the theme for Tong Shui. The menu is quite comprehensive, with quite a variety of food available, but we skipped all of those having had dinner already.
TSC tuttii fruitti summit ($11.90)
The extra large fruit pudding for 2 persons and more. A single pudding on its own cost $3.9 on its own, while we ordered the jumbo-size one at $11.90, doing some simple maths actually there is no “discount” for ordering the big version. Perhaps the serving is better than ordering three separates one? It can be anyone’s guess.
With choices of durian tutti fruitti, mango tutti fruitti, kiwi tutti fruitti, and strawberry tutti fruitti. We left out durian since not all people can said to enjoy the fruit. Mango tutti fruitti is good, everyone loves mango, well at least i do.
The kiwi one does not taste very nice (i don’t like kiwi), and the strawberry one has an over-strong milky taste which does not taste right for a pudding.
Tong Shui Cafe slogan is “more than just desserts“, but sad to say, I’m afraid that they are really a place just for desserts. Well maybe its based on my personal opinion on the standards of Hong Kong Cafe in Singapore, the last time i went to another Hong Kong Cafe, Xin Wang Cafe was also for desserts. Maybe LIC is biased, will someone like to prove me wrong?
You are always welcome to visit ladyironchef for a full-up on this trip. Whatever written above are my genuine feelings expressed in words that may be subjected to my personal distortion or biasness. Please do not feel emotional or distress should you have any violent objections. Kindly click the little X at the upper, extreme right of your screen if negative adjectives would be derived. Otherwise, feel free to furnish me with comments, may it be positive or negative : )
” Only just for desserts “
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What hasn't been said of this now famous prata stall? Maybe the fact that they have finally beaten off the prata stall next door who used to leech on their name to make a quick buck i suppose. Other then that, i've been eating at this place since my national service days and the food price has just continued to rise and excel in ways i can't imagine.
Prata Kosong (80 cents a piece) -
What is a roti prata? Its basically flour, squashed to dough form and later twirled around like some pancake or circus act in the air before being put on a flat metal cooking stove and cooked to doneness depending on the chef. So essentially, its just flour, some eggs, some oil and a little skill.
Thasevi's has been around a long long time, 48 years to be exact and they've been residing in Jalan Kayu since then. There used to be a competitor next to the stall but it has finally been beaten off. Both were fighting for the "Original Jalan Kayu Prata" title. Guess we now know who is the real one. However, with this exclusion, i can't help but notice that there's a cockiness instilled into the survivor that is ..... not pleasing at all. Rude and cocky describes it but i guess thats what winners do.
To the prata itself, their version is actually quite normal. I honestly can't find anything to justify why their prata is better then others. Maybe its the consistently small serving? Or the extremely oily and soft prata? No matter, what i'm saying is, its nothing special to me and i've had better. If my memory serves me right, the competitor that is now gone had crispier and more fragrant prata.
To its credit, Thesavi has reasonably tasty curry. Its all authentic and spicy stuff but there's a price to pay for them as well. Last i had, it was about $5 for the curry with a piece of chicken or mutton. This is a place you can easily spend $20 just eating something thats 400% to 600% less that amount.
The life saving thing about the place is that its 24 hours and people can come anytime. Other than that, its just average at best and seriously overpriced at worst. I wouldn't return since there are much better prata at decent prices with good service to round it all up.
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Four seasons Durians made a name for themselves by pandering durians in creative new ways. Fancy a durian crepe? Or durian mochi? How does a durian cheese cake sound? Durian jam? Swiss roll? Dadar? Yes, you can find all that and more at this little place which has sinced been franchised to a few other places. AMK hub being one of them.
Well, basically, i was in the vicinity and had nothing else to do at the time plus the fact that there was an undeniable fragrance of durians in the air conditioned air that is difficult to ignore. Now, the time was 9.45pm when i got there and to my utter surprise, the queue was horrendously long. Waiting time was at least half an hour for your order and another 15 minutes to just get your hands on the delectable pancakes.
I'm also surprised that so many people were willing to pay $1.50 for each pancake when the cost price is obviously 300% below that at least. But in the end, i ended up paying the same amount anyway, so i'm a dork as well i suppose. I got my hands on 10 of these pancakes and paid another $3.50 for durian puffs for a box of 4. Needless to say, i'm probably not repeating this stunt again.
That is not to say the durian pancakes were not good tasting though. The durians in the pancake were grade A stuff. Sweet and a little firm despite obviously being prepared for some time before they were used. The pancakes were made fresh because that is the reason for waiting in line for that ridiculously long waiting time. Also, the pancakes were slightly crispy yet extremely soft to the bite. Its good enough to recommend. The puffs were pretty normal to me, with the exception of it being slightly bigger but still, hardly worth the price.
For a snack, i don't know how it can command a price as high as this and still get away with it. For my part, the only reason i bought was because i was stupid enough to stand in line for 15minutes before realising it cost $1.50 per piece. By then, not buying would mean i've stood in line for nothing. You know the feeling, between a rock and a hard place.
This, being durian, its totally up to preference on whether you really like the fruit or not. That said, i'm not paying the same price for it again because quite simply, buy your own load of durians, use ready mix pancake and you'll pretty much get the same taste at a much cheaper price and minus the waiting time to boot. Thats just what i think of course.
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I've been coming to coffee club so many times its amazing. You can view my previous 3 visits here. It does get a little boring if i keep returning to the same branch so this time, we switched to the branch along East Coast road for a try.
Garlic Prawn Pasta ($14.20) - I've reviewed this dish in my previous post and i'm glad to say its still as good as ever. Please refer to my previous post here. The only difference this time was that it was a little salty but otherwise, just as delicious.
Warm Confit Duck Salad ($9.80) - Something new to whet our appetites, the warm confit duck salad came in moderately warm duck slivers atop a bed of steamed tomatoes, greens, potatoes and some nuts thrown in for good measure. All covered with a generous dose of balsamic vinaigrette. As far as an appetiser goes, this is pretty heavy stuff since its firstly a big platter and secondly has a good dose of potatoes in it. The meat was a little dry and lackluster in the taste department but i still found the salad and potatoes itself to my liking, maybe i just like the heavy dosage of sweet and sour vinaigrette but IMHO, its passable.
Crusted Dory Gremolata ($13.90) - My Gf's dish. Another new item in Coffee Club. Plenty of chopped garlic, bread crumbs and olive oil make up this dish. There are also 2 reasonably sized dory fillets piled atop a standing ovation of potato salad. I tried a little of it and it tasted quite bland to me, the fillets are a little dry on the outside while only having hints of garlic and pan fried crumbs. The salad was also a little too....plain for my tastes but my gf liked it. She did say the dory was sweet but ultimately not filling enough.
Apple Crumble With Vanilla Ice Cream ($6.90) - Now this is an excellent dessert. Thus far, i have yet to have an apple crumble to rival this version. Caramelized apples form a small tower base while the top portion consists of a cumbly crust of nuts that surprisingly enhances the overall experience by a fair bit. Topped with a humble vanilla ice cream and this dessert is a winner. Warm and cold desserts are my favorite and this one takes the crown thus far. The apples hover between sweet and mildly sour just well with the nuts providing each bite a texture and fragrance that is totally different. Having it with ice cream as well simply makes this an indulgence not to be missed.
Chocolate Delice ($7) - Chocolate mousse cake with vanilla ice cream littered with chocolate chips. The mousse cake is of the dark chocolate variety and is quite rich. Smooth and filling describes it best while the ice cream, though normal, had chocolate chips strewn in it for a surprise crunch when eaten. Reasonably good.
Filling and satisfying. This meal came to $54.87 and is an invitation to revisit again. Which we did.
Based on the impression that Coffee Club has so far done no wrong and have yet to disappoint, we returned again and this time, tried to eat within a fixed budget as we were trying to have a cheap meal.
Fish And Chips ( $12.50) - I was intrigued that the restaurant so far had done no wrong that i thought they must serve a different version of fish and chips which would probably surprise me somehow. I was wrong. The fish and chips were very normal, too much so since i have the impression i could have gotten 2 servings at the same price. 2 reasonably portioned slices of fish fried in light batter with fries... The batter was quite thick actually while the fish, written as Cod Fillets in the menu if i'm not wrong, tasted the same as dory to me. In the end, this is my first true disappointment at Coffee Club.
Swiss Mushroom Melt Sandwich($9.90) - My gf's order turned out to be much better then mine. A warm toasted baguette with chopped mushrooms, tomatoes, cheese and lettuce was simply a healthier and better choice then mine. The bread was crunchy and soft at the same time with the cheese melting and oozing between the pieces of mushrooms. Simply divine.
Modern Lychee Tart ($7.50) - Another disappointment this time around was again, my order of the lychee tart. As of now, i've had every dessert in Coffee Club and basically, the apply crumble is still the best. The lychee tart is firstly very very small portioned. Secondly, it was not cold as i thought but rather room temperature and very soft, akin to unsolidified mousse. It also didn't taste like much but girls may be happy to know it tastes "light as air" to the point you wouldn't feel sinful after finishing it. I definitely won't order this again for sure.
This meal came up to $35.19 despite trying to keep costs down. So its quite obvious that a good budget is necessary to dine here.
Out of 5 visits, i've had only one visit which the food did not go too well. Service level is generally excellent so far and basically, for the one failed visit, its mostly due to the wrong choice in food. In summary, the food is still good and if you order only the recommendations i've had so far, you are guaranteed to be at least reasonably satisfied by the end of the day. My take on the place is, go for the good stuff and you won't regret it, but come with a good budget as well.
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Yummy prawns!
It was a great lunch outing and boy the food! If not for the bright bright sun from out the window, it might seem like we were having a dinner feast! Ha!
The spread was good. But there's two item that I enjoyed most! And both are prawns!
The first prawn dish was an add on to the set menu ordered. This is one of their signature dish, the Wasabi Prawn balls. The wasabi prawn wasn't powerful enough. It tasted more like salad prawn with all the fruits (honeydew, dragonfruit bits and strawberries) that came with it. Nevertheless, it was nice and easy to eat too. (No need to peel the shell mah! Haha!) Give me this dish alone and I'll be happy to eat it with a bowl of rice.
The next one was from the set menu, not sure about the name, but it seems like cereal butter prawn. (Picture) Before the prawn was served, waiter brought a bowl of lemon water and everyone started discussing whether the ladies or the men will be doing the peeling. Haha! Everyone sighed a sign of relief when the prawn was served. The prawn was big and fragrant. The mixed of dried chilli, curry leaves and dried shrimp makes the whole dish very flavorful and yummy. Enjoyed it!
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Hidden in an obscure corner of the Changi Market is a lesser known western bar cum restaurant. Recommended by Makansutra as "Don't try, regret ah!", i made it my personal agenda to pay the place a visit. Charlie's corner has always been more of a 'watering hole' location to me as they serve an astonishing variety of beer. Pretty close to 80 different beers from around the world can be found here, though not on tap. This time however, i was there for the food.
There's really nothing much to say about the interior nor exterior really, its just a make shift corner with cheap metal chairs and alfresco dining qualities in an Asian way. Thats not to say its without it charm of course, and honestly, after a few beers, it doesn't matter where you are at.
Kilkenny ($10.90), Hoegarden ($9) - My 2 favorite sins. Kilkenny and Hoegarden. Both are bottled and served in their respective glasses but i really do find the price a little too steep. I can get a pint of Hoegarden at $7 and triple the volume shown here. That said, how can you fault a smooth and melt in your mouth Kilkenny and an ice cold sweet Hoegarden? Regardless of the price, its still going to be good.
Charlie's Famous Fish and Chips ($13.90) - Charlie's famous fish and chips is kind of an overstatement if you ask me. First of all, it really doesn't look like much. At first glance, i thought its was breaded fried fish which isn't too far from the truth. The good thing about the fish and chips is that its thick and juicy and has a light sweetness. The crust is also nicely done and well fried for a crumbling crispy finish. However, i still think its overpriced.
Chicken Chop ($12.90) - The chicken chop was a joke really. The meat was quite tender to its merit but tasteless even with the mushroom sauce accompaniment which basically renders it salty. My gf commented that its very average and just not satisfying. And at this price, i could have gotten 2 chicken chops from the market just around the corner.
Spicy Chicken Wings ($7.50) - The spicy chicken wings were served only with the central portion of the wing which is touted and the most tender and meaty portion of a chicken wing. This version came in 6 pieces but i really would have preferred having the entire wing given the price. The thing is, these wings were the best items we had that night (aside from the beer of course). Fried to perfection and still retaining its meat juices inside, the wings were delectable. Add the fact that the sauce is a mix between chili and rodeo sauce and its basically a fragrant juicy and tender experience. Have it piping hot with an ice cold beer for best effect.
This below average meal cost me $54.20 which really shocked my socks off.
Somehow, its either i ordered the wrong items or the Makansutra guy got special treatment. To me, the place is good for lazy gatherings and quiet drink sessions but the food offerings, in terms of main courses, needed much improvement. At this stage, it still feels like a bonafide rip off. And honestly, the drinks were overpriced as well. Its difficult for me to find a reason to return sadly.
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Many would have known by now that I've been suffering from teeth problems for a few weeks now. I had been the patient of a popular dental chain until recently when the last job by them was poorly done and was very painful.
The last job started to give me problems and I asked around for recommendations. My colleague gave me the address of this clinic and I booked an appointment. There are four inhouse dentists so it's quite easy to get an appointment.
I went for my first visit which was pretty normal. A Dr. Chan (I think), a lady dentist, tended to me and she explained that she needed to do a re-filling. She was gentle and professional but certainly didn't waste any time with me. I was out in a jiffy so that she could move on to the next patient. No complaints I guess. But she did mention that the refilling might not help things as the damage might be too bad. So she told me to go back if the pain continues.
True enough, the pain came back fast and more furious. So I called them and managed to get an appointment with Dr. Leonard Tan in a few days.
Dr. Tan is the reason why I'm writing this review really. With the pain I was having I was really afraid when I went into the room as my gums and teeth were really sensitive at that point. But Dr. Tan was really gentle and I felt at ease in the chair. He was really careful when probing the affected area and didn't poke too hard until he was sure I wouldn't scream. (heh) Then he took me over for an X-ray and while waiting for the X-ray results, he patiently explained to me my options if the results were BAD.
He clearly explained what the root canal treatment was and told me exactly how much it cost. He didn't harp on it and told me I have other options like having the problem extracted.
When the results came back and were not conclusive, he advised me to tolerate the pain a bit and told me to do a number of things to see if they spark off unbearable pain which will point to damaged nerves.
What I really liked was how he wasn't money-minded and gave me my options and let me make the choice. He didn't charge me for this consultation and he gave me painkillers for free too. He only charged me $15 for the X-ray. Very reasonable isn't it?
Immensely happy with the service, I think I will make Dr. Tan my regular dentist. My colleague also recommended Dr. Zhou whom she said had plenty of experience.
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