Wah Lok is a Cantonese restaurant which has been on the 2nd floor of Carlton for a long time. The interior is quite lavish and traditional looking with a nice dome shaped main dining hall at the end which overlooks Chjimes.
We ordered SO MUCH I just can't list them all. Also the receipt is with my companion and I forgot to take a picture of it. haha Some of the food we ordered:
Century Egg Porridge This was one nice small bowl for me. I enjoyed it really. But it wasn't anything special. The serving was just right for one and the texture of the porridge was just right. It wasn't the watery sort one sometimes gets. Egg Tarts They were cute mini dim sum egg tarts. The filling was not tasty enough for me. The crust was a little too crumbly which forced me to put the entire thing in my mouth and I couldn't take my time with it. Average I guess.
Steamed Prawn Dumplings - Har Gao Har gao is one dish I always look forward to when I eat dim sum. This one was not really what I like though. Although I attacked right after all the photo taking, it was already pretty dry and the edges were a tad hard. The prawn was pretty fresh but the skin wasn't what I would prefer. Sigh.
Roasted Pork Bun - Char Siew Bao I like that the filling wasn't too sweet and there weren't fatty bits. But the dough portion was a little too thick. I like those that are thinner and open up more. Not bad really. Beancurd Skin with Prawn It was oily (as usual) but very crisp. I'm not a fan of beancurd skin but this was one I pretty much liked.
It cost us about $28-$29 each. There were three of us that day. Service was pretty good though I didn't get my water filled at all throughout. My friend's warm water did get filled though. I find Wah Lok's dim sum too "heavy" for me... get full very easily. I guess, in a way, that's more traditional.
New York New York (NYNY), the eye-catching restaurant located at the underground of Citylink. NYNY stands out with its dazzling name, and always caught the attention with its alluring interior decorations. The green and cozy furnitures are the signature of NYNY. Having pass by NYNY many times but fail to go inside, a timely visit is always due on the cards as my companion and me went there for lunch.
Seafood Platter for 2 ($33.90)
We ordered the Seafood Platter for 2 to share. A platter fit for the Kings and Queens of New York! Cold Crab, prawn fritters, crispy fish salmon and calamari rings, compose of the delightful meal. Having ordered Seafood platters previously before at Manhattan Fish Market and Fish & Co, i was pleasantly surprise when the platter arrive. All right i admitted, i did not pay much attention when i made the order, so i didn’t really notice the word “Cold Crab” on the menu. Yep, thats the surprise, neither was my companion ready for it. Nonetheless, let us take a peek into what is present in the platter.
Crispy fish & chips
Well you know the ever-present fish & chips? Steady and reliable
Prawn Fritters
The prawn fritters were excellent. I loved this one. No doubt the prawn might not be very big, but then the bigger the prawn, i feel the less tasty it is. The prawn here is deep-fried, coupled with the Tata sauce, it is simply irresistible.
Fish Salmon
The Fish salmon here eaten raw, a tad too fishy for me, so i’ll give it a pass
Calamari Rings
Now then, everybody should know Calamaris are actually fried squids right? O well just in case. The Calamari rings here are up to the mark, tender and juicy. In my humble opinion, i consider the calamari rings here to be one level up from the one at Fish & Co. The main explanation being the ones at Fish & Co are too salty for my liking.
Cold Crab
North Altantic Fishermen love their chilled steamed crabs. Just some background information on the crustacean. In case you don’t know what is a crustacean, they are large group of arthropods, comprising approximately 52,000 described species. Baffled already? All right all right, to put it in short, some of the names we are familar with; lobsters, crabs, shrimps, crayfish,
The sea creature with the claws that are ready to pinch you if you are not too careful. To be honest, i am not a big fan of crabs. Why? Because i am lazy, yes pure lazy.
It takes skill to eat a crab you know? there are so many different parts of the crab to be eaten, well i like the big hammer of the crab, there’s lots of meat there. The small leg? Nah, you can have it. You’ll have to slowly suck the meat out of the thin skinny leg. Well be careful while you are having a suck at it, the cute guy or pretty girl next table might just be looking at you.
Nevertheless, both of us took quite a long time to finish it, the Cold Crab is fresh, too bad we are not crab lovers huh? hahaha!
Some might say New York New York is not good, they excel in the decorations but failed in the food. But my contrarian view tells me that they are good and a excellent place to hang out with your friends. The decorations are well done, in fact the environment of a restaurant plays a huge role as to whether the food is good. The food might not be the best, but they are still good. The crucial factor to this will be the price, its within reasonable pricing, and all this only sums up to one equation, i will be back.
Total bill was $39.90 for 2 person, which i find it to be inexpensive. NYNY @ Citylink is strategically located to tap on the huge crowd travelling from City Hall to Suntec/Marine Square. Thus, the restaurant being full even when it is not during lunch or dinner time is not an uncommon sight. There are more to try from the comprehensive menu of NYNY. Until then!
You are always welcome to visit ladyironchef for a full-up on this trip. Whatever written above are my geniune feelings expressed in words that may be subjected to my personal distortion or bias. 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 : )
I was sick for a week and was really wrecking my brains for something to eat. A friend suggested Vietnamese food and we went to Le Viet. I'd walked past this place many times and never stepped in to try the food.
Simple and modern decor. It had this nice water tank running along the side of the restaurant. There were guppies and goldfish swimming about it. When we got there, they had just put fresh food in so all the fish were coming to the surface. It was certainly nice to look at.
There were few people there that weekday evening. So it wasn't too noisy. Just right with a few tables occupied.
There was quite a variety and being a noob to vietnamese food, I spent a lot of time poring over the descriptions....
Food Ordered:
Goi Cuon - Fresh Rice Paper Roll ($6) There were 3 rolls and you had a choice of chicken or pork. We picked chicken. The shredded chicken was wrapped in a paper thin translucent skin with vermicelli, beansprouts and basil. I liked this very much. It was light yet savoury. Bun Ga Nuong - Dry Vietnamese Vermicelli w Chicken ($8.50) This arrived looking like your regular Kueh Tiao with Grilled Chicken. But flip it and you'll find a host of crunchy vegetables right underneath! Toss it well and you have yourself a savoury noodle salad! Yummy!!
Pho Bo Thap Cam - 3-in-1 Mixed Noodles ($8.50) My friend had this with slices and beef balls. You can choose 2 out of 3 options and those were his choices. I didn't eat this because I'm not a fan of beef. But the soup was very very tasty!
Including drinks our bill came u to about $30 (and a little more) which I find pretty reasonable. Every thing was served fast cos it's not too hard to prepare... and the service was satisfactory.
This is one place where I'll return often for the cheap salmon don and yummilicious desserts! It was the cheapest I’ve seen so far! When the Salmon Don was served, I was pretty shocked. It didn’t looked like it cost just $3.80! I wondered if they’d served a wrong order! It was also served with miso soup and pickles. There were lots of rice and the number of slices of salmon served was more than those you get from sushi belt where you paid $6.50 for. Although its not as thick, it was still fresh and nice. I’m not a chosey eater, so this entire set for $3.80 was definitely very value for money. CHEAP!!
Their showcase of desserts outside the restaurants attracts the most attention and this is one of their pull factors for customers. Whoever walks by their showcase will be tempted by their mouth-watering display of plastic/rubber/clay food that's made to look so so real and good! (Beauty of the crafty craftman)
I tried their mango ice cream dessert that cost about $6.80. (I pay lesser for the salmon don! HA!) But still, this dessert is very nice. Freshly diced mango with soft vanilla ice-cream on top of a pile of cornflakes! *droooooling* Just thinking about it makes me want to go back for more!
Tried other dishes too like the cheese tofu, karage chicken and others which I can't remember. Next time I go again, I'll make sure I write more about them k.
Talk about pizza in Singapore and the first name to jump at you will be Pizza Hut. However, there are quite a variety of other offerings out there yet to be noticed or even recommended. Most are targeted at niche markets instead of the usual crowd and honestly, i think Pizza Hut is charging a little too much these days. In comes New York Pizza, more casual and easy going then Pizza Hut, and also decidedly Halal so it can be enjoyed by even more people. Lets have a bite and find out if its a contender shall we?
Simple and gets the job done. The location is alfresco and thats about all there is to it. I wasn't very happy that i'd have to stay in the sun and get all comfy with it and the fact that there's a noticeable waiting time of about 10 minutes after you order makes it look less palatable
The container - Do not let the picture fool you. This is not a small piece of pizza at all. To put it in perspective, think about the length of pizza huts biggest pizza and you get the idea of how long this is.
Queens Meal = Pepperoni Pizza Chicken Wing Pepsi ($6.90) - Queens meal, nice name though it belies the actual fact that its quite simply a big piece of pepperoni pizza with green pepper, pepperoni and bits of beef. The pizza itself is pretty big and can be split into 4 further pieces for consumption. Its crust is reasonable but very crunchy and crispy which is a refreshing change from pizza huts rather flour filled pizzas. The toppings weren't much to shout about however and i soon got sick of the same taste it offered. The chicken wing was strangely fragrant and sweet, not to mention piping hot
Hawaiian Pizza Meal ($6.90) - Its crust is alike with the pepperoni version which i suppose is the determining factor and difference it is bringing to the scene. Crunchy but a little overdone such that you could see the charred portions from over baking. The Hawaiian pizza is a little too sweet and easily overwhelmed after more then 3 bites into it. The ingredients used were also a little miserly when compared to other pizza places i got to try.
The lunch came up to $13.80 which can't be considered expensive. We did get very sick of the pizza after our 2 helpings so i don't think i will be returning.
I actually tried the place a long time ago when it first started. During that time i had the fish and chips and also tried its pizza burger. Both were pretty good and the fish and chips in particular had a wonderful fresh taste to it. During this visit, the machine was spoiled and thats why we settled for its less then optimal pizzas. Well, i wouldn't know if the fish and chips are any good now since i probably won't try it again. If anyone else tries, let me know if it tastes good alright? Cheers!
Al Dento at Great World is an open concept cafe you can't miss if you're there. Its central location (Great World City) makes it not-too-inconvenient yet nice and quiet.
Popped by for dinner with 3 other Yebbers that fateful Tuesday. Armed with the well-mentioned coupon, we were tempted to order almost everything on the menu.
Of course we didn't... so here goes!
Tomato Basil Brushetta @ $5 Our little starter was served pretty quickly. 8 pieces of thin toast... Well-buttered but the diced tomatoes were a tad too little. But it was relatively well-presented. A good number for the 4 of us which made me wonder briefly if it were done on purpose.
Grilled Portobello Mushrooms @ $12 2 pieces... what did I expect right? Well it was a little small for Portobello but we made do. The sauce that came with it was just right, not too overpowering. The mushrooms were still juicy with good bite. But I still think it's too expensive at its original price.
Pan-seared Butterfish @ $20 This dish was served with lumps of potato which really looked like Cheezels to me as they were very orange in colour. The fish didn't have too much of a fishy smell to me but the texture could be improved. The potatoes tasted like they were frozen... much like Tater Tots for those who remember what they are.
Char-grilled Sirloin Steak @ $20 This dish was to be served medium rare but it was more well done than expected. I didn't taste this dish really so let my companions do the talking for ya.
Arragosta Pasta @ $20 This is the pasta served with lobster meat. We could choose between two sauces, tomato and garlic. We had garlic sauce and the sauce sure came with a garlicky smell. I think this dish is pretty average. I had the joy of having more lobster meat though (thanks to Claudie).
Smoked Chicken Pizza @ $17 I liked this one. The pizza was about 10". It didn't seem so impressive when it arrived but all the chicken was hidden beneath the cheese. It's been a long time since I've had pizza with that much meat. I like the crust which was thin and crisp at the edges but not thin enough to be charred. :)
Macadamia scented Creme Brulee @ $8 I was the one who ordered this and I did regret a little after the first spoonful. The taste of the custard wasn't very strong. The texture of the custard wasn't smooth enough too. The caramelised top was too thin to add any taste to the dessert.
Tiramisu @ $9 This is better than the Creme Brulee but still not good enough I guess. The top portion was too "tough" and the bottom was too soggy. That made it a little gross to swallow but the overall taste was fine.
This meal would have cost the 4 of us $120 if not for the coupon. The service provided was satisfactory I guess. But unless I'm in the area and I don't fancy anything else, I don't think I would specially head there for this again.
Have you ever go into a Italiano restaurant, and all of a sudden feel ordering ALL the food available on the menu?
All you look is at the food, without even giving the price tag a glance?
Feeling excited, we might as well tell the waiter to serve EVERY dish they have on the menu!
That’s precisely what happen to us when we went to Al Dente Pronto.
Ahh.. You are confuse now right? Is the food so good that we wanted to order all the dishes? Alas, that’s not quite the raison d’être.
The explication for our extravagant & exaggerated behavior is because … …
We had a 50% discount coupon from OCBC. Yes, you didn’t see wrongly, half price for a la carte items during lunch & dinner, up to a table of 4 persons. Dinner was with the Yebbers. So everything we look at, we can only see half the price, and of course this makes it affordable and worry-free to order whatever we like. So we ordered mostly the more expensive dishes : )
Tomato Basil Bruschetta ($5.0)
We kick start our dinner with the Tomato Basil Bruschettra. Diced Tomato, Garlic, Basil, Oregano and olive oil formulate the starter. We were uncertain whether they gave 8 pieces because there are four of us, or it always come in 8 pieces irregardless of the number of people dining. All the same, we felt the starter could do with more tomato, mayb its because of the rising price in agriculture products in China. Think think. First bite into the Bruschettra was crispy and the garlic taste was done just nice. At $2.50 after discount, it was a real good deal.
Grilled Portobello mushrooms ($12.0)
Our second starter was the Grilled Portobello Mushrooms. Served with rocket salad and diced tomatos. The presentation of the dish was done beautifully, but sadly to sad i felt that at $12 it was definitely not worth the price. Even at half price i won’t order it again.
Char-Grilled Sirloin Steak ($20.0)
Finishing our starter, the waiter note our cue to start our Main course for the night. Our first main was the Char-Grilled Sirloin Steak. We requested for medium-rare, but then when the steak was served it was a tad tougher than what we expected from a medium-rare steak. I guess they sort of make it into medium-well instead. Well, its Italiano and not a steakhouse after all. Nevertheless, i felt that the steak was pretty decent, and at half the price of $10, it was value. Oh yes, we liked the potato that came with it, pretty much reminds us of our childhood.
Pan-Seared Butterfish ($20.0)
Served with potatos, sautèed vegetables and topped with a lemon dill butter glace. Al Dente Pronto actually only have three main course available, the other one being roasted corn fed chicken which we didn’t order. I suppose the raison d’être was because the mains are not really their area of specialty. Al Dente Pronto’s extensive variety of Italian Pizzas and Pastas are where they fare better.
Smoked Chicken Pizza ($17.0)
This is the star of tonight’s show. The Smoked Chicken Pizza might not look very special, but then they are undeniably scrumptious, with large chunks of chicken meat beneath the cheesy cheese. Pizza comes flat, thin and crispy
Arragosta Pasta ($20.0)
Spaghetti with Lobster meat, zucchini and mushrooms, with tomato stew or garlic sauce. We opted for garlic sauce with the belief that garlic can compliment Lobster meat better. And i thought the Arragosta Pasta comes out quite well, mayb except for the fact that it was slightly too dry. I like the lobster meat, which was quite generously furnish on top of the pasta. And i think zucchini (cucumbers) are rather a rare sight in pasta cuisine. Nonetheless, at half price of $10 i think its quite good for money, we are talking about Lobster meat after all.
Tiramisu ($9.0)
To end off the meal, we had Tiramisu as our first dessert. Layers of mascarpone with sponge fingers soaked in coffee and brandy, served with bittersweet chocolate powder The presentation was all right, but the cake was too tough, we had to literally dig inside it to get the tiramisu out.
Macadamia Scented Crème Brulèe ($8.0)
Caramelized custard, infused with Macadamia nut oil served with strawberries on the Macadamia Scented Crème Brulèe.
Total Bill was $122.50 before discount, the amount that we paid for 4 person was $71.20 after discount. The calulations are kind of complicated because the 50% discount does not includes GST and service charge, so they had to count the total price without including them, half the price, and add on the 17% additional charges. Poof! Its comes down to around $18 for per person which i think is reasonably cheap.
All in all, Al Dente Pronto is not really expensive (even without the promotion), the price ranges are mostly in the 10s to 20s. I wont say the food is excellent, in fact some are not. But then i suppose they are still acceptable to me. No you wont go all the way to the forgotton-Great-World-City just for Al Dente Pronto, but i guess if you are in the region you might just want to give it a try. And it certainly helps if you have the OCBC promotion, p.s: it last until end feb.
We had a great night chatting around, there was laughter all over the place, and at times i thought the waiter will just kick us out of the place. It was fun fun & fun! Looking forward to the next Yebber gathering! Cheers!
You are always welcome to visit ladyironchef for a full-up on this trip. Whatever written above are my geniune feelings expressed in words that may be subjected to my personal distortion or bias. 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 : )
First impression from afar... wow! Nice place. Second impression when I saw the namecard... wow! Nice namecard! Third impression when I stepped into the place... interesting furnishing and cutlery!
We adjoined to Tong Shui Cafe behind Great World City before we head home. The menu was a little hard to read. Typical Singapore "Hongkong style cafe" menu. Although the place is call Tong Shui Cafe (Sweet Water Cafe aka Dessert Cafe) There's only 1 page on the dessert drinks and 1 page on desserts... not much choice. We settled for the TSC's Tuttii Frutti Summit $11-something.
It consists of 3 types of pudding mixed with konnyaku jelly. Texture was not bad. The Mango flavored was the best. The other two were strawberry and kiwi. There were accompanying tiny diced fruits of the 3 kind and tiny crunchy pearls (or jelly). Overall this dessert was quite nice. Nothing to "wow" about.
Will go back to try the other stuff one day if I ever pass by one.
Met up with fellow members for dinner. Thanks to LIC for the 50% discount coupon and my OCBC card, we ordered the most expensive of each category to try.
For starters, we had Tomato Basil Bruschetta and Grilled Portobello Mushrooms. Mains we ordered Pan-seared Butterfish, Char-grilled Sirloin Steak, Arragosta Pasta and Smoked Chicken Pizza. Desserts were Macadamia scented Creme Brulee and Tiramisu. Drinks ordered were Ice Rasberry Tea, Ice Peach Tea, Shirley Temple and Lime Juice. All the above totaled to $71.20! (including GST and Service Charge)
I shall keep mine short and sweet. (Partly because my eyes are already half-close now.)
Tomato Basil Brushetta @ $5 Its either the bread was too big, or the tomatoes were too expensive. Serving wise looks sad. Taste was alright. I like the way they infused the garlic into the bread. Crispy and nice. $2.50 after discount. Cheap lah!
Grilled Portobello Mushrooms @ $12 First bite was yummy. After that it just started like any other mushrooms. The rocket on this was too bitter. Unlike those I had at Absolute Haven.
Pan-seared Butterfish @ $20 Too fishy for me. Sauce was tad too saltish.
Char-grilled Sirloin Steak @ $20 There was nothing charred about this steak. Taste was alright. Meat was too tough. Like the potatoes that was served at the side.
Arragosta Pasta @ $20 Pasta was too dry, lobster meat was quite fresh and plentiful. First time I saw what I call cucumbers (zucchini) on pasta.
Smoked Chicken Pizza @ $17 This is perhaps the only thing that I'll order if I ever go back again. The Pizza on photo seems to be plain and boring. But underneath those cheese are chunks of chicken meat. I like the blend of tomatoes and cheese and chicken. Could be better if there were thicker layer of cheese.
Macadamia scented Creme Brulee @ $8 Taste like custard. Ha! Nothing special about this. Couldn't really taste the macadamia thou.
Tiramisu @ $9 Texture was too tough and sponge fingers were over soaked in the coffee and brandy. Don't really like it.
Overall the food was forgettable. I'll not be going back again unless there's 50% discount or someone's treating.
Ema’s Diner located at Greenwood Avenue, is formally known as 8 on Greenwood. Opened by the Halia group at the stretch of restaurants along Greenwood. Greenwood is being spoken at the same breath as Dempsey, Holland Village, Rochester Park as the hidden and hot spot to go.
All these used-to be forgotten little outposts of Singapore have been transformed into mini lifestyle destinations of their own. The location of the restaurant is no longer a issue, so long there is the “hot” and “in” place to go, well-travelled food enthusiants living in all corners of Singapore will be willing to travel to other corners as well.
Maybe not known to all, Greenwood Avenue was created by Les Amis group, one of Singapore dining giant. Out of close to 13 restaurants there, 5 belongs to Les Amis Group;
The Grill at Hillcrest
Sebastien’s Bistrot
Peperoni Pizzeria
Raku Japanese Restaurant
L’estaminet Bar
Anyway, thats for the background information on Greenwood, but Les Amis is really good, first they find a hidden street, this is follow up with opening several separate restaurants with different themes, to complement not to compete with each other. And poof! Greenwood Avenue is born.
Initially we wanted to try out Sebastien’s Bistrot, but it was kind of late when we reached the area, so we went for quick lunch at Ema’s Diner. The first impression of the restaurant was its sort of kiddy? There was those stuff-toys cushion on the seats at one of the tables outside.
The menu was an one-pager, it certaintly did not impress me as it seems unprofessional, like a child-drawn menu. Even though Ema did not offer much variety, but i thought the least they could do was separate out the one-page menu into several page and make it look more appropriate like a menu.
We proceed on to browse through the menu since we had already entered the place, a rough count shows that it was about 25-30 seater restaurant. Not much diners around, mayb it was the timing that we went.
Ema’s Burger ($14.90)
Home-made beef patty, melted cheese, picked vege, bacon & hickory smoked bbq sauce, accompanied by fries. The Ema's Burger was pretty decent i guess. You won’t really go wrong ordering this from the short list of food available.
Braised Lamb Shank ($15.90)
With carrot, turnip, celery & mashed potato. The inquisitive side finally got me into trouble. There are safe options to order, but no, my mind tell me not to, and instead Braised lamb shank is served onto my table. Not really good, i didn’t finish the dish if thats what you want to know.
French fries ($3.50)
We made a mistake of ordering french fries for starters because while ordering Ema’s burger, we missed out that it came with fries, otherwise, the fries were okay, and the servings were quite generous too
Total damage came to $43.78 for two person. Also had one mango ice blend ($5.50). The food there wasn’t that bad i guess, mayb its just a case of ordering the wrong stuff, for the price range i though it is still consider reasonable given the fact that it is located beside much high-end restaurants, and the rent at Greenwood isn’t really what you will mention as cheap.
You are always welcome to visit ladyironchef for a full-up on this trip. Whatever written above are my geniune feelings expressed in words that may be subjected to my personal distortion or bias. 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 : )
“ It can’t be smooth-sailing all the way, sometimes you will encounter bad dining experience ”
1=SGD 0.0587
Wah Lok is a Cantonese restaurant which has been on the 2nd floor of Carlton for a long time. The interior is quite lavish and traditional looking with a nice dome shaped main dining hall at the end which overlooks Chjimes.
We ordered SO MUCH I just can't list them all. Also the receipt is with my companion and I forgot to take a picture of it. haha
Some of the food we ordered:
Century Egg Porridge
This was one nice small bowl for me. I enjoyed it really. But it wasn't anything special. The serving was just right for one and the texture of the porridge was just right. It wasn't the watery sort one sometimes gets.
Egg Tarts
They were cute mini dim sum egg tarts. The filling was not tasty enough for me. The crust was a little too crumbly which forced me to put the entire thing in my mouth and I couldn't take my time with it. Average I guess.
Steamed Prawn Dumplings - Har Gao
Har gao is one dish I always look forward to when I eat dim sum. This one was not really what I like though. Although I attacked right after all the photo taking, it was already pretty dry and the edges were a tad hard. The prawn was pretty fresh but the skin wasn't what I would prefer. Sigh.
Roasted Pork Bun - Char Siew Bao
I like that the filling wasn't too sweet and there weren't fatty bits. But the dough portion was a little too thick. I like those that are thinner and open up more. Not bad really.
Beancurd Skin with Prawn
It was oily (as usual) but very crisp. I'm not a fan of beancurd skin but this was one I pretty much liked.
It cost us about $28-$29 each. There were three of us that day. Service was pretty good though I didn't get my water filled at all throughout. My friend's warm water did get filled though. I find Wah Lok's dim sum too "heavy" for me... get full very easily. I guess, in a way, that's more traditional.
Rating given:
New York New York (NYNY), the eye-catching restaurant located at the underground of Citylink. NYNY stands out with its dazzling name, and always caught the attention with its alluring interior decorations. The green and cozy furnitures are the signature of NYNY. Having pass by NYNY many times but fail to go inside, a timely visit is always due on the cards as my companion and me went there for lunch.
Seafood Platter for 2 ($33.90)
We ordered the Seafood Platter for 2 to share. A platter fit for the Kings and Queens of New York! Cold Crab, prawn fritters, crispy fish salmon and calamari rings, compose of the delightful meal. Having ordered Seafood platters previously before at Manhattan Fish Market and Fish & Co, i was pleasantly surprise when the platter arrive. All right i admitted, i did not pay much attention when i made the order, so i didn’t really notice the word “Cold Crab” on the menu. Yep, thats the surprise, neither was my companion ready for it. Nonetheless, let us take a peek into what is present in the platter.
Crispy fish & chips
Well you know the ever-present fish & chips? Steady and reliable
Prawn Fritters
The prawn fritters were excellent. I loved this one. No doubt the prawn might not be very big, but then the bigger the prawn, i feel the less tasty it is. The prawn here is deep-fried, coupled with the Tata sauce, it is simply irresistible.
Fish Salmon
The Fish salmon here eaten raw, a tad too fishy for me, so i’ll give it a pass
Calamari Rings
Now then, everybody should know Calamaris are actually fried squids right? O well just in case. The Calamari rings here are up to the mark, tender and juicy. In my humble opinion, i consider the calamari rings here to be one level up from the one at Fish & Co. The main explanation being the ones at Fish & Co are too salty for my liking.
Cold Crab
North Altantic Fishermen love their chilled steamed crabs. Just some background information on the crustacean. In case you don’t know what is a crustacean, they are large group of arthropods, comprising approximately 52,000 described species. Baffled already? All right all right, to put it in short, some of the names we are familar with; lobsters, crabs, shrimps, crayfish,
The sea creature with the claws that are ready to pinch you if you are not too careful. To be honest, i am not a big fan of crabs. Why? Because i am lazy, yes pure lazy.
It takes skill to eat a crab you know? there are so many different parts of the crab to be eaten, well i like the big hammer of the crab, there’s lots of meat there. The small leg? Nah, you can have it. You’ll have to slowly suck the meat out of the thin skinny leg. Well be careful while you are having a suck at it, the cute guy or pretty girl next table might just be looking at you.
Nevertheless, both of us took quite a long time to finish it, the Cold Crab is fresh, too bad we are not crab lovers huh? hahaha!
Some might say New York New York is not good, they excel in the decorations but failed in the food. But my contrarian view tells me that they are good and a excellent place to hang out with your friends. The decorations are well done, in fact the environment of a restaurant plays a huge role as to whether the food is good. The food might not be the best, but they are still good. The crucial factor to this will be the price, its within reasonable pricing, and all this only sums up to one equation, i will be back.
Total bill was $39.90 for 2 person, which i find it to be inexpensive. NYNY @ Citylink is strategically located to tap on the huge crowd travelling from City Hall to Suntec/Marine Square. Thus, the restaurant being full even when it is not during lunch or dinner time is not an uncommon sight. There are more to try from the comprehensive menu of NYNY. Until then!
You are always welcome to visit ladyironchef for a full-up on this trip. Whatever written above are my geniune feelings expressed in words that may be subjected to my personal distortion or bias. 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 : )
” Food all the way from New York City “
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I was sick for a week and was really wrecking my brains for something to eat. A friend suggested Vietnamese food and we went to Le Viet. I'd walked past this place many times and never stepped in to try the food.
Simple and modern decor. It had this nice water tank running along the side of the restaurant. There were guppies and goldfish swimming about it. When we got there, they had just put fresh food in so all the fish were coming to the surface. It was certainly nice to look at.
There were few people there that weekday evening. So it wasn't too noisy. Just right with a few tables occupied.
There was quite a variety and being a noob to vietnamese food, I spent a lot of time poring over the descriptions....
Food Ordered:
Goi Cuon - Fresh Rice Paper Roll ($6)
There were 3 rolls and you had a choice of chicken or pork. We picked chicken. The shredded chicken was wrapped in a paper thin translucent skin with vermicelli, beansprouts and basil. I liked this very much. It was light yet savoury.
Bun Ga Nuong - Dry Vietnamese Vermicelli w Chicken ($8.50)
This arrived looking like your regular Kueh Tiao with Grilled Chicken. But flip it and you'll find a host of crunchy vegetables right underneath! Toss it well and you have yourself a savoury noodle salad! Yummy!!
Pho Bo Thap Cam - 3-in-1 Mixed Noodles ($8.50)
My friend had this with slices and beef balls. You can choose 2 out of 3 options and those were his choices. I didn't eat this because I'm not a fan of beef. But the soup was very very tasty!
Including drinks our bill came u to about $30 (and a little more) which I find pretty reasonable. Every thing was served fast cos it's not too hard to prepare... and the service was satisfactory.
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Cheapest Salmon Don and Nice desserts!
This is one place where I'll return often for the cheap salmon don and yummilicious desserts! It was the cheapest I’ve seen so far! When the Salmon Don was served, I was pretty shocked. It didn’t looked like it cost just $3.80! I wondered if they’d served a wrong order! It was also served with miso soup and pickles. There were lots of rice and the number of slices of salmon served was more than those you get from sushi belt where you paid $6.50 for. Although its not as thick, it was still fresh and nice. I’m not a chosey eater, so this entire set for $3.80 was definitely very value for money. CHEAP!!
Their showcase of desserts outside the restaurants attracts the most attention and this is one of their pull factors for customers. Whoever walks by their showcase will be tempted by their mouth-watering display of plastic/rubber/clay food that's made to look so so real and good! (Beauty of the crafty craftman)
I tried their mango ice cream dessert that cost about $6.80. (I pay lesser for the salmon don! HA!) But still, this dessert is very nice. Freshly diced mango with soft vanilla ice-cream on top of a pile of cornflakes! *droooooling* Just thinking about it makes me want to go back for more!
Tried other dishes too like the cheese tofu, karage chicken and others which I can't remember. Next time I go again, I'll make sure I write more about them k.
Anyone want to go with me? :P
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Talk about pizza in Singapore and the first name to jump at you will be Pizza Hut. However, there are quite a variety of other offerings out there yet to be noticed or even recommended. Most are targeted at niche markets instead of the usual crowd and honestly, i think Pizza Hut is charging a little too much these days. In comes New York Pizza, more casual and easy going then Pizza Hut, and also decidedly Halal so it can be enjoyed by even more people. Lets have a bite and find out if its a contender shall we?
Simple and gets the job done. The location is alfresco and thats about all there is to it. I wasn't very happy that i'd have to stay in the sun and get all comfy with it and the fact that there's a noticeable waiting time of about 10 minutes after you order makes it look less palatable
The container - Do not let the picture fool you. This is not a small piece of pizza at all. To put it in perspective, think about the length of pizza huts biggest pizza and you get the idea of how long this is.
Queens Meal = Pepperoni Pizza Chicken Wing Pepsi ($6.90) - Queens meal, nice name though it belies the actual fact that its quite simply a big piece of pepperoni pizza with green pepper, pepperoni and bits of beef. The pizza itself is pretty big and can be split into 4 further pieces for consumption. Its crust is reasonable but very crunchy and crispy which is a refreshing change from pizza huts rather flour filled pizzas. The toppings weren't much to shout about however and i soon got sick of the same taste it offered. The chicken wing was strangely fragrant and sweet, not to mention piping hot
Hawaiian Pizza Meal ($6.90) - Its crust is alike with the pepperoni version which i suppose is the determining factor and difference it is bringing to the scene. Crunchy but a little overdone such that you could see the charred portions from over baking. The Hawaiian pizza is a little too sweet and easily overwhelmed after more then 3 bites into it. The ingredients used were also a little miserly when compared to other pizza places i got to try.
The lunch came up to $13.80 which can't be considered expensive. We did get very sick of the pizza after our 2 helpings so i don't think i will be returning.
I actually tried the place a long time ago when it first started. During that time i had the fish and chips and also tried its pizza burger. Both were pretty good and the fish and chips in particular had a wonderful fresh taste to it. During this visit, the machine was spoiled and thats why we settled for its less then optimal pizzas. Well, i wouldn't know if the fish and chips are any good now since i probably won't try it again. If anyone else tries, let me know if it tastes good alright? Cheers!
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Al Dento at Great World is an open concept cafe you can't miss if you're there. Its central location (Great World City) makes it not-too-inconvenient yet nice and quiet.
Popped by for dinner with 3 other Yebbers that fateful Tuesday. Armed with the well-mentioned coupon, we were tempted to order almost everything on the menu.
Of course we didn't... so here goes!
Tomato Basil Brushetta @ $5
Our little starter was served pretty quickly. 8 pieces of thin toast... Well-buttered but the diced tomatoes were a tad too little. But it was relatively well-presented. A good number for the 4 of us which made me wonder briefly if it were done on purpose.
Grilled Portobello Mushrooms @ $12
2 pieces... what did I expect right? Well it was a little small for Portobello but we made do. The sauce that came with it was just right, not too overpowering. The mushrooms were still juicy with good bite. But I still think it's too expensive at its original price.
Pan-seared Butterfish @ $20
This dish was served with lumps of potato which really looked like Cheezels to me as they were very orange in colour. The fish didn't have too much of a fishy smell to me but the texture could be improved. The potatoes tasted like they were frozen... much like Tater Tots for those who remember what they are.
Char-grilled Sirloin Steak @ $20
This dish was to be served medium rare but it was more well done than expected. I didn't taste this dish really so let my companions do the talking for ya.
Arragosta Pasta @ $20
This is the pasta served with lobster meat. We could choose between two sauces, tomato and garlic. We had garlic sauce and the sauce sure came with a garlicky smell. I think this dish is pretty average. I had the joy of having more lobster meat though (thanks to Claudie).
Smoked Chicken Pizza @ $17
I liked this one. The pizza was about 10". It didn't seem so impressive when it arrived but all the chicken was hidden beneath the cheese. It's been a long time since I've had pizza with that much meat. I like the crust which was thin and crisp at the edges but not thin enough to be charred. :)
Macadamia scented Creme Brulee @ $8
I was the one who ordered this and I did regret a little after the first spoonful. The taste of the custard wasn't very strong. The texture of the custard wasn't smooth enough too. The caramelised top was too thin to add any taste to the dessert.
Tiramisu @ $9
This is better than the Creme Brulee but still not good enough I guess. The top portion was too "tough" and the bottom was too soggy. That made it a little gross to swallow but the overall taste was fine.
This meal would have cost the 4 of us $120 if not for the coupon. The service provided was satisfactory I guess. But unless I'm in the area and I don't fancy anything else, I don't think I would specially head there for this again.
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Have you ever go into a Italiano restaurant, and all of a sudden feel ordering ALL the food available on the menu?
All you look is at the food, without even giving the price tag a glance?
Feeling excited, we might as well tell the waiter to serve EVERY dish they have on the menu!
That’s precisely what happen to us when we went to Al Dente Pronto.
Ahh.. You are confuse now right? Is the food so good that we wanted to order all the dishes? Alas, that’s not quite the raison d’être.
The explication for our extravagant & exaggerated behavior is because … …
We had a 50% discount coupon from OCBC. Yes, you didn’t see wrongly, half price for a la carte items during lunch & dinner, up to a table of 4 persons. Dinner was with the Yebbers. So everything we look at, we can only see half the price, and of course this makes it affordable and worry-free to order whatever we like. So we ordered mostly the more expensive dishes : )
Tomato Basil Bruschetta ($5.0)
We kick start our dinner with the Tomato Basil Bruschettra. Diced Tomato, Garlic, Basil, Oregano and olive oil formulate the starter. We were uncertain whether they gave 8 pieces because there are four of us, or it always come in 8 pieces irregardless of the number of people dining. All the same, we felt the starter could do with more tomato, mayb its because of the rising price in agriculture products in China. Think think. First bite into the Bruschettra was crispy and the garlic taste was done just nice. At $2.50 after discount, it was a real good deal.
Grilled Portobello mushrooms ($12.0)
Our second starter was the Grilled Portobello Mushrooms. Served with rocket salad and diced tomatos. The presentation of the dish was done beautifully, but sadly to sad i felt that at $12 it was definitely not worth the price. Even at half price i won’t order it again.
Char-Grilled Sirloin Steak ($20.0)
Finishing our starter, the waiter note our cue to start our Main course for the night. Our first main was the Char-Grilled Sirloin Steak. We requested for medium-rare, but then when the steak was served it was a tad tougher than what we expected from a medium-rare steak. I guess they sort of make it into medium-well instead. Well, its Italiano and not a steakhouse after all. Nevertheless, i felt that the steak was pretty decent, and at half the price of $10, it was value. Oh yes, we liked the potato that came with it, pretty much reminds us of our childhood.
Pan-Seared Butterfish ($20.0)
Served with potatos, sautèed vegetables and topped with a lemon dill butter glace. Al Dente Pronto actually only have three main course available, the other one being roasted corn fed chicken which we didn’t order. I suppose the raison d’être was because the mains are not really their area of specialty. Al Dente Pronto’s extensive variety of Italian Pizzas and Pastas are where they fare better.
Smoked Chicken Pizza ($17.0)
This is the star of tonight’s show. The Smoked Chicken Pizza might not look very special, but then they are undeniably scrumptious, with large chunks of chicken meat beneath the cheesy cheese. Pizza comes flat, thin and crispy
Arragosta Pasta ($20.0)
Spaghetti with Lobster meat, zucchini and mushrooms, with tomato stew or garlic sauce. We opted for garlic sauce with the belief that garlic can compliment Lobster meat better. And i thought the Arragosta Pasta comes out quite well, mayb except for the fact that it was slightly too dry. I like the lobster meat, which was quite generously furnish on top of the pasta. And i think zucchini (cucumbers) are rather a rare sight in pasta cuisine. Nonetheless, at half price of $10 i think its quite good for money, we are talking about Lobster meat after all.
Tiramisu ($9.0)
To end off the meal, we had Tiramisu as our first dessert. Layers of mascarpone with sponge fingers soaked in coffee and brandy, served with bittersweet chocolate powder The presentation was all right, but the cake was too tough, we had to literally dig inside it to get the tiramisu out.
Macadamia Scented Crème Brulèe ($8.0)
Caramelized custard, infused with Macadamia nut oil served with strawberries on the Macadamia Scented Crème Brulèe.
Total Bill was $122.50 before discount, the amount that we paid for 4 person was $71.20 after discount. The calulations are kind of complicated because the 50% discount does not includes GST and service charge, so they had to count the total price without including them, half the price, and add on the 17% additional charges. Poof! Its comes down to around $18 for per person which i think is reasonably cheap.
All in all, Al Dente Pronto is not really expensive (even without the promotion), the price ranges are mostly in the 10s to 20s. I wont say the food is excellent, in fact some are not. But then i suppose they are still acceptable to me. No you wont go all the way to the forgotton-Great-World-City just for Al Dente Pronto, but i guess if you are in the region you might just want to give it a try. And it certainly helps if you have the OCBC promotion, p.s: it last until end feb.
We had a great night chatting around, there was laughter all over the place, and at times i thought the waiter will just kick us out of the place. It was fun fun & fun! Looking forward to the next Yebber gathering! Cheers!
You are always welcome to visit ladyironchef for a full-up on this trip. Whatever written above are my geniune feelings expressed in words that may be subjected to my personal distortion or bias. 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 : )
” Italiano delights, Companion enjoyment ”
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First impression from afar... wow! Nice place.
Second impression when I saw the namecard... wow! Nice namecard!
Third impression when I stepped into the place... interesting furnishing and cutlery!
We adjoined to Tong Shui Cafe behind Great World City before we head home. The menu was a little hard to read. Typical Singapore "Hongkong style cafe" menu. Although the place is call Tong Shui Cafe (Sweet Water Cafe aka Dessert Cafe) There's only 1 page on the dessert drinks and 1 page on desserts... not much choice. We settled for the TSC's Tuttii Frutti Summit $11-something.
It consists of 3 types of pudding mixed with konnyaku jelly. Texture was not bad. The Mango flavored was the best. The other two were strawberry and kiwi. There were accompanying tiny diced fruits of the 3 kind and tiny crunchy pearls (or jelly). Overall this dessert was quite nice. Nothing to "wow" about.
Will go back to try the other stuff one day if I ever pass by one.
Rating given:
Nice clean place, with ok service and ok food.
Met up with fellow members for dinner. Thanks to LIC for the 50% discount coupon and my OCBC card, we ordered the most expensive of each category to try.
For starters, we had Tomato Basil Bruschetta and Grilled Portobello Mushrooms. Mains we ordered Pan-seared Butterfish, Char-grilled Sirloin Steak, Arragosta Pasta and Smoked Chicken Pizza. Desserts were Macadamia scented Creme Brulee and Tiramisu. Drinks ordered were Ice Rasberry Tea, Ice Peach Tea, Shirley Temple and Lime Juice.
All the above totaled to $71.20! (including GST and Service Charge)
I shall keep mine short and sweet. (Partly because my eyes are already half-close now.)
Tomato Basil Brushetta @ $5
Its either the bread was too big, or the tomatoes were too expensive. Serving wise looks sad. Taste was alright. I like the way they infused the garlic into the bread. Crispy and nice. $2.50 after discount. Cheap lah!
Grilled Portobello Mushrooms @ $12
First bite was yummy. After that it just started like any other mushrooms. The rocket on this was too bitter. Unlike those I had at Absolute Haven.
Pan-seared Butterfish @ $20
Too fishy for me. Sauce was tad too saltish.
Char-grilled Sirloin Steak @ $20
There was nothing charred about this steak. Taste was alright. Meat was too tough. Like the potatoes that was served at the side.
Arragosta Pasta @ $20
Pasta was too dry, lobster meat was quite fresh and plentiful. First time I saw what I call cucumbers (zucchini) on pasta.
Smoked Chicken Pizza @ $17
This is perhaps the only thing that I'll order if I ever go back again. The Pizza on photo seems to be plain and boring. But underneath those cheese are chunks of chicken meat. I like the blend of tomatoes and cheese and chicken. Could be better if there were thicker layer of cheese.
Macadamia scented Creme Brulee @ $8
Taste like custard. Ha! Nothing special about this. Couldn't really taste the macadamia thou.
Tiramisu @ $9
Texture was too tough and sponge fingers were over soaked in the coffee and brandy. Don't really like it.
Overall the food was forgettable. I'll not be going back again unless there's 50% discount or someone's treating.
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Ema’s Diner located at Greenwood Avenue, is formally known as 8 on Greenwood. Opened by the Halia group at the stretch of restaurants along Greenwood. Greenwood is being spoken at the same breath as Dempsey, Holland Village, Rochester Park as the hidden and hot spot to go.
All these used-to be forgotten little outposts of Singapore have been transformed into mini lifestyle destinations of their own. The location of the restaurant is no longer a issue, so long there is the “hot” and “in” place to go, well-travelled food enthusiants living in all corners of Singapore will be willing to travel to other corners as well.
Maybe not known to all, Greenwood Avenue was created by Les Amis group, one of Singapore dining giant. Out of close to 13 restaurants there, 5 belongs to Les Amis Group;
The Grill at Hillcrest
Sebastien’s Bistrot
Peperoni Pizzeria
Raku Japanese Restaurant
L’estaminet Bar
Anyway, thats for the background information on Greenwood, but Les Amis is really good, first they find a hidden street, this is follow up with opening several separate restaurants with different themes, to complement not to compete with each other. And poof! Greenwood Avenue is born.
Initially we wanted to try out Sebastien’s Bistrot, but it was kind of late when we reached the area, so we went for quick lunch at Ema’s Diner. The first impression of the restaurant was its sort of kiddy? There was those stuff-toys cushion on the seats at one of the tables outside.
The menu was an one-pager, it certaintly did not impress me as it seems unprofessional, like a child-drawn menu. Even though Ema did not offer much variety, but i thought the least they could do was separate out the one-page menu into several page and make it look more appropriate like a menu.
We proceed on to browse through the menu since we had already entered the place, a rough count shows that it was about 25-30 seater restaurant. Not much diners around, mayb it was the timing that we went.
Ema’s Burger ($14.90)
Home-made beef patty, melted cheese, picked vege, bacon & hickory smoked bbq sauce, accompanied by fries. The Ema's Burger was pretty decent i guess. You won’t really go wrong ordering this from the short list of food available.
Braised Lamb Shank ($15.90)
With carrot, turnip, celery & mashed potato. The inquisitive side finally got me into trouble. There are safe options to order, but no, my mind tell me not to, and instead Braised lamb shank is served onto my table. Not really good, i didn’t finish the dish if thats what you want to know.
French fries ($3.50)
We made a mistake of ordering french fries for starters because while ordering Ema’s burger, we missed out that it came with fries, otherwise, the fries were okay, and the servings were quite generous too
Total damage came to $43.78 for two person. Also had one mango ice blend ($5.50). The food there wasn’t that bad i guess, mayb its just a case of ordering the wrong stuff, for the price range i though it is still consider reasonable given the fact that it is located beside much high-end restaurants, and the rent at Greenwood isn’t really what you will mention as cheap.
You are always welcome to visit ladyironchef for a full-up on this trip. Whatever written above are my geniune feelings expressed in words that may be subjected to my personal distortion or bias. 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 : )
“ It can’t be smooth-sailing all the way, sometimes you will encounter bad dining experience ”
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