The donut craze in Singapore was kick-start by the emergent of the rivalry between Donut factory at raffles city, and Dippin’ Donut (of former Vinco fame) at Vivocity a few years back.
I remember when Donut factory and Dippin’ just started out, people will queue one two hours just to get that dozen of donuts. Now many more others have jumped into the wagon which includes the likes of Missy donut, Donut & Donuts, Munchy Donut, Summer house donut.
And of course, the latest and by far the one with the cafe concept to be found in our local shores, J Co Donut.
J Co Donut chooses Raffles city basement as their entrance to the Singapore market, of course where other than the battleground with Donut Factory. Since the opening of the donut cafe at Raffles city, the sales of Donut Factory has pale in comparison. And Donut factory isn’t really giving up the fight, with the cafe concept at Velocity@Novena, and Suntec city.
A couple of weeks ago, i wanted to try J Co Donut but the seats were all fully taken up, so we ended up at Cedele. This time when we go there was quite a lot of seats available, so i guess the timing must be right.
We were rather confuse because there are two counters inside J Co, one on the left which are where all the folks are queuing up for their donuts, and there’s another one on the right which we thought that its where the drinks counter is. We buy from the normal queue, but after that we saw people getting a menu from the drinks counter and ordering from there.
Furthermore, as we were having the donuts there, we were wondering whether will it be serve on plates or boxes, we saw people having it on plates, but ours are given in box. So i guess these are really some parts where J Co can do better to let us know, or perhaps the problem are just occurring to us and not ours.
Nonetheless, all the donuts look really really nice, and they are the sort that you know eating them will mean lots of calories, but you cant stop yourself from having them. O well, eat and exercise more!
Just for your info, I tried Dunkin Donuts when i were in KL last time, and i think i’ll preferred J Co Donut to Dunkin’s
I were rather surprised because they offer box for 3 donuts, and even when there are boxes for minimum of 2 donuts. If my memory didn’t fail me, it was at least half a dozen donuts for box last time.
Don Mochino ($1.30) Dark Belgian chocolate topping perfected with light cappucino cream filling. Pleasure you shouldn’t feel gulity about.
One thing i really like about J Co donut’s is that they come up with really fanciful descriptions for all their donuts.
Anyway, the Don Mochino looks really nice with the beautiful chocolate toppings, but somehow the cappuccino cream fillings are a tad too light to the tongue.
Choco Cavier Strawberry ($1.30) Sprinkle Premium chocolate with strawberry that will tickle your mouth.
The small chocolate balls on the choco cavier strawberry donut are quite nice, brings back a certain childhood memory.
Hazel Dazzle ($1.30) Be sexy with dazzling hazelnut chocolate and get surprised with coffee cream.
The Hazel Dazzle donut is one of the new additions to the J Co donuts. I always like hazelnut, so this always work for me.
Ice chocolate ($5) The ice chocolate comes in two sizes, $4.50 for the medium, and $5 for regular. We were discussing whether the regular is really a bigger size than the medium, because regular just sounds, regular. Smaller in size you know?
Tira Miss U ($1.30) Dear Tira, it’s been so long i haven’t meet you. Now, i really miss you.
The tiramisu donut is really nice, i come to love tiramisu and this one is definitely the one i’ll try again when i revisit J Co. Because we brought 3 donuts at first, when i go and get one more, this tiramisu, i tell the manager i want one, he stared at me, giving me the nobody-buy-one-donut look!
It was so funny, i guess, nobody really go in and buy one donut. But i guess i’ll do it often, just to get to see that expression on their face. You all should try also yeah! Alright, i’m joking, we shouldn’t do doing such things to the service staff who work so hard selling our favourite donuts.
Total bill for 4 donuts and one ice chocolate is $10.20. J Co Donut is certainly very impressive, their first outlet in Indonesia was open on 26 June 2005, and within three years of operations they have 39 outlets throughout Asia with presence in Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore.
I think despite the sinful and guilty feeling after eating donuts, i think i will be back to try other donuts at J Co. It’ll be quite a good place to chill out with your friends, munching donuts and sipping a cup of coffee, while sitting down at the cozy couch.
You are always welcome to visit ladyironchef for a full-up on this trip. Whatever written herein are my genuine feelings expressed in words that may be subjected to my personal distortion or biasness. Feel free to furnish me with comments, may it be positive or negative : )
Looking at this topic and review, the question undoubtedly in your mind is how can you differentiate between branches in a fast food chain?
Well, its basically done through the serving of the chicken, service, speed and the taste of the chicken of course.
Regardless, this branch managed to uphold the regular standards without going above board. Though the crowd is huge, the food is still prepared and served with speed even when the current batch of chicken is exhausted.
Seats are plentiful and you'll find many people clad in swim wear patronizing the food joint.
Service is decent and to the point while extra requests are taken with a smile and request to be patient while they process the request. The special order is then served to the residual table.
Located in Downtown east, i patronized this place some time ago with my gf to have a swim, get a tan and basically get some relaxation into the system from the daily grind.
Ticket charges are at $13.80 for the public and $10.80 for NTUC club members and basically, its a good place to remain half naked for half a day with no weird looks thrown your way.
The attractions include a suspended bicycle, an extremely fast and long slide, a shared 5 person float, a jucuzzi, a meandering pool and a wave simulated pool.
Overall, it wasn't a bad experience at the place but its definitely not enough to spend an entire day in just for the rides.
For what its worth though, the place is well maintained and relaxing with the exception of the floor which is strangely made of prickly stone designs when the majority of the people there are supposed to be walking bare feet. Its rather precarious and dangerous.
Singtel or Singapore telecom has been THE service to turn to since its inception in the beginning of Singapore itself. Started out with the use of land lines only, the service has evolved with time, faced competition and ushered in an era of the mobile phone. Thats what we'll be talking about.
Recently, i've been recommissioned to national service due to this program called Reservist and i was stationed at places so close to the sea and on the fringes of Singapore that its basically a test of how good the service of our "red umbrella" really is.
Well, sad to report, it didn't stand up to the test at all.. Service was intermittent and basically non existent where i stood (Still in Singapore). The service simply kept dislodging itself and even switched to roaming for Malaysia's service instead, which was ridiculous.
General consensus is that the quality of sound is also compromised as compared to the like of M1 service. Seems like it isn't as good as i thought.
Plaza Singapura is a wonderfully located shopping mall being close to orchard road and neighbors to The Cathay. Its central location allows it to be a easy pit stop regardless of which side you are prone to visit and having the Dhouby Ghaut MRT with the north east line converging on it is a godsend for the retailers housed within.
Talking about retailers, the place is packed with them. Carrefour, Giordana, Baleno, Marks and Spencer, Lee Hwa Jewelry, Burger King, Levis, Starhub, Singtel, San Bookshop, Apple Retailers and even Bose. Its a shoppers easy to access location with a huge and extensive selection.
Add to that a movie cinema, a videogames arcade and a Yamaha school for further entertainment and diversity and basically, its easy to see why PS is an acronym alot of youngsters are saying when they go out.
As for myself, the reason i go to PS is because of the location and ease if i take an MRT. There's nothing much to it. Its just easy to reach and hellishly simple to shop there. Thats my take.
Amk Hub is a new addition to the AMK central region and boasts a multitude of stores and parking lots for the main community.
In the beginning, the Hub was highly praised for its excellent melding of department stores, underground passages and most importantly, the synchronisation and incorporation of the bus interchange with a major department store. It still stands as a shining example of space maximization and the combination of various functions into one building.
The hub itself holds numerous restaurants which range from New York New York, Fish and Co to Mcdonald's, and Dian Xiao Er. Which is a great convenience along with a rather big NTUC outlet for groceries and lots of shopping outlets for clothes, computers, video, electronics and even houses 2 banks, DBS and UOB for easy cash withdrawal.
Parking lots are plenty and spacious while the Hub itself is generous with space such that it never feels too crowded.
A good place with all the necessary things you need and then some.
It was a weekday and i met up with my gf for a meal. Unsure of what to have, we proceeded down to Serangoon Garden in hope of having some nice western but the places were filled and thus, we settled for Sushi Tei instead.
The outlet was decorated simply with the conveyor belt that is all the rage with Japanese restaurants. Having had a prior bad experience with Sushi Tei at Big Splash, this was the second chance they needed to get back into my good books.
We ordered a Unagi Yanagawa and Ebi and Yasai Don to share.
The Unagi Yanagawa came in 6 rather big pieces and cost $12 which was a little steep. However, the fresh unagi and nicely done cooking which managed to retain the sweet and slightly springy taste managed to make the dish feel at least acceptable.
The Ebi and Yasai don on the other hand was value for money @ $8 since it came with 8 nicely fried prawns and plenty of fried vegetables as well. Rice is the usual japanese sticky sushi rice which tasted bland but was salvaged by the teriyaki sauce and the accompaniments.
We had a few sushi dishes as well which struck me as rather normal for the value plates of $1.60 and $1.80 plates. However, the more expensive plates served better items but were upwards of $4 to $6. So its really a personal preference for the sushi part. As for me, i'd rather return for the ala carte in future.
Service was respectable and decent.
All in all, this is definitely better then the Big Splash branch.
What better way to wrap up a meal and combat the cold weather than a bowl of hot Ah Balling soup? $1.50 gets you a bowl of the peanut based dessert with 4 large Tang Yuans or Glutinous Rice Balls with your choice of either Peanut or Sesame filling. The Tang Yuans had a relatively thin yet elastic skin which was not too starchy. Bite into one and the sweet fillings ooze out to greet your teeth. They say goodness comes in small packages and I do not wonder why.
My parents have been buying Hum Chin Pengs from this stall ever since I was a kid (Think 20 years ago). The old man used to be the one doing up the dough and the daughter would fry the Hum Chin Peng . It used to go for 5 cents for 2 pieces, but now times have changed and you have to do your own frying, which can be quite fun and the Hum Chin Pengs go for a dollar for 7 pieces now. Don't worry if you are an idiot at cooking because the lady will ensure that your Hum Chin Pengs turn out just right. After frying, there is the option of coating it in icing sugar. I had a dollar worth of the sweet version (there's the salty version as well) and I must say that the Hum Chin Pengs tasted really good, especially with the icing sugar. Each piece is quite small, so it is quite light and can be taken as a snack. One downside is the oil which is used to fry the Hum Chin Pengs. Last I looked, it was black, owing to the charred pieces of dough. May I add that this is extremely bad for health, but once a while is fine right? ;)
Tian Tian Chicken Rice has got to be one of the better chicken rice stalls in Singapore. The chilli is just great, although a tad spicy for me(I wish I knew the recipe for it). The chicken itself is rather normal, but the rice is fragrant and tasty without being too oily. $3 gets you a huge plate of rice with about 10 sizeable slices of chicken. Talk about cheap and good! There's a very long queue to boot as well so if you are not the kind to wait 30 mins or more for your food, you might just want to visit during the off peak hours like 4-5pm.
1=SGD 0.0587
The donut craze in Singapore was kick-start by the emergent of the rivalry between Donut factory at raffles city, and Dippin’ Donut (of former Vinco fame) at Vivocity a few years back.
I remember when Donut factory and Dippin’ just started out, people will queue one two hours just to get that dozen of donuts. Now many more others have jumped into the wagon which includes the likes of Missy donut, Donut & Donuts, Munchy Donut, Summer house donut.
And of course, the latest and by far the one with the cafe concept to be found in our local shores, J Co Donut.
J Co Donut chooses Raffles city basement as their entrance to the Singapore market, of course where other than the battleground with Donut Factory. Since the opening of the donut cafe at Raffles city, the sales of Donut Factory has pale in comparison. And Donut factory isn’t really giving up the fight, with the cafe concept at Velocity@Novena, and Suntec city.
A couple of weeks ago, i wanted to try J Co Donut but the seats were all fully taken up, so we ended up at Cedele. This time when we go there was quite a lot of seats available, so i guess the timing must be right.
We were rather confuse because there are two counters inside J Co, one on the left which are where all the folks are queuing up for their donuts, and there’s another one on the right which we thought that its where the drinks counter is. We buy from the normal queue, but after that we saw people getting a menu from the drinks counter and ordering from there.
Furthermore, as we were having the donuts there, we were wondering whether will it be serve on plates or boxes, we saw people having it on plates, but ours are given in box. So i guess these are really some parts where J Co can do better to let us know, or perhaps the problem are just occurring to us and not ours.
Nonetheless, all the donuts look really really nice, and they are the sort that you know eating them will mean lots of calories, but you cant stop yourself from having them. O well, eat and exercise more!
Just for your info, I tried Dunkin Donuts when i were in KL last time, and i think i’ll preferred J Co Donut to Dunkin’s
I were rather surprised because they offer box for 3 donuts, and even when there are boxes for minimum of 2 donuts. If my memory didn’t fail me, it was at least half a dozen donuts for box last time.
Don Mochino ($1.30)
Dark Belgian chocolate topping perfected with light cappucino cream filling. Pleasure you shouldn’t feel gulity about.
One thing i really like about J Co donut’s is that they come up with really fanciful descriptions for all their donuts.
Anyway, the Don Mochino looks really nice with the beautiful chocolate toppings, but somehow the cappuccino cream fillings are a tad too light to the tongue.
Choco Cavier Strawberry ($1.30)
Sprinkle Premium chocolate with strawberry that will tickle your mouth.
The small chocolate balls on the choco cavier strawberry donut are quite nice, brings back a certain childhood memory.
Hazel Dazzle ($1.30)
Be sexy with dazzling hazelnut chocolate and get surprised with coffee cream.
The Hazel Dazzle donut is one of the new additions to the J Co donuts. I always like hazelnut, so this always work for me.
Ice chocolate ($5)
The ice chocolate comes in two sizes, $4.50 for the medium, and $5 for regular. We were discussing whether the regular is really a bigger size than the medium, because regular just sounds, regular. Smaller in size you know?
Tira Miss U ($1.30)
Dear Tira, it’s been so long i haven’t meet you. Now, i really miss you.
The tiramisu donut is really nice, i come to love tiramisu and this one is definitely the one i’ll try again when i revisit J Co. Because we brought 3 donuts at first, when i go and get one more, this tiramisu, i tell the manager i want one, he stared at me, giving me the nobody-buy-one-donut look!
It was so funny, i guess, nobody really go in and buy one donut. But i guess i’ll do it often, just to get to see that expression on their face. You all should try also yeah! Alright, i’m joking, we shouldn’t do doing such things to the service staff who work so hard selling our favourite donuts.
Total bill for 4 donuts and one ice chocolate is $10.20. J Co Donut is certainly very impressive, their first outlet in Indonesia was open on 26 June 2005, and within three years of operations they have 39 outlets throughout Asia with presence in Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore.
I think despite the sinful and guilty feeling after eating donuts, i think i will be back to try other donuts at J Co. It’ll be quite a good place to chill out with your friends, munching donuts and sipping a cup of coffee, while sitting down at the cozy couch.
You are always welcome to visit ladyironchef for a full-up on this trip. Whatever written herein are my genuine feelings expressed in words that may be subjected to my personal distortion or biasness. Feel free to furnish me with comments, may it be positive or negative : )
” Munching donuts & sipping coffee - perfect! “
Rating given:
Looking at this topic and review, the question undoubtedly in your mind is how can you differentiate between branches in a fast food chain?
Well, its basically done through the serving of the chicken, service, speed and the taste of the chicken of course.
Regardless, this branch managed to uphold the regular standards without going above board. Though the crowd is huge, the food is still prepared and served with speed even when the current batch of chicken is exhausted.
Seats are plentiful and you'll find many people clad in swim wear patronizing the food joint.
Service is decent and to the point while extra requests are taken with a smile and request to be patient while they process the request. The special order is then served to the residual table.
More or less the whole KFC experience here.
Rating given:
Located in Downtown east, i patronized this place some time ago with my gf to have a swim, get a tan and basically get some relaxation into the system from the daily grind.
Ticket charges are at $13.80 for the public and $10.80 for NTUC club members and basically, its a good place to remain half naked for half a day with no weird looks thrown your way.
The attractions include a suspended bicycle, an extremely fast and long slide, a shared 5 person float, a jucuzzi, a meandering pool and a wave simulated pool.
Overall, it wasn't a bad experience at the place but its definitely not enough to spend an entire day in just for the rides.
For what its worth though, the place is well maintained and relaxing with the exception of the floor which is strangely made of prickly stone designs when the majority of the people there are supposed to be walking bare feet. Its rather precarious and dangerous.
Still, not too bad for a visit.
Rating given:
Singtel or Singapore telecom has been THE service to turn to since its inception in the beginning of Singapore itself. Started out with the use of land lines only, the service has evolved with time, faced competition and ushered in an era of the mobile phone. Thats what we'll be talking about.
Recently, i've been recommissioned to national service due to this program called Reservist and i was stationed at places so close to the sea and on the fringes of Singapore that its basically a test of how good the service of our "red umbrella" really is.
Well, sad to report, it didn't stand up to the test at all.. Service was intermittent and basically non existent where i stood (Still in Singapore). The service simply kept dislodging itself and even switched to roaming for Malaysia's service instead, which was ridiculous.
General consensus is that the quality of sound is also compromised as compared to the like of M1 service. Seems like it isn't as good as i thought.
Rating given:
Plaza Singapura is a wonderfully located shopping mall being close to orchard road and neighbors to The Cathay. Its central location allows it to be a easy pit stop regardless of which side you are prone to visit and having the Dhouby Ghaut MRT with the north east line converging on it is a godsend for the retailers housed within.
Talking about retailers, the place is packed with them. Carrefour, Giordana, Baleno, Marks and Spencer, Lee Hwa Jewelry, Burger King, Levis, Starhub, Singtel, San Bookshop, Apple Retailers and even Bose. Its a shoppers easy to access location with a huge and extensive selection.
Add to that a movie cinema, a videogames arcade and a Yamaha school for further entertainment and diversity and basically, its easy to see why PS is an acronym alot of youngsters are saying when they go out.
As for myself, the reason i go to PS is because of the location and ease if i take an MRT. There's nothing much to it. Its just easy to reach and hellishly simple to shop there. Thats my take.
Rating given:
Amk Hub is a new addition to the AMK central region and boasts a multitude of stores and parking lots for the main community.
In the beginning, the Hub was highly praised for its excellent melding of department stores, underground passages and most importantly, the synchronisation and incorporation of the bus interchange with a major department store. It still stands as a shining example of space maximization and the combination of various functions into one building.
The hub itself holds numerous restaurants which range from New York New York, Fish and Co to Mcdonald's, and Dian Xiao Er. Which is a great convenience along with a rather big NTUC outlet for groceries and lots of shopping outlets for clothes, computers, video, electronics and even houses 2 banks, DBS and UOB for easy cash withdrawal.
Parking lots are plenty and spacious while the Hub itself is generous with space such that it never feels too crowded.
A good place with all the necessary things you need and then some.
Rating given:
It was a weekday and i met up with my gf for a meal. Unsure of what to have, we proceeded down to Serangoon Garden in hope of having some nice western but the places were filled and thus, we settled for Sushi Tei instead.
The outlet was decorated simply with the conveyor belt that is all the rage with Japanese restaurants. Having had a prior bad experience with Sushi Tei at Big Splash, this was the second chance they needed to get back into my good books.
We ordered a Unagi Yanagawa and Ebi and Yasai Don to share.
The Unagi Yanagawa came in 6 rather big pieces and cost $12 which was a little steep. However, the fresh unagi and nicely done cooking which managed to retain the sweet and slightly springy taste managed to make the dish feel at least acceptable.
The Ebi and Yasai don on the other hand was value for money @ $8 since it came with 8 nicely fried prawns and plenty of fried vegetables as well. Rice is the usual japanese sticky sushi rice which tasted bland but was salvaged by the teriyaki sauce and the accompaniments.
We had a few sushi dishes as well which struck me as rather normal for the value plates of $1.60 and $1.80 plates. However, the more expensive plates served better items but were upwards of $4 to $6. So its really a personal preference for the sushi part. As for me, i'd rather return for the ala carte in future.
Service was respectable and decent.
All in all, this is definitely better then the Big Splash branch.
Rating given:
What better way to wrap up a meal and combat the cold weather than a bowl of hot Ah Balling soup? $1.50 gets you a bowl of the peanut based dessert with 4 large Tang Yuans or Glutinous Rice Balls with your choice of either Peanut or Sesame filling. The Tang Yuans had a relatively thin yet elastic skin which was not too starchy. Bite into one and the sweet fillings ooze out to greet your teeth. They say goodness comes in small packages and I do not wonder why.
Rating given:
My parents have been buying Hum Chin Pengs from this stall ever since I was a kid (Think 20 years ago). The old man used to be the one doing up the dough and the daughter would fry the Hum Chin Peng . It used to go for 5 cents for 2 pieces, but now times have changed and you have to do your own frying, which can be quite fun and the Hum Chin Pengs go for a dollar for 7 pieces now. Don't worry if you are an idiot at cooking because the lady will ensure that your Hum Chin Pengs turn out just right. After frying, there is the option of coating it in icing sugar. I had a dollar worth of the sweet version (there's the salty version as well) and I must say that the Hum Chin Pengs tasted really good, especially with the icing sugar. Each piece is quite small, so it is quite light and can be taken as a snack. One downside is the oil which is used to fry the Hum Chin Pengs. Last I looked, it was black, owing to the charred pieces of dough. May I add that this is extremely bad for health, but once a while is fine right? ;)
Rating given:
Tian Tian Chicken Rice has got to be one of the better chicken rice stalls in Singapore. The chilli is just great, although a tad spicy for me(I wish I knew the recipe for it). The chicken itself is rather normal, but the rice is fragrant and tasty without being too oily. $3 gets you a huge plate of rice with about 10 sizeable slices of chicken. Talk about cheap and good! There's a very long queue to boot as well so if you are not the kind to wait 30 mins or more for your food, you might just want to visit during the off peak hours like 4-5pm.
Rating given: