Have been thinking of buying a treadmill for so long but have never seriously looking into one. I did visit shops and roadshow for the treadmill but the prices are out of my 'willing to pay' range. Seriously, I do not know what is the right price to pay for a 'good enough' treadmill. Of ourse, as low as possible in my mind.
I went to see an offer unit which is only $999. The cheapest in town. But I don't like it when I see it. It is so small and narrow compare to others and there is no feature at all. Not even the basic incline feature. The sales person recommend me another one of higher grade, it looks OK but it costs $2500. I cannot make up my mind at this high cost, so I gave it a miss.
Few weeks later, I happen to see this treadmill roadshow by Aibi. As usual, I went near to take a look at the offered model. The salesman came to me and started telling me the good points of the treadmill. I didn't answer him nor did I sounded interested. He kept on talking and explained the different between a few models. There were 3 models he was comparing, one at $1988, one at $2488 and another at $3680. I was quite keen on the $3680 model because I want to be sure I have no regret after buying it. I know expensive may not be good but the cheap one can never be the best. He said he had worked in this company for 8 years and know the machine well enough to give me a good recommendation. In fact, irregardless what he said, I believed he has sized me up to be the $2500 budget customer.
After quite a while, I decided to response to him by a few questions. He knew I was caught already. I kept asking him the difference between the $2488 and $3680 models, he kept telling me to take the $2488 model because it is not neccessary to spend the extra $1192 for a machine which is bigger in size and perform the same thing. He thought I would appreciate for his kind intention.
When I finally signed up for the $2488 treadmill and filled in my address, he straight away change his word and tell me I should take the $3680 model. I jokingly told him that he is a 'Sian Tau', he laughed and he even agreed to let me have the machine exchange to the $3680 within a month if I am not happy with the $2488 model.
I find this salesman 'bluff' his way through but with a sincere and friendly attitude. He knows how to tune himself to suit the customer although his answer is always neither here nor there. He can even conflict himself wih his own answer. I still buy from him even though I knew all his tricks. Because I have seen many worse salesmanship and this is consider acceptable to me.
I must say that I have no regret buying the machine, but was a little unhappy that the salesman didn't highlight some important issues. The basic function is the Start/stop button and the program function. When you press the 'stop' button, the machine stop immediately. This is dangerous after running for 10 mins at level 6 or higher. The human body will react to it and cause some giddiness if the machine suddenly stop. Next, the machine start so slow when I press on any pre-program function. I have to adjust the speed manually and this defeat the pre-program function. While I can't demand for any explanation or change to the way the machine is designed, I have to use it in 'manual' mode all the time.
Check out on the start/stop button if you need to buy one.
Heard lots about Melvados cafe and its famous brownies but due to the fact that its location is on the other side of Singapore, i've never coerced myself to make the trip down to visit it. In fact, i still have not visited it due to mixed reviews on the service and the food from the place. However, i did manage to get lucky one day and got my hands on a box of Melvados brownies for a tea time treat for free.
Macadamia Nut Brownie ($28 for 10 pieces) & Mango Mousse ($26 for 10 pieces) - Fortunate me got this box of brownies and cakes for free due to over ordering and i can say that i found the brownies and cakes above average. The Macadamia brownie obviously had a crunchy layer of macadamia nuts strewn all over the top of a chocolaty and bitter brownie. Its also soft and crumbles easily with each bite, doesn't crumble in your hand though, which to me, is a mark of an above average brownie. On the downside, the only thing to pick on is that the bitterness gets to you pretty quick. The Mango mousse cake is smooth, creamy and soft. Its lightly sweet with a thin layer of cream for that feeling of indulgence and balance all in one. It also helps to note that it was fresh. Another yummy treat.
I liked the brownies quite a bit. Its fresh, pack with taste and pretty much comfort food for me. The fact that i didn't have to pay for them helped quite a bit as well. All in all, i'd recommend ordering out to try for yourself. It ain't cheap though so please take note.
Fast food in Singapore has always been dominated by a few big names and now, competition is on the way. Well, competition has been on the way forever but never quite caught up. Its the niche that these new places are fighting for and somehow, SuperDog, which i've passed by so many times, finally got me to step in for a trial. Is it even close to being in the race? Read on for my take on the issue.
Its good to see that the company has a sense of humor from their eating etiquette. Nothing too fancy but it gets a few facts right. The philosophy also does a good job of telling consumers their main selling point, which is that their ingredients and items are fresh, never frozen. Sounds good enough for me.
Iced Chocolate and Pineapple Sensation - Beverages of fast food joints are hardly the stuff of legend and yet, this one managed to be a notch above the usual. Instead of boring reruns of coke and what not (which they do serve), we got ourselves a healthy dose of iced chocolate and pineapple sensation. The iced chocolate was rich and pretty much rivaled Starbucks or Coffee Bean if you ask me. The pineapple sensation was also pretty good with its sourish sweet taste which felt like actual pineapple juice instead of reworked extracts. Most surprising.
Breaded Fish And Chips - Nice up was the bread fish and chips which looked suitably bland since its an item that has been done to death by numerous and uncountable hordes of copycats. And yet, it managed to taste better then the likes of Long John Silvers, Coffee Club and Swenson's. This is probably because it had a taste of herbs mixed in with its crispy breaded skin and expertly done fish which managed to retain a sweetness the others simply did not offer. Another surprise.
SuperDog - This is the dog that started it all. The SuperDog, wholesome pork bratwurst with a piece of bacon, cheese, garlic and their own special chili concoction which made each bite easier to take. In terms of the bratwurst, maybe i'm no expert but i found it rather tasty albeit bland. The chili managed to salvage that however and taken as a whole, its was quite good. The chili isn't the spicy variety as well which had a tangy and mildly sweet flavor.
Bacon Chili Cheese Dog - At first glance, this is pretty much the same as the Superdog but a little smaller. The only discernible difference was the hotdog which was smaller and had cheese in it. The good thing is that the cheese was hot and flows well with each bite. In fact, i prefer this to the SuperDog. The bread in both versions were lightly buttered and toasted on the inside for a crispy texture which served it well.
Surprise. That pretty much sums it up. The place has never looked appetizing to me but i find myself drawn towards it now. The food isn't cheap and is priced above its competitors but the taste is different and surprisingly good. The service was also friendly enough to commend. To me, i find this fast food chain up there with the big boys and maybe even surpassing them on some levels. Try it, it might surprise you.
Tea Cosy formally known as Tea Cosy by Eclectic attic was the place for a foodie outing organized by HGW one quiet Friday night. Appearing on television programs and newspapers, Tea Cosy is not media shy in the least and has garnered reviews from both ends of the spectrum which ranges from flat out good to a foodie beating of disappointments. Of course, for us, we were there to discern if such praises and damnations were accurate.
One of the main draws of Tea Cosy is the strange setting that the restaurant resides in. Basically, it is possible to walk pass this restaurant without ever realizing that it is a place where you can have food. The reason for this is because of the fusion of a high end furniture store with the restaurant. Everything in the shop can be bought and has a price tag as far as the owners are concerned and to be perfectly honest, the prices are sky high IMHO. The restaurant itself changes according to the expected number of diners the restaurant predicts and this time, they've prepared a nice table set up for the event, which was appropriate.
Fat Bastard Chardonnay and Shiraz ($12 a glass) - Now, for our first disappointment for the day, the wines. As introduced by Martin, the wines are the absolute finest he has been able to find in recent memory as he enjoyed wines with a more subtle taste. The wines were actually served by the serving lady because she mentioned to us that the wine was "complementary" for the first glass which turned out otherwise but more on that later. The wines themselves were average to my tastes because i've had quite a fine wines on my own and somehow, this "Fat Bastard" label struck me as below average with its overtly weak taste and rather bland palate. And charging $12 a glass is simply ridiculous.
The bell was a nice touch until you realise there wasn't much in terms of service from the temporary staff that was hired which was a pity since the hosts were rather entertaining and friendly.
Cream Of Mushroom Soup with Toasted bread and secret Mayo - The first item after a decidedly long wait was the cream of mushroom which came with generous bits of mushroom strewn within. Along with this was a piece of toasted bread which was toasted possibly with the restaurants own brand of mayonnaise which gave it a sweet and appealing taste. The soup was average as it struck me as too salty.
Decadent salad with prawns, foie gras and egg yolk - The decadent salad is a must try whenever you visit this place. Period. Fresh green salads and greens with three pieces of prawn, a half boiled egg and 2 small pieces of pan fried foie gras. To dissect the dish, the prawns were average, as are the greens and the foie gras but when you take this as a whole, it becomes a much better dish. The mayonnaise and half boiled egg is a stroke of genius since it gives the dish a much better taste than usual. The foie gras and prawns feel more like an afterthought since the foie gras was actually very small and charred on both sides while the prawns weren't the crunchy types i've come to enjoy. Another service lapse happened here because the organizers of the party got bigger portions than ours which left a sour taste in my groups mouth since we thought they paid the same amount but got double standards. Which we found out that they paid a higher price for the bigger servings in the end but there was one more thing. We were at the restaurant first but ended up served last, now thats something they couldn't explain away and its my point that double standards were in place.
Lemon Pan Fried Dory Fillet, Grilled Chicken With Rice, Laksa Pesto - Had a try of some of the items above and this is what i think. The grilled chicken was good, soft, tender and went well with the lemon and sweet sauce. The dory was normal, nothing too special about it. The laksa pesto was reminiscent of Wild Rockets rendition except that this was more watery and had a little curry taste in it. From what i heard, it was extremely salty as well.
Foie Gras - The Foie Gras is another well known must-try dish during a visit to Tea Cosy. 2 rather decent sized pieces of goose liver pan fried on top of a bed of salad which looked much like the decadent salad of yore. Honestly though, having this on its own would have left me hungry as the foie gras weren't particularly generous. Taste wise, it was pretty normal as there doesn't seem to be much preparation in the cooking. A slightly crispy and salty outer skin is about all i could discern. Sage and Braise served better Foie Gras. This place is an option if you have a tight budget but still crave some wholesome fat.
Tirasmisu, Strawberry Shortcake, Chocolate Indulgence, Raisin Brownies and Cinnamon Cake - In case you were wondering. I made up the name above since i forgot what this was called. As i've only had .... less then a spoonful when shared, i'll refrain from commenting too much. I'll say that the cakes were quite good but not for the price.
Ebony and Ivory - Premium vanilla ice cream dribbled with chocolate and frozen set atop a chocolate brownie. Simple yet totally easy to like. The vanilla ice cream was very creamy while the chocolate gave it the slight edge in sweetness it needs. The brownie in turn gave the whole concoction a dimension of bitterness which makes it easier to recommend. My only gripe is that the portion is small and that after a few bites, sugar overload commences.
Total bill this time came up to $49 a person instead of the aforementioned and agreed upon $32.90 which the deal was supposed to be.
(Service: 4/10)
Why the low score for service? Firstly because the wine which was supposed to be complimentary turned out otherwise. Secondly, upon informing the lady of the error, instead of waiving the cost of drinks, she waived the cost of the laksa which is not much help. Thirdly, i remember Martin mentioning he was not in the job for the money but apparently the ending was that the cost of 6 glasses of wrongly served wine proved too much to handle. In all fairness, apart from this hick up, the food was average in some while above average in others. If there's anything to try, its the decadent salad and that would be about all you should have to maximize your dollar.
I love the National Museum and the romantic-ness of it all. To be very honest, I didn't really know about Chef Chan until my little Birdie friend told me. All to happy to have a chance to dine at the charming Museum, I jumped at this chance.
Arriving at the place, I wasn't disappointed by the place! I love the entire atmosphere. Chef Chan was tucked away in an obscure corner of the museum, but the restaurant was very appropriately designed. The entire oriental theme was soothing and not overly gaudy, which was often so with Chinese restaurants.
What we had that night:
Melon Strips Enlivened with Orange Juice You know the F&N Orange squash we used to drink during CNY? It tastes like that... with lots of crunch. I liked it but I didn't think I would have something like this in this restaurant. I'd have to agree with the rest that this was easy to make at home. But I guess it's a reasonable starter.
Prawn Balls Stuffed with Pate and Wine I could taste neither pate nor wine. We only had one ball each and mind you, it wasn't very big. It was salty and that was the only obvious taste I could get from the ball. The only thing it reminded me of was those balls you could microwave once you take them out from the freezer.
Stir Fried Shark’s Fin with Eggs, Bean Sprouts and Spring Onion Served in Lettuce Leaves Someone said it looked like a whole lot of Tunghoon. There was some shark's fin I guess and a mix of everything else. This dish was lightly flavoured and I liked it pretty much. But the cabbage I had below was a bit thick and had a contrasting bitter taste to the salad sitting on it. So I refused to eat it after a few bites.
Steamed Lobster with Garlic You could SMELL the garlic from a distance. Everyone had one half of the lobster which was a nice serving to have. Mine wasn't so covered in garlic so I was pretty happy with it. The lobster was pretty fresh I guess but the garlic really burned in my middle when I'd finished it.
Steamed Sliced Garoupa in Village Style I had 2-3 pieces of this (unlike some people). The fish bits had a nice texture but the gravy that came with it was horrid. It's was sickeningly sticky which made me baulk at the first taste. I rubbed it off at the side of the dish so that I didn't have to eat too much of it. Relatively acceptable dish I guess... They need to do something about the gravy.
Sauteed Vegetable with Shredded Mushroom A dish you can definitely find at your neighbourhood Chze Char stall.
Chef Chan’s Famous Crispy Roast Chicken This is a YUMMY! I loved this one. The skin was crisp and I ate it too, despite being the sort who usually peels it off. The meat was very tasty on its own. I liked the texture (cos I got the part I wanted) This was definitely the winning dish of the night that kept everyone very quiet.
Papaya with White Fungus & Herbal Jelly with Glutinous Rice & Mango Mistake Mistake Mistake. The texture of the glutinous rice did not go well with the Guilingao! Terrible... it took me a few tries before I figured I had to eat all the glutinous rice first then have the mango and the herbal jelly together. Any other way just made me quite sick really.
We chalked up a bill of about $860, which works out to be about $96 per person. It would have been more expensive but thanks to someone's credit card, we had a discount.
I wouldn't say this is below average... in actual fact I didn't think that the food "sucked". It was below expectations, thanks to its price. But it's not terrible food. Just expensive average food I guess. The chicken saved it from a 2-star.
Went and bought the Double Chocolate mint and didn't understand why its called "Double choc". It has only a tinee winee hint of any minty taste and the taste doesn't blend at all. Also bought the Cranberry and felt that it actually tasted abit weird and too dry.
Both flavors gave me the feeling that Little Jerry's wants to do it good but doesn't put in enough effort. Both flavors also leaves a floury after-taste that coats the mouth uncomfortably.
Service wasn't too good as well though the shop front looks good.
Although the price is lower than Famous Amos or or Mrs Fields, I will gladly pay more for Famous Amos delicious cookies than Little Jerry's. However, there are other flavors like the Oat or Macadamia flavor that I would like to try as they look nice to me... will update the review once I tried the rest.
I had walked past this place so many times and yet I had not had a thought of walking in for a meal. There are a few reasons, first being there always seem to be a long queue outside the restaurant. Secondly, the place serves the kind of food that does not appeal to me. Thirdly, I was always in rush when I was walking past this place. So finally one fine day, we decided to give this place a try, well there was no queue and I thought that it was all good timing. I sort of regretted my choice when I stood there waiting to be shown to a table.
The place did not seem crowded, in fact can see a few empty tables, but we have to wait at the counter. It seems like the waiters and waitresses, even the managers (well they are the ones wearing more formal), are all very busy and everywhere except the counter where we are waiting. Not even one saw us standing at the counter, making me like an idiot. After about 5 mins of waiting, I told my partner that I will count to five, if till then, no one comes up to us, we will go another place for dinner. Lucky enough (don’t know for them or us), we were ushered to a table that is pretty much near to the edge of the corridor where tons and tons of people walked past, felt like animals on display.
The decoration of the place is pretty much trying to be hip and getting the attention of the teenagers, so that they can come in, eat and spend money. There is a pool table to play and even a candy floss station where you can get free candy floss. There are tables like a capsule where a big group can be seated together. The rest of the tables are like those normal kind.
Well after the bad start, my mood was not very good to start off with. Being seated at that location, it was difficult to get the attention of the waiters. It was really frustrating but finally managed to get one and come and take our orders. So what we ordered?
Root beer float @ $7.60: This came in the A&W style. Big mug of nice cold root beer with a big scoop of ice cream in it. Nothing special but it still taste great. Nice. I do find it a bit expensive for it though. Sigh.
London style fish and chip @ $9.90: This came with a big piece of fish, chips and tartar sauce. That it! No coleslaw or salad or whatever. This is really a ripped off! The fish is a bit flaky, not really fresh, maybe frozen. The batter is a bit too thick. Nothing to wow about. I wonder what do they mean by the London part. I understand in London they served it with vinegar but I dun see them doing that. Hmm….. This is really disappointing.
American Coleslaw @ $4.90: I don’t know it is me or the coleslaw but I do find the taste of the coleslaw a bit weird. Maybe too much mayo or too much vinegar but it does not taste like any normal coleslaw. I got to say this is one of the worst coleslaw that I ever eaten. It was so bad that I did not even finished the whole coleslaw. It is that bad. There is no way I am going to order that again.
Rotisserie Chix Whole @ $14.90: After eating or tasting all the above mentioned food, I did not have high expectation for this dish. However, I was wrong. The dish turned out to be great. The chicken was moist and tender, not dry at all. The size of the chicken is also quite huge, for small eaters, they can just order this and share. The sauce that came with the chicken is perfect for it. This dish is above average. Try this and you will not regret especially after a string of disappointments. This is the one that deserves 4 stars.
After this, we decided to give the desserts a miss and asked for the bill. Again, it took us sometime to get the attention of the waiters for the bill. The bill came to us pretty fast but we paid for it and waited for it to return. We waited and waited with the water at least topped up twice. We asked for the waiter to check on the bill but it seems that it never came back. I wonder why? In the end, I got a bit pissed off and signaled to the manager and ask him to check the bill which after a wait of 10 mins, the waiter finally brought it back to us. I really wonder what happen at that time. I have therefore decided after this experience, there is NO CHANCE that I will ever return to this place for any meal ever again!
Held our annual excuse to dine out in the guise of mother's day at Si Chuan Dou Hua, Plaza Park Royal. Scarred from the barely satisfying dinner at Sun Japanese Dining last year, my family decided to stick to the traditional Chinese route this year. Expectations were high as I had a relatively good experience at Si Chuan Dou Hua UOB Plaza at the beginning of last year.
Wood seems to be the focus for the entire restaurant, with overhanging oriental lamps capping a most traditional Chinese interior that oozes finesse through its plush carpeted floors and doorway arches. Here you can peer through the floor to ceiling windows but the view really isn't something you would want to see - tour coaches.
I liked the keropok (crackers) which came in the usual fish and prawn variety. Crackling with every bite, it wasn't soft or soggy and made for a rather unusual but pleasing appetiser.
Sliced Beef and Tripe in Chilli Sauce - A most appetite whetting way to start off our meal, the sliced beef and tripe was nice and chewy and not to mention very spicy from all the chilli oil. This dish has a rating of 5 chillis on the menu, probably the most number awarded. Just a side comment (please correct me if I am wrong), Szechuan chilli seems to be all about spice and no fragrance.
Eight Treasure Seafood Soup - My choice of soup the last time round and this time as well. The soup definitely doesn't conform to the traditional seafood soup with its greenish colour due to the addition of ground spinach to the mix. It tasted exactly like shark's fin soup, a tad starchy with tiny bits and pieces of shark's fin, scallops, fish maw etc. Overall quite a tasty soup which bears the signature dish tag adequately.
Spicy Pork Belly - Chilli oil plus fatty pork belly is a sure fire recipe for cardiac arrest. And with the pork belly this average, I would rather listen to my doctor. Sure, the pork was chewy and not too spicy but all I could taste was the chilli and nothing else. It definitely didn't help that the pork slices were a tad too dry for my liking as well.
Fried Bittergourd with Bean Paste - A terribly executed dish honestly. The whole dish was very salty and the bittergourd was very plain bitter. Cooking the bittergourd with other stuff like beef would have made it alot better in my humble opinion. So much for a $15 plate of vegetables.
Beancurd with Dried Scallop - I'm a sucker for beancurd and this one didn't disappoint. Nice and smooth with a light smoky aftertaste. Only gripe I had was that the skin seemed a tad too dry and shrivelled. The accompanying gravy was good as well, not too starchy with shredded scallops. Very nice.
Steamed Garoupa - Have you ever eaten a garoupa, or fish for that matter, that costs $300/kg? Well its definitely a first for me and probably the last. The black garoupa, though extremely fresh and sweet with a firm meat texture to boot, cost a whooping $225 . How's that for a shocker? Pretty fishy business if you ask me.
Braised Pork Spare Rib - I really didn't quite take to the spare rib. For starters, it was way too fatty and the sauce was too sweet. The meat was also a tad too soft though still fibrous. Probably the only thing that I liked was the stick shaped man tou which was nice and crispy on the outside yet soft and compact on the inside. And at $10/piece, its definitely not cheap.
Peking Duck - Speechless. That was my initial reaction after popping a slice of the skin covered with a crepe into my mouth. The skin wasn't crispy and instead, tasted soft and limp with lots of fats underneath it. Adding to that was the non egg based crepe which was way too thick and chewy for my liking. We opted to stir fry the remains for the duck with noodles and even that tasted flat as the noodles were soft and bland.
Custard Bun - Honestly I've never had custard bun for dessert before or seen it listed under the dessert section of a menu because its usually under the dim sum portion. The custard bun was seriously quite good but very sinful with all the oil in it. Biting into one releases a gush of melted butter and custard which is guaranteed to make your heart stop. Traces of egg yolk were present in the filling as evident by the sediment. However I would have preferred a slightly more coagulated filling with a stronger custard taste .
Yam Rolls - The second of our complimentary desserts, the yam rolls were essentially yam paste wrapped up in deep fried dough and coated with sesame at both ends. The yam paste tasted like a milder version of Orh Nee and actually went quite well with the dough and sesame, very much like eating dough fritters with a sweet filling.
Fine Beancurd with Syrup - As mentioned before, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out, from its name, that Si Chuan Dou Hua is known for its dou hua aka fine beancurd. At $3 a pop, this is one expensive bowl of dou hua. But I like it quite a bit. Silky smooth yet firm through the addition of egg. You get to decide how much sugar syrup you want in it as well.
The food at Si Chuan Dou Hua was a case of hits and misses but for the price, $550 for 5 pax for lunch, its pure insanity. If the desserts weren't complimentary, we would probably be paying something to the tune of $600. Would you pay so much for a meal like that?
The Indulge @ Cathay offers fusion European cuisine with an Asian twist. Located at basement 1 of Cathay, the front of the restaurant isn’t that prominent from first sight, its more behind in a corner.
The fusion cuisine is apparent in the names of the dishes like panseared salmon with kung po sauce, dory with thai sauce, chicken kebab with oyster ginger sauce.
The Indulge interior is quite small, roughly seats about 20-30. The lightning is actually quite dark, i suppose its for the “ambiance”
One thing that i don’t like was at one corner of the restaurant, they actually dumped quite a lot of stuff there which makes the overall feel messy and untidy.
Apparently The Indulge won quite a lot of awards, and appeared on magazines and local publications.
The Indulge offers “super value” lunch promotion set meals, at $10.90 you can choose from a few main course, and it comes with free tea, soup of the day, and dessert of the day.
There are some dishes which are supposedly the chef’s signature dishes, but not feeling very adventurous, my cousin and I decided to go for the cheaper set meals.
Chicken Chop with roasted black pepper sauce ($10.90) The black pepper sauce chicken chop comes with either garlic rice or mash potatos. I chose garlic rice, and the fragrant of the garlic in the rice surge in when i had my first taste of it.
Although the garlic rice was not bad, not so much can be said of the black peper chicken chop. It was downright ordinary. Being a restaurant i was expecting something more, but it just never came.
Grilled Beef sirloin with black pepper sauce ($10.90) The same could be said for the black pepper sirloin. Done medium rare, the sirloin did nothing to impress us.
One thing which i also did not like was the lack of sides, it could be better if there are sides of veggies or stuff like potatoes which will make the meal more complete.
Dessert of the day The dessert of the day is a single scoop of ice cream, while the ice cream is your normal vanilla, but the sauce and nut goes quite well with it.
Total bill was $25.50 for 2 person, not expensive given its a restaurant. But its a double-edged thing, the quality is certainly not there since its a restaurant also.
Maybe we ordered the wrong dishes, maybe we should have try the signature dishes to have a true gauge of the restaurant, but if the normal dishes taste so ordinary like your typical coffee shop western food, i’m not so sure about the rest.
But having said all that, The Indulge still served fusion food with affordable pricing, and its a good place for a meal in Cathay, especially when there’s not much dining place there, and you can have a quick bite before or after your movies.
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 : )
Met up with a few friends for an ad hoc dim sum lunch on the weekends at the St Regis restaurant called Yan Ting. St Regis is billed as a six star hotel with both the hotel and the restaurant run under the Starwood hotel management company. The executive chef of Yan Ting however, is Mr Chan Siu Kong, a Hong Konger who left his post as a chef with the Tung Lok group to helm this 6 month old restaurant. Reviews of the food has been mixed at best for its dinner and lunch offerings so we were there to find out how its dim sum held up to scrutiny instead.
The screen shots above should give you a rough idea of exactly what kind of place this is. It is definitely posh with its million dollar chandeliers and stained glass window ornaments. Even the table settings have a undeniable style to eat with its gold themed cutlery and cups. The service begins the moment you reach the hotel and extends to the lift, which has a seat inside should you be so inclined, to the impeccable attitude of the manager and the serving staff in the restaurant. Six star is definitely not exaggerating when you talk about this hotel and to cut the story short, i enjoyed my visit the moment i set foot into the place. Alas, the place also comes with obvious six star pricing and the same goes for Yan Ting and the dim sum. Everything is priced at per piece rates or per person rates with nothing in between. So its important to come with a well versed idea of what is good or bad and thats what this blog can help you with.
Premium Chinese Tea ($5 per person), Amuse Bouche - The tea, of which i've forgotten what kind it is, is conveniently light and palatable for washing down the food which we will be having in a while. At $5 a person, its pretty much on the expensive side for a simple offering though. The amuse bouche is made of small fried shrimps and chicken floss which yields a sweet and tangy flavor while the cucumber neutralizes and tones down the taste for a balanced flavor.
Har Gao aka Shrimp Dumplings ($2 per piece) - The shrimp dumplings that came were bigger then usual with a generous amount of shrimp stuffed into each dumpling, i count about 2 to 3 shrimps can fit into the dumpling (mashed up of course). The skin is light and surprisingly thin which means you'll get the shrimp taste immediately without delay. The price is still a little over the top though.
Char Siew Sor ($1.60 per piece) - Drop everything you are doing now and go out to Yan Ting to buy the char siew pastries aka char siew sor. I'm not kidding. This has to be the best tasting char siew sor i've ever had the privilege to eat. Succulent and sweet char siew wrapped in a wonderful pastry with a light butter undertone. What you get is an extremely fragrant and wonderfully tasty treat not to be missed. One is never enough so this is a must try!
XO Fried Chee Cheong Fun ($4 a serving) - Everyone would have heard about XO carrot cakes but this is the first time i've had an XO chee cheong fun. To sum up the taste, it basically tastes like our homely Char Kway Teow albeit a little more fragrant and less oily. I also could not discern the taste of the XO sauce in any way. It was interesting but really could be better.
Siew Mai ($2 per piece) - The siew mai is bigger then usual and is basically a more stuffed version of this common snack. The meat is lean and the prawn is very fresh and tasty but still, it hardly justifies the price.
Char Siew Bao ($1.60 per piece) - The pork bun was rather pleasing to me. I liked the tasty BBQ pork which has predominantly lean meat. No fatty meat here and the way it was prepared was with a slightly sweet sauce which is delectable. The fluffy bun itself was light and easily likable. Still too expensive though.
Chives Dumpling and Beancurd Roulette ($2 and $1.80 per piece) - The chives dumpling was quite a let down really. The dumpling itself is pan fried and has a crunchy and soft exterior while the chives within was strangely lacking in taste. Now, chives is something you either love or hate with a passion, i love chives but when a chives dumpling comes without a strong chives taste, something has to be wrong somewhere. The Beancurd roulette was a rather oily experience but there's no denying that its crunchy and fragrant. The fillings were pretty decent as well, being sweet and strangely juicy (probably due to the oil).
Custard Bun ($1.60 per piece) - Its more or less a given that i would order the custard buns whenever they serve the little addictions, but Yan Ting's rendition left me wanting, not in a good way though. I like the softness and fluffiness of the bun but the fillings were rather ordinary and left little impression.
Egg Tarts ($1.60 per piece) - The egg tarts were really small when served and had one major flaw in them. The filling simply wasn't good. I found the tart tasteless and it wasn't even sweet enough while the only thing that was good was the pastry, which had the same buttery taste the superb char siew sor had.
Radish Cake ($1.60 per piece) - The radish cake was simple enough, pan fried till slightly crispy and served. It was rather normal with the usual trappings of being smooth, slightly oily and had a nice touch of having carrot slices within but otherwise, it was rather normal. The one saving grace here was the chili, which was excellent and should be used whenever a chance is given.
Xiao Long Bao ($4 per piece) - The Xiao long Bao was ridiculously expensive at $4 a piece but was a rather big portion when it was served. In average, it was about the size of half a char siew bao if you need to know the proportion. It also turned out to be one of the better items that day, make no mistake, it was filled with soup and pork meat. The skin itself was a thicker version so that it could contain the bigger amount of soup and the soup itself was excellent without having a strong pork taste to it. Overall, i'd say this is one of the better Xiao Long Bao's i've had so far. Still ridiculously expensive though.
Chicken Wrapped in Glutinous Rice ($1.80 per serving) - This is without a doubt one of the biggest let downs that day. Served last as it was a last minute order, the glutinous rice was lacklustre and lacked much taste. An egg yolk can be found in the centre with there are portions of mushroom and chicken wrapped into the rice but it was still strangely lacking in the taste department. Leave this out when you visit.
HoneyDew Melon ($6 per serving) - What i had was a simple and cleansing honeydew melon dessert which was refreshing, mildly sweet and tasty. In fact, i found it very tasty and recommend it as a dessert if you visit.
The final bill for this little dim sum affair came up to $204.60 for 5 people which works out to be about $42 per head. I'd say that it was reasonable but certain orders can definitely be left out.
I can't say i didn't enjoy myself in the place. The service is faultless and the ambiance has to be experienced to be believed. Its the closest i could get to feeling like a king in a posh environment and not feel out of place. The manager was also kind to introduce us to the different rooms and offerings which was very professional. Food wise, though there were still misses, the misses were still above average and the hits are definitely worth your while to try. I'd return if only for the char siew sor alone.
1=SGD 0.0587
Have been thinking of buying a treadmill for so long but have never seriously looking into one. I did visit shops and roadshow for the treadmill but the prices are out of my 'willing to pay' range. Seriously, I do not know what is the right price to pay for a 'good enough' treadmill. Of ourse, as low as possible in my mind.
I went to see an offer unit which is only $999. The cheapest in town. But I don't like it when I see it. It is so small and narrow compare to others and there is no feature at all. Not even the basic incline feature. The sales person recommend me another one of higher grade, it looks OK but it costs $2500. I cannot make up my mind at this high cost, so I gave it a miss.
Few weeks later, I happen to see this treadmill roadshow by Aibi. As usual, I went near to take a look at the offered model. The salesman came to me and started telling me the good points of the treadmill. I didn't answer him nor did I sounded interested. He kept on talking and explained the different between a few models. There were 3 models he was comparing, one at $1988, one at $2488 and another at $3680. I was quite keen on the $3680 model because I want to be sure I have no regret after buying it. I know expensive may not be good but the cheap one can never be the best. He said he had worked in this company for 8 years and know the machine well enough to give me a good recommendation. In fact, irregardless what he said, I believed he has sized me up to be the $2500 budget customer.
After quite a while, I decided to response to him by a few questions. He knew I was caught already. I kept asking him the difference between the $2488 and $3680 models, he kept telling me to take the $2488 model because it is not neccessary to spend the extra $1192 for a machine which is bigger in size and perform the same thing. He thought I would appreciate for his kind intention.
When I finally signed up for the $2488 treadmill and filled in my address, he straight away change his word and tell me I should take the $3680 model. I jokingly told him that he is a 'Sian Tau', he laughed and he even agreed to let me have the machine exchange to the $3680 within a month if I am not happy with the $2488 model.
I find this salesman 'bluff' his way through but with a sincere and friendly attitude. He knows how to tune himself to suit the customer although his answer is always neither here nor there. He can even conflict himself wih his own answer. I still buy from him even though I knew all his tricks. Because I have seen many worse salesmanship and this is consider acceptable to me.
I must say that I have no regret buying the machine, but was a little unhappy that the salesman didn't highlight some important issues. The basic function is the Start/stop button and the program function. When you press the 'stop' button, the machine stop immediately. This is dangerous after running for 10 mins at level 6 or higher. The human body will react to it and cause some giddiness if the machine suddenly stop. Next, the machine start so slow when I press on any pre-program function. I have to adjust the speed manually and this defeat the pre-program function. While I can't demand for any explanation or change to the way the machine is designed, I have to use it in 'manual' mode all the time.
Check out on the start/stop button if you need to buy one.
Rating given:
Heard lots about Melvados cafe and its famous brownies but due to the fact that its location is on the other side of Singapore, i've never coerced myself to make the trip down to visit it. In fact, i still have not visited it due to mixed reviews on the service and the food from the place. However, i did manage to get lucky one day and got my hands on a box of Melvados brownies for a tea time treat for free.
Macadamia Nut Brownie ($28 for 10 pieces) & Mango Mousse ($26 for 10 pieces) - Fortunate me got this box of brownies and cakes for free due to over ordering and i can say that i found the brownies and cakes above average. The Macadamia brownie obviously had a crunchy layer of macadamia nuts strewn all over the top of a chocolaty and bitter brownie. Its also soft and crumbles easily with each bite, doesn't crumble in your hand though, which to me, is a mark of an above average brownie. On the downside, the only thing to pick on is that the bitterness gets to you pretty quick.
The Mango mousse cake is smooth, creamy and soft. Its lightly sweet with a thin layer of cream for that feeling of indulgence and balance all in one. It also helps to note that it was fresh. Another yummy treat.
I liked the brownies quite a bit. Its fresh, pack with taste and pretty much comfort food for me. The fact that i didn't have to pay for them helped quite a bit as well. All in all, i'd recommend ordering out to try for yourself. It ain't cheap though so please take note.
Rating given:
Fast food in Singapore has always been dominated by a few big names and now, competition is on the way. Well, competition has been on the way forever but never quite caught up. Its the niche that these new places are fighting for and somehow, SuperDog, which i've passed by so many times, finally got me to step in for a trial. Is it even close to being in the race? Read on for my take on the issue.
Its good to see that the company has a sense of humor from their eating etiquette. Nothing too fancy but it gets a few facts right. The philosophy also does a good job of telling consumers their main selling point, which is that their ingredients and items are fresh, never frozen. Sounds good enough for me.
Iced Chocolate and Pineapple Sensation - Beverages of fast food joints are hardly the stuff of legend and yet, this one managed to be a notch above the usual. Instead of boring reruns of coke and what not (which they do serve), we got ourselves a healthy dose of iced chocolate and pineapple sensation. The iced chocolate was rich and pretty much rivaled Starbucks or Coffee Bean if you ask me. The pineapple sensation was also pretty good with its sourish sweet taste which felt like actual pineapple juice instead of reworked extracts. Most surprising.
Breaded Fish And Chips - Nice up was the bread fish and chips which looked suitably bland since its an item that has been done to death by numerous and uncountable hordes of copycats. And yet, it managed to taste better then the likes of Long John Silvers, Coffee Club and Swenson's. This is probably because it had a taste of herbs mixed in with its crispy breaded skin and expertly done fish which managed to retain a sweetness the others simply did not offer. Another surprise.
SuperDog - This is the dog that started it all. The SuperDog, wholesome pork bratwurst with a piece of bacon, cheese, garlic and their own special chili concoction which made each bite easier to take. In terms of the bratwurst, maybe i'm no expert but i found it rather tasty albeit bland. The chili managed to salvage that however and taken as a whole, its was quite good. The chili isn't the spicy variety as well which had a tangy and mildly sweet flavor.
Bacon Chili Cheese Dog - At first glance, this is pretty much the same as the Superdog but a little smaller. The only discernible difference was the hotdog which was smaller and had cheese in it. The good thing is that the cheese was hot and flows well with each bite. In fact, i prefer this to the SuperDog. The bread in both versions were lightly buttered and toasted on the inside for a crispy texture which served it well.
Surprise. That pretty much sums it up. The place has never looked appetizing to me but i find myself drawn towards it now. The food isn't cheap and is priced above its competitors but the taste is different and surprisingly good. The service was also friendly enough to commend. To me, i find this fast food chain up there with the big boys and maybe even surpassing them on some levels. Try it, it might surprise you.
Rating given:
Tea Cosy formally known as Tea Cosy by Eclectic attic was the place for a foodie outing organized by HGW one quiet Friday night. Appearing on television programs and newspapers, Tea Cosy is not media shy in the least and has garnered reviews from both ends of the spectrum which ranges from flat out good to a foodie beating of disappointments. Of course, for us, we were there to discern if such praises and damnations were accurate.
One of the main draws of Tea Cosy is the strange setting that the restaurant resides in. Basically, it is possible to walk pass this restaurant without ever realizing that it is a place where you can have food. The reason for this is because of the fusion of a high end furniture store with the restaurant. Everything in the shop can be bought and has a price tag as far as the owners are concerned and to be perfectly honest, the prices are sky high IMHO. The restaurant itself changes according to the expected number of diners the restaurant predicts and this time, they've prepared a nice table set up for the event, which was appropriate.
Fat Bastard Chardonnay and Shiraz ($12 a glass) - Now, for our first disappointment for the day, the wines. As introduced by Martin, the wines are the absolute finest he has been able to find in recent memory as he enjoyed wines with a more subtle taste. The wines were actually served by the serving lady because she mentioned to us that the wine was "complementary" for the first glass which turned out otherwise but more on that later. The wines themselves were average to my tastes because i've had quite a fine wines on my own and somehow, this "Fat Bastard" label struck me as below average with its overtly weak taste and rather bland palate. And charging $12 a glass is simply ridiculous.
The bell was a nice touch until you realise there wasn't much in terms of service from the temporary staff that was hired which was a pity since the hosts were rather entertaining and friendly.
Cream Of Mushroom Soup with Toasted bread and secret Mayo - The first item after a decidedly long wait was the cream of mushroom which came with generous bits of mushroom strewn within. Along with this was a piece of toasted bread which was toasted possibly with the restaurants own brand of mayonnaise which gave it a sweet and appealing taste. The soup was average as it struck me as too salty.
Decadent salad with prawns, foie gras and egg yolk - The decadent salad is a must try whenever you visit this place. Period. Fresh green salads and greens with three pieces of prawn, a half boiled egg and 2 small pieces of pan fried foie gras. To dissect the dish, the prawns were average, as are the greens and the foie gras but when you take this as a whole, it becomes a much better dish. The mayonnaise and half boiled egg is a stroke of genius since it gives the dish a much better taste than usual. The foie gras and prawns feel more like an afterthought since the foie gras was actually very small and charred on both sides while the prawns weren't the crunchy types i've come to enjoy.
Another service lapse happened here because the organizers of the party got bigger portions than ours which left a sour taste in my groups mouth since we thought they paid the same amount but got double standards. Which we found out that they paid a higher price for the bigger servings in the end but there was one more thing. We were at the restaurant first but ended up served last, now thats something they couldn't explain away and its my point that double standards were in place.
Lemon Pan Fried Dory Fillet, Grilled Chicken With Rice, Laksa Pesto - Had a try of some of the items above and this is what i think. The grilled chicken was good, soft, tender and went well with the lemon and sweet sauce. The dory was normal, nothing too special about it. The laksa pesto was reminiscent of Wild Rockets rendition except that this was more watery and had a little curry taste in it. From what i heard, it was extremely salty as well.
Foie Gras - The Foie Gras is another well known must-try dish during a visit to Tea Cosy. 2 rather decent sized pieces of goose liver pan fried on top of a bed of salad which looked much like the decadent salad of yore. Honestly though, having this on its own would have left me hungry as the foie gras weren't particularly generous. Taste wise, it was pretty normal as there doesn't seem to be much preparation in the cooking. A slightly crispy and salty outer skin is about all i could discern. Sage and Braise served better Foie Gras. This place is an option if you have a tight budget but still crave some wholesome fat.
Tirasmisu, Strawberry Shortcake, Chocolate Indulgence, Raisin Brownies and Cinnamon Cake - In case you were wondering. I made up the name above since i forgot what this was called. As i've only had .... less then a spoonful when shared, i'll refrain from commenting too much. I'll say that the cakes were quite good but not for the price.
Ebony and Ivory - Premium vanilla ice cream dribbled with chocolate and frozen set atop a chocolate brownie. Simple yet totally easy to like. The vanilla ice cream was very creamy while the chocolate gave it the slight edge in sweetness it needs. The brownie in turn gave the whole concoction a dimension of bitterness which makes it easier to recommend. My only gripe is that the portion is small and that after a few bites, sugar overload commences.
Total bill this time came up to $49 a person instead of the aforementioned and agreed upon $32.90 which the deal was supposed to be.
(Service: 4/10)
Why the low score for service? Firstly because the wine which was supposed to be complimentary turned out otherwise. Secondly, upon informing the lady of the error, instead of waiving the cost of drinks, she waived the cost of the laksa which is not much help. Thirdly, i remember Martin mentioning he was not in the job for the money but apparently the ending was that the cost of 6 glasses of wrongly served wine proved too much to handle. In all fairness, apart from this hick up, the food was average in some while above average in others. If there's anything to try, its the decadent salad and that would be about all you should have to maximize your dollar.
Rating given:
I love the National Museum and the romantic-ness of it all. To be very honest, I didn't really know about Chef Chan until my little Birdie friend told me. All to happy to have a chance to dine at the charming Museum, I jumped at this chance.
Arriving at the place, I wasn't disappointed by the place! I love the entire atmosphere. Chef Chan was tucked away in an obscure corner of the museum, but the restaurant was very appropriately designed. The entire oriental theme was soothing and not overly gaudy, which was often so with Chinese restaurants.
What we had that night:
Melon Strips Enlivened with Orange Juice
You know the F&N Orange squash we used to drink during CNY? It tastes like that... with lots of crunch. I liked it but I didn't think I would have something like this in this restaurant. I'd have to agree with the rest that this was easy to make at home. But I guess it's a reasonable starter.
Prawn Balls Stuffed with Pate and Wine
I could taste neither pate nor wine. We only had one ball each and mind you, it wasn't very big. It was salty and that was the only obvious taste I could get from the ball. The only thing it reminded me of was those balls you could microwave once you take them out from the freezer.
Stir Fried Shark’s Fin with Eggs, Bean Sprouts and Spring Onion Served in Lettuce Leaves
Someone said it looked like a whole lot of Tunghoon. There was some shark's fin I guess and a mix of everything else. This dish was lightly flavoured and I liked it pretty much. But the cabbage I had below was a bit thick and had a contrasting bitter taste to the salad sitting on it. So I refused to eat it after a few bites.
Steamed Lobster with Garlic
You could SMELL the garlic from a distance. Everyone had one half of the lobster which was a nice serving to have. Mine wasn't so covered in garlic so I was pretty happy with it. The lobster was pretty fresh I guess but the garlic really burned in my middle when I'd finished it.
Steamed Sliced Garoupa in Village Style
I had 2-3 pieces of this (unlike some people). The fish bits had a nice texture but the gravy that came with it was horrid. It's was sickeningly sticky which made me baulk at the first taste. I rubbed it off at the side of the dish so that I didn't have to eat too much of it. Relatively acceptable dish I guess... They need to do something about the gravy.
Sauteed Vegetable with Shredded Mushroom A dish you can definitely find at your neighbourhood Chze Char stall.
Chef Chan’s Famous Crispy Roast Chicken
This is a YUMMY! I loved this one. The skin was crisp and I ate it too, despite being the sort who usually peels it off. The meat was very tasty on its own. I liked the texture (cos I got the part I wanted) This was definitely the winning dish of the night that kept everyone very quiet.
Papaya with White Fungus & Herbal Jelly with Glutinous Rice & Mango
Mistake Mistake Mistake. The texture of the glutinous rice did not go well with the Guilingao! Terrible... it took me a few tries before I figured I had to eat all the glutinous rice first then have the mango and the herbal jelly together. Any other way just made me quite sick really.
We chalked up a bill of about $860, which works out to be about $96 per person. It would have been more expensive but thanks to someone's credit card, we had a discount.
I wouldn't say this is below average... in actual fact I didn't think that the food "sucked". It was below expectations, thanks to its price. But it's not terrible food. Just expensive average food I guess. The chicken saved it from a 2-star.
Rating given:
Went and bought the Double Chocolate mint and didn't understand why its called "Double choc". It has only a tinee winee hint of any minty taste and the taste doesn't blend at all. Also bought the Cranberry and felt that it actually tasted abit weird and too dry.
Both flavors gave me the feeling that Little Jerry's wants to do it good but doesn't put in enough effort. Both flavors also leaves a floury after-taste that coats the mouth uncomfortably.
Service wasn't too good as well though the shop front looks good.
Although the price is lower than Famous Amos or or Mrs Fields, I will gladly pay more for Famous Amos delicious cookies than Little Jerry's. However, there are other flavors like the Oat or Macadamia flavor that I would like to try as they look nice to me... will update the review once I tried the rest.
Rating given:
I had walked past this place so many times and yet I had not had a thought of walking in for a meal. There are a few reasons, first being there always seem to be a long queue outside the restaurant. Secondly, the place serves the kind of food that does not appeal to me. Thirdly, I was always in rush when I was walking past this place. So finally one fine day, we decided to give this place a try, well there was no queue and I thought that it was all good timing. I sort of regretted my choice when I stood there waiting to be shown to a table.
The place did not seem crowded, in fact can see a few empty tables, but we have to wait at the counter. It seems like the waiters and waitresses, even the managers (well they are the ones wearing more formal), are all very busy and everywhere except the counter where we are waiting. Not even one saw us standing at the counter, making me like an idiot. After about 5 mins of waiting, I told my partner that I will count to five, if till then, no one comes up to us, we will go another place for dinner. Lucky enough (don’t know for them or us), we were ushered to a table that is pretty much near to the edge of the corridor where tons and tons of people walked past, felt like animals on display.
The decoration of the place is pretty much trying to be hip and getting the attention of the teenagers, so that they can come in, eat and spend money. There is a pool table to play and even a candy floss station where you can get free candy floss. There are tables like a capsule where a big group can be seated together. The rest of the tables are like those normal kind.
Well after the bad start, my mood was not very good to start off with. Being seated at that location, it was difficult to get the attention of the waiters. It was really frustrating but finally managed to get one and come and take our orders. So what we ordered?
Root beer float @ $7.60: This came in the A&W style. Big mug of nice cold root beer with a big scoop of ice cream in it. Nothing special but it still taste great. Nice. I do find it a bit expensive for it though. Sigh.
London style fish and chip @ $9.90: This came with a big piece of fish, chips and tartar sauce. That it! No coleslaw or salad or whatever. This is really a ripped off! The fish is a bit flaky, not really fresh, maybe frozen. The batter is a bit too thick. Nothing to wow about. I wonder what do they mean by the London part. I understand in London they served it with vinegar but I dun see them doing that. Hmm….. This is really disappointing.
American Coleslaw @ $4.90: I don’t know it is me or the coleslaw but I do find the taste of the coleslaw a bit weird. Maybe too much mayo or too much vinegar but it does not taste like any normal coleslaw. I got to say this is one of the worst coleslaw that I ever eaten. It was so bad that I did not even finished the whole coleslaw. It is that bad. There is no way I am going to order that again.
Rotisserie Chix Whole @ $14.90: After eating or tasting all the above mentioned food, I did not have high expectation for this dish. However, I was wrong. The dish turned out to be great. The chicken was moist and tender, not dry at all. The size of the chicken is also quite huge, for small eaters, they can just order this and share. The sauce that came with the chicken is perfect for it. This dish is above average. Try this and you will not regret especially after a string of disappointments. This is the one that deserves 4 stars.
After this, we decided to give the desserts a miss and asked for the bill. Again, it took us sometime to get the attention of the waiters for the bill. The bill came to us pretty fast but we paid for it and waited for it to return. We waited and waited with the water at least topped up twice. We asked for the waiter to check on the bill but it seems that it never came back. I wonder why? In the end, I got a bit pissed off and signaled to the manager and ask him to check the bill which after a wait of 10 mins, the waiter finally brought it back to us. I really wonder what happen at that time. I have therefore decided after this experience, there is NO CHANCE that I will ever return to this place for any meal ever again!
Rating given:
Held our annual excuse to dine out in the guise of mother's day at Si Chuan Dou Hua, Plaza Park Royal. Scarred from the barely satisfying dinner at Sun Japanese Dining last year, my family decided to stick to the traditional Chinese route this year. Expectations were high as I had a relatively good experience at Si Chuan Dou Hua UOB Plaza at the beginning of last year.
Wood seems to be the focus for the entire restaurant, with overhanging oriental lamps capping a most traditional Chinese interior that oozes finesse through its plush carpeted floors and doorway arches. Here you can peer through the floor to ceiling windows but the view really isn't something you would want to see - tour coaches.
I liked the keropok (crackers) which came in the usual fish and prawn variety. Crackling with every bite, it wasn't soft or soggy and made for a rather unusual but pleasing appetiser.
Sliced Beef and Tripe in Chilli Sauce - A most appetite whetting way to start off our meal, the sliced beef and tripe was nice and chewy and not to mention very spicy from all the chilli oil. This dish has a rating of 5 chillis on the menu, probably the most number awarded. Just a side comment (please correct me if I am wrong), Szechuan chilli seems to be all about spice and no fragrance.
Eight Treasure Seafood Soup - My choice of soup the last time round and this time as well. The soup definitely doesn't conform to the traditional seafood soup with its greenish colour due to the addition of ground spinach to the mix. It tasted exactly like shark's fin soup, a tad starchy with tiny bits and pieces of shark's fin, scallops, fish maw etc. Overall quite a tasty soup which bears the signature dish tag adequately.
Spicy Pork Belly - Chilli oil plus fatty pork belly is a sure fire recipe for cardiac arrest. And with the pork belly this average, I would rather listen to my doctor. Sure, the pork was chewy and not too spicy but all I could taste was the chilli and nothing else. It definitely didn't help that the pork slices were a tad too dry for my liking as well.
Fried Bittergourd with Bean Paste - A terribly executed dish honestly. The whole dish was very salty and the bittergourd was very plain bitter. Cooking the bittergourd with other stuff like beef would have made it alot better in my humble opinion. So much for a $15 plate of vegetables.
Beancurd with Dried Scallop - I'm a sucker for beancurd and this one didn't disappoint. Nice and smooth with a light smoky aftertaste. Only gripe I had was that the skin seemed a tad too dry and shrivelled. The accompanying gravy was good as well, not too starchy with shredded scallops. Very nice.
Steamed Garoupa - Have you ever eaten a garoupa, or fish for that matter, that costs $300/kg? Well its definitely a first for me and probably the last. The black garoupa, though extremely fresh and sweet with a firm meat texture to boot, cost a whooping $225 . How's that for a shocker? Pretty fishy business if you ask me.
Braised Pork Spare Rib - I really didn't quite take to the spare rib. For starters, it was way too fatty and the sauce was too sweet. The meat was also a tad too soft though still fibrous. Probably the only thing that I liked was the stick shaped man tou which was nice and crispy on the outside yet soft and compact on the inside. And at $10/piece, its definitely not cheap.
Peking Duck - Speechless. That was my initial reaction after popping a slice of the skin covered with a crepe into my mouth. The skin wasn't crispy and instead, tasted soft and limp with lots of fats underneath it. Adding to that was the non egg based crepe which was way too thick and chewy for my liking.
We opted to stir fry the remains for the duck with noodles and even that tasted flat as the noodles were soft and bland.
Custard Bun - Honestly I've never had custard bun for dessert before or seen it listed under the dessert section of a menu because its usually under the dim sum portion. The custard bun was seriously quite good but very sinful with all the oil in it. Biting into one releases a gush of melted butter and custard which is guaranteed to make your heart stop. Traces of egg yolk were present in the filling as evident by the sediment. However I would have preferred a slightly more coagulated filling with a stronger custard taste .
Yam Rolls - The second of our complimentary desserts, the yam rolls were essentially yam paste wrapped up in deep fried dough and coated with sesame at both ends. The yam paste tasted like a milder version of Orh Nee and actually went quite well with the dough and sesame, very much like eating dough fritters with a sweet filling.
Fine Beancurd with Syrup - As mentioned before, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out, from its name, that Si Chuan Dou Hua is known for its dou hua aka fine beancurd. At $3 a pop, this is one expensive bowl of dou hua. But I like it quite a bit. Silky smooth yet firm through the addition of egg. You get to decide how much sugar syrup you want in it as well.
The food at Si Chuan Dou Hua was a case of hits and misses but for the price, $550 for 5 pax for lunch, its pure insanity. If the desserts weren't complimentary, we would probably be paying something to the tune of $600. Would you pay so much for a meal like that?
See all my pictures here.
Rating given:
The Indulge @ Cathay offers fusion European cuisine with an Asian twist. Located at basement 1 of Cathay, the front of the restaurant isn’t that prominent from first sight, its more behind in a corner.
The fusion cuisine is apparent in the names of the dishes like panseared salmon with kung po sauce, dory with thai sauce, chicken kebab with oyster ginger sauce.
The Indulge interior is quite small, roughly seats about 20-30. The lightning is actually quite dark, i suppose its for the “ambiance”
One thing that i don’t like was at one corner of the restaurant, they actually dumped quite a lot of stuff there which makes the overall feel messy and untidy.
Apparently The Indulge won quite a lot of awards, and appeared on magazines and local publications.
The Indulge offers “super value” lunch promotion set meals, at $10.90 you can choose from a few main course, and it comes with free tea, soup of the day, and dessert of the day.
There are some dishes which are supposedly the chef’s signature dishes, but not feeling very adventurous, my cousin and I decided to go for the cheaper set meals.
Chicken Chop with roasted black pepper sauce ($10.90)
The black pepper sauce chicken chop comes with either garlic rice or mash potatos. I chose garlic rice, and the fragrant of the garlic in the rice surge in when i had my first taste of it.
Although the garlic rice was not bad, not so much can be said of the black peper chicken chop. It was downright ordinary. Being a restaurant i was expecting something more, but it just never came.
Grilled Beef sirloin with black pepper sauce ($10.90)
The same could be said for the black pepper sirloin. Done medium rare, the sirloin did nothing to impress us.
One thing which i also did not like was the lack of sides, it could be better if there are sides of veggies or stuff like potatoes which will make the meal more complete.
Dessert of the day
The dessert of the day is a single scoop of ice cream, while the ice cream is your normal vanilla, but the sauce and nut goes quite well with it.
Total bill was $25.50 for 2 person, not expensive given its a restaurant. But its a double-edged thing, the quality is certainly not there since its a restaurant also.
Maybe we ordered the wrong dishes, maybe we should have try the signature dishes to have a true gauge of the restaurant, but if the normal dishes taste so ordinary like your typical coffee shop western food, i’m not so sure about the rest.
But having said all that, The Indulge still served fusion food with affordable pricing, and its a good place for a meal in Cathay, especially when there’s not much dining place there, and you can have a quick bite before or after your movies.
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 : )
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Met up with a few friends for an ad hoc dim sum lunch on the weekends at the St Regis restaurant called Yan Ting. St Regis is billed as a six star hotel with both the hotel and the restaurant run under the Starwood hotel management company. The executive chef of Yan Ting however, is Mr Chan Siu Kong, a Hong Konger who left his post as a chef with the Tung Lok group to helm this 6 month old restaurant. Reviews of the food has been mixed at best for its dinner and lunch offerings so we were there to find out how its dim sum held up to scrutiny instead.
The screen shots above should give you a rough idea of exactly what kind of place this is. It is definitely posh with its million dollar chandeliers and stained glass window ornaments. Even the table settings have a undeniable style to eat with its gold themed cutlery and cups. The service begins the moment you reach the hotel and extends to the lift, which has a seat inside should you be so inclined, to the impeccable attitude of the manager and the serving staff in the restaurant. Six star is definitely not exaggerating when you talk about this hotel and to cut the story short, i enjoyed my visit the moment i set foot into the place.
Alas, the place also comes with obvious six star pricing and the same goes for Yan Ting and the dim sum. Everything is priced at per piece rates or per person rates with nothing in between. So its important to come with a well versed idea of what is good or bad and thats what this blog can help you with.
Premium Chinese Tea ($5 per person), Amuse Bouche - The tea, of which i've forgotten what kind it is, is conveniently light and palatable for washing down the food which we will be having in a while. At $5 a person, its pretty much on the expensive side for a simple offering though. The amuse bouche is made of small fried shrimps and chicken floss which yields a sweet and tangy flavor while the cucumber neutralizes and tones down the taste for a balanced flavor.
Har Gao aka Shrimp Dumplings ($2 per piece) - The shrimp dumplings that came were bigger then usual with a generous amount of shrimp stuffed into each dumpling, i count about 2 to 3 shrimps can fit into the dumpling (mashed up of course). The skin is light and surprisingly thin which means you'll get the shrimp taste immediately without delay. The price is still a little over the top though.
Char Siew Sor ($1.60 per piece) - Drop everything you are doing now and go out to Yan Ting to buy the char siew pastries aka char siew sor. I'm not kidding. This has to be the best tasting char siew sor i've ever had the privilege to eat. Succulent and sweet char siew wrapped in a wonderful pastry with a light butter undertone. What you get is an extremely fragrant and wonderfully tasty treat not to be missed. One is never enough so this is a must try!
XO Fried Chee Cheong Fun ($4 a serving) - Everyone would have heard about XO carrot cakes but this is the first time i've had an XO chee cheong fun. To sum up the taste, it basically tastes like our homely Char Kway Teow albeit a little more fragrant and less oily. I also could not discern the taste of the XO sauce in any way. It was interesting but really could be better.
Siew Mai ($2 per piece) - The siew mai is bigger then usual and is basically a more stuffed version of this common snack. The meat is lean and the prawn is very fresh and tasty but still, it hardly justifies the price.
Char Siew Bao ($1.60 per piece) - The pork bun was rather pleasing to me. I liked the tasty BBQ pork which has predominantly lean meat. No fatty meat here and the way it was prepared was with a slightly sweet sauce which is delectable. The fluffy bun itself was light and easily likable. Still too expensive though.
Chives Dumpling and Beancurd Roulette ($2 and $1.80 per piece) - The chives dumpling was quite a let down really. The dumpling itself is pan fried and has a crunchy and soft exterior while the chives within was strangely lacking in taste. Now, chives is something you either love or hate with a passion, i love chives but when a chives dumpling comes without a strong chives taste, something has to be wrong somewhere.
The Beancurd roulette was a rather oily experience but there's no denying that its crunchy and fragrant. The fillings were pretty decent as well, being sweet and strangely juicy (probably due to the oil).
Custard Bun ($1.60 per piece) - Its more or less a given that i would order the custard buns whenever they serve the little addictions, but Yan Ting's rendition left me wanting, not in a good way though. I like the softness and fluffiness of the bun but the fillings were rather ordinary and left little impression.
Egg Tarts ($1.60 per piece) - The egg tarts were really small when served and had one major flaw in them. The filling simply wasn't good. I found the tart tasteless and it wasn't even sweet enough while the only thing that was good was the pastry, which had the same buttery taste the superb char siew sor had.
Radish Cake ($1.60 per piece) - The radish cake was simple enough, pan fried till slightly crispy and served. It was rather normal with the usual trappings of being smooth, slightly oily and had a nice touch of having carrot slices within but otherwise, it was rather normal. The one saving grace here was the chili, which was excellent and should be used whenever a chance is given.
Xiao Long Bao ($4 per piece) - The Xiao long Bao was ridiculously expensive at $4 a piece but was a rather big portion when it was served. In average, it was about the size of half a char siew bao if you need to know the proportion. It also turned out to be one of the better items that day, make no mistake, it was filled with soup and pork meat. The skin itself was a thicker version so that it could contain the bigger amount of soup and the soup itself was excellent without having a strong pork taste to it. Overall, i'd say this is one of the better Xiao Long Bao's i've had so far. Still ridiculously expensive though.
Chicken Wrapped in Glutinous Rice ($1.80 per serving) - This is without a doubt one of the biggest let downs that day. Served last as it was a last minute order, the glutinous rice was lacklustre and lacked much taste. An egg yolk can be found in the centre with there are portions of mushroom and chicken wrapped into the rice but it was still strangely lacking in the taste department. Leave this out when you visit.
HoneyDew Melon ($6 per serving) - What i had was a simple and cleansing honeydew melon dessert which was refreshing, mildly sweet and tasty. In fact, i found it very tasty and recommend it as a dessert if you visit.
The final bill for this little dim sum affair came up to $204.60 for 5 people which works out to be about $42 per head. I'd say that it was reasonable but certain orders can definitely be left out.
I can't say i didn't enjoy myself in the place. The service is faultless and the ambiance has to be experienced to be believed. Its the closest i could get to feeling like a king in a posh environment and not feel out of place. The manager was also kind to introduce us to the different rooms and offerings which was very professional. Food wise, though there were still misses, the misses were still above average and the hits are definitely worth your while to try. I'd return if only for the char siew sor alone.
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