The first thing I know about Da Mario is that they have only 1 chef and limited seating, so I had higher than usual hopes because it usually means its authentic huh.
The setting is very home-style italian, with the place nicely packed on a Fri night (and later full at around 8:30pm). A handful of staff runs around and everyone does everything so can be hard to get their attention at times. And take note that its all afresco seats although they have fans to distract you from the heat.
These starters were what our side of the table ate:
Calamari - served with tartar sauce and looked really nice but got minus points from all round the table for being too heavy on the salt in the batter.
Portobello mushroom - one huge portobello filled ingredients which I forgot but tasted good nonetheless, served with very nicely "vinegratted" mesclun and cheese. Taste wise, its really not bad but perhaps they should relook the aesthetics of this dish to make it visually more appealing~~
Bruschetta with tomatoes - Very light on the palette and the tomatoes were very nicely done, but I think they may been over-enthu with the olive oil as the bread were a little soggy from the overdose, not sure if it was meant to be drizzled over it instead?
Angel hair pasta with crab meat and porcini mushrooms ($20) - Alas, of all the mains I could choose from, I chose this one....I felt I was cheated by the description on the menu. It came in one mixed heap, stir fried style. It tasted like cha bee hoon. Really. Very oily cha bee hoon.
Tiramisu ($7) - Deliberated over ordering this for quite a bit as we were quite stuffed by then, but er no dinner is complete without dessert~ Portion was huge for the price but average tasting at best. Wasn't chilled properly was one thing, no taste of coffee or alcohol was another. Sigh.
All the other mains looked better than mine; so I probably would have given a better rating if I'd taken some other stuff.... Oh, and they have free breadsticks in a pack for every guest laid out on the table :D
Brewbaker's is part of Jack's Place holdings but is an offshoot in the sense that unlike Jack's place, its not halal certified. Its concept is one of escapism and relaxation which is reflected in its rather decent bar selection but holds many similarities to its parent company in regards to areas like its interior design and overall service level. Me and my gf patronized this venue on Valentine's day this year because i found it in a rather decent and new community centre near my house. It took about 35 minutes for us to walk the distance but honestly, we needed the exercise. Was it worth our effort though?
Thoughts on the location and surroundings: Being in a community centre doesn't necessarily mean its a slipshod location. The restaurant had a rather laidback atmosphere and relaxing buzz as its next to an excellently under utilized yet beautiful public pool and is next to a canal/river which actually is rather pleasing. The interior is spacious but the design reminds me too much of Jack's place to be a good thing.
Its Valentines day, so what better way to celebrate then to have a decent meal with my girl? And there's even a menu that promises a "gift for the ladies" to every couple. Perfect. More on the gift at the end of the post.
Archipelago Travellers Wheat - Self brewed gourmet beer seems to be appearing everywhere these days. Not that its a bad thing. I ordered a complimentary sampler from their menu and honestly, it wasn't too bad. Travellers Wheat tastes like....golden ale from Brewerkz and i simply adore beer with that taste so this is good for me.
Mango Drink - This is definitely not made in house since it tastes just like something you can get from a concentrate with water added. Need some work here.
Terrine of Seafood - This was weird. It tastes like it has milk concentrate in it but dissipates in each taste. There's actual crab and fishcake-like taste in the pasty center as well. Its not a bad dish per se, its just weird.
Garlic Bread and Homemade Clam Chowder - This was a surprise. At first glance, i was thinking: "how dare they serve campbells soup when its stated as homemade clam chowder?" My fears were put to rest once i taste it though. There's actually a generous amount of seafood tucked beneath the surface and it provided a balanced palate for the meal to come. Helps that its not flooded with salt and other such nonsensical tastes as well.
True Love Platter - The "True Love Platter" for 2 feels more like "true fat platter" to me. However, it wasn't bad at all. The grilled salmon steak with dill sauce was a little salty and had a rather strong "fishy" taste which didn't sit well with me. The Sirloin steak did not come with black pepper sauce as per the menu and was well done, which means it was rather tough to eat. The grilled vegetable skewers were pretty good as is the chicken drumlets and potato salad. My gf didn't like the calamari rings due to the thick batter. The potato salad was supposed to be potato wedges but was switched without informing us and the steak was well done without asking the doneness we wanted it in. I attribute this to a service issue though.
Sweet Temptations - The dessert was basically strawberry and chocolate mousse cake with fruits. The white chocolate sticks and fruits were pretty good. Refreshing and sweet while the cake itself....is a little too creamy for our tastes. Otherwise, it was an ok ending to the meal. Coffee was served after this which helped as well.
The final bill for a simple valentine's lunch came up to $70.62. Rather steep for the quality of food served.
Cons: The "gift" mentioned in the menu was never given. We had to ask for it 3 times before being given something and it was not a valentines gift for the lady at all. It was a leftover scratch and win card from Chinese New Year which held no significance whatsoever. Needless to say, i was disappointed. At the very least, if there was no gift, i would have appreciated being warned beforehand and replaced with either an additional dish or a drink would suffice. Not this lame attempt at redeeming themselves with a useless item. The management needs to look into this. Not to mention, the lack of initiative to inform on the change of items and the courtesy to ask about the doneness of my steak.
Final Score: 6/10 (minus 1 due to the service lapses and problems with the "gift" that never was.)
Last word: I was disappointed with the gift problem and service but the food was actually decent and so was the beer. Actually, the beer and location is probably the only reason i'll consider returning to this place. 50% off beer and 1 for 1 offers for the beer is something i could live with. Otherwise, i'd say try the food sparingly and they really need to buck up on their service training. Oh, its still better then Jack's Place as far as i'm concerned. Just thought i'd end it with that.
Recently, i've been bestowed with a valuable gift of Takashimaya vouchers from my superbly wonderful company. I've thus been thronging Takashimaya with the intention of spending every single voucher away to no avail. Thus, i used it to the most important aspect of my being. My every growing tummy. It so happend that Bakerzin was having an offer for macarons and i just hopped to try it.
First off, a little background into why i wanted to try this.
1: My boss bought a nice sample of the best macarons back from France for the team to try during her trip and i have to say, they were excellent if a little pricey. I mean, 1 small macaron for $8? Ouch.
2: I've been told the Singapore renditions for macarons were no where near the true taste and standard of a France. And being a true blue Singaporean, i felt compelled to see if this was true.
The observation: The macarons from Bakerzin were smaller and the proportions were different. The original macaron i had was thick in the middle and thinner on the sides. The Bakerzin rendition had a thicker side and smaller middle with a generally smaller size as well. Taste wise, the Bakerzin rendition i bought had 6 flavors, chocolate, mint, strawberry, cherry, coffee and lemon. They all had a rather strong milky taste which is unusual because the actual french version had no such taste. The sides were are less fragrant and had a different texture and layer of crunchiness as compared to the french version. Overall, i felt this version highly inadequate. I only had 2 flavors from the ones my boss brought back and i can tell you, the ones you find here are no where near the real thing. For starters, there is absolutely no milky taste. The texture is highly different and the actual fillings were packed full of actual flavor as opposed to the ready made ones you see on offer here.
Last word: Sure, i may be overly harsh on this. After all, the real thing costs 700% more and has to be flown in but hey, i had more faith in our chefs then to produce this half baked effort. Maybe when the promotion is over the macarons will be of better quality. I wouldn't know for sure but honestly, they need to step up their game so that it tastes like a true macaron instead of looking the part. Just my personal opinion is all.
I was looking for some Funky, Sporty and Young Gift for a Young Girl the other day.. I walked around everywhere in Plaza Sing yet.. theres nothing really nice and sporty..... until... I stepped into Flash n Splash..... Its a huge shop with everything trandy, auzzie and sporty.... especially beach and water sports...
A Haven for Teens, Youths and Young Adults like me.. You get all the famous beach wear brands like billabong, all in one roof...... What more... They have a good assortments of Bags, Slippers, Caps, Bikinis and other funky stuffs.... The prices are reasonably approachable and when i was there there was some discounts for some older designs...
I love the bags. They come in all sizes, trendy designs and for all occasions. There are bags for a beach picnic or for clubbing by the beach and they also throw in duffles for you to runaway.... *Just an expression.. not to be taken seriously* I am pretty surprised and excited with the assortments of stuffs you can buy in this one shop and yet I only got a useful funky velcro wallet that has many compartments for your coins, cards, notes, keys and your darling's photo as well as a lanyard that can be connected to the wallet to hang around your neck or fasten to your belt for safe keeping...
The stuffs there are made to be easy maintainence yet cool and casually stylish.... Nice place to shop to get pieces for islanders like US.....
I love it I love it I love it.. The TonKatsu or Rosu Katsu is super duper marvelicious......
It is one of the best pork cutlet I ever had.. the meat is tender and juicy what more the crust crispy and not oily... If you like something more heavy, try the cheesy tonkatsu.... Its super nice.. Melted Cheese atop a beautifully fried juicy loin with a glimming golden crust and sprinkled with some bright orange fish roe..... *Slurp*...... I love it best with alot of thick sourish sauce.. I don't know what its called but it do taste abit like plum sauce...... Wonderful dish to go with the yummy rice.
I think its an interesting place too, as i was never given roasted sesame in a grinding bowl for garnishing on top of my bowl of pearl grained rice. It comes with a bullish stick when u just move round and round the bamboo stricken bowl.. Be careful not too grind too much as you might want to retain a little crunchiness of the roasted sesame.. The wonderful aroma of sesame just made the whole dining more then perfect.
There is also a bed of cabbage underneath your fried pork... Its crunchy and does not have that wierd cabbage taste... I love to pour alot of the other sauce.. which is sourish like vinagratte, housed in a glass bottle... I love the cabbage with lots of sauce.. For a non-cabbage eater to a cabbage gobbler..... you can imagine how yummy it was....
For those who needs more fibre in their diet, this is the place to dine at as you can ask for unlimited servings of cabbage top ups..... Eat as much as you can.. and I love their genorisity as at every refill.... They give you a mountain of cabbage... Its just such a fullfilling thing to be served a great portion.....
If you can.. try the coffee jelly as well... Its something very exquisite.. Served in short glasses... These KOPI O Jello comes with a drizzle of sweeten milk ontop... As you scoop into the jello... you could taste the sweet milk yet the clashing bitterness of the jello. As you mix them in your mouth.. you will get to experience the extraordinaire of coffee with milk together yet apart.....
The set meals comes in huge servings.. good enough to serve 2 for average female diners... Its a must try for all those jap food lovers....
Brewerkz is one of my favourite hangouts.. It was one of the first few micro-breweries in town and it was there way before i learn how to club.... and way before i realise the need to pluck my eyebrows.... Nevermind about that.. Anyway.... me and my famous GAGA Gang.. Just celebrated DA YI MA's Birthday there....
It was pretty nice though they lost my phone booking.... They still gave us a nice long table... As usual we ordered their famous beers.. and I in particular enjoy the wheat beer.. Its light, refreshing and soothing to your throat and i believe anyone who tried brewerkz beers, may find it hard to accept canned beers. Unlike the normal local canned or bottled beer, freshly brewed beers are easy to drink and is not gassy yet not flat.... The indian brew is also nice... heavier and slightly bitter however.. still more preferred as to bottled beers....
Now to the food.. My favourite is the ASIAN SOBA NOODLE SALAD.. Its healthy, yummy and not to mention packed with full of zest. I particularly like the Vinagratte Sauce with crispy crackers sprinkled on top... Its do taste abit like YuSheng, the kind we eat during CNY, however.. coupled with good salad veg and soba noodles, the combination is just heavenly....
The pizza is OK... and I must mention that the BURGERS are great... I love the naked brewerkz burger the best.... The patty is just so so fresh and sweet.. however... such a great burger is partnered with machine cut fries.. which i felt quite a gourmet spoiler.... If it was coupled with freshly cut chips, i mean just use a potato cutter and slice them into strips.. It would be HEAVENLY....
The deserts are nice too.. however after much beer... everything does not taste as good as beer....
Oh yar.. the birthday cake.. The staff was very nice to freeze my cake before serving it with loads of singing waiteresses and of course the cute waiters.... with a large array of candles... some tall some shorts. and some I must say... pretty HUGE..... Though I very much HOPE for a cute dancing male striptease.. However.. that did not happen...
The singing and HOOHA... with the saliva splatterd all over the cake is good enough for DA YI MA's Birthday Celebration.
It is definitely a great place to chill with friends, catch up with long lost pals and drown your blues with good beer.. I mean anyway.. you're going to get drunk.... Get drunk with something nice...
PS... I went there for lunch on valentine's and i was given a rose by the staff there, which was in a sore state when i got home at night.. However.. with a swish of cool water in a bottle and my mum's magic sword to trim the stem the flower bloomed into a beautiful sight and was a GIANT ROSE..
So Boyfriends out there.. if you don't feel like kanna tok on V-Day, head down to brewerks.. Have a burger, free one rose.... :)
On the stretch of road right in the middle of town, at Singapore’s very own Fifth Avenue. Our shopping paradise. Before the new contender Ion takes over, the crown belongs to Paragon. Standing at the cross junction, we found ourselves lost, clearly it seems the journey to finding the spice wasn’t as easy as we thought. Heading up towards Mount E, we scaled on, in search of our final destination, Blue Basil.
Addiction for salmon. We ordered the Norwegian Salmon ($19.90) almost spilt seconds after seeing it on the menu. With the choice of sauce being their signature blue basil pesto, bonquet of vegetables and roasted baby potatoes as companions. The Norwegian salmon was fresh, the sweetness of the fish twittered on our tongue. The blue basil pesto did not completely brought out the freshness of the salmon, something was amiss, I couldn’t make out what.
Addiction for pasta. My cravings for the Italian staple saw us ordering the Linguini Ragout Pollo ($15.90). While there wasn’t any exotic ingredients, a good home-made chicken Bolognese was always a welcome. The taste of fresh tomatoes, not those cans type was a relief. The pasta section at Blue basil isn’t very comprehensive, but this one, have done enough.
Addiction for ice cream & baileys. A close fight between the raspberry cream bruleé and the Baileys gelato served on crushed ice & baileys liqueur ($9.90), with the latter winning of course. The baileys and ice-cream expert gave her verdict that this was good stuff, so it was. The baileys gelato, were pure, and the baileys used were generous, unlike some places which served diluted versions. And eating crushed ice with gelato brought the novelty to another level. Your happy booster.
Total bill was $48.90 for the food with a 7% GST, and no service charge. Blue basil met my expectations, with its use of the spice in almost all their dishes. Prices are affordable for the range of variety it provided, and being right in the middle of town, they offered you with a very good option, albeit you must take a 10minutes walk from Paragon. Actually i like their location because although it’s in town, but not many people know about the place, and it eludes the your-own-place-feel. Well, it’s certainly not a bad place for an romantic dinner, but for taking photo-wise, it isn’t very friendly. I’ll probably make a perennial visit for lunch instead. See you there!
You are always welcome to visit ladyironchef for a full-up on this trip. Whatever written herein are my genuine feelings expressed in words. Food, my dear, is what they call an adventure!
My heart skipped a beat when i saw it from afar. Deep down, I thought “no way man!”, it couldn’t be. As i approached it nearer and nearer, the sight of the two pure white kitchenaid further excited me. And the name was just the perfect icing on the cake, The icing room! The pinkish-white colour domination which so reminded me of Twelve one, with the adorable ornament, everything was perfect, until i spotted the name Breadtalk on one of the cake box.
Boy, the coup de grâce was performed when i then noticed the Chinese name, Dan gao si yu, which was so Breadtalk (mian bao wu yu), and a branch of Breadtalk and toastbox just beside it. Now don’t get me wrong, I have totally nothing against Breadtalk. It’s just that i wasn’t expecting Breadtalk to behind the icing room concept.
When i thought the stagnant Breadtalk is down and out, they managed to turn the table around and pulled a rabbit from the hat. Voilà! You’ve to give credit to Mr. George Quek and his team for coming out with this, although the icing room has yet to prove itself, they managed to capture me on the first impression, and that’s all it mattered.
The idea which i always had in mind, a place to do-it-yourself cakes. This, is one very good idea. The crowd surrounding the store gave a very good indicator, for just $11.90, they provided you with a small cream cake, and you get the pleasure to decorate your very own cake on the spot. Its that simple, no need to buy ingredients, no need to get your hands dirty, and no need to wash up.
Like what the chef there mentioned, “It’s like fulfilling a child’s dream”. I’ll like to add something to that, i bet adults would also love to play with the cake, a very nice gift for your loved ones.
Now to put everything to test, i picked the Apricotte ($3.80). A layer of caramel on top, with apricot mousse in between the cake. I couldn’t get the taste on my first try, so i took another bite. And this was followed by eating the different layers separately. Everything, just tasted so, ordinary! I must admit i’m fairly disappointed with the cake, not that i was expecting much though. And the berry was sour.
If you thought that everything was a surprise so far, wait until you see this. Lo & behold, Macarons! And this is Breadtalk which we are talking about. Bread alright, but macarons?
I couldn’t resist buying a few to try out, not when they are only $1.50 each. There’s five different flavours available, matcha, strawberry, chocolate, passion fruit, and yam. However, i wasn’t adventurous enough to try out the yam option. Play safe, think baby steps.
And when it was time to try them out, my first bite went to the strawberry macaron ($1.50). The opening nibble was still alright. But as time goes on as it surely will, the whole taste becomes overly sweet. Well I’m not exactly a macaron expert, the brittle shell wasn’t chewy enough, and the slightly sour strawberry fillings wasn’t to my liking.
Well if I’m not wrong, macaron does not involve the use of milk in the process. But for some strange reasons, there’s a strong milk taste which covered the matcha, or maybe it’s just my taste bud). Needless to say, the matcha flavour was weak, and this one was out as well. Their macarons are all small (not as tiny as Carousel though), and everything was just too sweet.
So when everything fails, you go to your comfort zone, the safe option yes? The chocolate macaron was what i’ve in mind just in case everything else don’t work out. And the results were played out in a totally unfashionable manner, somebody forgot to tell the jam within the macaron to follow the script. It gave a sour-sweet contrast with the chocolate macaron, but it wasn’t what i was looking for.
Now, the conclusion. Interesting concept, with a fascinating set-up, and i was surprised they didn’t incorporate a dine-in area, which would provide some competition in this Canele-dominated area. Well, Breadtalk clearly has the financial muscles to provide some fight, but first, they need to improve, make changes to their bakes. Otherwise, everything is just talk. And my dear, talk is cheap.
Oh yes, in my excitement, i forgot to mention the icing room is located at the new building of Jurong Point (JP2). Lots of new stores, plenty of boring old faces, but there are some concepts which caught my attention. So do check it out for yourself!
You are always welcome to visit ladyironchef for a full-up on this trip. Whatever written herein are my genuine feelings expressed in words. Food, my dear, is what they call an adventure!
I love roasted duck. I really do. When it comes to their other half, braised duck, its a different story all together. Roasted ducks are really good, and i always craved for them, but when it comes to braise duck, i didn’t have them for very long already! It’s case when it comes to choosing between roasted and braised duck, i’ll definitely go for the former.
Since there aren’t any roasted duck stalls at the Whampoa market that caught my attention, for once i decided to have the braised duck instead. And i’m fairly surprised. The yam rice was very fragrant, and i thought that the portion was quite generous, althought i’ll never say no to more duck meat.
You know whenever we brought half a duck home, my mom will always use the leftover meats and the bones to cook with porridge, and its fantastic! I didn’t really try duck porridge outside before, so the next time, i’m probably going for duck porridge instead of rice. There’s always a first time for everything.
Its impossible to roast your own duck at home, but with some good recipe, braising duck is certainly do-able. I tried many home-made braised duck before, and i must say most of them are better than the ones i’ve outside. While it could also be due to the possibility that there’s no limit to how much duck meat i can eat. Well i’m always on the lookout for roasted duck that i really have no idea about which places serve excellent braised ducks, let me know won’t you?
You are always welcome to visit ladyironchef for a full-up on this trip. Whatever written herein are my genuine feelings expressed in words. Food, my dear, is what they call an adventure!
If you remember, I wrote on the Joo Chiat wanton mee saga in Whampoa market before, with the two stalls claiming that they are the original from Joo Chiat. This time round, I saw this Long Ji stall which is on the outside row of the market. Since i’ve both the Joo Chiat stalls (middle row of market), I decided to give this a try.
The wanton mee was disappointing. The pictures looked nice yes, this was my first time testing out my new macro lens back then, so I had this way back in November! The two key factors in a good wanton, the springy noodle, and the good char siew were sorely missing. To be frank, the wanton mee was so mediocre that I couldn’t really remember how it tasted like.
There’s another wanton mee stall in the market if i’m not mistaken, will try that the next time! I think you’ll be better off trying either one of the Joo Chiat stalls than Long Ji’s. Well, i may be wrong, since it’s my personal preference, if you’ve try this one before let me hear from you!
You are always welcome to visit ladyironchef for a full-up on this trip. Whatever written herein are my genuine feelings expressed in words. Food, my dear, is what they call an adventure!
1=SGD 0.0587
I ordered the wrong main :(
The first thing I know about Da Mario is that they have only 1 chef and limited seating, so I had higher than usual hopes because it usually means its authentic huh.
The setting is very home-style italian, with the place nicely packed on a Fri night (and later full at around 8:30pm). A handful of staff runs around and everyone does everything so can be hard to get their attention at times. And take note that its all afresco seats although they have fans to distract you from the heat.
These starters were what our side of the table ate:
Calamari - served with tartar sauce and looked really nice but got minus points from all round the table for being too heavy on the salt in the batter.
Portobello mushroom - one huge portobello filled ingredients which I forgot but tasted good nonetheless, served with very nicely "vinegratted" mesclun and cheese. Taste wise, its really not bad but perhaps they should relook the aesthetics of this dish to make it visually more appealing~~
Bruschetta with tomatoes - Very light on the palette and the tomatoes were very nicely done, but I think they may been over-enthu with the olive oil as the bread were a little soggy from the overdose, not sure if it was meant to be drizzled over it instead?
Angel hair pasta with crab meat and porcini mushrooms ($20) - Alas, of all the mains I could choose from, I chose this one....I felt I was cheated by the description on the menu. It came in one mixed heap, stir fried style. It tasted like cha bee hoon. Really. Very oily cha bee hoon.
Tiramisu ($7) - Deliberated over ordering this for quite a bit as we were quite stuffed by then, but er no dinner is complete without dessert~ Portion was huge for the price but average tasting at best. Wasn't chilled properly was one thing, no taste of coffee or alcohol was another. Sigh.
All the other mains looked better than mine; so I probably would have given a better rating if I'd taken some other stuff....
Oh, and they have free breadsticks in a pack for every guest laid out on the table :D
Rating given:
Brewbaker's is part of Jack's Place holdings but is an offshoot in the sense that unlike Jack's place, its not halal certified. Its concept is one of escapism and relaxation which is reflected in its rather decent bar selection but holds many similarities to its parent company in regards to areas like its interior design and overall service level. Me and my gf patronized this venue on Valentine's day this year because i found it in a rather decent and new community centre near my house. It took about 35 minutes for us to walk the distance but honestly, we needed the exercise. Was it worth our effort though?
Thoughts on the location and surroundings:
Being in a community centre doesn't necessarily mean its a slipshod location. The restaurant had a rather laidback atmosphere and relaxing buzz as its next to an excellently under utilized yet beautiful public pool and is next to a canal/river which actually is rather pleasing. The interior is spacious but the design reminds me too much of Jack's place to be a good thing.
Its Valentines day, so what better way to celebrate then to have a decent meal with my girl? And there's even a menu that promises a "gift for the ladies" to every couple. Perfect. More on the gift at the end of the post.
Archipelago Travellers Wheat - Self brewed gourmet beer seems to be appearing everywhere these days. Not that its a bad thing. I ordered a complimentary sampler from their menu and honestly, it wasn't too bad. Travellers Wheat tastes like....golden ale from Brewerkz and i simply adore beer with that taste so this is good for me.
Mango Drink - This is definitely not made in house since it tastes just like something you can get from a concentrate with water added. Need some work here.
Terrine of Seafood - This was weird. It tastes like it has milk concentrate in it but dissipates in each taste. There's actual crab and fishcake-like taste in the pasty center as well. Its not a bad dish per se, its just weird.
Garlic Bread and Homemade Clam Chowder - This was a surprise. At first glance, i was thinking: "how dare they serve campbells soup when its stated as homemade clam chowder?" My fears were put to rest once i taste it though. There's actually a generous amount of seafood tucked beneath the surface and it provided a balanced palate for the meal to come. Helps that its not flooded with salt and other such nonsensical tastes as well.
True Love Platter - The "True Love Platter" for 2 feels more like "true fat platter" to me. However, it wasn't bad at all. The grilled salmon steak with dill sauce was a little salty and had a rather strong "fishy" taste which didn't sit well with me. The Sirloin steak did not come with black pepper sauce as per the menu and was well done, which means it was rather tough to eat. The grilled vegetable skewers were pretty good as is the chicken drumlets and potato salad. My gf didn't like the calamari rings due to the thick batter. The potato salad was supposed to be potato wedges but was switched without informing us and the steak was well done without asking the doneness we wanted it in. I attribute this to a service issue though.
Sweet Temptations - The dessert was basically strawberry and chocolate mousse cake with fruits. The white chocolate sticks and fruits were pretty good. Refreshing and sweet while the cake itself....is a little too creamy for our tastes. Otherwise, it was an ok ending to the meal. Coffee was served after this which helped as well.
The final bill for a simple valentine's lunch came up to $70.62. Rather steep for the quality of food served.
Cons: The "gift" mentioned in the menu was never given. We had to ask for it 3 times before being given something and it was not a valentines gift for the lady at all. It was a leftover scratch and win card from Chinese New Year which held no significance whatsoever. Needless to say, i was disappointed. At the very least, if there was no gift, i would have appreciated being warned beforehand and replaced with either an additional dish or a drink would suffice. Not this lame attempt at redeeming themselves with a useless item. The management needs to look into this. Not to mention, the lack of initiative to inform on the change of items and the courtesy to ask about the doneness of my steak.
Final Score: 6/10 (minus 1 due to the service lapses and problems with the "gift" that never was.)
Last word:
I was disappointed with the gift problem and service but the food was actually decent and so was the beer. Actually, the beer and location is probably the only reason i'll consider returning to this place. 50% off beer and 1 for 1 offers for the beer is something i could live with. Otherwise, i'd say try the food sparingly and they really need to buck up on their service training. Oh, its still better then Jack's Place as far as i'm concerned. Just thought i'd end it with that.
Rating given:
Recently, i've been bestowed with a valuable gift of Takashimaya vouchers from my superbly wonderful company. I've thus been thronging Takashimaya with the intention of spending every single voucher away to no avail. Thus, i used it to the most important aspect of my being. My every growing tummy. It so happend that Bakerzin was having an offer for macarons and i just hopped to try it.
First off, a little background into why i wanted to try this.
1: My boss bought a nice sample of the best macarons back from France for the team to try during her trip and i have to say, they were excellent if a little pricey. I mean, 1 small macaron for $8? Ouch.
2: I've been told the Singapore renditions for macarons were no where near the true taste and standard of a France. And being a true blue Singaporean, i felt compelled to see if this was true.
The observation:
The macarons from Bakerzin were smaller and the proportions were different. The original macaron i had was thick in the middle and thinner on the sides. The Bakerzin rendition had a thicker side and smaller middle with a generally smaller size as well.
Taste wise, the Bakerzin rendition i bought had 6 flavors, chocolate, mint, strawberry, cherry, coffee and lemon. They all had a rather strong milky taste which is unusual because the actual french version had no such taste. The sides were are less fragrant and had a different texture and layer of crunchiness as compared to the french version. Overall, i felt this version highly inadequate.
I only had 2 flavors from the ones my boss brought back and i can tell you, the ones you find here are no where near the real thing. For starters, there is absolutely no milky taste. The texture is highly different and the actual fillings were packed full of actual flavor as opposed to the ready made ones you see on offer here.
Last word:
Sure, i may be overly harsh on this. After all, the real thing costs 700% more and has to be flown in but hey, i had more faith in our chefs then to produce this half baked effort. Maybe when the promotion is over the macarons will be of better quality. I wouldn't know for sure but honestly, they need to step up their game so that it tastes like a true macaron instead of looking the part. Just my personal opinion is all.
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I was looking for some Funky, Sporty and Young Gift for a Young Girl the other day.. I walked around everywhere in Plaza Sing yet.. theres nothing really nice and sporty..... until... I stepped into Flash n Splash..... Its a huge shop with everything trandy, auzzie and sporty.... especially beach and water sports...
A Haven for Teens, Youths and Young Adults like me.. You get all the famous beach wear brands like billabong, all in one roof...... What more... They have a good assortments of Bags, Slippers, Caps, Bikinis and other funky stuffs.... The prices are reasonably approachable and when i was there there was some discounts for some older designs...
I love the bags. They come in all sizes, trendy designs and for all occasions. There are bags for a beach picnic or for clubbing by the beach and they also throw in duffles for you to runaway.... *Just an expression.. not to be taken seriously* I am pretty surprised and excited with the assortments of stuffs you can buy in this one shop and yet I only got a useful funky velcro wallet that has many compartments for your coins, cards, notes, keys and your darling's photo as well as a lanyard that can be connected to the wallet to hang around your neck or fasten to your belt for safe keeping...
The stuffs there are made to be easy maintainence yet cool and casually stylish.... Nice place to shop to get pieces for islanders like US.....
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I love it I love it I love it.. The TonKatsu or Rosu Katsu is super duper marvelicious......
It is one of the best pork cutlet I ever had.. the meat is tender and juicy what more the crust crispy and not oily... If you like something more heavy, try the cheesy tonkatsu.... Its super nice.. Melted Cheese atop a beautifully fried juicy loin with a glimming golden crust and sprinkled with some bright orange fish roe..... *Slurp*...... I love it best with alot of thick sourish sauce.. I don't know what its called but it do taste abit like plum sauce...... Wonderful dish to go with the yummy rice.
I think its an interesting place too, as i was never given roasted sesame in a grinding bowl for garnishing on top of my bowl of pearl grained rice. It comes with a bullish stick when u just move round and round the bamboo stricken bowl.. Be careful not too grind too much as you might want to retain a little crunchiness of the roasted sesame.. The wonderful aroma of sesame just made the whole dining more then perfect.
There is also a bed of cabbage underneath your fried pork... Its crunchy and does not have that wierd cabbage taste... I love to pour alot of the other sauce.. which is sourish like vinagratte, housed in a glass bottle... I love the cabbage with lots of sauce.. For a non-cabbage eater to a cabbage gobbler..... you can imagine how yummy it was....
For those who needs more fibre in their diet, this is the place to dine at as you can ask for unlimited servings of cabbage top ups..... Eat as much as you can.. and I love their genorisity as at every refill.... They give you a mountain of cabbage... Its just such a fullfilling thing to be served a great portion.....
If you can.. try the coffee jelly as well... Its something very exquisite.. Served in short glasses... These KOPI O Jello comes with a drizzle of sweeten milk ontop... As you scoop into the jello... you could taste the sweet milk yet the clashing bitterness of the jello. As you mix them in your mouth.. you will get to experience the extraordinaire of coffee with milk together yet apart.....
The set meals comes in huge servings.. good enough to serve 2 for average female diners... Its a must try for all those jap food lovers....
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Brewerkz is one of my favourite hangouts.. It was one of the first few micro-breweries in town and it was there way before i learn how to club.... and way before i realise the need to pluck my eyebrows.... Nevermind about that.. Anyway.... me and my famous GAGA Gang.. Just celebrated DA YI MA's Birthday there....
It was pretty nice though they lost my phone booking.... They still gave us a nice long table... As usual we ordered their famous beers.. and I in particular enjoy the wheat beer.. Its light, refreshing and soothing to your throat and i believe anyone who tried brewerkz beers, may find it hard to accept canned beers. Unlike the normal local canned or bottled beer, freshly brewed beers are easy to drink and is not gassy yet not flat.... The indian brew is also nice... heavier and slightly bitter however.. still more preferred as to bottled beers....
Now to the food.. My favourite is the ASIAN SOBA NOODLE SALAD.. Its healthy, yummy and not to mention packed with full of zest. I particularly like the Vinagratte Sauce with crispy crackers sprinkled on top... Its do taste abit like YuSheng, the kind we eat during CNY, however.. coupled with good salad veg and soba noodles, the combination is just heavenly....
The pizza is OK... and I must mention that the BURGERS are great... I love the naked brewerkz burger the best.... The patty is just so so fresh and sweet.. however... such a great burger is partnered with machine cut fries.. which i felt quite a gourmet spoiler.... If it was coupled with freshly cut chips, i mean just use a potato cutter and slice them into strips.. It would be HEAVENLY....
The deserts are nice too.. however after much beer... everything does not taste as good as beer....
Oh yar.. the birthday cake.. The staff was very nice to freeze my cake before serving it with loads of singing waiteresses and of course the cute waiters.... with a large array of candles... some tall some shorts. and some I must say... pretty HUGE..... Though I very much HOPE for a cute dancing male striptease.. However.. that did not happen...
The singing and HOOHA... with the saliva splatterd all over the cake is good enough for DA YI MA's Birthday Celebration.
It is definitely a great place to chill with friends, catch up with long lost pals and drown your blues with good beer.. I mean anyway.. you're going to get drunk.... Get drunk with something nice...
PS... I went there for lunch on valentine's and i was given a rose by the staff there, which was in a sore state when i got home at night.. However.. with a swish of cool water in a bottle and my mum's magic sword to trim the stem the flower bloomed into a beautiful sight and was a GIANT ROSE..
So Boyfriends out there.. if you don't feel like kanna tok on V-Day, head down to brewerks.. Have a burger, free one rose.... :)
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On the stretch of road right in the middle of town, at Singapore’s very own Fifth Avenue. Our shopping paradise. Before the new contender Ion takes over, the crown belongs to Paragon. Standing at the cross junction, we found ourselves lost, clearly it seems the journey to finding the spice wasn’t as easy as we thought. Heading up towards Mount E, we scaled on, in search of our final destination, Blue Basil.
Addiction for salmon. We ordered the Norwegian Salmon ($19.90) almost spilt seconds after seeing it on the menu. With the choice of sauce being their signature blue basil pesto, bonquet of vegetables and roasted baby potatoes as companions. The Norwegian salmon was fresh, the sweetness of the fish twittered on our tongue. The blue basil pesto did not completely brought out the freshness of the salmon, something was amiss, I couldn’t make out what.
Addiction for pasta. My cravings for the Italian staple saw us ordering the Linguini Ragout Pollo ($15.90). While there wasn’t any exotic ingredients, a good home-made chicken Bolognese was always a welcome. The taste of fresh tomatoes, not those cans type was a relief. The pasta section at Blue basil isn’t very comprehensive, but this one, have done enough.
Addiction for ice cream & baileys. A close fight between the raspberry cream bruleé and the Baileys gelato served on crushed ice & baileys liqueur ($9.90), with the latter winning of course. The baileys and ice-cream expert gave her verdict that this was good stuff, so it was. The baileys gelato, were pure, and the baileys used were generous, unlike some places which served diluted versions. And eating crushed ice with gelato brought the novelty to another level. Your happy booster.
Total bill was $48.90 for the food with a 7% GST, and no service charge. Blue basil met my expectations, with its use of the spice in almost all their dishes. Prices are affordable for the range of variety it provided, and being right in the middle of town, they offered you with a very good option, albeit you must take a 10minutes walk from Paragon. Actually i like their location because although it’s in town, but not many people know about the place, and it eludes the your-own-place-feel. Well, it’s certainly not a bad place for an romantic dinner, but for taking photo-wise, it isn’t very friendly. I’ll probably make a perennial visit for lunch instead. See you there!
You are always welcome to visit ladyironchef for a full-up on this trip. Whatever written herein are my genuine feelings expressed in words. Food, my dear, is what they call an adventure!
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My heart skipped a beat when i saw it from afar. Deep down, I thought “no way man!”, it couldn’t be. As i approached it nearer and nearer, the sight of the two pure white kitchenaid further excited me. And the name was just the perfect icing on the cake, The icing room! The pinkish-white colour domination which so reminded me of Twelve one, with the adorable ornament, everything was perfect, until i spotted the name Breadtalk on one of the cake box.
Boy, the coup de grâce was performed when i then noticed the Chinese name, Dan gao si yu, which was so Breadtalk (mian bao wu yu), and a branch of Breadtalk and toastbox just beside it. Now don’t get me wrong, I have totally nothing against Breadtalk. It’s just that i wasn’t expecting Breadtalk to behind the icing room concept.
When i thought the stagnant Breadtalk is down and out, they managed to turn the table around and pulled a rabbit from the hat. Voilà! You’ve to give credit to Mr. George Quek and his team for coming out with this, although the icing room has yet to prove itself, they managed to capture me on the first impression, and that’s all it mattered.
The idea which i always had in mind, a place to do-it-yourself cakes. This, is one very good idea. The crowd surrounding the store gave a very good indicator, for just $11.90, they provided you with a small cream cake, and you get the pleasure to decorate your very own cake on the spot. Its that simple, no need to buy ingredients, no need to get your hands dirty, and no need to wash up.
Like what the chef there mentioned, “It’s like fulfilling a child’s dream”. I’ll like to add something to that, i bet adults would also love to play with the cake, a very nice gift for your loved ones.
Now to put everything to test, i picked the Apricotte ($3.80). A layer of caramel on top, with apricot mousse in between the cake. I couldn’t get the taste on my first try, so i took another bite. And this was followed by eating the different layers separately. Everything, just tasted so, ordinary! I must admit i’m fairly disappointed with the cake, not that i was expecting much though. And the berry was sour.
If you thought that everything was a surprise so far, wait until you see this. Lo & behold, Macarons! And this is Breadtalk which we are talking about. Bread alright, but macarons?
I couldn’t resist buying a few to try out, not when they are only $1.50 each. There’s five different flavours available, matcha, strawberry, chocolate, passion fruit, and yam. However, i wasn’t adventurous enough to try out the yam option. Play safe, think baby steps.
And when it was time to try them out, my first bite went to the strawberry macaron ($1.50). The opening nibble was still alright. But as time goes on as it surely will, the whole taste becomes overly sweet. Well I’m not exactly a macaron expert, the brittle shell wasn’t chewy enough, and the slightly sour strawberry fillings wasn’t to my liking.
Well if I’m not wrong, macaron does not involve the use of milk in the process. But for some strange reasons, there’s a strong milk taste which covered the matcha, or maybe it’s just my taste bud). Needless to say, the matcha flavour was weak, and this one was out as well. Their macarons are all small (not as tiny as Carousel though), and everything was just too sweet.
So when everything fails, you go to your comfort zone, the safe option yes? The chocolate macaron was what i’ve in mind just in case everything else don’t work out. And the results were played out in a totally unfashionable manner, somebody forgot to tell the jam within the macaron to follow the script. It gave a sour-sweet contrast with the chocolate macaron, but it wasn’t what i was looking for.
Now, the conclusion. Interesting concept, with a fascinating set-up, and i was surprised they didn’t incorporate a dine-in area, which would provide some competition in this Canele-dominated area. Well, Breadtalk clearly has the financial muscles to provide some fight, but first, they need to improve, make changes to their bakes. Otherwise, everything is just talk. And my dear, talk is cheap.
Oh yes, in my excitement, i forgot to mention the icing room is located at the new building of Jurong Point (JP2). Lots of new stores, plenty of boring old faces, but there are some concepts which caught my attention. So do check it out for yourself!
You are always welcome to visit ladyironchef for a full-up on this trip. Whatever written herein are my genuine feelings expressed in words. Food, my dear, is what they call an adventure!
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I love roasted duck. I really do. When it comes to their other half, braised duck, its a different story all together. Roasted ducks are really good, and i always craved for them, but when it comes to braise duck, i didn’t have them for very long already! It’s case when it comes to choosing between roasted and braised duck, i’ll definitely go for the former.
Since there aren’t any roasted duck stalls at the Whampoa market that caught my attention, for once i decided to have the braised duck instead. And i’m fairly surprised. The yam rice was very fragrant, and i thought that the portion was quite generous, althought i’ll never say no to more duck meat.
You know whenever we brought half a duck home, my mom will always use the leftover meats and the bones to cook with porridge, and its fantastic! I didn’t really try duck porridge outside before, so the next time, i’m probably going for duck porridge instead of rice. There’s always a first time for everything.
Its impossible to roast your own duck at home, but with some good recipe, braising duck is certainly do-able. I tried many home-made braised duck before, and i must say most of them are better than the ones i’ve outside. While it could also be due to the possibility that there’s no limit to how much duck meat i can eat. Well i’m always on the lookout for roasted duck that i really have no idea about which places serve excellent braised ducks, let me know won’t you?
You are always welcome to visit ladyironchef for a full-up on this trip. Whatever written herein are my genuine feelings expressed in words. Food, my dear, is what they call an adventure!
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If you remember, I wrote on the Joo Chiat wanton mee saga in Whampoa market before, with the two stalls claiming that they are the original from Joo Chiat. This time round, I saw this Long Ji stall which is on the outside row of the market. Since i’ve both the Joo Chiat stalls (middle row of market), I decided to give this a try.
The wanton mee was disappointing. The pictures looked nice yes, this was my first time testing out my new macro lens back then, so I had this way back in November! The two key factors in a good wanton, the springy noodle, and the good char siew were sorely missing. To be frank, the wanton mee was so mediocre that I couldn’t really remember how it tasted like.
There’s another wanton mee stall in the market if i’m not mistaken, will try that the next time! I think you’ll be better off trying either one of the Joo Chiat stalls than Long Ji’s. Well, i may be wrong, since it’s my personal preference, if you’ve try this one before let me hear from you!
You are always welcome to visit ladyironchef for a full-up on this trip. Whatever written herein are my genuine feelings expressed in words. Food, my dear, is what they call an adventure!
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