An Outing with the GAGA Girls and their Lovable male Pals last nite.... In order to continue the SAGA of the GAGA Girl's Famous "Ha Ha Ha n Hee Hee Hee" we have decided to choose a place less prone to be starred at when we share our nonsensical thoughts louder then usual.
Brotzeit seemed like just the place. First the environment is NICE AND FRIENDLY... You can chill out or party there... makes no difference... The ambience is just so amiable With the beautiful long stretch of high bar side seats to the log like tables and the out door high bar tables to suit every needs.
Just what needs are we talking about? There had been a theory going around:
BAR SIDE SEATS = Available and Looking
LOG TABLE SEATS = Available but I'm With Friends.. So not free.
OUTDOOR HIGH BAR TABLEs = Not Available and We want some personal time.
So next time choose your seats carefully.
Now to the Food and Beer......
The GAGA Girls Loved White Wine which I have to say i'm not such a big fan of it.... But they love the Sauvignon Blanc the best and I believed if you look close enough in the bottle, you might find a baby fish swimming in it... Perhaps thats why I always felt it was fishy to taste... BTW the GAGA Girls are CRAZY DRINKERS.... They way they drink.. I'm sure I can be a fish monger soon. The other drink we tried was the mango beer.. It was a hue darker with a nice mango aroma not to mention a sparkle of zesty note to the taste.
We also tried dessert and the chocolate creme is the best. Its actually creme, coated with dark chocolate and has cherries inside. Its creamy and smooth texture makes the extra calories so worth it. The chocolate was of just the right sweetness and it simply melts in your mouth. As you dig deeper, you will find layers of soaked cherries which is rather delightful.
I must mention about the service. The waiters are so helpful, and not to mention Sooo Cute Looking.... Quite an eyeful i must say... They are prompt, friendly and sure knows what their specialities are. I can't help but feel so AT HOME in this restaurant.. Perhaps bring some cute waiters Home.... Oooppss.......
A must go.. especially single and available girls who enjoy good food, good drink and a good eyeful of cute waiters.....
Island cafe at the Tangs shopping mall at Vivocity. You might find the association of Island cafe and Tangs weird, isn’t Tangs the fashion lifestyle retailer? What does Island cafe has to do with it?
Recently we have seen the rebranding of Tangs, from the old perception of Tangs is a boring place to shop, to the new image of a hip and lifestyle concept retailer store.
Naturally, Tangs wanted its customers to stay longer in its shopping mall, so it came out with Island Cafe for its customers to enjoy a little meal in between their shopping sprees. Tangs is not the first to come out with such ideas by combing food and shopping, think PS cafe and you will get the idea.
Island Cafe features a medley of local and regional favourite food, with choices like curry chicken, laksa, showing evidence of the “asian-ness”
The place at Vivocity is at ground floor within their shopping area. Exuding a rustic and tropical feel, there’s a cozy ambience factor with the small enclosed area.
Having heard about Island Cafe, naturally i was curious about how it’s like as i have never come here before. We decided to give the place a try while we are at Vivocity.
One look at the menu though, i immediately regretted coming in. Reason is simple, the menu selection is too little seriously. They got two choices of starters with the crab bisque as one. Two sandwiches, and two pizzas to choose from. There is four main course selection, laksa, curry chicken, green curry marinara, and black pepper aglio olio. And thats it!
We didn’t quite fancy the items available on the menu, but since we were there already, we just ordered their Guacamole & seafood pizza to share among the three of us.
Guacamole & seafood pizza ($12) Guacamole, prawns, crabmeat, tomatoes, tomatoes paste and mozzarella make up the Gucamole & seafood Pizza. It comes in two price, $9 for the 5.5″ snack size, and $12 for the 8″ meat size.
The pizza is all right i guess, quite cheesy, with the pizza base thin. But i suppose at $12, you can easily find better pizzas around for a bigger size.
Total Bill is $14.04 for one pizza. I definitely will not go back to Island Cafe because the selections are simply too few and too little. Prices are acceptable considering its a cafe, but most of the choices seems more like hawker-type of food.
Besides the one located within Tangs at Vivocity, there’s also another Island Cafe at Tangs in Orchard.
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!
Seng Kee Black Herbal Chicken Soup is located just opposite Kembangan MRT station. I happened to chance upon this zi-char restaurant because my friends had cravings for their mee-sua.
So another venture into the east side of Singapore for LIC, as i stay in the west and the east is so far away. But there are simple too much good food in the area, so you will be seeing more food from the east in the future!
The zi-char store has all of its seat on the street, its rather cooling but when bad weather comes then it will be very difficult as i don’t think there are much shelter from rain.
The store has quite a few selections of fish available for customers to choose, and with the method of cooking the fish. But we didn’t have any fish because we ordered crab already.
Mee Sua ($3.50) The rendition of Mee sua at Seng Kee comes in a stronger flavour than the normal ones, with ingredients like pig kidneys, mushroom in it. The mee sua is smooth and silky to the mouth.
We had 5 bowls for each of us, and i saw most tables ordering this dish and at $3.50 its definitely worth a try.
Egg Omelette ($8) $8 for an egg omelette dish at a zi-char store might be a tad too expensive, if I’m not wrong egg dishes usually are about 6 bucks? Nevertheless, the egg omelette is quite good and we finish it very fast.
Crab Bee Hoon ($38) The crab bee hoon is usually done in soup, but here at Seng Kee they do it “dry”. We were quite shocked at the size of the crab when it came because usually crabs at zi-char stores goes in the region of $30 for 1kg?
But the one that we had is $38, and the small crab that we had is definitely not 1kg. I felt ripped off as the price tag is certainly too expensive for the size of the crab.
The bee hoon is not bad though, as it absorbs all the essence of the crab and all the juicy wet part is at the bottom of the bee hoon.
Total bill including drinks for 5 person comes up to $76.80. At initial look, for a zi-char store and considering we had 5 person, its definitely not expensive. But, looking at the amount of food that we had, the crab bee hoon was definitely over-priced.
I’m not too sure about their other dishes as i have not tried them and it will not be fair to judge base on this experience. But their mee sua is worth a try, do give their crab bee hoon a miss.
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 came here with popeye after our weekday lazy afternoon shopping spree..
It was one of those places where we always remind ourselves we will go but will never go.. So today, It was pretty much after lunch time and there was no queue, so we went in... The deco was ok... a little too dim for my liking and the sits are tight... We sat on the corner and the table was STICKY.. yes quote me STICKY...
The service was ok.. with many waiters and waitresses walking around however none have got attention for me...
I ordered this nice drink, something with lemon grass and found it pretty refreshing and amazing.. Though it reminds me of TomYum soup, it was something different and I would say special. Popeye ordered the french toast which looked rather Normal and slumpy and it taste great! Not too oily but creamy butter makes it savoury and they give you a jar of honey for you to drizzle on top... TAKE AS MUCH AS YOU WANT. As a kiasu singaporean on a shopping spree.. I WAS DELIGHTED...
I ordered PorkChops Sandwich and it was so NICE.... Pork was soft and chewie and the sauce is yummy... It was really fabulous.... If you want yummy high tea.. this is surely the place to go..... Recharge the leg power for more CHEAP CHEAP BIG SALE... Yeah!!!!!
Today I brought my dad and mum out to TOWN for shopping.. Though they are not so IN... I've decided to show them the Hang Out Place for the Youngsters.. as what they always call us..
After the much shocking experience with jap fashion, everywhere piercings and pacifiers, I thought i should bring them back to earth for a while and there we are.. the most decent looking, normal chinese cafe... the XW Cafe...
Serving HongKong styled cuisines, My dad and mum heaved a sigh of relieve and then they got another shock.... My dad's Ice Kopi came in a metal mug... He can't help but have to hum the jian yu feng yun song... (Famous Movie starring Chow Yuan Fatt in jail).
My mum then ordered her favourite PorK Chop and its really true.... Hong Kong style PORK CHOP really nice.... Dad Ordered the nominal HorFun, perhaps coz he wants to have some fun... But boy.. its yummy. It came with 5 huge prawns all fresh and so crunchy.... The prawn juice pratically squirts out when i chew on it....Of Course.. I make sure i look gracious and very high class when i wipe the juice from my mouth.. heehee! I ordered this french toast thingee and it appeared as a cube of bread... But boy.. the maple syrup and the cold storage butter goes so well with the pipping hot french toast... As u slice the toast, the maple syrup drools down the side.. Can you imagine that....... Sooo Soooo Tantalizing....
When i finally manage to slice a nice piece and savour it in my mouth.. stars laterally appeared.. I'm not sure if its the yummy sensation or the low blood pressure.. but gosh I REALLY SEE STARs.... Since then I've decided that I'll BE BACK........
The price is reasonable and its a wonderful place to hang out with young or the NOT SO YOUNG Pals... Includes mum n dad.... NOT TO BE MISSED.....
It was another fabulous nite out with my GAGA pals.. and guess what... we decided to rave it out the gangster way....
I was actually hoping to find a xiao ma ge mannequin inside.. But don't have leh.... Only could find some really sissy waiters... (oops) Like those in the movie.... (Movie Star ok)!
The deco of the place was CHIC... Too CHIC to be like the famous HongKong Gangster movie starring Chow Yuan Fatt... The Black mirriory Like finishes are simply too fabulous.. I mean you can detect stucked veg in between your teeth everywhere u turn.... Its what i call customer concious designs. The place was huge with a nice view of the sea and smooching couples.... but one thing you must really do.. Thats to check out the LOO... aka TOOLET... It took me like 5 minutes to find it.... There are mirriors everywhere and its so camoflaged i almost peed on the washing basin...
NOW I KNOW WHY IT IS CALLED BOSSES.... In the event you need to hide... u can just camoflaged yourself or hide in some hidden space like the toolet and wait it out.. Your enemy can NEVER find you.... CHECKING THE TOILET IS A SUPER MUST....
Now we come to the food.. I pretty like the idea that they serve an excellent selection of teas.. If you are just feeling chatty, you could ask the waitress whats this tea for and what that tea is used to.. and soon you'll find yourself in a TCM class...
We ordered so much food but there are a few I must mention. 1st there this duck on fruit platter and boy... Its so good.. refreshingly sinless... Judging by the small strips of duck meat on top of this fruit platter, we won't get high cholestrol perhaps will only be overworked as we try to out eat all the others GRACEFULLY.... And theres this fried brinjal or eggplant.... its soft and crispy and very healthy.. Yum Yum... The fried noodles are great too... and not to forget the soup in which the serving is so huge.. One serving and there goes half my stomach.... Not to forget Cold Chickens.... So tender and soft and its COOL... really really nice..
Overall It was an intriguing experience... and its simply too fabulous for the GAGA Girls as in such an environment we are not frowned upon when we do the loud Ooohsss and Aaahhhss and the HA HA HA and the OH MY GOD! THIS IS GREAT.....
Its a experience of the lifetime... Be BOLD.. Try to be a Big Boss... You just never know what you never know....
Ma Maison, which means my home in French, started out with an outlet at Bugis Junction and soon expanded to include one at The Central. Known for its take on Japanese Western food aka fusion food, Ma Maison packs in the crowds at meal times so don't be surprised if you have to wait for a seat if you arrive without a reservation.
Located just a few units down from Wakashachiya on the third floor, Ma Maison's interior is reminiscent of a quaint little European cottage with lots of wood, overhanging crockery and shelves of various liquids. The cozy cottage feel is further reinforced by replica ornaments of yesteryear placed along the wooden window sill. If you are lucky enough, you can get a window seat which overlooks Clarke Quay and the river, but there's probably only 5 such tables or so.
Doteni Hamburger - A signature dish of Ma Maison, the Doteni Hamburger was essentially a beef and pork patty covered with a fried egg, topped with beef tendons and draped with a demi glaze sauce that has been left to simmer for 28 days. And I liked it. The beef, though almost well done, was moist and juicy with a slightly uneven texture. The egg was perfectly done while the gelatinous beef tendon came across as a little chewy and not overly soft. Coupled with the robust sauce, it set the right note for our lunch.
Tonakatsu - After the horrendous tonkatsu experience at Wakashachiya just a couple of hours before, I was rather skeptical about the tonkatsu at Ma Maison. Those fears were put to rest as the pork cutlet turned out fine and surpassed expectations. Sure the meat wasn't kurobuta like Tampopo's, but it was still decently tender while retaining moisture and bite. There was no evident taste of oily residue either. The breaded batter could have been a wee bit thinner though, which would have made it crispier and less oily.
Beef Stroganoff with Omu Rice - My personal favourite. Who can resist tender beef slices served up in a thick savoury sauce coupled with smooth milky omelette enveloping fragrant and tasty buttery rice? If I'm coming back to Ma Maison, its definitely going to be for this dish. I would prefer a little more butter to go into the rice though, which would make it heartier and of course more artery clogging.
Squid Ink Spaghetti - Honestly I didn't quite take to the spaghetti. It wasn't al dente and came across rather bland. Maybe thats the way Japanese spaghettis are supposed to taste like, unlike the richer and more robust renditions from the Italians. If you like light stuff then this dish would probably suit you but do note that squid ink leaves a dark stain on your teeth so remember to rinse!
Heading back to Hong Lim Food Centre for lunch a few days later, I can’t help but pay another familiar stall a visit. Located at the once famous Ellenborough Market, one of the earlier wet markets available. While the Malays called it Pasar Bahru meaning “New Market”, the Chinese on the other hand named it “Seng Pa Sat”. Teochews populated the area, and with intent the market was located at Teochew Street (where The Central now stood). Ping Ping Curry Noodle was one of the few stalls I would visit for lunch when I was young, and I could still remember vividly bringing along $1 that I have saved up and specifically told my mum that I would like to add extra ingredients in my bowl of noodles.
Even though it was spicy for me then, I love everything that was within it – Chicken, Fishcake, Tau Pok or Beancurd Skin, Potato and the spicy curry soup. The same husband and wife team is still operating today in Hong Lim, but unfortunately the experience I had that day wasn’t as expected. Maybe nothing can beat the wonderful memories I had at Ellenborough Market but I remembered the soup to be much thicker and packed with more tang. Adding the chilli paste helps to bring out the flavour but sadly it still didn’t impress me. For a $4 version, the ingredients weren’t as plentiful as I expected it to have – or maybe I have just grown up. The “everyone’s favourite” potato was measly and I left the place feeling disappointed.
Perhaps I went with too high an expectation that day or perhaps good times doesn’t really last.
You can view the all photos and other reviews @ His Food Blog.
Had the opportunity to be part of the Gourmet Safari Tour hosted by SPH at The Central over the weekend. Together with Leslie from ieatishoot fame, we were ushered to 4 different Japanese restaurants within the mall to sample their various specialties, with Wakashachiya being the first stop.
Located on the third floor of Central, Wakashachiya originates from Nagoya city and specialises in Japanese curry udon noodles. The paneled simply done up interior is smallish and can probably squeeze in about 30 pax or so.
Tebasaki - Nagoya city is well known for its Tebasaki, which is essentially deep fried batterless chicken wings with a coating of sweet and spicy sauce and sprinkled with sesame seeds and black pepper. And being from Nagoya, Wakashachiya serves this delicacy as well. The wings, though small, packed a savoury punch from the myriad of different flavours all fused together. Sublimely sweet, salty and spicy. A pity the wings were so small and oily. Its $5 for 4 wings by the way.
Hitsu-mabushi - This dish was seriously a case of aesthetics over taste. Served up in a huge pot lookalike container, the lid went off to reveal neatly sliced pieces of unagi, cooked to a beautiful crisp as evident by the charred bits on the shimmery surface. However taste wise, I personally felt that it could have been better. For one, the unagi was too soft and disintegrated easily, lacking the firm and crisp texture that I personally like. The daishi soup (fish stock made from bonito flakes) and the plump chewy rice was good though.
Curry Udon with sides of Tonkatsu, Chicken, Tomatoes and Ebi Tempura
- The dish that Wakashachiya apparently is known for - Japanese curry udon. Wakashachiya's curry tended towards the bland side and didn't seem coagulated enough for my liking. The udon was good though, thick and chewy without making me feel like I'm chomping down on flour. Some work needs to be done on the sides though, with the Tonkatsu coming across as hard and dry while the batter encrusting the chicken was overly salty and oily. Same goes for the ebi tempura, with the batter leaning towards the thick side. The tomatoes were, well, just diced fresh tomatoes.
Epicurious, located on the banks of Robertson Quay, has been in operations for close to 6 years now. The restaurant is the brainchild of the duo owners, Helena and Sharon. The concept for the restaurant is like a neighbour joint, serving casual food where you can chill out and enjoy a meal without any qualms.
The interior of Epicurious is surprisingly small, from the outside i thought it will be bigger. There are only three tables inside, with most of the seats in the al fresco area.
Unpretentious and comfy, Epicurious is really a place where i can sit down there all day with my friends
The al fresco area offers a view of the river by Robertson Quay, its simple furniture make it seems as though you are having picnic out in the natural.
The food which Epicurious offers are simple and comfort food, like sandwiches, salads, pasta. On weekends from 9am to 1pm, they have the brunch menu which include choices like pancakes, toast, bagel, eggs, ommelette. And i am really tempted by their brunch menu, you’ll be seeing them here in the near future.
At Epicurious, there is the blackboard specials, which is not on the normal menu, and these are changed regularly to allow customers to experience different type of food.
The lunch menu does not have much selection of mains, in fact they only have three to choose from, with mostly sandwiches and pasta otherwise.
For dinner, the menu is a different one all together, with starters like beef carpaccio, smoked salmon tartare, to main course like their signature epicurious burger, and there are also quite a variety of grills to choose from. Price ranges from 10s to 20s.
Turkey Breast Sandwich ($9.50) Turkey Breast with roasted bell pepper and havarti cheese. The sandwiches are all freshly made with lettuce, tomato, and cucumber, with choices of country-style white or wholemeal sunflower bread.
The turkey breast sandwich is fairly good, served with keropok.
Spaghetti vietnamese chicken bolognaise ($14) The chicken bolognaise spaghetti is served with cheese flakes, your good old reliable fix of pasta.
Asian Sloppy Joe ($12) Pork and beef mince with hoisin and lime. The Asian Sloppy Joe is under the blackboard special for sandwich. The unique name caught our attention, and the sandwich does not disappoint.
The pork and beef mince combination creates a rather distinctive taste, slightly sweet and spicy.
Epicurious Burger ($18) House-made beef patty with sautéed onions, mushrooms and fries. The Epicurious Burger is the signature dish of the restaurant, having heard many good things about the burger, it is inevitable that this is a must-try dish when you visit epicurious.
Although i just had burger at Seah Street Deli the previous day, but i have no qualms tasting the epicurious burger. And indeed, the Epicurious Burger is the star of the show, the beef done medium-rare, is tender and retains the juiciness of the meat.
And you can choose to add cheese, bacon or a fried egg for $2 each, or $4 for all three. But i choose to serve my burger the original way without any toppings.
I like the fries too, which comes with cheese flakes, the overall taste is buttery and cheesy!
Apple crumble with vanilla ice cream ($7) The Apple crumble with vanilla ice cream is recommended to us by Helena the owner of Epicurious. Now who can finish a meal without having desserts? Definitely not me! The apple crumble is sour-sweet, and the taste of it together with ice cream does it for us.
Bread and butter pudding with custard ($8) The bread and butter pudding is also another of their more popular desserts, the way to eat it is by dipping the pudding into the custard, but i preferred to taste the bread and butter pudding on its own.
Carrot Cake ($5) A slice of the Carrot cake is enough for anyone to end their meal on a high, and the cake certainly taste good here. With a layer of cheese on top of the carrot cake, the effect is a melt-in-your-month. The cheese is relatively light and does not overwhelms the carrot cake.
Total bill is $82.48 for 4 mains and 3 desserts. However, Helena kindly has the desserts on the house, so the total bill is $64.90 instead.
The owner Helena is friendly and warm, we had a chat and she explain the concept of Epicurious to us. So if you saw her at the restaurant, do not hesitate to have a chat with her!
The current location however is a tad too small, and cannot serve more customer. But then again this can be a double edge sword, more seats serves more customers, but in the process you might just lose the wonderful ambiance of the place.
And by the way, Helena and Sharon have recently opened another fusion western-local restaurant, Persimmion which is located at the Link Hotel. Do give them a try if you pass by Tiong Bahru area.
Epicurious is one place which i’ll gladly return again to try out their brunch and dinner menu. The reason is simple, Epicurious serves casual food, the price will not hurt your wallet, and the ambiance of the place is superb! Despite my usual practice of not repeating visits to a same restaurant, i’ll bend the rule this time, for Epicurious!
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
An Outing with the GAGA Girls and their Lovable male Pals last nite.... In order to continue the SAGA of the GAGA Girl's Famous "Ha Ha Ha n Hee Hee Hee" we have decided to choose a place less prone to be starred at when we share our nonsensical thoughts louder then usual.
Brotzeit seemed like just the place. First the environment is NICE AND FRIENDLY... You can chill out or party there... makes no difference... The ambience is just so amiable With the beautiful long stretch of high bar side seats to the log like tables and the out door high bar tables to suit every needs.
Just what needs are we talking about? There had been a theory going around:
BAR SIDE SEATS = Available and Looking
LOG TABLE SEATS = Available but I'm With Friends.. So not free.
OUTDOOR HIGH BAR TABLEs = Not Available and We want some personal time.
So next time choose your seats carefully.
Now to the Food and Beer......
The GAGA Girls Loved White Wine which I have to say i'm not such a big fan of it.... But they love the Sauvignon Blanc the best and I believed if you look close enough in the bottle, you might find a baby fish swimming in it... Perhaps thats why I always felt it was fishy to taste... BTW the GAGA Girls are CRAZY DRINKERS.... They way they drink.. I'm sure I can be a fish monger soon. The other drink we tried was the mango beer.. It was a hue darker with a nice mango aroma not to mention a sparkle of zesty note to the taste.
We also tried dessert and the chocolate creme is the best. Its actually creme, coated with dark chocolate and has cherries inside. Its creamy and smooth texture makes the extra calories so worth it. The chocolate was of just the right sweetness and it simply melts in your mouth. As you dig deeper, you will find layers of soaked cherries which is rather delightful.
I must mention about the service. The waiters are so helpful, and not to mention Sooo Cute Looking.... Quite an eyeful i must say... They are prompt, friendly and sure knows what their specialities are. I can't help but feel so AT HOME in this restaurant.. Perhaps bring some cute waiters Home.... Oooppss.......
A must go.. especially single and available girls who enjoy good food, good drink and a good eyeful of cute waiters.....
GIRLS RULEZ!!!!!!
Rating given:
Island cafe at the Tangs shopping mall at Vivocity. You might find the association of Island cafe and Tangs weird, isn’t Tangs the fashion lifestyle retailer? What does Island cafe has to do with it?
Recently we have seen the rebranding of Tangs, from the old perception of Tangs is a boring place to shop, to the new image of a hip and lifestyle concept retailer store.
Naturally, Tangs wanted its customers to stay longer in its shopping mall, so it came out with Island Cafe for its customers to enjoy a little meal in between their shopping sprees. Tangs is not the first to come out with such ideas by combing food and shopping, think PS cafe and you will get the idea.
Island Cafe features a medley of local and regional favourite food, with choices like curry chicken, laksa, showing evidence of the “asian-ness”
The place at Vivocity is at ground floor within their shopping area. Exuding a rustic and tropical feel, there’s a cozy ambience factor with the small enclosed area.
Having heard about Island Cafe, naturally i was curious about how it’s like as i have never come here before. We decided to give the place a try while we are at Vivocity.
One look at the menu though, i immediately regretted coming in. Reason is simple, the menu selection is too little seriously. They got two choices of starters with the crab bisque as one. Two sandwiches, and two pizzas to choose from. There is four main course selection, laksa, curry chicken, green curry marinara, and black pepper aglio olio. And thats it!
We didn’t quite fancy the items available on the menu, but since we were there already, we just ordered their Guacamole & seafood pizza to share among the three of us.
Guacamole & seafood pizza ($12)
Guacamole, prawns, crabmeat, tomatoes, tomatoes paste and mozzarella make up the Gucamole & seafood Pizza. It comes in two price, $9 for the 5.5″ snack size, and $12 for the 8″ meat size.
The pizza is all right i guess, quite cheesy, with the pizza base thin. But i suppose at $12, you can easily find better pizzas around for a bigger size.
Total Bill is $14.04 for one pizza. I definitely will not go back to Island Cafe because the selections are simply too few and too little. Prices are acceptable considering its a cafe, but most of the choices seems more like hawker-type of food.
Besides the one located within Tangs at Vivocity, there’s also another Island Cafe at Tangs in Orchard.
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!
Rating given:
Seng Kee Black Herbal Chicken Soup is located just opposite Kembangan MRT station. I happened to chance upon this zi-char restaurant because my friends had cravings for their mee-sua.
So another venture into the east side of Singapore for LIC, as i stay in the west and the east is so far away. But there are simple too much good food in the area, so you will be seeing more food from the east in the future!
The zi-char store has all of its seat on the street, its rather cooling but when bad weather comes then it will be very difficult as i don’t think there are much shelter from rain.
The store has quite a few selections of fish available for customers to choose, and with the method of cooking the fish. But we didn’t have any fish because we ordered crab already.
Mee Sua ($3.50)
The rendition of Mee sua at Seng Kee comes in a stronger flavour than the normal ones, with ingredients like pig kidneys, mushroom in it. The mee sua is smooth and silky to the mouth.
We had 5 bowls for each of us, and i saw most tables ordering this dish and at $3.50 its definitely worth a try.
Egg Omelette ($8)
$8 for an egg omelette dish at a zi-char store might be a tad too expensive, if I’m not wrong egg dishes usually are about 6 bucks? Nevertheless, the egg omelette is quite good and we finish it very fast.
Crab Bee Hoon ($38)
The crab bee hoon is usually done in soup, but here at Seng Kee they do it “dry”. We were quite shocked at the size of the crab when it came because usually crabs at zi-char stores goes in the region of $30 for 1kg?
But the one that we had is $38, and the small crab that we had is definitely not 1kg. I felt ripped off as the price tag is certainly too expensive for the size of the crab.
The bee hoon is not bad though, as it absorbs all the essence of the crab and all the juicy wet part is at the bottom of the bee hoon.
Total bill including drinks for 5 person comes up to $76.80. At initial look, for a zi-char store and considering we had 5 person, its definitely not expensive. But, looking at the amount of food that we had, the crab bee hoon was definitely over-priced.
I’m not too sure about their other dishes as i have not tried them and it will not be fair to judge base on this experience. But their mee sua is worth a try, do give their crab bee hoon a miss.
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!
Rating given:
I came here with popeye after our weekday lazy afternoon shopping spree..
It was one of those places where we always remind ourselves we will go but will never go.. So today, It was pretty much after lunch time and there was no queue, so we went in... The deco was ok... a little too dim for my liking and the sits are tight... We sat on the corner and the table was STICKY.. yes quote me STICKY...
The service was ok.. with many waiters and waitresses walking around however none have got attention for me...
I ordered this nice drink, something with lemon grass and found it pretty refreshing and amazing.. Though it reminds me of TomYum soup, it was something different and I would say special. Popeye ordered the french toast which looked rather Normal and slumpy and it taste great! Not too oily but creamy butter makes it savoury and they give you a jar of honey for you to drizzle on top... TAKE AS MUCH AS YOU WANT. As a kiasu singaporean on a shopping spree.. I WAS DELIGHTED...
I ordered PorkChops Sandwich and it was so NICE.... Pork was soft and chewie and the sauce is yummy... It was really fabulous.... If you want yummy high tea.. this is surely the place to go..... Recharge the leg power for more CHEAP CHEAP BIG SALE... Yeah!!!!!
Rating given:
Dear Diary,
Today I brought my dad and mum out to TOWN for shopping.. Though they are not so IN... I've decided to show them the Hang Out Place for the Youngsters.. as what they always call us..
After the much shocking experience with jap fashion, everywhere piercings and pacifiers, I thought i should bring them back to earth for a while and there we are.. the most decent looking, normal chinese cafe... the XW Cafe...
Serving HongKong styled cuisines, My dad and mum heaved a sigh of relieve and then they got another shock.... My dad's Ice Kopi came in a metal mug... He can't help but have to hum the jian yu feng yun song... (Famous Movie starring Chow Yuan Fatt in jail).
My mum then ordered her favourite PorK Chop and its really true.... Hong Kong style PORK CHOP really nice.... Dad Ordered the nominal HorFun, perhaps coz he wants to have some fun... But boy.. its yummy. It came with 5 huge prawns all fresh and so crunchy.... The prawn juice pratically squirts out when i chew on it....Of Course.. I make sure i look gracious and very high class when i wipe the juice from my mouth.. heehee! I ordered this french toast thingee and it appeared as a cube of bread... But boy.. the maple syrup and the cold storage butter goes so well with the pipping hot french toast... As u slice the toast, the maple syrup drools down the side.. Can you imagine that....... Sooo Soooo Tantalizing....
When i finally manage to slice a nice piece and savour it in my mouth.. stars laterally appeared.. I'm not sure if its the yummy sensation or the low blood pressure.. but gosh I REALLY SEE STARs.... Since then I've decided that I'll BE BACK........
The price is reasonable and its a wonderful place to hang out with young or the NOT SO YOUNG Pals... Includes mum n dad.... NOT TO BE MISSED.....
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It was another fabulous nite out with my GAGA pals.. and guess what... we decided to rave it out the gangster way....
I was actually hoping to find a xiao ma ge mannequin inside.. But don't have leh.... Only could find some really sissy waiters... (oops) Like those in the movie.... (Movie Star ok)!
The deco of the place was CHIC... Too CHIC to be like the famous HongKong Gangster movie starring Chow Yuan Fatt... The Black mirriory Like finishes are simply too fabulous.. I mean you can detect stucked veg in between your teeth everywhere u turn.... Its what i call customer concious designs. The place was huge with a nice view of the sea and smooching couples.... but one thing you must really do.. Thats to check out the LOO... aka TOOLET... It took me like 5 minutes to find it.... There are mirriors everywhere and its so camoflaged i almost peed on the washing basin...
NOW I KNOW WHY IT IS CALLED BOSSES.... In the event you need to hide... u can just camoflaged yourself or hide in some hidden space like the toolet and wait it out.. Your enemy can NEVER find you.... CHECKING THE TOILET IS A SUPER MUST....
Now we come to the food.. I pretty like the idea that they serve an excellent selection of teas.. If you are just feeling chatty, you could ask the waitress whats this tea for and what that tea is used to.. and soon you'll find yourself in a TCM class...
We ordered so much food but there are a few I must mention. 1st there this duck on fruit platter and boy... Its so good.. refreshingly sinless... Judging by the small strips of duck meat on top of this fruit platter, we won't get high cholestrol perhaps will only be overworked as we try to out eat all the others GRACEFULLY.... And theres this fried brinjal or eggplant.... its soft and crispy and very healthy.. Yum Yum... The fried noodles are great too... and not to forget the soup in which the serving is so huge.. One serving and there goes half my stomach.... Not to forget Cold Chickens.... So tender and soft and its COOL... really really nice..
Overall It was an intriguing experience... and its simply too fabulous for the GAGA Girls as in such an environment we are not frowned upon when we do the loud Ooohsss and Aaahhhss and the HA HA HA and the OH MY GOD! THIS IS GREAT.....
Its a experience of the lifetime... Be BOLD.. Try to be a Big Boss... You just never know what you never know....
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Ma Maison, which means my home in French, started out with an outlet at Bugis Junction and soon expanded to include one at The Central. Known for its take on Japanese Western food aka fusion food, Ma Maison packs in the crowds at meal times so don't be surprised if you have to wait for a seat if you arrive without a reservation.
Located just a few units down from Wakashachiya on the third floor, Ma Maison's interior is reminiscent of a quaint little European cottage with lots of wood, overhanging crockery and shelves of various liquids. The cozy cottage feel is further reinforced by replica ornaments of yesteryear placed along the wooden window sill. If you are lucky enough, you can get a window seat which overlooks Clarke Quay and the river, but there's probably only 5 such tables or so.
Doteni Hamburger - A signature dish of Ma Maison, the Doteni Hamburger was essentially a beef and pork patty covered with a fried egg, topped with beef tendons and draped with a demi glaze sauce that has been left to simmer for 28 days. And I liked it. The beef, though almost well done, was moist and juicy with a slightly uneven texture. The egg was perfectly done while the gelatinous beef tendon came across as a little chewy and not overly soft. Coupled with the robust sauce, it set the right note for our lunch.
Tonakatsu - After the horrendous tonkatsu experience at Wakashachiya just a couple of hours before, I was rather skeptical about the tonkatsu at Ma Maison. Those fears were put to rest as the pork cutlet turned out fine and surpassed expectations. Sure the meat wasn't kurobuta like Tampopo's, but it was still decently tender while retaining moisture and bite. There was no evident taste of oily residue either. The breaded batter could have been a wee bit thinner though, which would have made it crispier and less oily.
Beef Stroganoff with Omu Rice - My personal favourite. Who can resist tender beef slices served up in a thick savoury sauce coupled with smooth milky omelette enveloping fragrant and tasty buttery rice? If I'm coming back to Ma Maison, its definitely going to be for this dish. I would prefer a little more butter to go into the rice though, which would make it heartier and of course more artery clogging.
Squid Ink Spaghetti - Honestly I didn't quite take to the spaghetti. It wasn't al dente and came across rather bland. Maybe thats the way Japanese spaghettis are supposed to taste like, unlike the richer and more robust renditions from the Italians. If you like light stuff then this dish would probably suit you but do note that squid ink leaves a dark stain on your teeth so remember to rinse!
See all my pictures here.
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Heading back to Hong Lim Food Centre for lunch a few days later, I can’t help but pay another familiar stall a visit. Located at the once famous Ellenborough Market, one of the earlier wet markets available. While the Malays called it Pasar Bahru meaning “New Market”, the Chinese on the other hand named it “Seng Pa Sat”. Teochews populated the area, and with intent the market was located at Teochew Street (where The Central now stood). Ping Ping Curry Noodle was one of the few stalls I would visit for lunch when I was young, and I could still remember vividly bringing along $1 that I have saved up and specifically told my mum that I would like to add extra ingredients in my bowl of noodles.
Even though it was spicy for me then, I love everything that was within it – Chicken, Fishcake, Tau Pok or Beancurd Skin, Potato and the spicy curry soup. The same husband and wife team is still operating today in Hong Lim, but unfortunately the experience I had that day wasn’t as expected. Maybe nothing can beat the wonderful memories I had at Ellenborough Market but I remembered the soup to be much thicker and packed with more tang. Adding the chilli paste helps to bring out the flavour but sadly it still didn’t impress me. For a $4 version, the ingredients weren’t as plentiful as I expected it to have – or maybe I have just grown up. The “everyone’s favourite” potato was measly and I left the place feeling disappointed.
Perhaps I went with too high an expectation that day or perhaps good times doesn’t really last.
You can view the all photos and other reviews @ His Food Blog.
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Had the opportunity to be part of the Gourmet Safari Tour hosted by SPH at The Central over the weekend. Together with Leslie from ieatishoot fame, we were ushered to 4 different Japanese restaurants within the mall to sample their various specialties, with Wakashachiya being the first stop.
Located on the third floor of Central, Wakashachiya originates from Nagoya city and specialises in Japanese curry udon noodles. The paneled simply done up interior is smallish and can probably squeeze in about 30 pax or so.
Tebasaki - Nagoya city is well known for its Tebasaki, which is essentially deep fried batterless chicken wings with a coating of sweet and spicy sauce and sprinkled with sesame seeds and black pepper. And being from Nagoya, Wakashachiya serves this delicacy as well. The wings, though small, packed a savoury punch from the myriad of different flavours all fused together. Sublimely sweet, salty and spicy. A pity the wings were so small and oily. Its $5 for 4 wings by the way.
Hitsu-mabushi - This dish was seriously a case of aesthetics over taste. Served up in a huge pot lookalike container, the lid went off to reveal neatly sliced pieces of unagi, cooked to a beautiful crisp as evident by the charred bits on the shimmery surface. However taste wise, I personally felt that it could have been better. For one, the unagi was too soft and disintegrated easily, lacking the firm and crisp texture that I personally like. The daishi soup (fish stock made from bonito flakes) and the plump chewy rice was good though.
Curry Udon with sides of Tonkatsu, Chicken, Tomatoes and Ebi Tempura
- The dish that Wakashachiya apparently is known for - Japanese curry udon. Wakashachiya's curry tended towards the bland side and didn't seem coagulated enough for my liking. The udon was good though, thick and chewy without making me feel like I'm chomping down on flour. Some work needs to be done on the sides though, with the Tonkatsu coming across as hard and dry while the batter encrusting the chicken was overly salty and oily. Same goes for the ebi tempura, with the batter leaning towards the thick side. The tomatoes were, well, just diced fresh tomatoes.
See all my pictures here.
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Epicurious, located on the banks of Robertson Quay, has been in operations for close to 6 years now. The restaurant is the brainchild of the duo owners, Helena and Sharon. The concept for the restaurant is like a neighbour joint, serving casual food where you can chill out and enjoy a meal without any qualms.
The interior of Epicurious is surprisingly small, from the outside i thought it will be bigger. There are only three tables inside, with most of the seats in the al fresco area.
Unpretentious and comfy, Epicurious is really a place where i can sit down there all day with my friends
The al fresco area offers a view of the river by Robertson Quay, its simple furniture make it seems as though you are having picnic out in the natural.
The food which Epicurious offers are simple and comfort food, like sandwiches, salads, pasta. On weekends from 9am to 1pm, they have the brunch menu which include choices like pancakes, toast, bagel, eggs, ommelette. And i am really tempted by their brunch menu, you’ll be seeing them here in the near future.
At Epicurious, there is the blackboard specials, which is not on the normal menu, and these are changed regularly to allow customers to experience different type of food.
The lunch menu does not have much selection of mains, in fact they only have three to choose from, with mostly sandwiches and pasta otherwise.
For dinner, the menu is a different one all together, with starters like beef carpaccio, smoked salmon tartare, to main course like their signature epicurious burger, and there are also quite a variety of grills to choose from. Price ranges from 10s to 20s.
Turkey Breast Sandwich ($9.50)
Turkey Breast with roasted bell pepper and havarti cheese. The sandwiches are all freshly made with lettuce, tomato, and cucumber, with choices of country-style white or wholemeal sunflower bread.
The turkey breast sandwich is fairly good, served with keropok.
Spaghetti vietnamese chicken bolognaise ($14)
The chicken bolognaise spaghetti is served with cheese flakes, your good old reliable fix of pasta.
Asian Sloppy Joe ($12)
Pork and beef mince with hoisin and lime. The Asian Sloppy Joe is under the blackboard special for sandwich. The unique name caught our attention, and the sandwich does not disappoint.
The pork and beef mince combination creates a rather distinctive taste, slightly sweet and spicy.
Epicurious Burger ($18)
House-made beef patty with sautéed onions, mushrooms and fries. The Epicurious Burger is the signature dish of the restaurant, having heard many good things about the burger, it is inevitable that this is a must-try dish when you visit epicurious.
Although i just had burger at Seah Street Deli the previous day, but i have no qualms tasting the epicurious burger. And indeed, the Epicurious Burger is the star of the show, the beef done medium-rare, is tender and retains the juiciness of the meat.
And you can choose to add cheese, bacon or a fried egg for $2 each, or $4 for all three. But i choose to serve my burger the original way without any toppings.
I like the fries too, which comes with cheese flakes, the overall taste is buttery and cheesy!
Apple crumble with vanilla ice cream ($7)
The Apple crumble with vanilla ice cream is recommended to us by Helena the owner of Epicurious. Now who can finish a meal without having desserts? Definitely not me! The apple crumble is sour-sweet, and the taste of it together with ice cream does it for us.
Bread and butter pudding with custard ($8)
The bread and butter pudding is also another of their more popular desserts, the way to eat it is by dipping the pudding into the custard, but i preferred to taste the bread and butter pudding on its own.
Carrot Cake ($5)
A slice of the Carrot cake is enough for anyone to end their meal on a high, and the cake certainly taste good here. With a layer of cheese on top of the carrot cake, the effect is a melt-in-your-month. The cheese is relatively light and does not overwhelms the carrot cake.
Total bill is $82.48 for 4 mains and 3 desserts. However, Helena kindly has the desserts on the house, so the total bill is $64.90 instead.
The owner Helena is friendly and warm, we had a chat and she explain the concept of Epicurious to us. So if you saw her at the restaurant, do not hesitate to have a chat with her!
The current location however is a tad too small, and cannot serve more customer. But then again this can be a double edge sword, more seats serves more customers, but in the process you might just lose the wonderful ambiance of the place.
And by the way, Helena and Sharon have recently opened another fusion western-local restaurant, Persimmion which is located at the Link Hotel. Do give them a try if you pass by Tiong Bahru area.
Epicurious is one place which i’ll gladly return again to try out their brunch and dinner menu. The reason is simple, Epicurious serves casual food, the price will not hurt your wallet, and the ambiance of the place is superb! Despite my usual practice of not repeating visits to a same restaurant, i’ll bend the rule this time, for Epicurious!
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!
” Epicure epicurious! “
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