I had been on the hunt for jeans for a long long time and went through all my usual places with no luck. I chanced upon Gap and walked right in, not feeling too lucky.
When I went in, the place was organised and it was easy to locate the section I wanted. But that was where I started to get confused. Jeans of different styles were stacked together and they were not arranged according the size. Also there were very few jeans on display, forcing one to unfold the neatly stacked piles.
If there were a store assistant to offer help immediately it wouldn't have been a problem. But the staff were chatting loudly across the store, stacking already neat piles.
The styles were confusing. There were the usual bottleg, flare, straight cut, skinnies... but there were also variations to these with a whole host of descriptions under each heading.
After muddling around for about 20 minutes, I finally got someone to help me and he asked me what size I wanted. Here came an even bigger problem.... The sizes read like 1P, 2, 3... etc... HUH? I asked him what waist size would each of these equate to and he couldn't give me a clear answer. He said something like this is in between 25 and 27 (isn't that 26?) and this is between 27 and 29... THAT got me really confused... anyway I later figured I'm size 1.
I tried on a few pairs and finally found my dream pair. I paid for it. It cost me $75 after a 40% discount. I brought it home, only to realise that my hands turned blue after touching them for a while... the dye was coming off on my hands. I thought that a few washes would solve the problem.. well it's been 3 5 washes and the colour still runs.
I do like the style of the clothing... but they are really a tad too ex for the minimal design.
Bollywood Veggies is a 10-acre organic farm owned by Ivy Singh-Lim, past president of Netball Association Singapore, and her husband Lim Ho Seng. There's also a bistro called Poison Ivy which is quite popular for its food. The vegetables and fruits used come straight from its farm.
Ivy Singh-Lim couldn't cook, so the bistro is thus named. But don't worry lah, the food is edible and tastes good, because she employed a qualified cook to cook mah! :)
It was raining heavily when I was there. I ordered tea and a plate of its assorted kuehs. When the rain slowed to a drizzle, we went to explore the farm.
It's a great place not only for the small kids to learn about nature and the vegetables and fruits we put in our mouths, we big kids learn a lot too.
There's an interesting eco toilet for you to leave your poo and a Mr Pee Wee for the little men! Relieve yourselves in a natural, green and free surrounding! hehehe.....
You have to find the lotus pond! Pose for uber sexy pictures or just act silly beside it .... but please don't try to impress the lady by jumping in to grab a lotus flower hor.
Oh.... forgot to mention... please go report to the bistro first if you are going to tour the farm, it costs S$2 per person. If any one is found not complying to the above rule, they will be used to cook Bollywood curry!!! *trembles*
I've seen a dragon fruit tree in Taiwan and was surprised to see a Dragon Fruit Farm in Singapore!
The Dragon fruit plant is a member of the cactus family. It is easy to grow, requires lots of sunlight and can also withstand long period without rain. Its huge, fragrant flowers bloom every 15 days and only a few hours in the night.
This Dragon Fruit farm grows a Taiwan species of Dragon Fruit which has red flesh. The Dragon Fruit sold in Singapore is usually the white flesh ones which come from Vietnam. One seldom finds this red flesh Dragon Fruit in Singapore. They are supposed to taste sweeter. The red flesh variety contains lycopene which is a natural antioxidant known to fight cancer, heart disease and lower blood pressure.
Besides the dragon fruit trees, there are a few rare plants like the Australian Passion Fruit, Thailand Passion Fruit, Red Long Beans (after frying, turn green colour wor!!)..... etc.
You are not allowed to pluck the fruits in this orchard but you can buy them. The day I went, dragon fruits were sold at S$4 a kilo. Expensive hor. The elderly lady seller said it was the cheapest price they had ever set because they had a big harvest then. After haggling, she agreed to sell 3kg for S$10. The fruits had been plucked for a few days and didn't look pretty. hehehe.....
The fruits were very ripe and when I cut them, there was lots of juice.... but not sweet leh. :( Since there were so many, I made Dragon Fruit jam and I'll try to bake a Dragon Fruit cake with it.
Warning : After eating the red dragon fruit, the next day when you go toilet ah, don't panic when you see the toilet bowl all red or the toilet paper stained red.... that's only the colouring from the red dragon fruit!! I almost died of shock the first time I saw 'red' in the toilet bowl!! hahaha.....
I went to the IT Show yesterday after 7pm, and as expected, everyone headed down on the first day too, in hope to avoid the even massive jam over the weekend.
I did a survival guide for those who's visiting IT Show. If you're keen to read, please go to my blog.
One concern I have at such a crowded event... what IF there's an emergency? I wonder how will they evacuate that many people within the shortest time possible. But I'm sure the organisers would have all these planned and ironed out long ago.
Everyone knew that the place is going to be packed, but still everyone still wants to go check out the prices. Why? Cos they always have very good bundles and discounts at the show. Especially for those who hate shopping and comparing prices at so many stalls around Sim Lim or Funan, shows like this is the easiest for them. Perhaps the price is not the cheapest, but with a little more, you get whole lot of goodies. So why not right?
Have you gone to the show too? Did you get anything there?
Izakaya literally means 'pub' in Japanese. My first impressions of the place was one of arrogance and a little over indulgence for actually calling themselves the "Ministry of Food" which meant they were the authority in food offerings and hence, had left me with nothing but high expectations before i even stepped into the place. Then i understood the word 'Izakaya' which meant pub, which in term meant relaxation. Its a little contradicting to say the least, but enough ramblings, on to the food!
The interior features red carpeted floors, white tables and chairs for different sections and a balcony seat overlooking the throng of shoppers below. Simple and nothing out of the ordinary. The front counter is adorned with Hokkaido ice cream and a board which showcases all the celebrities who have visited the place, with a few visiting the place more then 3 times (!!!).
Tip cards for eating salads - Something that did amuse me somewhat was the presence of tip cards which are given freely when you eat certain dishes. In this case, our wasabi seafood salad.
Wasabi Seafood Salad ($3.30) - I prefer starting my meals with a salad then a soup these days, so its another healthy day for me. The seafood salad consists of tossed squid, scallops, crab meat, cucumbers, nuts, tomatoes and even a little salmon. The dressing is made of their own homemade wasabi mayonnaise which seems extremely popular these days but hey, i'm not complaining. The ingredients tasted fresh and honestly, the wasabi did overwhelm a little but thats what i like about it. A recommended try for wasabi lovers.
Unagi Tofu ($4.80) - As Alvin always says: "Unagi! Anything with Unagi is good!!" or something along those lines when it comes to Japanese food. This time, however, he was wrong. The tofu had an unmistakable taste of being refrigeration which i detest but thats just one expect i dislike. The unagi itself tasted sweet and soft but strangely, i found a bone in it (!!!). And don't be fooled by the picture, the serving is really small.
Tip card for Sukiyaki and Shabu Shabu - Sukiyaki Beef set ($19.80) -
And once again, i picked beef hotpot japanese style for my meal. No doubt its no longer a surprise to anyone. The entire set came with a generous serving of raw sliced New Zealand beef (sukiyaki), an egg which to my dismay, was still in its shell, a hotpot boiling with beancurd, cabbages, carrots, mushrooms, vermicelli and scallops. The soup turned out a little too sweet for my liking but i can't deny they ingredients generous and filling. The rice was traditional japanese rice albeit a little dry compared to others but still good. The beef itself, tasted sweet due to the stock and easily came apart as long as it isn't overcooked. Overall, this is a mixed bag of offerings which turned out average at best. One major gripe was that the egg came with its shell, which is a major no no for people like me, time to improve i believe.
Seafood Toji Set ($18.80) - My gf had the seafood toji set which is essentially mixed seafood in a hotpot with egg sauce. The set has yet again, a generous helping of seafood from prawns, squid, scallops. fish and beancurd. She commented that it was also a little too sweet for her liking and after trying, i second her opinion. The chicken katsu was average and the seafood in question, though plenty, was not quite up to par due to the overly sweet stock. One thing we noticed of the place was that the miso soup simply tasted bland. In contrast, Yoshinoya had a better tasting miso soup but maybe its just a lack of appreciation on our part.
Complimentary Coffee - Well, its normal coffee to me from as far as i can taste. The body and acidity is average with the aroma barely making the mark. Apart from presentation which came with the usual swirls and the presence of ground roast bits from careless filtering, there really isn't much as to say.
Macha Kakigori ($6.50) - Mango Kakigori ($6.50) - Despite the price shown, the actual price we paid was $3 for each kakigori as it was part of a set promotion and what would a meal be without a nice dessert to end it? My choice was the Macha Kakigori which is the chef's choice on the menu. I have to say, i liked it. The macha, which is essentially, green tea extract would not have tasted well itself, but mixed with vanilla ice cream, crushed ice and some Hokkaido red bean and you got a winner. I was skeptical about the whole imported read bean business but i have to say, it does taste different. Bigger then usual and definitely sweeter as well, its difficult not to like this dessert (unless you don't like the vanilla ice cream of course). My gf had the mango version which came with actual, sweet mango slices and homemade mango sauce. Everything felt balances and tasted well together but the Macha version was still better. Oh, both versions were HUGE so it might be a good idea to just share the dessert instead of getting one each.
This interesting meal for 2 came up to $63.91 which is quite expensive for the misses which turned out to be the main course.
I like the desserts and the salad but was disappointed with the main meals. Waraku had better wazen items when compared to MOF but this restaurant has some strengths in being simple and serving decent food as well. Maybe we just didn't order the correct items. Still, i'd return for the Macha Kakigori if i was in the vicinity. :)
My first trip back in Serangoon Gardens. I haven't been here for the last ten years. So many things have changed and many had remained. I found myself on the doorstep of this quaint little Italian restaurant. My friend and I were curious about it and decided that this would be our dinner place that Thursday evening.
Being a weekday evening, I guess it's perfectly understandable why it wasn't crowded. About 4-5 other tables were occupied while we were there. They have a seating area of about 40, including the two tables outside. They have soft warm lighting and earthy tones to create a cosy ambience. It has nice interior decor really.
The staff was warm and friendly. My friend came a little later than me. So the staff talked to me a bit, introducing the restaurant and telling me about the background of it,which was nice.
Food ordered: Funchi Triffolati al Moda Dello Chef - $12.90 Portobello Mushroom garnished with grilled bell peppers, sun dried tomatoes & olives with de Parma's house dressings. I love mushrooms and I'm so glad this dish didn't disappoint. I love the juiciness of the mushrooms as I bit down into it. In fact I loved it so much I was clearly happy to have more than my share. haha I also enjoyed eating it with the bell peppers.
Calzone (Folded Pizza) - $24.90 This Neapolitan speciality is filled with ham, bacon, onions, mushrooms, capsicums & smoked cheddar cheese. This folded pizza was pretty huge, so it sort of justified the price. Inside was filled with plenty of warm ingredients. It would have been more delicious if it were piping hot but then it would have been difficult to eat. So it's good as it is, just one gripe... the outer covering was a little too hard and we had to put quite a bit of effort into cutting it up. Good exercise.
Fileto Di Mento - $32.90 Air-flown, grain-fed beef tenderloin drizzled in red wine sauce & served with Portobello Mushrooms & sauteed vegetables. Let me say this for the record: I'm not a beef person. In fact I don't like beef, but only started eating it when I joined Yebber. Even so I only take one small slice to try each time. But this one? It was fantastic. Yummilicious! The meat wasn't tough and hard to chew. It was tender and the meat was well marinated. But the mushroom that came with it was visibly squashed and shrunken, though it still tasted nice with the sauce they had.
Chocolate Fondant Break the hard crust outside and the chocolate inside flows out nicely. A chocolate addict, I'd say this fondant is good! Not the best but certainly very good.
Tiramisu I think I was a tad biased when I had this Tiramisu. The last 4 Tiramisus I had simply didn't taste like Tiramisus... so when I had this one, I had the words "FINALLY...." going in my head. Nicely done with a tinge of liquor which my companion insisted didn't exist.
The total damage for two of us was $105. Good food, nice ambience, good service. It does seem a little ex but I think it was well worth it. TRY TRY TRY!
1/2 Price Tuesday! So 1/2 the menu and service too?
Felt like having waffles yesterday so I met my girlfriend for dinner at Gelare. The last time I went, the mushroom cream pasta was pretty shiok. But yesterday our experience was in fact, very bad.
This outlet at Hougang Mall is pretty small and getting a table for 4 wasn't easy. After 20mins of waiting outside, finally we got our table. They've now improved on their menu and there were many choices that looks quite good. Since we were there for the waffles and pasta, we didn't get distracted. We wrote our orders on the order sheet provided at every table and went to the cashier to place our order.
While waiting in the queue, I realised that the ice cream choice we wanted wasn't available. And thus I tried to remember whatever that's there and walked back to the table to check with my friends. By then, I've already forgotten 80% of the choices available. Had to walk all the way back to check again and then back to the table to change our orders. Statisfied with our choice of ice cream for our waffles, we got back to the queue and when its our turn, the cashier told us that they had run out of mushroom cream pasta!!! (They could have indicated somewhere or inform us when they cleared the table right?) My friend had to walk back to our table and check what we want to change our pasta to, and then we changed our order AGAIN and joined the queue AGAIN!
We ended walking back and forth for about 5 times before we placed our orders with the cashier!
Our pasta was served first and one look at it I lost my appetite. We ordered tomato seafood pasta, the pasta looked pathetic with the little amount of sauce that only managed to cover 1/3 of the pasta for mine and 1/2 of the pasta for my friends'. We were too hungry to complain and so we just went ahead with what was given.
After our pasta, we stayed to chat while waiting for the waffles which was finally served after more than 30 mins! We did indicate to serve our waffles later, aka after we're done with our pasta, but not till that late.
Very disappointed about yesterday's experience. Guess I'll just forget about the pasta and just go for their waffles the next time.
The infamous Gelare Tuesdays, the only time of the week when you get waffles at half price. Sounds good doesn't it? Except you can expect to wait for eons for your waffles to be served.
We waited for a good 40 minutes before our simple waffle with two scoops of ice-cream got served.
If they couldn't keep up with the service standard, or to train their staffs to politely inform us of a possible long wait, they might as well not try stunts like this. It only serves to stain their brand name.
And I totally agree with Polarbear above, no free water is a bad move. It's the little perks that keep customers coming back, and the little irks that keep them away.
Arnold's Chicken? What's that? Thoughts of yet another generic deep fried chicken stall flashed across my mind when my friend brought it up. When informed that it was a rather famous outlet selling chicken that rivaled Popeye's and beat KFC's hands down, I embarked on a trip with my gf that very same day to verify the claims.
Located on the 2nd floor of City Plaza, the main outlet of Arnold's is tucked away in a rather obscure corner and very much resembles a fast food joint except that they do take and serve orders at your table. Please note that you still pay at the counter though.
We had the 2 person combo meal, which consisted of 5 pieces of chicken, potato fries, 1 regular coleslaw, 2 buns and 2 soft drinks. The highlight was of course the chicken, which was very crispy on the outside with a tinge of herbs yet tender and moist on the inside. And the best part was, it didn't have the used oil aftertaste that usually came along with KFC chickens. The coleslaw was also quite a refreshing change from the funny tasting and smelling ones that KFC serves. Even my gf who dislikes coleslaw commented so. The buns were way too oily though, being deep fried in oil and the fries really tasted like frozen fries that had been deep fried.
$18.10 for the above is rather pricey actually, especially when you can get the exact same stuff at KFC for about $5 less. Quality wise, no thoughts of comparison between Arnold's and KFC should even cross your mind because there is simply no competition. Unfortunately, location wise, KFC is a clear winner.
The vibrant dining scene of East Coast/Upper East Coast road has a new entrant - a small bistro by the name of Montreux. Its not exactly new to the East Coast area per se, with a small cafe going by the same name and owned by the same person operating out of the basement of Siglap Centre. The cafe only sells cakes and desserts though, while the bistro serves up appetisers and mains as well.
Partially hidden from view in a tiny shophouse just 2 units down from NTUC, Montreux's interior is simple, uncluttered and very "cafeish". Its really tiny though, probably maxing out at about 20 customers or so.
Complimentary Bread - The bread, though served warm, was at best forgettable. But no one complains of free bread especially when they are starving.
The soup of the day - Beef Goulash. Tangy with a hint of spice and a few chunks of beef, something which I certainly didn't expect from a low cost set dinner soup. It was a tad too watery though.
Bangers & Mash - Okay this hardly qualifies as bangers and mash although technically there's nothing wrong with it. Correct me if I am wrong though, but isn't bangers and mash suppose to come with huge sausages and not the teeny weeny ones you can get off the shelves from some supermart? However, having said that, its best to keep in mind that we are talking about a $12.90 set dinner here so I guess that kinda puts things into perspective. Just for the record, the sausages weren't great, average at best.
Half Spring Chicken - The half spring chicken was rather smallish but decent enough. Served up with a piece of overfried rosti, it was a tad dry (probably a little overcooked) with a light herb taste.
Hazelnut Cake - The cake had to be the highlight of the set dinner, or the entire meal for that matter. Smooth hazelnut and sponge sitting atop a nice crunchy wafer base. A very nice nutty taste. It did seem a tad too dry though. Also, only half a slice of cake was served, making portions really small.
Espresso Brownie - Our waiter recommended this and after the positive experience with the hazelnut cake, I had fairly high expectations of it. And it was quite good with molten chocolate atop and the cake a tad chewy and not too dry. However, I couldn't quite make out any taste of espresso at all. Montreux might want to consider adding more espresso into the mix or renaming the brownie?
2 set dinners plus an extra dessert cost $36, which certainly isn't expensive. Generally mains are average but desserts are better. If they could improve the quality of their mains, I'm sure Montreux Bistro will be a success, especially when service is good as well. On a side note, I've not tried anything from their ala carte menu because the items in it do seem rather expensive, which means that my review might not be entirely fair.
1=SGD 0.0587
I had been on the hunt for jeans for a long long time and went through all my usual places with no luck. I chanced upon Gap and walked right in, not feeling too lucky.
When I went in, the place was organised and it was easy to locate the section I wanted. But that was where I started to get confused. Jeans of different styles were stacked together and they were not arranged according the size. Also there were very few jeans on display, forcing one to unfold the neatly stacked piles.
If there were a store assistant to offer help immediately it wouldn't have been a problem. But the staff were chatting loudly across the store, stacking already neat piles.
The styles were confusing. There were the usual bottleg, flare, straight cut, skinnies... but there were also variations to these with a whole host of descriptions under each heading.
After muddling around for about 20 minutes, I finally got someone to help me and he asked me what size I wanted. Here came an even bigger problem.... The sizes read like 1P, 2, 3... etc... HUH? I asked him what waist size would each of these equate to and he couldn't give me a clear answer. He said something like this is in between 25 and 27 (isn't that 26?) and this is between 27 and 29... THAT got me really confused... anyway I later figured I'm size 1.
I tried on a few pairs and finally found my dream pair. I paid for it. It cost me $75 after a 40% discount. I brought it home, only to realise that my hands turned blue after touching them for a while... the dye was coming off on my hands. I thought that a few washes would solve the problem.. well it's been 3 5 washes and the colour still runs.
I do like the style of the clothing... but they are really a tad too ex for the minimal design.
Rating given:
Bollywood Veggies is a 10-acre organic farm owned by Ivy Singh-Lim, past president of Netball Association Singapore, and her husband Lim Ho Seng. There's also a bistro called Poison Ivy which is quite popular for its food. The vegetables and fruits used come straight from its farm.
Ivy Singh-Lim couldn't cook, so the bistro is thus named. But don't worry lah, the food is edible and tastes good, because she employed a qualified cook to cook mah! :)
It was raining heavily when I was there. I ordered tea and a plate of its assorted kuehs. When the rain slowed to a drizzle, we went to explore the farm.
It's a great place not only for the small kids to learn about nature and the vegetables and fruits we put in our mouths, we big kids learn a lot too.
There's an interesting eco toilet for you to leave your poo and a Mr Pee Wee for the little men! Relieve yourselves in a natural, green and free surrounding! hehehe.....
You have to find the lotus pond! Pose for uber sexy pictures or just act silly beside it .... but please don't try to impress the lady by jumping in to grab a lotus flower hor.
Oh.... forgot to mention... please go report to the bistro first if you are going to tour the farm, it costs S$2 per person. If any one is found not complying to the above rule, they will be used to cook Bollywood curry!!! *trembles*
Rating given:
I've seen a dragon fruit tree in Taiwan and was surprised to see a Dragon Fruit Farm in Singapore!
The Dragon fruit plant is a member of the cactus family. It is easy to grow, requires lots of sunlight and can also withstand long period without rain. Its huge, fragrant flowers bloom every 15 days and only a few hours in the night.
This Dragon Fruit farm grows a Taiwan species of Dragon Fruit which has red flesh. The Dragon Fruit sold in Singapore is usually the white flesh ones which come from Vietnam. One seldom finds this red flesh Dragon Fruit in Singapore. They are supposed to taste sweeter. The red flesh variety contains lycopene which is a natural antioxidant known to fight cancer, heart disease and lower blood pressure.
Besides the dragon fruit trees, there are a few rare plants like the Australian Passion Fruit, Thailand Passion Fruit, Red Long Beans (after frying, turn green colour wor!!)..... etc.
You are not allowed to pluck the fruits in this orchard but you can buy them. The day I went, dragon fruits were sold at S$4 a kilo. Expensive hor. The elderly lady seller said it was the cheapest price they had ever set because they had a big harvest then. After haggling, she agreed to sell 3kg for S$10. The fruits had been plucked for a few days and didn't look pretty. hehehe.....
The fruits were very ripe and when I cut them, there was lots of juice.... but not sweet leh. :( Since there were so many, I made Dragon Fruit jam and I'll try to bake a Dragon Fruit cake with it.
Warning : After eating the red dragon fruit, the next day when you go toilet ah, don't panic when you see the toilet bowl all red or the toilet paper stained red.... that's only the colouring from the red dragon fruit!! I almost died of shock the first time I saw 'red' in the toilet bowl!! hahaha.....
Rating given:
Don't go if you don't have anything to buy!
I went to the IT Show yesterday after 7pm, and as expected, everyone headed down on the first day too, in hope to avoid the even massive jam over the weekend.
I did a survival guide for those who's visiting IT Show. If you're keen to read, please go to my blog.
One concern I have at such a crowded event... what IF there's an emergency? I wonder how will they evacuate that many people within the shortest time possible. But I'm sure the organisers would have all these planned and ironed out long ago.
Everyone knew that the place is going to be packed, but still everyone still wants to go check out the prices. Why? Cos they always have very good bundles and discounts at the show. Especially for those who hate shopping and comparing prices at so many stalls around Sim Lim or Funan, shows like this is the easiest for them. Perhaps the price is not the cheapest, but with a little more, you get whole lot of goodies. So why not right?
Have you gone to the show too? Did you get anything there?
Rating given:
Izakaya literally means 'pub' in Japanese. My first impressions of the place was one of arrogance and a little over indulgence for actually calling themselves the "Ministry of Food" which meant they were the authority in food offerings and hence, had left me with nothing but high expectations before i even stepped into the place. Then i understood the word 'Izakaya' which meant pub, which in term meant relaxation. Its a little contradicting to say the least, but enough ramblings, on to the food!
The interior features red carpeted floors, white tables and chairs for different sections and a balcony seat overlooking the throng of shoppers below. Simple and nothing out of the ordinary. The front counter is adorned with Hokkaido ice cream and a board which showcases all the celebrities who have visited the place, with a few visiting the place more then 3 times (!!!).
Tip cards for eating salads - Something that did amuse me somewhat was the presence of tip cards which are given freely when you eat certain dishes. In this case, our wasabi seafood salad.
Wasabi Seafood Salad ($3.30) - I prefer starting my meals with a salad then a soup these days, so its another healthy day for me. The seafood salad consists of tossed squid, scallops, crab meat, cucumbers, nuts, tomatoes and even a little salmon. The dressing is made of their own homemade wasabi mayonnaise which seems extremely popular these days but hey, i'm not complaining. The ingredients tasted fresh and honestly, the wasabi did overwhelm a little but thats what i like about it. A recommended try for wasabi lovers.
Unagi Tofu ($4.80) - As Alvin always says: "Unagi! Anything with Unagi is good!!" or something along those lines when it comes to Japanese food. This time, however, he was wrong. The tofu had an unmistakable taste of being refrigeration which i detest but thats just one expect i dislike. The unagi itself tasted sweet and soft but strangely, i found a bone in it (!!!). And don't be fooled by the picture, the serving is really small.
Tip card for Sukiyaki and Shabu Shabu - Sukiyaki Beef set ($19.80) -
And once again, i picked beef hotpot japanese style for my meal. No doubt its no longer a surprise to anyone. The entire set came with a generous serving of raw sliced New Zealand beef (sukiyaki), an egg which to my dismay, was still in its shell, a hotpot boiling with beancurd, cabbages, carrots, mushrooms, vermicelli and scallops. The soup turned out a little too sweet for my liking but i can't deny they ingredients generous and filling. The rice was traditional japanese rice albeit a little dry compared to others but still good. The beef itself, tasted sweet due to the stock and easily came apart as long as it isn't overcooked. Overall, this is a mixed bag of offerings which turned out average at best. One major gripe was that the egg came with its shell, which is a major no no for people like me, time to improve i believe.
Seafood Toji Set ($18.80) - My gf had the seafood toji set which is essentially mixed seafood in a hotpot with egg sauce. The set has yet again, a generous helping of seafood from prawns, squid, scallops. fish and beancurd. She commented that it was also a little too sweet for her liking and after trying, i second her opinion. The chicken katsu was average and the seafood in question, though plenty, was not quite up to par due to the overly sweet stock. One thing we noticed of the place was that the miso soup simply tasted bland. In contrast, Yoshinoya had a better tasting miso soup but maybe its just a lack of appreciation on our part.
Complimentary Coffee - Well, its normal coffee to me from as far as i can taste. The body and acidity is average with the aroma barely making the mark. Apart from presentation which came with the usual swirls and the presence of ground roast bits from careless filtering, there really isn't much as to say.
Macha Kakigori ($6.50) - Mango Kakigori ($6.50) - Despite the price shown, the actual price we paid was $3 for each kakigori as it was part of a set promotion and what would a meal be without a nice dessert to end it? My choice was the Macha Kakigori which is the chef's choice on the menu. I have to say, i liked it. The macha, which is essentially, green tea extract would not have tasted well itself, but mixed with vanilla ice cream, crushed ice and some Hokkaido red bean and you got a winner. I was skeptical about the whole imported read bean business but i have to say, it does taste different. Bigger then usual and definitely sweeter as well, its difficult not to like this dessert (unless you don't like the vanilla ice cream of course). My gf had the mango version which came with actual, sweet mango slices and homemade mango sauce. Everything felt balances and tasted well together but the Macha version was still better. Oh, both versions were HUGE so it might be a good idea to just share the dessert instead of getting one each.
This interesting meal for 2 came up to $63.91 which is quite expensive for the misses which turned out to be the main course.
I like the desserts and the salad but was disappointed with the main meals. Waraku had better wazen items when compared to MOF but this restaurant has some strengths in being simple and serving decent food as well. Maybe we just didn't order the correct items. Still, i'd return for the Macha Kakigori if i was in the vicinity. :)
Rating given:
My first trip back in Serangoon Gardens. I haven't been here for the last ten years. So many things have changed and many had remained. I found myself on the doorstep of this quaint little Italian restaurant. My friend and I were curious about it and decided that this would be our dinner place that Thursday evening.
Being a weekday evening, I guess it's perfectly understandable why it wasn't crowded. About 4-5 other tables were occupied while we were there. They have a seating area of about 40, including the two tables outside. They have soft warm lighting and earthy tones to create a cosy ambience. It has nice interior decor really.
The staff was warm and friendly. My friend came a little later than me. So the staff talked to me a bit, introducing the restaurant and telling me about the background of it,which was nice.
Food ordered:
Funchi Triffolati al Moda Dello Chef - $12.90
Portobello Mushroom garnished with grilled bell peppers, sun dried tomatoes & olives with de Parma's house dressings.
I love mushrooms and I'm so glad this dish didn't disappoint. I love the juiciness of the mushrooms as I bit down into it. In fact I loved it so much I was clearly happy to have more than my share. haha I also enjoyed eating it with the bell peppers.
Calzone (Folded Pizza) - $24.90
This Neapolitan speciality is filled with ham, bacon, onions, mushrooms, capsicums & smoked cheddar cheese.
This folded pizza was pretty huge, so it sort of justified the price. Inside was filled with plenty of warm ingredients. It would have been more delicious if it were piping hot but then it would have been difficult to eat. So it's good as it is, just one gripe... the outer covering was a little too hard and we had to put quite a bit of effort into cutting it up. Good exercise.
Fileto Di Mento - $32.90
Air-flown, grain-fed beef tenderloin drizzled in red wine sauce & served with Portobello Mushrooms & sauteed vegetables.
Let me say this for the record: I'm not a beef person. In fact I don't like beef, but only started eating it when I joined Yebber. Even so I only take one small slice to try each time. But this one? It was fantastic. Yummilicious! The meat wasn't tough and hard to chew. It was tender and the meat was well marinated. But the mushroom that came with it was visibly squashed and shrunken, though it still tasted nice with the sauce they had.
Chocolate Fondant
Break the hard crust outside and the chocolate inside flows out nicely. A chocolate addict, I'd say this fondant is good! Not the best but certainly very good.
Tiramisu
I think I was a tad biased when I had this Tiramisu. The last 4 Tiramisus I had simply didn't taste like Tiramisus... so when I had this one, I had the words "FINALLY...." going in my head. Nicely done with a tinge of liquor which my companion insisted didn't exist.
The total damage for two of us was $105. Good food, nice ambience, good service. It does seem a little ex but I think it was well worth it. TRY TRY TRY!
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1/2 Price Tuesday! So 1/2 the menu and service too?
Felt like having waffles yesterday so I met my girlfriend for dinner at Gelare. The last time I went, the mushroom cream pasta was pretty shiok. But yesterday our experience was in fact, very bad.
This outlet at Hougang Mall is pretty small and getting a table for 4 wasn't easy. After 20mins of waiting outside, finally we got our table. They've now improved on their menu and there were many choices that looks quite good. Since we were there for the waffles and pasta, we didn't get distracted. We wrote our orders on the order sheet provided at every table and went to the cashier to place our order.
While waiting in the queue, I realised that the ice cream choice we wanted wasn't available. And thus I tried to remember whatever that's there and walked back to the table to check with my friends. By then, I've already forgotten 80% of the choices available. Had to walk all the way back to check again and then back to the table to change our orders. Statisfied with our choice of ice cream for our waffles, we got back to the queue and when its our turn, the cashier told us that they had run out of mushroom cream pasta!!! (They could have indicated somewhere or inform us when they cleared the table right?) My friend had to walk back to our table and check what we want to change our pasta to, and then we changed our order AGAIN and joined the queue AGAIN!
We ended walking back and forth for about 5 times before we placed our orders with the cashier!
Our pasta was served first and one look at it I lost my appetite. We ordered tomato seafood pasta, the pasta looked pathetic with the little amount of sauce that only managed to cover 1/3 of the pasta for mine and 1/2 of the pasta for my friends'. We were too hungry to complain and so we just went ahead with what was given.
After our pasta, we stayed to chat while waiting for the waffles which was finally served after more than 30 mins! We did indicate to serve our waffles later, aka after we're done with our pasta, but not till that late.
Very disappointed about yesterday's experience. Guess I'll just forget about the pasta and just go for their waffles the next time.
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The infamous Gelare Tuesdays, the only time of the week when you get waffles at half price. Sounds good doesn't it? Except you can expect to wait for eons for your waffles to be served.
We waited for a good 40 minutes before our simple waffle with two scoops of ice-cream got served.
If they couldn't keep up with the service standard, or to train their staffs to politely inform us of a possible long wait, they might as well not try stunts like this. It only serves to stain their brand name.
And I totally agree with Polarbear above, no free water is a bad move. It's the little perks that keep customers coming back, and the little irks that keep them away.
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Arnold's Chicken? What's that? Thoughts of yet another generic deep fried chicken stall flashed across my mind when my friend brought it up. When informed that it was a rather famous outlet selling chicken that rivaled Popeye's and beat KFC's hands down, I embarked on a trip with my gf that very same day to verify the claims.
Located on the 2nd floor of City Plaza, the main outlet of Arnold's is tucked away in a rather obscure corner and very much resembles a fast food joint except that they do take and serve orders at your table. Please note that you still pay at the counter though.
We had the 2 person combo meal, which consisted of 5 pieces of chicken, potato fries, 1 regular coleslaw, 2 buns and 2 soft drinks. The highlight was of course the chicken, which was very crispy on the outside with a tinge of herbs yet tender and moist on the inside. And the best part was, it didn't have the used oil aftertaste that usually came along with KFC chickens. The coleslaw was also quite a refreshing change from the funny tasting and smelling ones that KFC serves. Even my gf who dislikes coleslaw commented so. The buns were way too oily though, being deep fried in oil and the fries really tasted like frozen fries that had been deep fried.
$18.10 for the above is rather pricey actually, especially when you can get the exact same stuff at KFC for about $5 less. Quality wise, no thoughts of comparison between Arnold's and KFC should even cross your mind because there is simply no competition. Unfortunately, location wise, KFC is a clear winner.
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The vibrant dining scene of East Coast/Upper East Coast road has a new entrant - a small bistro by the name of Montreux. Its not exactly new to the East Coast area per se, with a small cafe going by the same name and owned by the same person operating out of the basement of Siglap Centre. The cafe only sells cakes and desserts though, while the bistro serves up appetisers and mains as well.
Partially hidden from view in a tiny shophouse just 2 units down from NTUC, Montreux's interior is simple, uncluttered and very "cafeish". Its really tiny though, probably maxing out at about 20 customers or so.
Complimentary Bread - The bread, though served warm, was at best forgettable. But no one complains of free bread especially when they are starving.
The soup of the day - Beef Goulash. Tangy with a hint of spice and a few chunks of beef, something which I certainly didn't expect from a low cost set dinner soup. It was a tad too watery though.
Bangers & Mash - Okay this hardly qualifies as bangers and mash although technically there's nothing wrong with it. Correct me if I am wrong though, but isn't bangers and mash suppose to come with huge sausages and not the teeny weeny ones you can get off the shelves from some supermart? However, having said that, its best to keep in mind that we are talking about a $12.90 set dinner here so I guess that kinda puts things into perspective. Just for the record, the sausages weren't great, average at best.
Half Spring Chicken - The half spring chicken was rather smallish but decent enough. Served up with a piece of overfried rosti, it was a tad dry (probably a little overcooked) with a light herb taste.
Hazelnut Cake - The cake had to be the highlight of the set dinner, or the entire meal for that matter. Smooth hazelnut and sponge sitting atop a nice crunchy wafer base. A very nice nutty taste. It did seem a tad too dry though. Also, only half a slice of cake was served, making portions really small.
Espresso Brownie - Our waiter recommended this and after the positive experience with the hazelnut cake, I had fairly high expectations of it. And it was quite good with molten chocolate atop and the cake a tad chewy and not too dry. However, I couldn't quite make out any taste of espresso at all. Montreux might want to consider adding more espresso into the mix or renaming the brownie?
2 set dinners plus an extra dessert cost $36, which certainly isn't expensive. Generally mains are average but desserts are better. If they could improve the quality of their mains, I'm sure Montreux Bistro will be a success, especially when service is good as well. On a side note, I've not tried anything from their ala carte menu because the items in it do seem rather expensive, which means that my review might not be entirely fair.
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