When the crowd started pouring in at the Airshow, there were just no where to walk and admire the display and exhibitions put up. The indoor halls were packed and whenever an exhibitor started giving out freebies, everyone just charged to get one. This I really can't understand! Collect so many paper bags and brochures for what? Stop killing the trees! If you don't need it, don't take it! I saw many aunties and uncles carrying 6 to 8 of the same bags! Bring home distribute to their relatives?? Aiyoh!
The only thing I did within the exhibition hall was to go to the ladies, get some aircon to cool off the heat and the rest (most) of the time was spent trying to squeeze out of it.
The aerobatic flying display was exciting to watch at first, but as it progress under the crazily hot sun, everyone just got tired of it and went back into hiding inside the air-conditioned exhibition halls. Silly us took out there for the entire display which lasted for an hour and half! Only the first and finale was good. The rest... haiz... perhaps I'm not an airplane person, so it kinda bored me.
The worst part of the day came when we were planning to leave the place! The directions and instruction signs put up wasn't clear and significant enough. Everyone didn't know where to go to get out of the place. There were many options for leaving the ulu exhibition centre. For us, there's only 2 options, to either take a cab and paying super high surcharge and fare for it back to Pasir Ris, or join the messed up queue to take the free shuttle bus but to Pasir Ris.
At first we planned to take the cab, so we walked a loooong way out to the cab queue and then discovered that it wasn't moving at all! So we changed our plan and went all the way back into the exhibition centre to join the bus queue. The queue was almost like a 2.4km long walk. We spent 1hr 45mins queuing for the bus! At the beginning of the queue, everyone was mixed up and didn't know where exactly was the queue! People were pushing and shoving their way through trying to make it to the front of the queue. Some elderly and those with little kids couldn't take the heat and had to fall out of it and waited at the side while the adults stayed in the messed up queue. Cisco police and some guys tried to give instructions but no one seemed to bother about them. Those unhappy families even ended up quarreling with the polices so that they can cut the queue.
Overall the experience was very bad for me. Really there's nothing much to see. Its more like a trade show than an exhibition for the public. My objective of going was to get a glimpse of the inside of A380. But sadly the mindset that the advertisement put across was wrong. We were only allowed to view from the outside! They should have specified that in the ads! Well, perhaps that's why all the aunties and uncles collected that many bags to get their entrance fee worth! Haha!
The once popular water theme park at East Coast known as Big Splash has recently been redeveloped as Big Splash @ Playground and is home to a handful of dining outlets, one of which is Mingles La' Brassarie.
Occupying a premise which can roughly seat about 60 people (estimate), Mingles's interior is simple and clean, tending towards a more casual setting. I personally found the cute half egg shell seats (or whatever you call them) rather appealing, especially for after dinner drinks or dessert.
Cheese Fries - A side order at $5.90, the portions were somewhat pathetic if you ask me. What was interesting about the fries was that the cheese had BBQ sauce in it, which made the whole concoction cheesy and BBQish at the same time - a nausea inducing combination for me. It didn't help that the fries weren't exactly very fantastic, coming in as average.
Bangers & Mash - You get to choose your sausages with this order so we had the Swiss Cheese Pork Sausage and Black Pepper Chicken Sausage. I thought that the black pepper sausage was quite good, bursting with flavour with sufficient amount of bite in every mouth. The cheese pork sausage, though not lousy, was a tad disappointing as the taste of the cheese threatened to overwhelm the sausage taste.
Mingles Ribeye Steak - Weighing in at just over 250g, the ribeye was done up medium rare according to specifications and boasted a saliva inducing lightly charred exterior. However the meat was a little disappointing, a tad lacking in firmness and chewiness. The red wine sauce it was topped with had no inkling of red wine and instead tasted like berry sauce - sweet and fruity. The same sauce overwhelmed the raw taste of the beef at times, which shouldn't be the case really.
Baked Alaska - The Baked Alaska is essentially ice cream and sponge cake encased within a thick layer of meringue which is then briefly placed in an extremely hot oven to firm the meringue. Mingles's rendition opted to omit the sponge cake which was a mistake in my humble opinion. It tasted exactly like ice cream with whipped cream on top! Give me Borshch's version anytime!
Dinner for 2 cost about $62 after a 10% credit card discount. I wouldn't call it expensive but it certainly isn't cheap for the average quality of food. Service is excellent though and thats a definite plus.
If you mention the word mint, I'll probably think of peppermint or Singapore Mint. No no... it's neither the two. This "mint" place which I went today is the meseum of toys!
So what does mint mean in this case?
It actually stands for 'memories of imaginative & nolstalgic toys' (if I didn't remember wrongly!) The place consists of 5 floors plus a cafe at the basement. The exhibits (toys) were spread over the 4 levels, with each level having a different theme. Some of the toys which we managed to catch a glimpse of include tin tin, felix the cat, popeye, mickey mouse, betty boop, a collection of snow white & the seven dwarfs. Haha... it's such an interesting place! Many of these toys I've not even seen them before when I was young.
The toys in the meseum will be rotated every few months, so you don't have to worry about having to see the same collection of toy everytime you go. Yes, you'll be amazed by the wide collection of toys the owner has.
Another interesting point about this toy meseum is that the lightings on the display shelves were done in such a way that they will not cast any shadow of the toy. So it definitely helps when it comes to phototaking. No matter which angle you take from, the picture will look good. But one important thing to note when photographing here is that no flash is allowed. This is to prevent the flashlight from degrading the colour of the precious toys.
We were brought around by a tour guide, who had patiently explained the history of some of the toys to us. Yes, I think without him, we would not have learnt so much about toys if we just walk around on our own. So do get a tour guide if you intend to visit the meseum.
The admission ticket costs $10 for adult and $5 for children (aged 2 - 12 years old). But note that this excludes the tour guide fee.
Hmm... we have not really tried out the cafe. Shall try it next time & review it!
At OChaCha, they specialise in matcha, the premium green tea served in traditional Japanese Tea Ceremony. O-Cha means green tea in Japanese and Cha is tea in Chinese, as tea orginates from the chinese. Hence OChaCha is the coming together of different cultures & they hope that there will be many coming together of friends over cups of matcha latte.
OChaCha quest for good tea brought them all over the world, they found that while tea is very much part of our eastern culture, it is not considered cool or hip. Yet tea is part of our heritage - tea was first discovered by the Chinese emperor Shen Nong in the year 2700 B.C! What’s more, the health benefits of C-Cha are simply amazing. OChaCha is determined to make it fun and cool to drink O-Cha!
So OChaCha is all about marrying tradition and modern technology; of great tastes & healthy drinks; of simply being different. So be cool, be hip, be discerning, be kind to your body. Be one of the Matcha Latte People!
The new basement of Raffles City saw many additional of tenants to the place, one of which is OChaCha. My buddy & I were wandering around when we saw OChaCha, it was rather empty, but being kaypoh people, we ventured into the cafe and did not regret ever since.
A chat with the friendly female boss Miss Lee Yin Siau (or rather she call herself everybody’s boss) we find out that OChaCha just opened for business at Raffles City for two weeks only, thus the emptiness of the place.
After we got seated a while, customers start to come in, i guess its only human nature, people are afraid to go into a place that has no one, but starts to rush into the place when there is crowd.
My buddy made his orders while i did not have anything partly because i was full from my lunch at Tuckshop, and partly I must admit green tea does not appeals to me. Miss Lee chatted with us and explained her concept for OChaCha, which impressed me, and i decided to support her by ordering food to try out.
There are many types of different matcha, from the Matcha Latte Hot, to Matcha On the rock which is chilled latted as well as the ice-blended Matcha Freezzie. There is also two chocolate drinks for anti-matcha people. To go with these great drinks, there are also savoury sandwiches, quiches & pies, matcha slices, matcha cakes and many more.
OChaCha Mond ($5.35) This is the main character of the show. OChaCha matcha latte almond, there isn’t a very strong green tea taste, but the fragrance of the matcha is evident in the smell of it. I don’t really fancy drinking green tea, but after drinking it, i feel that its rather good, not like the usual green tea. Well, OChaCha is great news for non-green tea lovers like me.
Furitake Salmon Sandwich ($5.90) Furitake gives an added crunch to the taste. The Furitake Salmon Sandwich comes with fresh garden salad topped with Japanese citrus dressing & nori-flavoured chips. I like the bread, it was suprisingly soft when we make the bite into it. Even without any ingredient, i think the bread can be eaten on its own. Nevertheless, this makes a good meal for the Salmon lovers out there.
Sakura Egg Sandwich ($4.80) I like this one! Sakura denbu perks up the dish. Similarly as of the other sandwich, there is salad greens and chips as sides. The Sakura Egg Sandwich may look ordinary, but eaten together, it is very yummy. Who says ordinary dish can’t be extraordinary in taste?
For sandwiches, there are only three different types of sandwiches, with the other being wasabi tuna sandwich. When asked why isn’t there more variety, Miss Lee simply replied, “we do what we are best at, Matcha! ” That certainly make a impression on me, the direction of OChaCha is not just to make money, they want to bring good tea to the public.
Spong Cotton ($2.90) This is on the house, courtesy of Miss Lee. However, being a free item should not affect the judgement of the food, the green tea spongcake was extremely soft, there is a layer of cream within the centre of the cake. I can’t have enough of the cake! A trip back to try the other cakes look to be high on the priority list.
Total Bill comes up to $15.05 (excluding the $2.90 for the spong cake). There is no GST or service charge, and the warm welcome by Miss Lee and her staff do shows that there is hope for the falling-standards of the service industry in Singapore.
Initially, i was skeptical about the place because I’m not a fan of green tea. Despite that, OChaCha won me over, and I must say my perception of green tea has been changed greatly. The next time in a cafe, rather than a cup of coffee or soft drink, drink OChaCha Matcha instead!
Both of us sat inside the cafe for roughly two hours, sipping matcha latte and savouring the sandwiches, OChaCha is a great place to hang out and chill with your friends. The next time you go to Raffles City, rather than the coffee cafes, give OChaCha a try!
You are always welcome to visit ladyironchef for a full-up on this trip. Whatever written above are my geniune feelings expressed in words that may be subjected to my personal distortion or bias. Please do not feel emotional or distress should you have any violent objections. Kindly click the little X at the upper, extreme right of your screen if negative adjectives would be derived. Otherwise, feel free to furnish me with comments, may it be positive or negative : )
” The Green Tea of Starbucks “
Second Visit 8th May
A friend and I went down to O Cha Cha last week after i got my DSLR, we went to discuss the menu with Ochacha’s boss Miss Lee Yin Siau.
From left anticlockwise, is Mr.Ochacha Mondo, on its right is our friend Miss Matcha Panna Cotta, and followed by Ochacha Rocks, and the top is Gyokuro.
Gyokuro uses the same tea leave made into Matcha, just that the whole tea leave is being use for Gyokuro which is evident inside the tea.
Say hello to Ochacha Rocks! He rocks all righty! There’s also Matcha Azuki at the left background of the picture!
And Miss Matcha Panna Cotta!
Please click here to see the pictures for my second visit
Third Visit 13th May ladyironchef’s Food Event Outing at Ochacha!
A total of 20 people graced the event, with bloggers, readers of LIC’s blog, and their friends joining us for the green tea appreciation at Ochacha.
There was supposed to be more, about 15 more, but they all last minute had something on, anyway 20’s a big number, considering it’s LIC first time organising an event.
Dinner was supposed to start at 730pm, but you know Singaporeans tend to come late, so we actually started the ball rolling at 8pm.
Ochacha’s boss Miss lee arranged her cafe and gave us half the space, so thankful for that.
The menu is as follow :
Drinks: Matcha Rocks, Azuki Freezie, Ochacha Rocks, Ochacha latte or ochacha silk (3 cold and choice of 1 warm)
Desserts: Matcha Cotton, Matcha Azuki, Financier, Matcha Panna Cotta
Its $17.50 per person to try the wide range of items in this menu. For all the food i’ll be putting the normal price beside it.
And apparently our ladies like green tea more than guys, hence the bigger differential in the numbers.
Complimentary chips
The chips were on the house, for our hungry guests before everyone turned up
Salad The salad was also not included in our original menu. Miss lee thought that it will be better if there are some greens to go along with.
From left to right: Matcha Rocks, Ochacha Rocks, Azuki Freezie
Matcha Rocks ($4.95)
Chilled Matcha with sugar (no milk). I think most people preferred the Matcha Rocks one to Ochacha rocks which has milk
Ochacha Rocks ($4.95)
Chilled Matcha Latte. The Ochacha rocks is the middle one, coming with milk, its a lighter shade of green than the Matcha Rocks
Azuki Freezie ($6.50)
Ice blended matcha with azuki (Jap red beans). I believe the Azuki Freezie won quite a number of fan tonight, it stood out with the matcha taste on ice blend.
Please be reminded that what you are seeing are shooters, not the actual size of the drinks. The prices indicated are for the normal size.
Shiitake Mushroom soup I think quite a number of people found the shiitake mushroom soup to be a tad too salty for their tastebuds.
Tomato soup The tomato soup is more on the sweet and soup side. It really depends whether you are a fan of tomato and soup or not. I’m not a soup person though.
Sakura Egg Sandwich ($4.80) The sakura egg sandwich is still my favourite among the three sandwiches at Ochacha. See here for the picture of the normal size sandwich on my last visit.
Wasabi Tuna Sandwich ($5,90) Wasabi (spicy!!) tuna mayo fills up the delicious bread. This is my first time trying this, on the previous visit i had only the egg and the salmon ones.
For the wasabi tuna sandwich, i like tuna, but i don’t like wasabi.
Furikake Salmon Sandwich ($5.90) Smoked salmon with Japanese seaweed. I had the Furikake Salmon sandwich on my previous visit too.
The Japanese seaweed added the salty aspect to flavor the salmon, but i found it to be a tad on the salty side.
Matcha Financier ($2.90) French cake named after its shape like gold bar. The Matcha Financier did not disappoint, but then again i could be bias as i’m totally a dessert person.
Matcha Azuki ($4.90) Layered matcha cake with azuki beans & cream. The Matcha Azuki totally rock my world, the usage of azuki red beans gave the matcha cake a sweet twist.
I had this on my second visit too!
Matcha Cotton ($2.90) Fluffy Japanese souffle cake with fresh cream in the center. The extremly soft sponge matcha cake simply melts in the mouth!
Matcha Panna Cotta ($4.90) Italian creamy dessert with matcha flavor. This dessert had mixed reviews, some didn’t like it and found it to be too soft for a panna cotta, while others adored it and find the soft texture, coupled with the matcha flavor a delight to have.
Again this shows that taste is subjective, what some might like, others might not like.
Ochacha Latte ($4.80) or Ochacha Silk ($4.80) Hot matcha latte & soy milk with matcha. We had the choice of either one for our warm green tea.
Total Bill was $350 for 20 people ($17.50 fixed price for each person). For $17.50, i think its definitely a very good price as we got to try out a whole wide range of green tea, sandwiches and desserts.
Please click here to see ALL the pictures taken during LIC food outing on the third visit
See you all at the next LIC food outing, it’ll be soon : )
This outlet of MOS burger is the one that I visit most often, simply because I oways go Bugis to see see look look.
I normally like to order the teriyaki chicken burger meal, coupled with a box of nuggets,( which taste so much better than that of Mcdonald's), and a cup of clam chowder soup if I fel like it. The soup is quite ok but the quantity of clams is quite good given that it is only a small cup.
In addition, I like to eat at MOS burger mainly because the food is cooked only upon ur order, thus ur food is ensured to be piping hot when served to you. Only downside is that the prices are slightly steeper than other fast food outlets. But nevertheless, I would still continue to eat there cos I fidn that the quality of the food deserves the price tag.
Was at Marina Sq tdy to catch a show with my fren and decided to try out the Waraku outlet there. As we were quite early, there were plenty of seats available and we need not have to wait. As compared to the seats at the outlet at the Central, the seats here were definitely more comfy and more spaced out.
So without wasting much time, I ordered Yakiniku Don, Chicken Kaarage, Chapon Udon and Kakiage. As for drinks , we decided to have lime juice.
The Yakiniku DOn was really superb, with a generous amount of beef given and it was well-cooked. As for the Chapon Udon, it was a nice creamy soup based with Hotae, prawns and a couple slices of pork and vegetables. It was served in a hot stone bowl and the looks of it was enuff to make one drool.
As for the other two dishes, they were quite nice as well and though they were fried food, it was not very oily , which was good.
This has been my second time patronising Waraku and so far I had been really satisfied by their food standards. Will continue to patronise them unless they prove me otherwise.
Saw this outlet a couple of times but it was always packed. So decided to go there early one fine day to try it out, since I have always been a fan of Japanese food.
Together with my gf, we ordered quite a few dishes which included katsu don, fried vegetables, chicken kaarage, yakitori toban yaki and two glasses of chu-hi lime.
I must say that the food was indeed delicious and that the presentation of the food was quite pleasing to the eye as well ( though some of the bowls were really a bit too huge for just a few pieces of chicken.)
Overall, I would say that the food really is worth the money, but one thing to note is that the waiting time can be really long and also the space between two adjacent tables can be a little bit tight. Otherwise, I would strongly recommend Waraku to all Japanese food lovers
Sweet Indulgence, the petite cafe at Stanley Street is as charming as its name. From the decorations, to the food, to the service, everything just made you feels at home. Your cosy corner, in the hearts of the city. My female companion and i arrive at the place at 530pm, but the restaurant was not opened yet as their kitchen starts at 6. However the staff warmly welcome us in to the place. Being early-birds, we were the only diners there, and we enjoyed every moment there. The feeling was though we had booked the restaurant, and had the whole place to ourselves.
Stepping into the restaurant, I felt as if I had transported into another world all together. The bar counter, the simple yet comfortable furnitures under the dim spot-light made us feel totally at ease. The staff was very friendly, and he told us to make ourselves at home. So we heed his words, and literally make it our home.
Pretty is the word to describe the place, cozy is the word to describe the feeling, and indulgencing in the sweetness basically sums up everything else. We took photos, every shot and angles of the whole restaurant. While being overly engrossed in taking pictures, we even forgot to take our orders until we saw the chef sitting behind us.
The menu ranges from appetizer, salad, tapas, to the main course like pasta, fish & seafood, meats, to desserts and wine. Although under each category there might not have a wide range of selections, but for what it lack in variety, it made up for it in the pure quality and the presentation of the food.
And just for your information, the restaurant starts its lunch menu from 1145 to 230pm, dinner is served from 6 to 10pm. Indulge in a sumptuous three course set lunch at an additional $6.80 on top of the main course’s price.
As we were in quite a rush for time, we didn’t have any appetizer or tapas to start the delightful meal, so we proceed on and begin with our main course. A peek into the menu, we immediately know what we wanted. As my female companion is a fan of spaghetti & also a lover of fish, the spaghetti salmon & mushroom seems to be tailor-made for her. To complete the fish-lover experience, i had the pan-sauteèd salmon steak.
The spaghetti selections come in the price range of $13.90 to $17.90, while the main course starts from $14.90 to $23.90 for its beef tenderloin.
Spaghetti Salmon & Mushroom ($15.90) Spaghetti tossed with fresh salmon, mushrooms & seasonal vegetables in cream sauce. Being the fan of cream base rather than tomato base, the Spaghetti Salmon & Mushroom suits the tastebud of my companion perfectly. The sauce isn’t very strong, therefore it doesn’t overwhelm the overall taste of the dish. Coupled with the generous helping of fresh salmon & mushroom, every slurp of the pasta seems to exist for your savour of it.
Pan-sauteèd Salmon Steak ($19.90)Pan-grilled salmon accompany with daily vegetables, serve with vanilla infused cream sauce, finished with balsamic reduction & caramelised cherry tomatoes. First taste into the Pan-sauteèd Salmon steak tell me this is something special, the second bite confirms the truth. The salmon is pan-grilled perfectly, where pan-grilled salmon in the hands of less-skillful chef will becomes hard and dry, this is definitely not the case at Sweet Indulgence.
The grilled skin did not prevent me for tasting the soft and freshness of the juicy salmon. Some pepper and salt are sprinkled to add additional flavouring to the salmon, not that it is necessary, the salmon is so good that it can be eaten on its own.
The daily vegetables of broccoli and carrot helps to balance the meal, and the mashed potato together with the vanilla infused cream sauce certainly taste specially good. The only thing that i have to add will be the serving could be better, but i guess good food comes in appropriate serving, too much of a good thing spoils the taste.
Warm Choco Lava Indulgence ($8.90) To end off our delightful meal, there is no doubt desserts are a must at such a sweet place like Sweet Indulgence. Warm chocolate cake filled with melted dark chocolate, served with tropical fruits and a scoop of ice cream.
Warm Choco Lava Indulgence’s filling very much satisfied the chocoholic in me. As our spoon cuts into the chocolate cake, the melted dark chocolate ooshed out and filled our spoon. Eaten separately, the warm dark chocolate taste like dark chocolate, and the ice cream like any other ordinary ice cream, but combine both together, the result is totally different. The warm dark chocolate seems to fuse perfectly with the cold vanilla ice cream, and the effect is a yummy sensation.
Tiramisu ($7.90) Dessert couldn’t have been more satisfying than in the form of the popular Tiramisu. Original Italian tiramisu made with mascarpone cheese and Italian sponge fingers soaked in espresso and lots of kahlua, rum & brandy.
In my personal opinion, this ought to be one of my favourite Tiramisu. The first moment the tiramisu goes inside my mouth, I fell in love with it. Touching the tip of my tongue, the super soft texture of the cake immediately melt and touch my heart. Beautiful is the word, heavenly is the feeling, and falling in love with it concludes the tiramisu. I’ll be back for this one, watch out for it yeah!
Total bill for 2 main 2 desserts for 2 person comes up to $52.60 which is definitely not expensive, given the quality and presentation of the food, the excellent service, the comfy environment, which makes our dinner perfect. Also please be reminded that the restaurant is currently opened during weekdays only, there are plans to open on Sat in the near future.
After we finish our dinner, the boss of the restaurant, Christopher came and we had a friendly conservation, and the restaurant even gave us two complimentary orange juice on the house. The orange juice are some of the ones that they are looking to bring in from new suppliers and are not on the menu as yet.
If you visit the place and may not agree with me that the place is that good even its a small restaurant, hidden in the heart of the city. But the fact is I enjoyed the place very much indeed, and that is enough. We received dining vouchers in the form of $15 discount for every $60 spend in the dinner menu for our next visit. I will definitely be back for more. memorable dining experience - Sweet 2 Indulge
You are always welcome to visit ladyironchef for a full-up on this trip. Whatever written above are my geniune feelings expressed in words that may be subjected to my personal distortion or bias. Please do not feel emotional or distress should you have any violent objections. Kindly click the little X at the upper, extreme right of your screen if negative adjectives would be derived. Otherwise, feel free to furnish me with comments, may it be positive or negative : )
Was deciding on a place to eat along Orchard road one weekday evening and the only place that didn't seem to be spilling with people was Crystal Jade Golden Palace (CJGP). From what I know, CJGP hovers around the top tier of the Crystal Jade chain, which includes Crystal Jade Xiao Long Bao, Crystal Jade Kitchen etc.
Located on the 5th floor of the high end The Paragon shopping mall, CJGP appeals with its sombre yet elegant entrance walkway and posh/classy interior complete with ambient lighting. Padded walls and carpets, thick cushioned chairs all give the impression of comfort at its finesse.
Shark's Fin in Coconut - This dish is out of the menu so please pardon my literal translation from Chinese to English. Served up in a coconut husk, the fins were of decent quality and in abundance together with stuff like prawns and fish maw in a nice and light broth which hinted of coconut towards the bottom.
Crystal Jade Suckling Pig - A rather impressive dish I must say, with the skin crackling crispy and the meat harbouring a light smoky taste. I liked the strings of jellyfish that came with it as well, springy with lots of bite. Not the least bit worth the price($23) though, with only a few slices of skin and meat.
Sauteed Scallop with Broccoli - Yet another dish of small proportions. Cooked just right, the broccoli was crunchy and tasty with the scallops slightly firm and not overwhelming.
Golden Palace Signature Fried Rice - I naturally had a certain level of expectation as this came billed as one of the restaurant's signature dish. Regrettably, it wasn't quite what I was looking for, coming across as decent but not outstanding. Probably the only highlight to it was the presence of salted egg yolk which gave the rice a slightly rough texture.
Mashed Taro with Gingko Nuts - The mashed taro aka Orh Nee, was smooth and light without being too moist or dry. However portions are really miserable and I can easily eat 2 bowls of equally satisfying Orh Nee for the same price.
Dinner for 2 didn't come cheap at about $128, especially with the small portions. However I can't deny that the quality of food is there and service is more than adequate. I guess that does provide some justification for the high prices. What do you think?
I was there today to check out some gadgets and decided to have our dinner at the Food Junction. There were so many choices, even a Pepper Lunch Express stall. But don't know why, we decided to go for the Indian stall right at the entrance of the food court.
I ordered their chicken biryani and bf ordered mutton mutabak. At first look, the biryani looks not bad. Chicken given was pretty huge and there was cabbage and bean sprout and papadum. But when I cut into the chicken, I knew its going to be bad. The chicken had been fried before putting into the gravy and its too tough. As its fried chicken, it didn't manage to absorb the flavor of the curry. Very badly cooked. Than the cabbage had a weird taste and was too hard. The bean sprout tasted like it was half cooked! I could taste the rawness of it! Yucks!
The mutabak taste was normal but its very small. The thickness was the same as an egg prata and the filling was very little. Not worth the try.
So next time when you're there, you might want to try other stalls instead.
Beside the bad experience, I've to comment that this food junction is a good place to go for cheap food and comfort meetings. There's a corner that's decorated nicely with red cushioned chairs and round cushioned sofa seats around the sides of this corner. Great place to go to study or meeting clients. There's wifi there too.
Giving 1/5 for the bad food at the Indian stall. If its only for the place, it'll be 4/5 for the nice comfy corner within the food junction.
1=SGD 0.0587
Our worst experience ever!
When the crowd started pouring in at the Airshow, there were just no where to walk and admire the display and exhibitions put up. The indoor halls were packed and whenever an exhibitor started giving out freebies, everyone just charged to get one. This I really can't understand! Collect so many paper bags and brochures for what? Stop killing the trees! If you don't need it, don't take it! I saw many aunties and uncles carrying 6 to 8 of the same bags! Bring home distribute to their relatives?? Aiyoh!
The only thing I did within the exhibition hall was to go to the ladies, get some aircon to cool off the heat and the rest (most) of the time was spent trying to squeeze out of it.
The aerobatic flying display was exciting to watch at first, but as it progress under the crazily hot sun, everyone just got tired of it and went back into hiding inside the air-conditioned exhibition halls. Silly us took out there for the entire display which lasted for an hour and half! Only the first and finale was good. The rest... haiz... perhaps I'm not an airplane person, so it kinda bored me.
The worst part of the day came when we were planning to leave the place! The directions and instruction signs put up wasn't clear and significant enough. Everyone didn't know where to go to get out of the place. There were many options for leaving the ulu exhibition centre. For us, there's only 2 options, to either take a cab and paying super high surcharge and fare for it back to Pasir Ris, or join the messed up queue to take the free shuttle bus but to Pasir Ris.
At first we planned to take the cab, so we walked a loooong way out to the cab queue and then discovered that it wasn't moving at all! So we changed our plan and went all the way back into the exhibition centre to join the bus queue. The queue was almost like a 2.4km long walk. We spent 1hr 45mins queuing for the bus! At the beginning of the queue, everyone was mixed up and didn't know where exactly was the queue! People were pushing and shoving their way through trying to make it to the front of the queue. Some elderly and those with little kids couldn't take the heat and had to fall out of it and waited at the side while the adults stayed in the messed up queue. Cisco police and some guys tried to give instructions but no one seemed to bother about them. Those unhappy families even ended up quarreling with the polices so that they can cut the queue.
Overall the experience was very bad for me. Really there's nothing much to see. Its more like a trade show than an exhibition for the public. My objective of going was to get a glimpse of the inside of A380. But sadly the mindset that the advertisement put across was wrong. We were only allowed to view from the outside! They should have specified that in the ads! Well, perhaps that's why all the aunties and uncles collected that many bags to get their entrance fee worth! Haha!
Rating given:
The once popular water theme park at East Coast known as Big Splash has recently been redeveloped as Big Splash @ Playground and is home to a handful of dining outlets, one of which is Mingles La' Brassarie.
Occupying a premise which can roughly seat about 60 people (estimate), Mingles's interior is simple and clean, tending towards a more casual setting. I personally found the cute half egg shell seats (or whatever you call them) rather appealing, especially for after dinner drinks or dessert.
Cheese Fries - A side order at $5.90, the portions were somewhat pathetic if you ask me. What was interesting about the fries was that the cheese had BBQ sauce in it, which made the whole concoction cheesy and BBQish at the same time - a nausea inducing combination for me. It didn't help that the fries weren't exactly very fantastic, coming in as average.
Bangers & Mash - You get to choose your sausages with this order so we had the Swiss Cheese Pork Sausage and Black Pepper Chicken Sausage. I thought that the black pepper sausage was quite good, bursting with flavour with sufficient amount of bite in every mouth. The cheese pork sausage, though not lousy, was a tad disappointing as the taste of the cheese threatened to overwhelm the sausage taste.
Mingles Ribeye Steak - Weighing in at just over 250g, the ribeye was done up medium rare according to specifications and boasted a saliva inducing lightly charred exterior. However the meat was a little disappointing, a tad lacking in firmness and chewiness. The red wine sauce it was topped with had no inkling of red wine and instead tasted like berry sauce - sweet and fruity. The same sauce overwhelmed the raw taste of the beef at times, which shouldn't be the case really.
Baked Alaska - The Baked Alaska is essentially ice cream and sponge cake encased within a thick layer of meringue which is then briefly placed in an extremely hot oven to firm the meringue. Mingles's rendition opted to omit the sponge cake which was a mistake in my humble opinion. It tasted exactly like ice cream with whipped cream on top! Give me Borshch's version anytime!
Dinner for 2 cost about $62 after a 10% credit card discount. I wouldn't call it expensive but it certainly isn't cheap for the average quality of food. Service is excellent though and thats a definite plus.
See all my pictures here
Rating given:
If you mention the word mint, I'll probably think of peppermint or Singapore Mint. No no... it's neither the two. This "mint" place which I went today is the meseum of toys!
So what does mint mean in this case?
It actually stands for 'memories of imaginative & nolstalgic toys' (if I didn't remember wrongly!) The place consists of 5 floors plus a cafe at the basement. The exhibits (toys) were spread over the 4 levels, with each level having a different theme. Some of the toys which we managed to catch a glimpse of include tin tin, felix the cat, popeye, mickey mouse, betty boop, a collection of snow white & the seven dwarfs. Haha... it's such an interesting place! Many of these toys I've not even seen them before when I was young.
The toys in the meseum will be rotated every few months, so you don't have to worry about having to see the same collection of toy everytime you go. Yes, you'll be amazed by the wide collection of toys the owner has.
Another interesting point about this toy meseum is that the lightings on the display shelves were done in such a way that they will not cast any shadow of the toy. So it definitely helps when it comes to phototaking. No matter which angle you take from, the picture will look good. But one important thing to note when photographing here is that no flash is allowed. This is to prevent the flashlight from degrading the colour of the precious toys.
We were brought around by a tour guide, who had patiently explained the history of some of the toys to us. Yes, I think without him, we would not have learnt so much about toys if we just walk around on our own. So do get a tour guide if you intend to visit the meseum.
The admission ticket costs $10 for adult and $5 for children (aged 2 - 12 years old). But note that this excludes the tour guide fee.
Hmm... we have not really tried out the cafe. Shall try it next time & review it!
Rating given:
First Visit 25th Feb
OChaCha, the matcha latte people
At OChaCha, they specialise in matcha, the premium green tea served in traditional Japanese Tea Ceremony. O-Cha means green tea in Japanese and Cha is tea in Chinese, as tea orginates from the chinese. Hence OChaCha is the coming together of different cultures & they hope that there will be many coming together of friends over cups of matcha latte.
OChaCha quest for good tea brought them all over the world, they found that while tea is very much part of our eastern culture, it is not considered cool or hip. Yet tea is part of our heritage - tea was first discovered by the Chinese emperor Shen Nong in the year 2700 B.C! What’s more, the health benefits of C-Cha are simply amazing. OChaCha is determined to make it fun and cool to drink O-Cha!
So OChaCha is all about marrying tradition and modern technology; of great tastes & healthy drinks; of simply being different. So be cool, be hip, be discerning, be kind to your body. Be one of the Matcha Latte People!
The new basement of Raffles City saw many additional of tenants to the place, one of which is OChaCha. My buddy & I were wandering around when we saw OChaCha, it was rather empty, but being kaypoh people, we ventured into the cafe and did not regret ever since.
A chat with the friendly female boss Miss Lee Yin Siau (or rather she call herself everybody’s boss) we find out that OChaCha just opened for business at Raffles City for two weeks only, thus the emptiness of the place.
After we got seated a while, customers start to come in, i guess its only human nature, people are afraid to go into a place that has no one, but starts to rush into the place when there is crowd.
My buddy made his orders while i did not have anything partly because i was full from my lunch at Tuckshop, and partly I must admit green tea does not appeals to me. Miss Lee chatted with us and explained her concept for OChaCha, which impressed me, and i decided to support her by ordering food to try out.
There are many types of different matcha, from the Matcha Latte Hot, to Matcha On the rock which is chilled latted as well as the ice-blended Matcha Freezzie. There is also two chocolate drinks for anti-matcha people. To go with these great drinks, there are also savoury sandwiches, quiches & pies, matcha slices, matcha cakes and many more.
OChaCha Mond ($5.35)
This is the main character of the show. OChaCha matcha latte almond, there isn’t a very strong green tea taste, but the fragrance of the matcha is evident in the smell of it. I don’t really fancy drinking green tea, but after drinking it, i feel that its rather good, not like the usual green tea. Well, OChaCha is great news for non-green tea lovers like me.
Furitake Salmon Sandwich ($5.90)
Furitake gives an added crunch to the taste. The Furitake Salmon Sandwich comes with fresh garden salad topped with Japanese citrus dressing & nori-flavoured chips. I like the bread, it was suprisingly soft when we make the bite into it. Even without any ingredient, i think the bread can be eaten on its own. Nevertheless, this makes a good meal for the Salmon lovers out there.
Sakura Egg Sandwich ($4.80)
I like this one! Sakura denbu perks up the dish. Similarly as of the other sandwich, there is salad greens and chips as sides. The Sakura Egg Sandwich may look ordinary, but eaten together, it is very yummy. Who says ordinary dish can’t be extraordinary in taste?
For sandwiches, there are only three different types of sandwiches, with the other being wasabi tuna sandwich. When asked why isn’t there more variety, Miss Lee simply replied, “we do what we are best at, Matcha! ” That certainly make a impression on me, the direction of OChaCha is not just to make money, they want to bring good tea to the public.
Spong Cotton ($2.90)
This is on the house, courtesy of Miss Lee. However, being a free item should not affect the judgement of the food, the green tea spongcake was extremely soft, there is a layer of cream within the centre of the cake. I can’t have enough of the cake! A trip back to try the other cakes look to be high on the priority list.
Total Bill comes up to $15.05 (excluding the $2.90 for the spong cake). There is no GST or service charge, and the warm welcome by Miss Lee and her staff do shows that there is hope for the falling-standards of the service industry in Singapore.
Initially, i was skeptical about the place because I’m not a fan of green tea. Despite that, OChaCha won me over, and I must say my perception of green tea has been changed greatly. The next time in a cafe, rather than a cup of coffee or soft drink, drink OChaCha Matcha instead!
Both of us sat inside the cafe for roughly two hours, sipping matcha latte and savouring the sandwiches, OChaCha is a great place to hang out and chill with your friends. The next time you go to Raffles City, rather than the coffee cafes, give OChaCha a try!
You are always welcome to visit ladyironchef for a full-up on this trip. Whatever written above are my geniune feelings expressed in words that may be subjected to my personal distortion or bias. Please do not feel emotional or distress should you have any violent objections. Kindly click the little X at the upper, extreme right of your screen if negative adjectives would be derived. Otherwise, feel free to furnish me with comments, may it be positive or negative : )
” The Green Tea of Starbucks “
Second Visit 8th May
A friend and I went down to O Cha Cha last week after i got my DSLR, we went to discuss the menu with Ochacha’s boss Miss Lee Yin Siau.
From left anticlockwise, is Mr.Ochacha Mondo, on its right is our friend Miss Matcha Panna Cotta, and followed by Ochacha Rocks, and the top is Gyokuro.
Gyokuro uses the same tea leave made into Matcha, just that the whole tea leave is being use for Gyokuro which is evident inside the tea.
Say hello to Ochacha Rocks! He rocks all righty! There’s also Matcha Azuki at the left background of the picture!
And Miss Matcha Panna Cotta!
Please click here to see the pictures for my second visit
Third Visit 13th May
ladyironchef’s Food Event Outing at Ochacha!
A total of 20 people graced the event, with bloggers, readers of LIC’s blog, and their friends joining us for the green tea appreciation at Ochacha.
There was supposed to be more, about 15 more, but they all last minute had something on, anyway 20’s a big number, considering it’s LIC first time organising an event.
Dinner was supposed to start at 730pm, but you know Singaporeans tend to come late, so we actually started the ball rolling at 8pm.
Ochacha’s boss Miss lee arranged her cafe and gave us half the space, so thankful for that.
The menu is as follow :
Drinks: Matcha Rocks, Azuki Freezie, Ochacha Rocks, Ochacha latte or ochacha silk (3 cold and choice of 1 warm)
Soup: Shiitake Mushroom or tomato soup
Sandwiches: Sakura Egg, Wasabi Tuna, Furikake Salmon
Desserts: Matcha Cotton, Matcha Azuki, Financier, Matcha Panna Cotta
Its $17.50 per person to try the wide range of items in this menu. For all the food i’ll be putting the normal price beside it.
And apparently our ladies like green tea more than guys, hence the bigger differential in the numbers.
Complimentary chips
The chips were on the house, for our hungry guests before everyone turned up
Salad
The salad was also not included in our original menu. Miss lee thought that it will be better if there are some greens to go along with.
From left to right: Matcha Rocks, Ochacha Rocks, Azuki Freezie
Matcha Rocks ($4.95)
Chilled Matcha with sugar (no milk). I think most people preferred the Matcha Rocks one to Ochacha rocks which has milk
Ochacha Rocks ($4.95)
Chilled Matcha Latte. The Ochacha rocks is the middle one, coming with milk, its a lighter shade of green than the Matcha Rocks
Azuki Freezie ($6.50)
Ice blended matcha with azuki (Jap red beans). I believe the Azuki Freezie won quite a number of fan tonight, it stood out with the matcha taste on ice blend.
Please be reminded that what you are seeing are shooters, not the actual size of the drinks. The prices indicated are for the normal size.
Shiitake Mushroom soup
I think quite a number of people found the shiitake mushroom soup to be a tad too salty for their tastebuds.
Tomato soup
The tomato soup is more on the sweet and soup side. It really depends whether you are a fan of tomato and soup or not. I’m not a soup person though.
Sakura Egg Sandwich ($4.80)
The sakura egg sandwich is still my favourite among the three sandwiches at Ochacha. See here for the picture of the normal size sandwich on my last visit.
Wasabi Tuna Sandwich ($5,90)
Wasabi (spicy!!) tuna mayo fills up the delicious bread. This is my first time trying this, on the previous visit i had only the egg and the salmon ones.
For the wasabi tuna sandwich, i like tuna, but i don’t like wasabi.
Furikake Salmon Sandwich ($5.90)
Smoked salmon with Japanese seaweed. I had the Furikake Salmon sandwich on my previous visit too.
The Japanese seaweed added the salty aspect to flavor the salmon, but i found it to be a tad on the salty side.
Matcha Financier ($2.90)
French cake named after its shape like gold bar. The Matcha Financier did not disappoint, but then again i could be bias as i’m totally a dessert person.
Matcha Azuki ($4.90)
Layered matcha cake with azuki beans & cream. The Matcha Azuki totally rock my world, the usage of azuki red beans gave the matcha cake a sweet twist.
I had this on my second visit too!
Matcha Cotton ($2.90)
Fluffy Japanese souffle cake with fresh cream in the center. The extremly soft sponge matcha cake simply melts in the mouth!
Matcha Panna Cotta ($4.90)
Italian creamy dessert with matcha flavor. This dessert had mixed reviews, some didn’t like it and found it to be too soft for a panna cotta, while others adored it and find the soft texture, coupled with the matcha flavor a delight to have.
Again this shows that taste is subjective, what some might like, others might not like.
Ochacha Latte ($4.80) or Ochacha Silk ($4.80)
Hot matcha latte & soy milk with matcha. We had the choice of either one for our warm green tea.
Total Bill was $350 for 20 people ($17.50 fixed price for each person). For $17.50, i think its definitely a very good price as we got to try out a whole wide range of green tea, sandwiches and desserts.
Please click here to see ALL the pictures taken during LIC food outing on the third visit
See you all at the next LIC food outing, it’ll be soon : )
Rating given:
This outlet of MOS burger is the one that I visit most often, simply because I oways go Bugis to see see look look.
I normally like to order the teriyaki chicken burger meal, coupled with a box of nuggets,( which taste so much better than that of Mcdonald's), and a cup of clam chowder soup if I fel like it. The soup is quite ok but the quantity of clams is quite good given that it is only a small cup.
In addition, I like to eat at MOS burger mainly because the food is cooked only upon ur order, thus ur food is ensured to be piping hot when served to you. Only downside is that the prices are slightly steeper than other fast food outlets. But nevertheless, I would still continue to eat there cos I fidn that the quality of the food deserves the price tag.
Rating given:
Was at Marina Sq tdy to catch a show with my fren and decided to try out the Waraku outlet there. As we were quite early, there were plenty of seats available and we need not have to wait. As compared to the seats at the outlet at the Central, the seats here were definitely more comfy and more spaced out.
So without wasting much time, I ordered Yakiniku Don, Chicken Kaarage, Chapon Udon and Kakiage. As for drinks , we decided to have lime juice.
The Yakiniku DOn was really superb, with a generous amount of beef given and it was well-cooked. As for the Chapon Udon, it was a nice creamy soup based with Hotae, prawns and a couple slices of pork and vegetables. It was served in a hot stone bowl and the looks of it was enuff to make one drool.
As for the other two dishes, they were quite nice as well and though they were fried food, it was not very oily , which was good.
This has been my second time patronising Waraku and so far I had been really satisfied by their food standards. Will continue to patronise them unless they prove me otherwise.
Rating given:
Saw this outlet a couple of times but it was always packed. So decided to go there early one fine day to try it out, since I have always been a fan of Japanese food.
Together with my gf, we ordered quite a few dishes which included katsu don, fried vegetables, chicken kaarage, yakitori toban yaki and two glasses of chu-hi lime.
I must say that the food was indeed delicious and that the presentation of the food was quite pleasing to the eye as well ( though some of the bowls were really a bit too huge for just a few pieces of chicken.)
Overall, I would say that the food really is worth the money, but one thing to note is that the waiting time can be really long and also the space between two adjacent tables can be a little bit tight. Otherwise, I would strongly recommend Waraku to all Japanese food lovers
Rating given:
Sweet Indulgence, the petite cafe at Stanley Street is as charming as its name. From the decorations, to the food, to the service, everything just made you feels at home. Your cosy corner, in the hearts of the city. My female companion and i arrive at the place at 530pm, but the restaurant was not opened yet as their kitchen starts at 6. However the staff warmly welcome us in to the place. Being early-birds, we were the only diners there, and we enjoyed every moment there. The feeling was though we had booked the restaurant, and had the whole place to ourselves.
Stepping into the restaurant, I felt as if I had transported into another world all together. The bar counter, the simple yet comfortable furnitures under the dim spot-light made us feel totally at ease. The staff was very friendly, and he told us to make ourselves at home. So we heed his words, and literally make it our home.
Pretty is the word to describe the place, cozy is the word to describe the feeling, and indulgencing in the sweetness basically sums up everything else. We took photos, every shot and angles of the whole restaurant. While being overly engrossed in taking pictures, we even forgot to take our orders until we saw the chef sitting behind us.
The menu ranges from appetizer, salad, tapas, to the main course like pasta, fish & seafood, meats, to desserts and wine. Although under each category there might not have a wide range of selections, but for what it lack in variety, it made up for it in the pure quality and the presentation of the food.
And just for your information, the restaurant starts its lunch menu from 1145 to 230pm, dinner is served from 6 to 10pm. Indulge in a sumptuous three course set lunch at an additional $6.80 on top of the main course’s price.
As we were in quite a rush for time, we didn’t have any appetizer or tapas to start the delightful meal, so we proceed on and begin with our main course. A peek into the menu, we immediately know what we wanted. As my female companion is a fan of spaghetti & also a lover of fish, the spaghetti salmon & mushroom seems to be tailor-made for her. To complete the fish-lover experience, i had the pan-sauteèd salmon steak.
The spaghetti selections come in the price range of $13.90 to $17.90, while the main course starts from $14.90 to $23.90 for its beef tenderloin.
Spaghetti Salmon & Mushroom ($15.90)
Spaghetti tossed with fresh salmon, mushrooms & seasonal vegetables in cream sauce. Being the fan of cream base rather than tomato base, the Spaghetti Salmon & Mushroom suits the tastebud of my companion perfectly. The sauce isn’t very strong, therefore it doesn’t overwhelm the overall taste of the dish. Coupled with the generous helping of fresh salmon & mushroom, every slurp of the pasta seems to exist for your savour of it.
Pan-sauteèd Salmon Steak ($19.90)Pan-grilled salmon accompany with daily vegetables, serve with vanilla infused cream sauce, finished with balsamic reduction & caramelised cherry tomatoes. First taste into the Pan-sauteèd Salmon steak tell me this is something special, the second bite confirms the truth. The salmon is pan-grilled perfectly, where pan-grilled salmon in the hands of less-skillful chef will becomes hard and dry, this is definitely not the case at Sweet Indulgence.
The grilled skin did not prevent me for tasting the soft and freshness of the juicy salmon. Some pepper and salt are sprinkled to add additional flavouring to the salmon, not that it is necessary, the salmon is so good that it can be eaten on its own.
The daily vegetables of broccoli and carrot helps to balance the meal, and the mashed potato together with the vanilla infused cream sauce certainly taste specially good. The only thing that i have to add will be the serving could be better, but i guess good food comes in appropriate serving, too much of a good thing spoils the taste.
Warm Choco Lava Indulgence ($8.90)
To end off our delightful meal, there is no doubt desserts are a must at such a sweet place like Sweet Indulgence. Warm chocolate cake filled with melted dark chocolate, served with tropical fruits and a scoop of ice cream.
Warm Choco Lava Indulgence’s filling very much satisfied the chocoholic in me. As our spoon cuts into the chocolate cake, the melted dark chocolate ooshed out and filled our spoon. Eaten separately, the warm dark chocolate taste like dark chocolate, and the ice cream like any other ordinary ice cream, but combine both together, the result is totally different. The warm dark chocolate seems to fuse perfectly with the cold vanilla ice cream, and the effect is a yummy sensation.
Tiramisu ($7.90)
Dessert couldn’t have been more satisfying than in the form of the popular Tiramisu. Original Italian tiramisu made with mascarpone cheese and Italian sponge fingers soaked in espresso and lots of kahlua, rum & brandy.
In my personal opinion, this ought to be one of my favourite Tiramisu. The first moment the tiramisu goes inside my mouth, I fell in love with it. Touching the tip of my tongue, the super soft texture of the cake immediately melt and touch my heart. Beautiful is the word, heavenly is the feeling, and falling in love with it concludes the tiramisu. I’ll be back for this one, watch out for it yeah!
Total bill for 2 main 2 desserts for 2 person comes up to $52.60 which is definitely not expensive, given the quality and presentation of the food, the excellent service, the comfy environment, which makes our dinner perfect. Also please be reminded that the restaurant is currently opened during weekdays only, there are plans to open on Sat in the near future.
After we finish our dinner, the boss of the restaurant, Christopher came and we had a friendly conservation, and the restaurant even gave us two complimentary orange juice on the house. The orange juice are some of the ones that they are looking to bring in from new suppliers and are not on the menu as yet.
If you visit the place and may not agree with me that the place is that good even its a small restaurant, hidden in the heart of the city. But the fact is I enjoyed the place very much indeed, and that is enough. We received dining vouchers in the form of $15 discount for every $60 spend in the dinner menu for our next visit. I will definitely be back for more. memorable dining experience - Sweet 2 Indulge
You are always welcome to visit ladyironchef for a full-up on this trip. Whatever written above are my geniune feelings expressed in words that may be subjected to my personal distortion or bias. Please do not feel emotional or distress should you have any violent objections. Kindly click the little X at the upper, extreme right of your screen if negative adjectives would be derived. Otherwise, feel free to furnish me with comments, may it be positive or negative : )
” I fell in love with you “
Rating given:
Was deciding on a place to eat along Orchard road one weekday evening and the only place that didn't seem to be spilling with people was Crystal Jade Golden Palace (CJGP). From what I know, CJGP hovers around the top tier of the Crystal Jade chain, which includes Crystal Jade Xiao Long Bao, Crystal Jade Kitchen etc.
Located on the 5th floor of the high end The Paragon shopping mall, CJGP appeals with its sombre yet elegant entrance walkway and posh/classy interior complete with ambient lighting. Padded walls and carpets, thick cushioned chairs all give the impression of comfort at its finesse.
Shark's Fin in Coconut - This dish is out of the menu so please pardon my literal translation from Chinese to English. Served up in a coconut husk, the fins were of decent quality and in abundance together with stuff like prawns and fish maw in a nice and light broth which hinted of coconut towards the bottom.
Crystal Jade Suckling Pig - A rather impressive dish I must say, with the skin crackling crispy and the meat harbouring a light smoky taste. I liked the strings of jellyfish that came with it as well, springy with lots of bite. Not the least bit worth the price($23) though, with only a few slices of skin and meat.
Sauteed Scallop with Broccoli - Yet another dish of small proportions. Cooked just right, the broccoli was crunchy and tasty with the scallops slightly firm and not overwhelming.
Golden Palace Signature Fried Rice - I naturally had a certain level of expectation as this came billed as one of the restaurant's signature dish. Regrettably, it wasn't quite what I was looking for, coming across as decent but not outstanding. Probably the only highlight to it was the presence of salted egg yolk which gave the rice a slightly rough texture.
Mashed Taro with Gingko Nuts - The mashed taro aka Orh Nee, was smooth and light without being too moist or dry. However portions are really miserable and I can easily eat 2 bowls of equally satisfying Orh Nee for the same price.
Dinner for 2 didn't come cheap at about $128, especially with the small portions. However I can't deny that the quality of food is there and service is more than adequate. I guess that does provide some justification for the high prices. What do you think?
See all my pictures here
Rating given:
Avoid the Indian stall at this food junction.
I was there today to check out some gadgets and decided to have our dinner at the Food Junction. There were so many choices, even a Pepper Lunch Express stall. But don't know why, we decided to go for the Indian stall right at the entrance of the food court.
I ordered their chicken biryani and bf ordered mutton mutabak. At first look, the biryani looks not bad. Chicken given was pretty huge and there was cabbage and bean sprout and papadum. But when I cut into the chicken, I knew its going to be bad. The chicken had been fried before putting into the gravy and its too tough. As its fried chicken, it didn't manage to absorb the flavor of the curry. Very badly cooked. Than the cabbage had a weird taste and was too hard. The bean sprout tasted like it was half cooked! I could taste the rawness of it! Yucks!
The mutabak taste was normal but its very small. The thickness was the same as an egg prata and the filling was very little. Not worth the try.
So next time when you're there, you might want to try other stalls instead.
Beside the bad experience, I've to comment that this food junction is a good place to go for cheap food and comfort meetings. There's a corner that's decorated nicely with red cushioned chairs and round cushioned sofa seats around the sides of this corner. Great place to go to study or meeting clients. There's wifi there too.
Giving 1/5 for the bad food at the Indian stall.
If its only for the place, it'll be 4/5 for the nice comfy corner within the food junction.
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