Their signature Warm Chocolate Cake is sinfully delectable. Described as the “melt-in-the-mouth chocolate cake oozing with rich Valrhona chocolate”, Valrhona, founded since 1924, focuses mainly on top-quality luxury chocolate marketed for professional as well as for private consumption. And I would say what a huge difference it made especially since I could evaluate it to the second-rated one I had at Friends@Jelita. Also the warmness of the cake prepared freshly by the chef harmonised perfectly with the cold Homemade Vanilla Ice-cream. What is also often overlooked is the Orange Confit at the bottom that amazingly complements the bittersweet chocolate cake giving it a subtle fruity flavour to it.
Finally rinse it off with the revitalising Lavender Violet Lime that comes in a romantic purple – an Italian soda with lavender flavoured syrup that tasted so refreshing. I like it as it wasn’t very sweet but however, I would prefer if peppermint leaf were used to give it a better lift instead of the lime, as the drink tends to turn bitter towards the end. My friend had the Strawberry Lavender Lime that is very much sweeter but still as good. Definitely a favourite with the ladies!
You can view the photos and other reviews @ His Food Blog.
The good thing about working in a foreign company is you get to meet lots of people from different walks of life from different nationalities, discovering different cultures and traditions. In my company, I have worked with Americans, Dutch, Swiss, Japanese, Korean, Malaysians, Indians, Filipinos and Chinese to name a few. And it was one day that my Korean colleague introduced me to Korean food at this place. She said she find the standard of food served here similar, if not better, than most of the other Korean restaurant she has been to so far - for a fraction of the price.
Taking her word for it, we ventured to Le Meridien for one of our lunches. Lunch was Spicy Beef Soup with rice plus a choice of condiment between Kimchi, Cucumber, or Anchovies.
Serving was generous with the bowl filled to the brim with Beef, Tofu and stalks of Spring Onions (It helps that I love eating spring onions!). The soup with a dash of Sesame Seeds was served piping hot and although MSG laced, the hint of spiciness make the soup truly enjoyable to taste.
The beef slices could have been bigger but for a meal costing less than $10, I have no complains against the serving and standard of the food.
You can view more photos and other reviews @ His Food Blog.
On Friday, it was an honour to be invited to Yebber’s 1st anniversary event. The event was held in Mint (Moment of Imagination and Nostalgia with Toys) – Museum of Toys, across from Raffles Hotel. Showcasing an extensive collection of vintage toys from all over the world, it is regarded as one of the finest in the world and the largest in Southeast Asia. At the basement was Mint Café – Asia’s very first toy-themed café.
I arrived early and did a quick tour of the place before the event started at the 3rd Level and was greeted with toys and characters that I was familiar with – from Popeye to Ultraman, to retro Matchbox car collectibles, Kampung toys and even the Beatles.
All the guests were later treated to a sumptuous buffet dinner consisting of Parmesan Crusted Chicken, Seafood Platter (Calamari, Dory Fillet, & Scallops), Bruschetta (Wild Mushrooms, Tomato Checca & Salmon Cream), and Linguini with Crab Sauce.
Personally, I thought the Wild Mushroom Bruschetta was the best – the toast was crispy and the mushrooms were flavoursome. I bet the salmon cream ones were just as great but unfortunately, I didn’t managed to lay my hands on them before they were cleared out. Oh, the desserts were pretty lovely as well, especially the Strawberry Panna Cotta - the sourish berries was a delightful complement to the sweet pudding.
You can view the photos and other reviews @ His Food Blog.
It has been more than a year since my family last visited Guan Hin so a revisit was in order especially after Guan Hin had just undergone a facelift. The new Guan Hin now boasts a more spacious interior through efficient usage of space and whitewashed walls to go along with the spanking new carpet and furniture. The lingering nostalgia is gone as well, covered up by the fresh coat of paint that dons the walls.
Braised Goose - The goose was thinly sliced and tasted great with the not too salty gravy. Some work needs to be done on the beancurd though, coming across as a tad too rough for my liking. Comparisons are inevitable between Guan Hin's rendition and that of Hung Kang, with the latter taking the cake effortlessly with its polished rendition of this traditional Teochew dish.
Sauteed Kailan - Nicely stir fried without being overcooked. However it was a little too oily and watery. What I liked was that it came served with "Ti Po" or crispy fried sole fish, which gave the occasional crunch and added saltiness.
Steamed Pomfret - Fresh and steamed just right, with the flesh firm and sweet. Just the way a good dish of steamed pomfret should be. Paying compliments to the fish was the gravy, tasty from all the sour plums and tomatoes in it.
Liver Roll - The liver roll or "Ngoh Hiang" was honestly quite good. Thin crispy skin covering a mould of finely chopped liver but with only a slight hint of liver taste. Dipped in the sweet and sticky plum sauce, it made for a nice dish.
Yam Paste with Gingko Nuts - As mentioned before, I consider yam paste or Orh Nee as one of the hallmarks of Teochew food, which explains my high expectations of it. While I used to praise Guan Hin for their rather stellar rendition of this traditional Teochew dessert, the same compliments couldn't be extended that evening. Barely warm when served, it looked pre made and as though it had been sitting in a corner for quite a long period of time. Texture wise, it wasn't smooth, coming across as chunky and oily. Even the gingko nuts were too soft and bland. A total disappointment.
A rather filling dinner for 5 came up to about $90, which really isn't very expensive but somehow or rather, food standard has slided a little, especially in the case of the Orh Nee. Service was acceptable but could be better. Has the hype over Guan Hin resulted in a decline in its culinary standard - one that took decades to build?
Fortunate Xin Fu Yum Cha Restaurant should be quite a familar name with most people, largely due to their heavily advertisements on TV. The other being Yum Cha restaurant which also did a lot of TV advertisements. Their main branch is located at Toa Payoh, with a second added at Intenational Building, Orchard Road (beside Lido Scotts) which i say makes it easier for patrons to visit them because of the accessible location.
Anyway, Fortunate Yum Cha is currently having a promotion, 50% off Dim Sum during weekdays 3-5pm, and i must admit that’s the main reason which draws me to the place.
The restaurant is old-school traditional restaurant, with the decors your typical chinese restaurant style. When my buddy and I arrived at 245pm, we went into the place and browse through the menu until 3pm for the promotion to start.
We asked politely whether we can used the powerpoint for our laptop, but we were told they’ll charged us a fee of $5 per hour for the usage. This rather turn us off as we needed the laptop for some discussions, and we even contemplate leaving to find another place which allow us the use of powerpoint. But we decided to stay, have some dim-sum and get off.
Well, thats the main issue, if they had allowed us to use the powerpoint, I believe we’ll have stay longer and order more Dim Sum, but due to the fact that we aren’t allow to use, we order just about 7 Dim Sum between the two of us.
Another issue which we encountered was that the staff told us that the Dim Sum promotion from 3-5pm will be only 30% instead of 50% which we saw on the newspaper, because the 50% is for Dim Sum during 8-10am. We accepted it without much questioning because there was still 30% discount anyway.
But shortly after that, when the assistant manager passed by, I inquire her on the promotion and she told me it was 50% during 3-5pm also. Well, speak of double standards.
Oh ya, and as the place wasn’t really crowded, they didn’t have their usual staff pushing the trolley around to offer Dim Sum. Instead, we ordered the dim sum, and they bring it to our table.
Siew Mai ($4) Like i said before during my visit to Red Star previously, I always felt the true test for a dim sum restaurant will be its Siew Mai, and the ones here are good! The prawn in the siew mai is big, real big!
Prawn Dumplings ($4) The Prawn Dumplings or more commonly known as Har-Gau, is also excellent. The skin of the Har-Gau isn’t too sticky like some of the one available elsewhere, one bite into the prawn dumpling, and you will get the result below!
A big prawn inside the skin of the Har-Gau. Simply goodness!
Fried Carrot Cake ($3.80) The waitress came up with a stove and fried the carrot cake right in front of us. I suppose its not bad, at the orginal price of $3.80 i probably won’t take it again. But having 50% discount, i guess $1.90 isn’t that expensive considering we had 4 pieces of carrot cake.
Char Siew Chee Chong Fun ($3.50) Chee Chong Fun is always one Dim Sum which i’ll always order when I go to dim sum restaurant. No exceptions here, the chee chong fun is like your usual chinese restaurant one.
BBQ Pork Bun ($2.50) There is no problem with the char siew bun, the bun is good, but the only thing is if i’m not wrong, usually char siew buns come in 3 instead of 2? I got a feeling that because there was two of us so they served two buns instead of three? Maybe this is how Fortunate serve their char siew bun, can someone enlighten me on this?
Pork Ribs ($3.80) The pork ribs were not to my liking. N’uff said!
Century Egg Congee ($3) Usually i don’t really facny century egg congee, but since my buddy wanted some, so we order this to share. And to my surprise, the congee was not bad! But again, $3 for a bowl of congee is probably too high a price for me to order again, unless there’s a promotion again of course.
Mango Pudding ($5) The mango pudding was really ordinary like all normal mango pudding, and at $5 you can call me a miser, but I won’t pay the money for it. Simply its not worth the five bucks
Total Bill was $21.10 for 2 person, 7 dim sum, 1 dessert, chinese tea. The total price before the 50% discount was $30. I must say the dim sum at Fortunate Yum Cha is quite average, i’ll still prefer Red Star over Fortunate, but given there’s a 50% discount again, i won’t mind going back to Fortunate for some dim sum.
Service-wise you shouldn’t really be expecting any, and go during weekdays where there’s 50% discount. But then nowadays many other restaurants are offering 50% discount on their dim sum, such as Ah Yit abalone restaurant, and Tung Lok Seafood.
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 : )
My colleague and I were wandering along East Coast road wondering what to have for lunch when we stumbled upon Stewhaus - a nondescript cafe located just next to Sushi Jiro.
Stepping into the simple no frills interior made me feel all warm and fuzzy, with its wooden finishings and smallish interior - just like returning home. Service was cordial but a little inattentive that sunny weekday afternoon though.
I've never actually drank summer vegetable soup before so it was quite an experience for me. The soup was refreshing and light but I didn't quite take to the kidney beans (personal preference). Overall a decent soup, but not something I would order again. As for the mushroom soup, it was nice and thick with generous bits of mushroom. However I did find it a bit too salty for my liking.
Half Pork Knuckle - Pork Knuckles are usually grilled (at least those that I've eaten) so it came as a surprise that Stewhaus's rendition was baked instead. The pros of such a cooking method is that the pork knuckle turns out healthier (less oil) but the downside is that it sacrifices quite a bit on taste and texture. For one, the meat wasn't fibrous, coming across as gluten like and the nice grilled taste which I personally like was missing. Thumbs up for the skin still retaining its crispiness though.
Mixed Berry Stew - Another first for me. Zesty from all the berries yet sweet at the same time from the ice cream. Very contrasting flavours indeed but not exactly something to shout about.
$38 for 2 soups, 1 main and 1 dessert isn't exactly expensive but its not cheap either. Food quality falls just above the average mark and only service charge is levied (No GST). Would I be back? If I happen to be in that area, maybe.
With Seasons Reasons, the reasons is every seasons! With a passion for a different dining experience, Seasons Reasons is designed based on a quest of the 4 seasons - Summer, Fall, Winter & Spring.
Well, I am back at Raffles City again, just after two weeks since last visiting OChaCha, but then i can’t help it, nowadays there are simply too much to eat at Raffles City! So don’t be surprise if there are more new posts coming up.
Seasons Reasons is a small restaurant among the many new restaurants at Raffles City basement, but it stood out for its simple and comfortable setting. The menu is simple, with the usual starters, salad, soup, sandwiches, and main course. No doubt there are not much variety under each category, but i’ll say its more than enough for the average diners.
Appetizers start at $8.50 for their “hot pick” Golden potato prawn, to $13.80 for their seafood combo. Prices for the main course are pretty reasonable too, ranging from $11 to $20. But they are quite short on their spaghetti selections though, only two types are available. And i lamented the fact that they didn’t have much desserts to choose from.
Like mentioned above, the settings for the restaurant is simple and elegant, and there are also the cozy corner seats for diners who will like to enjoy some privacy.
My buddy and I didn’t have much trouble choosing what we want for lunch, after going through the simple menu once, we decided on Fish & chips, and lamb chop. We didn’t have any starters or soup as it was a simple lunch for us.
Fish & Chips ($14.80) Cod fish tempura and wedges served with lemongrass chili. To be honest, my first impression of the dish, it looks like just any other ordinary Fish & chips at other restaurants. But, my buddy commented that the fish was crispy on the outside, and where some other restaurants fish might get too dry, the one here is just nice. The interior of the fish was soft and not too dry.
Another point to note will be most places served their fish & chips with just tartar sauce, but Seasons Reasons had the tartar sauce, and also lemongrass chili which i find rather special.
Lamb Chop ($19.80) Baby rack of lamb char-grilled to medium well served with a glazed of honey mustard and fork mashed potato. The lamb chop at $19.80, is the most expensive dish served on the menu. And it did not disappoint, with a generous serving of 4 lamb racks, i believe it will fill most people.
The honey mustard sauce adds flavour to the grilled lamb chop, the meat is slightly tough, you’ll need some effort in biting and chewing the meat. But i do find the price of the lamb chop slightly steep, and most probably won’t order it again.
Total Bill was $40.72 for 2 person, not really expensive given we are dining in a restaurant. If you are looking for a simple dining place while you are at Raffles City, look no further than Seasons Reasons. The restaurant do put in effort in the food presentation, no doubt taste is the vital factor, but one tastebud will definitely open up if the food is presented nicely.
With so many restaurants at Raffles City, i don’t think i will be visiting again any sooner, unless they got new menu or promotions. I won’t say the food is excellent, but i’ll say its worth a try if you haven’t been there before.
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 : )
An entry long overdue. Had lunch at Eighteen Chefs with a few friends one weekday afternoon. What's interesting and noble (to a certain extent) about Eighteen Chefs is that it takes in ex convicts and delinquents and helps them turn over a new leaf by training them in the food business. Its owner and head chef, Benny Se Teo, who was a former drug addict, trained at Jamie Oliver's London restaurant, Fifteen.
Located at a corner of Eastpoint just next to the POSB, Eighteen Chefs has a rather simple interior which can seat up to about 50 pax. This place runs on a self service system hence no service charge is levied. To order your food, simply fill up a form and bring it to the counter to make payment. Your orders will then be served to you shortly.
Baked Rice with Creamy White Sauce & Chicken Slices ($8.90) - You get to choose what kind of sauce you want for your baked rice as well as the ingredients that go into it. Honestly, the baked rice I had (see above) was decent but nothing to shout about. While the cheese was nice and thick, I found the rice a little too bland for my liking and the cream sauce did little to help. But at $8.90, its relatively cheaper and quality is slightly better than the ones they serve at Swensens.
Eighteen Funky Strawberry ($5.80) - $5.80 for 4 scoops of ice cream served with strawberries, hazelnuts and oreo biscuits - now that should be excellent value for money really. It would have been better if the strawberries had been fresher and if the ice cream had been been richer. My guess is that they gave us tub ice cream from the supermarket.
A decent lunch for 3 inclusive of a dessert to share cost just over $35, which is still pretty acceptable for the quality. Service was excellent and even though the food wasn't exactly stellar, I'll be back to try other stuff. After all, life is all about second chances isn't it?
Sweet to indulge - the catchy tagline behind Sweet Indulgence, a quaint little cafe that resides along quiet Stanley Street and the venue of choice for our monthly dinner.
Fronted by a pink signboard, Sweet Indulgence's interior is rather small and "cafeish", sitting up to a maximum of 24 pax while the al fresco area can take another 10 or so. The thing that irked me quite a bit was that the air conditioning wasn't cool enough even though it had just rained. Imagine if it was a bright sunny afternoon. On a more positive note, the entire place exuded a nice cosy vibe, setting the tone right for a relaxing after work dinner.
I didn't think too much of the complimentary bread. For starters, it wasn't served warm. Not to mention it was dry and sparse as well. But hey, its free.
I liked the shooter of pear juice - light and sweet. Complimentary as well.
Salad - A simple salad with only freshly cut vegetables. Pity about the overwhelming Italian dressing, which came across as much too strong. A light dressing is always welcomed.
Cream of Broccoli - Salty salty salty. That was the first impression that hit me when I took a sip of the soup. Other then that, nothing else actually registered in my taste buds which was quite sad really.
Garlic Prawns - This dish came as compensation due to the removal of a choice for the main course from our pre agreed list. To be honest, I'm almost glad that happened as the prawns were really quite good. Thought small, they were fresh and crunchy with a hint of pepper. Light yet full of flavour. I would have stuffed myself silly if not for the fact that we had to share a bowl amongst 5 pax.
Poached Salmon with White Sauce & Herbs, served with Pasta and Seasonal Vegetables - I didn't choose this main but had a taste of it. First thoughts, the salmon had none of the overwhelming raw fishy taste that I absolutely abhor. Drizzled with the creamy white sauce, it was actually quite decent. The same can't be said about the pasta though, which was bland and overcooked, as evident by the overly soft texture.
Oven Baked Chicken Thigh Steak with Crisp Skin served with Chef Sauce & Potato Mash infused with Vanilla and Cream - I opted for this as my main and wasn't too bowled over by it. For one, I had expected crackling crispy skin but got none. The meat was tender and tasty though but could have been juicier. As for the mashed potato, I would have preferred it to be smoother. But having said that, I appreciate the creativity behind the infusion of vanilla and cream.
Strawberry Cheesecake - I honestly don't know what to make of this. Sweet Indulgence is known for its desserts but if the cheesecake was anything to go by, I wouldn't buy it whole sale. Aesthetics aside, the cake was moist yet firm but almost tasteless. In fact, it was so forgettable that I didn't remember eating it until I saw my empty plate. And its tiny by the way.
Warm Choco Lava Indulgence - We got this complimentary dessert to share between 4 pax as Sweet Indulgence swapped our agreed upon Tiramisu to the lacklustre Strawberry Cheesecake due to some logistics problem. Billed as a best selling hot favourite, the choco lava cake oozed decadent thick chocolate through a break in the outer crust. Now here's the part that really bugs me. The crust was very kueh like - soft and limp, which meant that the whole thing came crumbling down after we made a hole in the crust. But for something that retails at $8.90, I guess its quite worth it.
The 20 of us chalked up a bill of $671 inclusive of the $11 for corkage. That works out to be $33 per pax which I find pretty reasonable for the amount and quality of food we got (we got a glass of coke each as well). Just for the record, food quality hovers just around the average mark but service and service recovery is quite good. Okay to give it a try if you are in the area. Just don't get your expectations too high.
Bistro One Zero Three sounds quite interesting right? Being the inquisitive me, i was naturally attracted to the name, and hence the visit to the place. Located at Pasir Panjang, its not a place where you’ll imagine a restaurant like Bistro One Zero Three will be situated. Nevertheless, the ‘ulu’ place makes it fun to go to, as though like we are on a food-hunting trait.
Initially we thought it was near the Haw Par Villa area, so we started looking for it there, but then how wrong we were, Bistro One Zero Three is at the other end of Pasir Panjang Road, quite near to PSA Building. If you are going there by train, i suggest stopping at HarbourFront and take a bus there, its only a couple of bus-stops away from HarbourFront.
The cosy 52 seater bistro is into its tenth-month, and started by the owner Eric, together with his sister and his sister-in-law as the chef. Stepping into Bistro One Zero Three, we felt totally at home, the homely-wood furniture plays a part, but it is the friendly service of the owners who welcomed us enthusiastically, and serving us ice-water while we were going through the menu, that impressed us.
The Menu comprises of sandwiches, gourmet salads, some sides, spaghetti and the mains. They are actually in the midst of introducing more items to the menu, but meanwhile, this are the options available.
Besides dining, Bistro One Zero Three also provides services for birthday-party events, company functions. The previous night they just had a event where guests let their hairs down and party till late night at the bistro. The bistro is a draw for the working crowd during weekdays, and on fridays & saturdays there are people like you and me who specially visit the place.
Well, i like the early-bird feeling, when we got there for a early lunch, we had the whole place to ourselves, totally like what i experienced in Sweet Indulgence! Being hungry people, we went through the menu and didn’t have much problem ordering the food. My dining companion being a Salmon-lover, naturally she’ll order Pan-fried Salmon. My two other mates had Cajun chicken wrap and Salmon & crab meat spaghetti, while i had the bacon, ham, mushroom spaghetti.
Salmon & Crab Meat Spaghetti ($14.50) We began our meal at Bistro One Zero Three with the Salmon & Crab meat Spaghetti. With two generous piece of salmon on the tomato-based spaghetti, it got our salivary gland working even before we started eating! While slurping down the pasta, we can also taste the crab meat which goes quite well together.
Bacon, Ham & Mushroom Spaghetti ($13.50) There are tomato, carbonara style and aglio olio options to choose from, I chose carbonara style since the other spaghetti is tomato-based. The carbonara Bacon, Mushroom Spaghetti here at Bistro One Zero Three is slightly different from the usual one you’ll find in other restaurants.
Usually the egg in carbonara style will be mixed together and cook with the heat of the pasta itself, but in this case, the chef put on his thinking cap and played with his creativity by leaving the egg yolk on top of the pasta. This is a pleasant surprise for us knowing the chef actually put in his heart & soul into making something different from the norm.
Well, i’ll preferred the salmon spaghetti to this one, not that this is not good, but after trying both pasta, we come to a consensus that the tomato-based spaghetti here taste better!
Pan-fried Salmon ($16.50) With Balsamic glaze & acompanied with seasonal vegetables, the Pan-fried salmon is a must-have for all the salmon-lovers out there. Balsamic dressing is a traditional flavoured vinegar commonly used in Italian cuisine, the Balsamic glaze here added a slight twist of Italiano to the salmon.
Cajun Chicken Wrap ($15.90) Tomato herb Tortilla & Mesclun mix are found inside the Cajun Chicken Wrap. The chicken wrap does give me an oddly feeling of ‘popiah’. The two Cajun chicken wrap serving is rather small, and definitely not enough to serve a grown-up (well depending on the appetite also). My mate wasn’t full after he finished it.
Warm Brownie w/ French Vanilla ice cream ($5) Who can resist the temptation of desserts after a meal? Not me, there is always room in my stomach for them! For the record, i love my desserts more than my main.
The warm brownie together with a scoop of the cold ice cream seems to match nicely together. The brownie is not too sweet also.
Panna cotta with Mocha ($5) One thing about Bistro One Zero Three is that they currently have limited desserts selection, only two! So we ordered both the brownie and this one to share. The owners are looking for new additions to the desserts section, so we had to make do with this two for now.
At first glance, we thought that the dessert was a soup, but on second note, it was not! Panna Cotta is actually an Italian Dessert made by simmering together cream, milk and sugar, mixing this with gelatin, and letting it cool until set.
Panna Cotta is usually eaten plained or sweetened with vanilla, chocolate or fruits. But the one we had at Bistro One Zero Three gave a different twist by adding Mocha to flavoured the dessert.
Total bill for 4 person (4 mains & 2 desserts) adds up to $82.86 (including GST & service charge). Overall the experience at Bistro One Zero Three is a positive one, and its a good place to chill out & dine with your friends. The place isn’t really inaccessible if you know where it is, just a few bus-stops away from Harbourfront. And the cozy environment and friendly service from the boss definitely makes it a plus for a revisit, but they need to work on their desserts selections if they are to satisfy my desserts-demand.
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 : )
1=SGD 0.0587
Their signature Warm Chocolate Cake is sinfully delectable. Described as the “melt-in-the-mouth chocolate cake oozing with rich Valrhona chocolate”, Valrhona, founded since 1924, focuses mainly on top-quality luxury chocolate marketed for professional as well as for private consumption. And I would say what a huge difference it made especially since I could evaluate it to the second-rated one I had at Friends@Jelita. Also the warmness of the cake prepared freshly by the chef harmonised perfectly with the cold Homemade Vanilla Ice-cream. What is also often overlooked is the Orange Confit at the bottom that amazingly complements the bittersweet chocolate cake giving it a subtle fruity flavour to it.
Finally rinse it off with the revitalising Lavender Violet Lime that comes in a romantic purple – an Italian soda with lavender flavoured syrup that tasted so refreshing. I like it as it wasn’t very sweet but however, I would prefer if peppermint leaf were used to give it a better lift instead of the lime, as the drink tends to turn bitter towards the end. My friend had the Strawberry Lavender Lime that is very much sweeter but still as good. Definitely a favourite with the ladies!
You can view the photos and other reviews @ His Food Blog.
Rating given:
The good thing about working in a foreign company is you get to meet lots of people from different walks of life from different nationalities, discovering different cultures and traditions. In my company, I have worked with Americans, Dutch, Swiss, Japanese, Korean, Malaysians, Indians, Filipinos and Chinese to name a few. And it was one day that my Korean colleague introduced me to Korean food at this place. She said she find the standard of food served here similar, if not better, than most of the other Korean restaurant she has been to so far - for a fraction of the price.
Taking her word for it, we ventured to Le Meridien for one of our lunches. Lunch was Spicy Beef Soup with rice plus a choice of condiment between Kimchi, Cucumber, or Anchovies.
Serving was generous with the bowl filled to the brim with Beef, Tofu and stalks of Spring Onions (It helps that I love eating spring onions!). The soup with a dash of Sesame Seeds was served piping hot and although MSG laced, the hint of spiciness make the soup truly enjoyable to taste.
The beef slices could have been bigger but for a meal costing less than $10, I have no complains against the serving and standard of the food.
You can view more photos and other reviews @ His Food Blog.
Rating given:
On Friday, it was an honour to be invited to Yebber’s 1st anniversary event. The event was held in Mint (Moment of Imagination and Nostalgia with Toys) – Museum of Toys, across from Raffles Hotel. Showcasing an extensive collection of vintage toys from all over the world, it is regarded as one of the finest in the world and the largest in Southeast Asia. At the basement was Mint Café – Asia’s very first toy-themed café.
I arrived early and did a quick tour of the place before the event started at the 3rd Level and was greeted with toys and characters that I was familiar with – from Popeye to Ultraman, to retro Matchbox car collectibles, Kampung toys and even the Beatles.
All the guests were later treated to a sumptuous buffet dinner consisting of Parmesan Crusted Chicken, Seafood Platter (Calamari, Dory Fillet, & Scallops), Bruschetta (Wild Mushrooms, Tomato Checca & Salmon Cream), and Linguini with Crab Sauce.
Personally, I thought the Wild Mushroom Bruschetta was the best – the toast was crispy and the mushrooms were flavoursome. I bet the salmon cream ones were just as great but unfortunately, I didn’t managed to lay my hands on them before they were cleared out. Oh, the desserts were pretty lovely as well, especially the Strawberry Panna Cotta - the sourish berries was a delightful complement to the sweet pudding.
You can view the photos and other reviews @ His Food Blog.
Rating given:
It has been more than a year since my family last visited Guan Hin so a revisit was in order especially after Guan Hin had just undergone a facelift. The new Guan Hin now boasts a more spacious interior through efficient usage of space and whitewashed walls to go along with the spanking new carpet and furniture. The lingering nostalgia is gone as well, covered up by the fresh coat of paint that dons the walls.
Braised Goose - The goose was thinly sliced and tasted great with the not too salty gravy. Some work needs to be done on the beancurd though, coming across as a tad too rough for my liking. Comparisons are inevitable between Guan Hin's rendition and that of Hung Kang, with the latter taking the cake effortlessly with its polished rendition of this traditional Teochew dish.
Sauteed Kailan - Nicely stir fried without being overcooked. However it was a little too oily and watery. What I liked was that it came served with "Ti Po" or crispy fried sole fish, which gave the occasional crunch and added saltiness.
Steamed Pomfret - Fresh and steamed just right, with the flesh firm and sweet. Just the way a good dish of steamed pomfret should be. Paying compliments to the fish was the gravy, tasty from all the sour plums and tomatoes in it.
Liver Roll - The liver roll or "Ngoh Hiang" was honestly quite good. Thin crispy skin covering a mould of finely chopped liver but with only a slight hint of liver taste. Dipped in the sweet and sticky plum sauce, it made for a nice dish.
Yam Paste with Gingko Nuts - As mentioned before, I consider yam paste or Orh Nee as one of the hallmarks of Teochew food, which explains my high expectations of it. While I used to praise Guan Hin for their rather stellar rendition of this traditional Teochew dessert, the same compliments couldn't be extended that evening. Barely warm when served, it looked pre made and as though it had been sitting in a corner for quite a long period of time. Texture wise, it wasn't smooth, coming across as chunky and oily. Even the gingko nuts were too soft and bland. A total disappointment.
A rather filling dinner for 5 came up to about $90, which really isn't very expensive but somehow or rather, food standard has slided a little, especially in the case of the Orh Nee. Service was acceptable but could be better. Has the hype over Guan Hin resulted in a decline in its culinary standard - one that took decades to build?
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Fortunate Xin Fu Yum Cha Restaurant should be quite a familar name with most people, largely due to their heavily advertisements on TV. The other being Yum Cha restaurant which also did a lot of TV advertisements. Their main branch is located at Toa Payoh, with a second added at Intenational Building, Orchard Road (beside Lido Scotts) which i say makes it easier for patrons to visit them because of the accessible location.
Anyway, Fortunate Yum Cha is currently having a promotion, 50% off Dim Sum during weekdays 3-5pm, and i must admit that’s the main reason which draws me to the place.
The restaurant is old-school traditional restaurant, with the decors your typical chinese restaurant style. When my buddy and I arrived at 245pm, we went into the place and browse through the menu until 3pm for the promotion to start.
We asked politely whether we can used the powerpoint for our laptop, but we were told they’ll charged us a fee of $5 per hour for the usage. This rather turn us off as we needed the laptop for some discussions, and we even contemplate leaving to find another place which allow us the use of powerpoint. But we decided to stay, have some dim-sum and get off.
Well, thats the main issue, if they had allowed us to use the powerpoint, I believe we’ll have stay longer and order more Dim Sum, but due to the fact that we aren’t allow to use, we order just about 7 Dim Sum between the two of us.
Another issue which we encountered was that the staff told us that the Dim Sum promotion from 3-5pm will be only 30% instead of 50% which we saw on the newspaper, because the 50% is for Dim Sum during 8-10am. We accepted it without much questioning because there was still 30% discount anyway.
But shortly after that, when the assistant manager passed by, I inquire her on the promotion and she told me it was 50% during 3-5pm also. Well, speak of double standards.
Oh ya, and as the place wasn’t really crowded, they didn’t have their usual staff pushing the trolley around to offer Dim Sum. Instead, we ordered the dim sum, and they bring it to our table.
Siew Mai ($4)
Like i said before during my visit to Red Star previously, I always felt the true test for a dim sum restaurant will be its Siew Mai, and the ones here are good! The prawn in the siew mai is big, real big!
Prawn Dumplings ($4)
The Prawn Dumplings or more commonly known as Har-Gau, is also excellent. The skin of the Har-Gau isn’t too sticky like some of the one available elsewhere, one bite into the prawn dumpling, and you will get the result below!
A big prawn inside the skin of the Har-Gau. Simply goodness!
Fried Carrot Cake ($3.80)
The waitress came up with a stove and fried the carrot cake right in front of us. I suppose its not bad, at the orginal price of $3.80 i probably won’t take it again. But having 50% discount, i guess $1.90 isn’t that expensive considering we had 4 pieces of carrot cake.
Char Siew Chee Chong Fun ($3.50)
Chee Chong Fun is always one Dim Sum which i’ll always order when I go to dim sum restaurant. No exceptions here, the chee chong fun is like your usual chinese restaurant one.
BBQ Pork Bun ($2.50)
There is no problem with the char siew bun, the bun is good, but the only thing is if i’m not wrong, usually char siew buns come in 3 instead of 2? I got a feeling that because there was two of us so they served two buns instead of three? Maybe this is how Fortunate serve their char siew bun, can someone enlighten me on this?
Pork Ribs ($3.80)
The pork ribs were not to my liking. N’uff said!
Century Egg Congee ($3)
Usually i don’t really facny century egg congee, but since my buddy wanted some, so we order this to share. And to my surprise, the congee was not bad! But again, $3 for a bowl of congee is probably too high a price for me to order again, unless there’s a promotion again of course.
Mango Pudding ($5)
The mango pudding was really ordinary like all normal mango pudding, and at $5 you can call me a miser, but I won’t pay the money for it. Simply its not worth the five bucks
Total Bill was $21.10 for 2 person, 7 dim sum, 1 dessert, chinese tea. The total price before the 50% discount was $30. I must say the dim sum at Fortunate Yum Cha is quite average, i’ll still prefer Red Star over Fortunate, but given there’s a 50% discount again, i won’t mind going back to Fortunate for some dim sum.
Service-wise you shouldn’t really be expecting any, and go during weekdays where there’s 50% discount. But then nowadays many other restaurants are offering 50% discount on their dim sum, such as Ah Yit abalone restaurant, and Tung Lok Seafood.
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 love dim sum, dim sum love me “
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My colleague and I were wandering along East Coast road wondering what to have for lunch when we stumbled upon Stewhaus - a nondescript cafe located just next to Sushi Jiro.
Stepping into the simple no frills interior made me feel all warm and fuzzy, with its wooden finishings and smallish interior - just like returning home. Service was cordial but a little inattentive that sunny weekday afternoon though.
I've never actually drank summer vegetable soup before so it was quite an experience for me. The soup was refreshing and light but I didn't quite take to the kidney beans (personal preference). Overall a decent soup, but not something I would order again. As for the mushroom soup, it was nice and thick with generous bits of mushroom. However I did find it a bit too salty for my liking.
Half Pork Knuckle - Pork Knuckles are usually grilled (at least those that I've eaten) so it came as a surprise that Stewhaus's rendition was baked instead. The pros of such a cooking method is that the pork knuckle turns out healthier (less oil) but the downside is that it sacrifices quite a bit on taste and texture. For one, the meat wasn't fibrous, coming across as gluten like and the nice grilled taste which I personally like was missing. Thumbs up for the skin still retaining its crispiness though.
Mixed Berry Stew - Another first for me. Zesty from all the berries yet sweet at the same time from the ice cream. Very contrasting flavours indeed but not exactly something to shout about.
$38 for 2 soups, 1 main and 1 dessert isn't exactly expensive but its not cheap either. Food quality falls just above the average mark and only service charge is levied (No GST). Would I be back? If I happen to be in that area, maybe.
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With Seasons Reasons, the reasons is every seasons! With a passion for a different dining experience, Seasons Reasons is designed based on a quest of the 4 seasons - Summer, Fall, Winter & Spring.
Well, I am back at Raffles City again, just after two weeks since last visiting OChaCha, but then i can’t help it, nowadays there are simply too much to eat at Raffles City! So don’t be surprise if there are more new posts coming up.
Seasons Reasons is a small restaurant among the many new restaurants at Raffles City basement, but it stood out for its simple and comfortable setting. The menu is simple, with the usual starters, salad, soup, sandwiches, and main course. No doubt there are not much variety under each category, but i’ll say its more than enough for the average diners.
Appetizers start at $8.50 for their “hot pick” Golden potato prawn, to $13.80 for their seafood combo. Prices for the main course are pretty reasonable too, ranging from $11 to $20. But they are quite short on their spaghetti selections though, only two types are available. And i lamented the fact that they didn’t have much desserts to choose from.
Like mentioned above, the settings for the restaurant is simple and elegant, and there are also the cozy corner seats for diners who will like to enjoy some privacy.
My buddy and I didn’t have much trouble choosing what we want for lunch, after going through the simple menu once, we decided on Fish & chips, and lamb chop. We didn’t have any starters or soup as it was a simple lunch for us.
Fish & Chips ($14.80)
Cod fish tempura and wedges served with lemongrass chili. To be honest, my first impression of the dish, it looks like just any other ordinary Fish & chips at other restaurants. But, my buddy commented that the fish was crispy on the outside, and where some other restaurants fish might get too dry, the one here is just nice. The interior of the fish was soft and not too dry.
Another point to note will be most places served their fish & chips with just tartar sauce, but Seasons Reasons had the tartar sauce, and also lemongrass chili which i find rather special.
Lamb Chop ($19.80)
Baby rack of lamb char-grilled to medium well served with a glazed of honey mustard and fork mashed potato. The lamb chop at $19.80, is the most expensive dish served on the menu. And it did not disappoint, with a generous serving of 4 lamb racks, i believe it will fill most people.
The honey mustard sauce adds flavour to the grilled lamb chop, the meat is slightly tough, you’ll need some effort in biting and chewing the meat. But i do find the price of the lamb chop slightly steep, and most probably won’t order it again.
Total Bill was $40.72 for 2 person, not really expensive given we are dining in a restaurant. If you are looking for a simple dining place while you are at Raffles City, look no further than Seasons Reasons. The restaurant do put in effort in the food presentation, no doubt taste is the vital factor, but one tastebud will definitely open up if the food is presented nicely.
With so many restaurants at Raffles City, i don’t think i will be visiting again any sooner, unless they got new menu or promotions. I won’t say the food is excellent, but i’ll say its worth a try if you haven’t been there before.
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 : )
” For everything, there is a Reason “
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An entry long overdue. Had lunch at Eighteen Chefs with a few friends one weekday afternoon. What's interesting and noble (to a certain extent) about Eighteen Chefs is that it takes in ex convicts and delinquents and helps them turn over a new leaf by training them in the food business. Its owner and head chef, Benny Se Teo, who was a former drug addict, trained at Jamie Oliver's London restaurant, Fifteen.
Located at a corner of Eastpoint just next to the POSB, Eighteen Chefs has a rather simple interior which can seat up to about 50 pax. This place runs on a self service system hence no service charge is levied. To order your food, simply fill up a form and bring it to the counter to make payment. Your orders will then be served to you shortly.
Baked Rice with Creamy White Sauce & Chicken Slices ($8.90) - You get to choose what kind of sauce you want for your baked rice as well as the ingredients that go into it. Honestly, the baked rice I had (see above) was decent but nothing to shout about. While the cheese was nice and thick, I found the rice a little too bland for my liking and the cream sauce did little to help. But at $8.90, its relatively cheaper and quality is slightly better than the ones they serve at Swensens.
Eighteen Funky Strawberry ($5.80) - $5.80 for 4 scoops of ice cream served with strawberries, hazelnuts and oreo biscuits - now that should be excellent value for money really. It would have been better if the strawberries had been fresher and if the ice cream had been been richer. My guess is that they gave us tub ice cream from the supermarket.
A decent lunch for 3 inclusive of a dessert to share cost just over $35, which is still pretty acceptable for the quality. Service was excellent and even though the food wasn't exactly stellar, I'll be back to try other stuff. After all, life is all about second chances isn't it?
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Sweet to indulge - the catchy tagline behind Sweet Indulgence, a quaint little cafe that resides along quiet Stanley Street and the venue of choice for our monthly dinner.
Fronted by a pink signboard, Sweet Indulgence's interior is rather small and "cafeish", sitting up to a maximum of 24 pax while the al fresco area can take another 10 or so. The thing that irked me quite a bit was that the air conditioning wasn't cool enough even though it had just rained. Imagine if it was a bright sunny afternoon. On a more positive note, the entire place exuded a nice cosy vibe, setting the tone right for a relaxing after work dinner.
I didn't think too much of the complimentary bread. For starters, it wasn't served warm. Not to mention it was dry and sparse as well. But hey, its free.
I liked the shooter of pear juice - light and sweet. Complimentary as well.
Salad - A simple salad with only freshly cut vegetables. Pity about the overwhelming Italian dressing, which came across as much too strong. A light dressing is always welcomed.
Cream of Broccoli - Salty salty salty. That was the first impression that hit me when I took a sip of the soup. Other then that, nothing else actually registered in my taste buds which was quite sad really.
Garlic Prawns - This dish came as compensation due to the removal of a choice for the main course from our pre agreed list. To be honest, I'm almost glad that happened as the prawns were really quite good. Thought small, they were fresh and crunchy with a hint of pepper. Light yet full of flavour. I would have stuffed myself silly if not for the fact that we had to share a bowl amongst 5 pax.
Poached Salmon with White Sauce & Herbs, served with Pasta and Seasonal Vegetables - I didn't choose this main but had a taste of it. First thoughts, the salmon had none of the overwhelming raw fishy taste that I absolutely abhor. Drizzled with the creamy white sauce, it was actually quite decent. The same can't be said about the pasta though, which was bland and overcooked, as evident by the overly soft texture.
Oven Baked Chicken Thigh Steak with Crisp Skin served with Chef Sauce & Potato Mash infused with Vanilla and Cream - I opted for this as my main and wasn't too bowled over by it. For one, I had expected crackling crispy skin but got none. The meat was tender and tasty though but could have been juicier. As for the mashed potato, I would have preferred it to be smoother. But having said that, I appreciate the creativity behind the infusion of vanilla and cream.
Strawberry Cheesecake - I honestly don't know what to make of this. Sweet Indulgence is known for its desserts but if the cheesecake was anything to go by, I wouldn't buy it whole sale. Aesthetics aside, the cake was moist yet firm but almost tasteless. In fact, it was so forgettable that I didn't remember eating it until I saw my empty plate. And its tiny by the way.
Warm Choco Lava Indulgence - We got this complimentary dessert to share between 4 pax as Sweet Indulgence swapped our agreed upon Tiramisu to the lacklustre Strawberry Cheesecake due to some logistics problem. Billed as a best selling hot favourite, the choco lava cake oozed decadent thick chocolate through a break in the outer crust. Now here's the part that really bugs me. The crust was very kueh like - soft and limp, which meant that the whole thing came crumbling down after we made a hole in the crust. But for something that retails at $8.90, I guess its quite worth it.
The 20 of us chalked up a bill of $671 inclusive of the $11 for corkage. That works out to be $33 per pax which I find pretty reasonable for the amount and quality of food we got (we got a glass of coke each as well). Just for the record, food quality hovers just around the average mark but service and service recovery is quite good. Okay to give it a try if you are in the area. Just don't get your expectations too high.
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Bistro One Zero Three sounds quite interesting right? Being the inquisitive me, i was naturally attracted to the name, and hence the visit to the place. Located at Pasir Panjang, its not a place where you’ll imagine a restaurant like Bistro One Zero Three will be situated. Nevertheless, the ‘ulu’ place makes it fun to go to, as though like we are on a food-hunting trait.
Initially we thought it was near the Haw Par Villa area, so we started looking for it there, but then how wrong we were, Bistro One Zero Three is at the other end of Pasir Panjang Road, quite near to PSA Building. If you are going there by train, i suggest stopping at HarbourFront and take a bus there, its only a couple of bus-stops away from HarbourFront.
The cosy 52 seater bistro is into its tenth-month, and started by the owner Eric, together with his sister and his sister-in-law as the chef. Stepping into Bistro One Zero Three, we felt totally at home, the homely-wood furniture plays a part, but it is the friendly service of the owners who welcomed us enthusiastically, and serving us ice-water while we were going through the menu, that impressed us.
The Menu comprises of sandwiches, gourmet salads, some sides, spaghetti and the mains. They are actually in the midst of introducing more items to the menu, but meanwhile, this are the options available.
Besides dining, Bistro One Zero Three also provides services for birthday-party events, company functions. The previous night they just had a event where guests let their hairs down and party till late night at the bistro. The bistro is a draw for the working crowd during weekdays, and on fridays & saturdays there are people like you and me who specially visit the place.
Well, i like the early-bird feeling, when we got there for a early lunch, we had the whole place to ourselves, totally like what i experienced in Sweet Indulgence! Being hungry people, we went through the menu and didn’t have much problem ordering the food. My dining companion being a Salmon-lover, naturally she’ll order Pan-fried Salmon. My two other mates had Cajun chicken wrap and Salmon & crab meat spaghetti, while i had the bacon, ham, mushroom spaghetti.
Salmon & Crab Meat Spaghetti ($14.50)
We began our meal at Bistro One Zero Three with the Salmon & Crab meat Spaghetti. With two generous piece of salmon on the tomato-based spaghetti, it got our salivary gland working even before we started eating! While slurping down the pasta, we can also taste the crab meat which goes quite well together.
Bacon, Ham & Mushroom Spaghetti ($13.50)
There are tomato, carbonara style and aglio olio options to choose from, I chose carbonara style since the other spaghetti is tomato-based. The carbonara Bacon, Mushroom Spaghetti here at Bistro One Zero Three is slightly different from the usual one you’ll find in other restaurants.
Usually the egg in carbonara style will be mixed together and cook with the heat of the pasta itself, but in this case, the chef put on his thinking cap and played with his creativity by leaving the egg yolk on top of the pasta. This is a pleasant surprise for us knowing the chef actually put in his heart & soul into making something different from the norm.
Well, i’ll preferred the salmon spaghetti to this one, not that this is not good, but after trying both pasta, we come to a consensus that the tomato-based spaghetti here taste better!
Pan-fried Salmon ($16.50)
With Balsamic glaze & acompanied with seasonal vegetables, the Pan-fried salmon is a must-have for all the salmon-lovers out there. Balsamic dressing is a traditional flavoured vinegar commonly used in Italian cuisine, the Balsamic glaze here added a slight twist of Italiano to the salmon.
Cajun Chicken Wrap ($15.90)
Tomato herb Tortilla & Mesclun mix are found inside the Cajun Chicken Wrap. The chicken wrap does give me an oddly feeling of ‘popiah’. The two Cajun chicken wrap serving is rather small, and definitely not enough to serve a grown-up (well depending on the appetite also). My mate wasn’t full after he finished it.
Warm Brownie w/ French Vanilla ice cream ($5)
Who can resist the temptation of desserts after a meal? Not me, there is always room in my stomach for them! For the record, i love my desserts more than my main.
The warm brownie together with a scoop of the cold ice cream seems to match nicely together. The brownie is not too sweet also.
Panna cotta with Mocha ($5)
One thing about Bistro One Zero Three is that they currently have limited desserts selection, only two! So we ordered both the brownie and this one to share. The owners are looking for new additions to the desserts section, so we had to make do with this two for now.
At first glance, we thought that the dessert was a soup, but on second note, it was not! Panna Cotta is actually an Italian Dessert made by simmering together cream, milk and sugar, mixing this with gelatin, and letting it cool until set.
Panna Cotta is usually eaten plained or sweetened with vanilla, chocolate or fruits. But the one we had at Bistro One Zero Three gave a different twist by adding Mocha to flavoured the dessert.
Total bill for 4 person (4 mains & 2 desserts) adds up to $82.86 (including GST & service charge). Overall the experience at Bistro One Zero Three is a positive one, and its a good place to chill out & dine with your friends. The place isn’t really inaccessible if you know where it is, just a few bus-stops away from Harbourfront. And the cozy environment and friendly service from the boss definitely makes it a plus for a revisit, but they need to work on their desserts selections if they are to satisfy my desserts-demand.
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 : )
“ Who say guys don’t like their desserts? I do! ”
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