Ye Lai Xiang Charcoal Grill (Revisited)

Visited this cheap and good western food stall again.(See previous posting here) this time i decided not to order the chicken cutlet as i have been ordering that for the past many times i've been here.
This is their pork chop, ordered by a friend, this item seems normal, nothing special as compared to other western food stallsI orfered the lamb chop, and was a little disappointed that the meat was a little tough. the good thing is that the sauce is still as good.

Recommended item is still the chicken cutlet, and the sirloin steak, but beware, he has no consistency in the way the steak is cooked. medium might sometimes be right, and sometimes bevome well done.. haha. But i see improvement in his service standard, he used to be very unapproachable, recently you start seeing him smile while you are ordering and while he serves the items to your table.

address: Margaret Drive Food Centre 1st storey
ambience: 3
taste: 8
service: 7
overall rating: 7

Casuarina Curry

Quite a popular place, i guess many will be quite familiar with this place, at the junction of upper thomson road and yio chu kang road.Usually at prata places, i'll order teh peng (iced tea) or milo peng.. today i decided on milo peng.. and wahla!! the milo was superb! it was thick , sweet and just wonderful.

At casuarina curry, you must try the thosai (pronounced tho-sey), the plain one is just $1!! .. this one i tried was the paper thosai.. a feast to the eye! it was huge. Prata over here are just so so.. so if you come here, do not miss the thosai ..Do not come too late at night .. i think there was once i went there at midnight and they were closed already. can go for breakfast though.

address: 126 Casuarina Road
ambience: 5
taste: 7
service: 6
overall rating: 7

Tong Shui Cafe (Revisited)

Been to another branch of this cafe some time ago, you can see the review here. Decided to give it one more try since this is a new branch, it might have tasier food.

Ordered the usual milk tea, something you won't miss at any hk style cafe. the one they have here is totally unpassable. it's worse than the $1 one you get at coffee shops. It's not thick , not sweet, seems as if water is added to dilute the drink.. even i can make one better than this.
Deep fried prawn with mango.. haha .. where's the mango? we couldn't even tast it... another failureBaked rice, not pad, this is the only passable item we ordered. quite tasty according to my friends, i did not try this.I ordered the macaroni cos it was not bad when i tried it the last time. but standard has dropped, soup was not tasty. that's bad enough because it's the soup that makes a difference since the rest of the items cannot differ much.

Dun try... go to the other cafes ..

address: 215 Upper Thomson Rd
contact: http://www.tongshuicafe.com/
ambience: 5
taste: 2
service: 4
overall rating: 2

Tong Ah Seafood

Went to this chinese zi char place at keong saik road for dinner on the recommendation of a friend, ok it's along this small road called teck lim road off keong saik road. it's actually quita a small coffee shop with a back alley where they actually use for quite some tables too. it's just a few steps from the boutique hotel 1929.
It's called tong ah seafood, and they have very friendly staffs.. i'm not sure if it's the boss as i never ask. but they were very friendly when we asked for recommendation of dishes.
Fried chicken in claypot, the chicken was first deep fried, then sitr fried in the claypot with some sauce and curry leaves.. the end result was fantastic, taste similar to the curry leaf chicken at zi ran seafood. but i think this is a little better than that one.
This dish was strongly recommended, they insisted that we try this when we are afriad that it might be too fatty, the braised pig's trotter. and true enough, it was very tasty, only the skin was fatty, what's inside was lean and tender. very nicely done, taste very well with plain rice.. must try.
Order the vege called nai bai in chinese, maybe someone can enlighten me on the english name for this veg..

A place that i will definitely go again and i strongly urge everyone to go give it a try, i heard it's usually very crowded, i went at 6pm on a sat, the crowd wasn't there yet, but i can see that they are expecting one, because of the numerous tables laid along the back alley.

address: Teck Lim Road
ambience: 4
taste: 7
service: 7
overall rating: 7

Jumbo Seafood

Have been to jumbo seafood numerous time, and i feel that the branch at serangoon gardens have got the tastiest food. i did write about this place some time ago, even before i started this food blog. maybe i should go dig out the photos and post those of the food.

I have not tried the asparagus and the black pepper crab during my precious visits and taste wise, it's good, but for this trip, i was disappointed that most of the dishes are not warm when they are served, and when the peking duck is not warm, it's not as crispy, same for the mini buns that comes with the chilli crab.But with my previous visits to this restaurant, i'll still encourage you to go try it, remind the manager that you want the dishes to be served warm, immediately after it's cooked

address: See Official Webpage
contact: See Official Webpage
ambience: 8
taste: 8
service: 7
overall rating: 7

Ah Ngeow Cooked Food

I have always like bbq stingray, but the quality of this dish can really vary quite a lot fromplaces to places, i visited bedok corner food centre again and decided to try to bbq sting ray from this stall called ah ngeow cooked food.Not very appetizing from the first look because of the layer of oil on top of the chilli paste, haha.. but we still tried it and realised that the fish was tender, not overcooked. 2 big things that will make a bbq stingray fail, overcooked and tough fish and also tasteless chilli paste. the chilli paste here was very good, not very spicy but very tasty, i wonder what they add in the chilli paste.

While i was trying to get a shot of the shop, the uncle in the shop was staring at me, maybe because with an slr, they will think i'm a reporter, immediately after that, he brought 2 plates for me and my friend, hmmm shouldn't he have done that when he brought the stingray? anyway, if you are not going to be turned off by the oil, you should try this.

Other items worth trying at this food contre are the hokkien mee and the cheng tng

address: 1 Bedok Road, Bedok Corner Food Centre (Stall 23/24)
ambience: 3
taste: 7
service: 6
overall rating: 6

Godiva

Heard about godiva chocolate ice blended from friends that say that if you try this, you will never want to drink any other chocolate ice blended... powerful statement, so since i was at vivo city, i must try it to see if the statement stands in my standard..Godiva actually call their ice blended chocolixir, what a henvenly name, really brings the expectation of it even higher. and at $8 a cup, i would definitely expect something more than just nice.
Here how the dark chocolate decadence looks like. i feel that it's worth the $8 but not that good that i will forgo all other chocolate drinks. when you drink it, you will feel many small pieces of chocolate in it, and after the blended ice melts in your mouth, you will want to chew on the chocolate pieces before swallowing them. sweetness is just right, unlike some very sweet chocolate drinks where you regret buying it after finishing up the whole cup..

I would recommend that you go try this.. not something that i will want to have everyday, but as an indulgence once in a while, i'm fine.. although i feel that their chocolate truffles are too expensive for me.. But for this branch at vivo, it's quite nice to sit in their shop premise to enjoy the drink and chat on a lazy day, it's very peaceful there and the place is very spacious unlike some cafes where seats are very near one another.

address: Vivo City, 1 Harbourfront Walk, #01-116
contact: 62731611
ambience: 8
taste: 8
service: 7
overall rating: 8

Superdog

Was walking around vivo city looking for a place for lunch on a saturday and realise that most places are crowded with a long queue, but superdog was relatively less crowded. My first time eating at this new fast food outlet. I like hotdogs, loved those from a&w until they disappear in singapore. when you walkinto the restaurtant, it feels like walking into mos burger or yoshinoya, where the service counters' pretty near the entrance and seats are further in. I gotta say that the food is quite expensive compared to other fast food outlets, our lunch cost S$20 for just 2 person, and we merely ordered a hot dog and drink each and 1 packet of fries to share!! I forgotten the name for this hot dog, i has a german sausage in it and toppings includes onions and mustard, i didn't try this so i'm not sure how it taste like, only got a comment that the mustard is quite tangy.. This was what i had, the superdog, sausage was very good, very juicy, the chili sauce with minced meat was fantastic.. their fries are good too, reminds me of mos burger fries, where it's thick, crispy on the outside and soft on the inside... gotta have it while it's still warm..

For those who have yet to try superdog, go try it .. i guess it will soon open more branches in singapore...

address: Vivocity, 1 Harbourfront Walk, #B2-40/41
ambience: 6
taste: 7
service: 7
overall rating: 7

Marché @ Vivo City

Had dinner at the new marche @ vivo city, i had quite a good impression of the food at marche from the one at heeren. This time, i was a little disappointed by the food, i felt that the standard has dropped a little, but on the whole i will still recommend this place.A very nice setting on the 3rd storey of vivo city, it's like a standalone restaurant with glass walls on the rooftop, ambience is good.
I always have root beer at marche cos i think that's the best drink there. Something new, the seafood paella, i have tried paella at other spanish restaurants and i liked it, so we decided to give this a try. not good, it's not worth $15.80 at all, it was quite bland, i had to add salt myself to get it to taste better, probably because they make a huge pan of rice then they transfer it to a small pan for you, so there isn't any charred rice on the side of the pan which i like. Grilled salmon, medium. it was a good choice for medium, well done would have made it very tough. the wasabi mayonaise was good too. Mushroom soup, this time round, it was self service, you take your own bowl and take as much soup as the bowl can contain, and as kiasu singaporeans, we too so much of the toasted bread. the mushroom soup is still fantastic, a must have at marche. My favourite item at marche, the rosti. i'm a potato freak, so i generally like all potato dishes. the rosti at marche taste nice when the surface is a little charred so it becomes a little crispy on the outside and soft in side.. eat it with the sour cream and the frech onions... ooohhh... good.. must try too..

It's probably the expensive paella that riun my first experience at this new marche. everything else was good..

address: Vivo City, 1 Harbourfront Walk #03-14
contact: 6376 8226
ambience: 9
taste: 6
service: 8
overall rating: 7

S11 Ang Mo Kio

Went over the the s11 hawker centre at ang mo kio central to pack some food for dinner at a friend's place. in the end i chose fried hokkien mee, mee goreng and indian rojak.Hokkien mee was dry and quite tasteless, no wonder there was no queue, the ba chor mee a few stalls away had such a long one.. so probably the hokkien mee was not good in the first place, plus the fact that i packed it, and it became dryer when we started eating, making it worse.For all indian rojaks, it's the sweet potato and peanut sauce that's the most important, cos that's theo nly thing thats different across all the stalls. for this, i will actuall give it a fail, there was a strong charred taste in the sauce and it was so watery. hai .. disappointedLuckily the mee goreng was still ok, very spicy just lack that bit of sweetness that we will expect from tasty mee gorengs.

On the whole this dinner was not not enjoyable, the food was generally not nice.. looks like i gotta find other places to tabao next time.

address: S11 Ang Mo Kio Central
ambience: 3
taste: 2
service: 4
overall rating: 3

Victor's Kitchen

Went to try the dim sum at victor's kitchen from the recommendation of a food blog that i stumbled upon. it was said that the food there was good and cheap, so i gotta go try it. got the phone number, i called up to make a reservation, the person on the other line seemed to be very busy, talked very fast in a hong kong accent. i told him the time and number of people, he replied ok and hung up, he didn't even ask for my name and contact number... hhmmm. we were quite surprised when we reach there cos we ended up sitting along the corridor of the shopping centre. when we finally got the food, i can agree with the recommender that it's really very good!!
Char siew bao, fluffy on the outside, sweet and tasty in the inside.
Pork ribs, very tender, not tough at all.
Chee cheong fun, smooth and slippery with large fresh prawns in it.
Ha gao, thin skin packed tightly with lots of prawns.
Fried wanton, very large with crispy skin served with a special vinegar sauce.
Chicken feet, never tried this, i dun eat chicken feet
Carrot cake, very different from others, steamed till soft and gluey, served with soy sauce.
Siew mai, nothing special about this
Chicken porridge with century egg, look bland but actually very tasty.


This is one of the best dim sum i have ever tried, and it's only $27 for 3 person. really very cheap and we ordered so much food. This is definitely a must try! Dun bother making reservations, they won't remember it, they are too busy in the kitchen, go there and look for seats yourself.

address: 91 Bencoolen Street, Sunshine Plaza, #01-21
contact: 98382851
ambience: 4
taste: 8
service: 6
overall rating: 7

MacDonald's Omelette Bagel

MacDonald's came out with a new item for their breakfast, bagel with omelette. decided to give it a try before it gets of the menu cos i think this is a seasonal item.
The omelette is nice. it reminds me of times when i'm overseas and i have american style buffet breakfast in the hotel, there'll always be omelette served fresh from the pan, yum yum. the bread itself is quite chewy i must say, you need to work your teeth a little more as compared to the mac muffins, but i like it. If you haven't try it .. it's worth a trip there one of the mornings, you can even tabao it, which is what i did.

address: All MacDonald's in Singapore
contact: http://www.mcd.com.sg/
ambience: 4-8 (depending on the branch)
taste: 7
service: 4-7 (depending on the branch)
overall rating: 7

Chic n Grill

Tried the chicken cutlet at the western stall (chic n grill)in the S11 foodcourt at bishan, according to a friend, this stall has got really good chicken cutlet. and true enough, the cutlet has proven to be quite good. it's tender on the inside and crispy on the outside, fried just nicely. some places have got overfried chicken and it makes the meat very tough. If you stay in bishan and have not tried this, you should go there and try it. personally i still prefer the one at margaret drive..

address: Bishan S11 Foodcourt (Blk 504，Bishan Street 110), Stall 03
ambience: 5
taste: 7
service: 6
overall rating: 7