Monday 23 July 2007

Yet Con

An old authentic restaurant at purvis street. i think it has been there for quite some time. you can see from the decor and the signboard. it's not a big place, so try to be there early if you do not want to wait for tables. they serve chicken rice, tze char and steamboat, all hainanese style. We ordered a mixture of them so that we can try them all out.

The chicken is tender and nice. although not the best that i have tried, it's better than most chicken rice stalls.

The pork chop is very good. pork is first deep fried, but it didn't make the meat become tough, then it's stir fried with sweet and sour sauce and potato. excellent, please remember to order this if you go there

The steam boat comes in sets. beef or non beef. the beef set just has for lot's of beef chunks with an egg, the non beef set comes with pork, chicken, fish, crockles, pig liver and an egg. the soup looks boring initially, but after a while of cooking, it became very tasty, but towards the end, it became very salty. so remember to drink the soup at the right time.

I think this place is quite well known, on a sat, it was already fully seated at around 7pm. a good time to be there will be 6 or slightly earlier. i dun think they accept reservation. and the aircon was good. there are some steamboat places where the aircon dun funtion really well and you end up soaked with sweat after the meal. this is someting you dun have to worry about over here.

address: 25 Purvis Street
contact:
ambience: 6
taste: 7
service: 5
value for money: 7
overall rating: nice good food. not very expensive too

Soup Restaurant

Had lunch at the soup restaurant in causeway point. it was a long time ago that i ate at soup restaurant. this place is not crowded on a weekday lunch time, we didn't have to wait long for seats or the food. and i like it that way.

Didn't order too much as there were only 4 of us. so here are some of the items
Lotus root soup. quite tasty, gives you the home cooked food feeling. maybe because it tasted like my mum's version of it.
Samsui chicken, this is a must have if you step into this restaurant. the chicken is really soft and tender. the samsui ginger sauce is quite oily though, you wrap the chicken in a piece of lettuce and eat it with the ginger sauce. it's really really good. i can have this alone, maybe with some plain rice, cos the sauce is a little salty.
Tofu with hay bee and cai por. very interesting dish, the tofu is very soft, but the skin is fried crispy. and the gravy that comes with it will definitely remind you of teochew style steam fish. it's like eating steam fish without the fish...
address: #03-01, 1 Woodlands Square, Causeway Point
contact: 68942322
ambience: 7
taste: 7
service: 7
value for money: 7
overall rating: not a cheap place for a normal meal, but the food is good.

Soon Kee Eating House

Went to this coffee shop in upper thomson for lunch. as dad said that the duck rice here was good. it's near the famous ampang yong tau hu, which my dad doesn't like because he's not allowed to choose the items even after queueing for so long. so i decided to write about this duck rice.
Price is normal, just like any other coffee shops. taste wise, it's not superbly good that i would travel all the way there just for the duck. but it wasn't so bad that i would never want to return there again. slightly above average, the duck was quite tender, they serve with white rice. the soup they serve with is quite nice though.

address: Upper Thomson Road. junction with Thong Soon Road
contact:
ambience: 3
taste: 5
service: 4
value for money: 6
overall rating: Nothing really fantastic, but at least i won't mind having it again if i'm nearby

Saturday 21 July 2007

The French Stall

Have been hearing about this place, and i finally found a chance to try it, on a sat evening. tried to make reservation but they do not entertain that, so we just gotta try our luck walking in. we were there at around 7 in the evening and we had the last table, those behind us had to wait some while before they get their tables.

It's quite a small place and they have quite a number a tables, so you can expect that the next table is actually quite near. if you are thinking of a quiet private dinner, this is definitely not the place. we saw the food on our neighbouring tables and they all look very presentable.. the menu has got lots of items and it took us some time to decide on what to have. we took up the set dinner that comes with a starter or soup, a main and a dessert.

Chicken liver pate. this has to be the best choice for starters. other options were soup of the day and the french onion soup. and if you choose the more expensive item, you gotta top up a couple dollars. this liver tasted very nice esp with the baguette.
The escargot was a let down. i was expecting it to come in shells and we'll get the trill of digging for the meat.. unfortunately it came like that.. without the shell and the garlic butter didn't taste strong enough, it was quite tasteless...
French onion soup. quite good. interesting that they had pieces of soaked baguette in the soup topped with a bit of cheese.
For the mains... i had the dory fish. i'm glad i ordered this, the fish was nicely done, there was no fishy taste. the garlic butter was perfect for the fish.. maybe because i like garlic butter in the first place. the mash potatoes that came with it is wonderously smooth and buttery, just to my liking.
Chicken thigh. quite good too, just that the serving of the meat was a little small. the potato seems to be the main rather than the chicken. this rosti like potato block tasted very good too...
Pork chop. wrong order. the pork was way too tough and tasteless.. again, the potato is wonderful.. i think they are really good with their potatoes.
The default dessert in the set, creme caramel. nice and sweet, but not too thick.
Chocolate cake. didn't look good, seems hard and dry, but i was wrong.. it was soft and not dry at all. the texture of the cake is somewhat different from the usual chocolate cakes that we have tried.

Generally, the food is ok, although some items have disappointed us, but at least it's not that all the food dun taste good. might be going again. and the price came out to be about $33 a person, cos we ordered a glass of wine each (not worth it, cos a glass is really small) very very small..

address: 544 Serangoon Road
contact: 62993544
ambience: 6
taste: 7
service: 5
value for money: 6
overall rating: food is slightly above average, but this place is one of a kind, gotta go try it, experience high class food at not so high class environment and of course much lower price

Monday 16 July 2007

Olio Dome

Dinner at olio dome at suntec. i like the ambience of the place. warm lighting, tables not too near one another, very friendly staff too (at least most of them). it was not crowded on a sunday evening, i think all singaporeans are flocking to vivo city, so places in town seem to be good choices for dinner over the weekends. here are the iems we ordered.
I forgotten what burger this was. but the serving was quite huge. the burger was just right, it's the amount of fries that was shocking. didn't try this, so not able to comment on the taste.
Sirloin steak. quite nicely done. not a bad item to order.
Seafood risotto. this is wonderful. the last time i had risotto was in italy. i never knew that you can find such good risotto in singapore. very tasty, highly recommended.
Spinach fettucine with mushroom cream sauce. i ordered this, but after trying the risotto, i regretted. it's about the same price. but this come in such a small serving, and it's vegetarian. no meat. but taste wise, it was good. no complains for the pasta and the sauce.

address: Suntec City, fountain terrace
contact: 63347555
ambience: 8
taste: 6
service: 7
value for money: 6
overall rating: very nice ambience. food not bad. nice place to go if you have a small group

Tuesday 10 July 2007

Thai Express

Went thai express at junction 8 for lunch on a weekday. the place was about half filled. but it took a while before they serve the food we ordered.
Springroll, very normal. nothing special.

Honey chicken with rice. according to the person who ordered this, the chicken is far too sweet.

Seafood green curry with rice.

Omelette with rice.

Stick Noodles with Sliced Beef in Beef Broth, i thought it will be the kuey teow like noodle. but it came with beehoon. hhmmm never knew that stick noodles are the same thing as bee hoon!! the beef slices are overcooked, very tough.

Comments wasn't good for the food we ordered, but i heard that different branches do have difference in their standard of food. i do remember dining at thai express q few times before, but food wasn't as bad as this time round.

address: #01-32 Junction 8 Shopping Centre (Other branches here)
contact: 62500466
ambience: 6
taste: 4
service: 6
value for money: 4
overall rating: food is quite bad, but i heard it varies from branch to branch

Secret Recipe

Went to the secret recipe at holland grove. it's opposite raffles girls primary school on the first storey of an old apartment block. if i'm not wrong, this should be the first secret recipe branch in singapore.
I loved this branch because it's located at a very quiet place, out of the crowed and noisy town area. the small little park right outside the cafe is a relaxing sight to look at while having a nice afternoon dessert and tea. but this time, i went there for dinner. and i guess i ordered the wrong item on the menu, it taste quite bad
Catch of the day with lobster sauce. when it was served in front of me, there was this foul smell, i was thinking to myself, "Wow, the fish must be really stale for me to smell it from so far" after that i realise it's the smell from the lobster sauce.. hhhmm i think the last time i had lobster was many years ago, but i dun remember lobster tasting or smelling like that.
My friend had the grilled chicken with mushroom sauce. i didn't try that.

A few items that you must try, the chocolate banana cake is definitely a must try, the lamb stew is very good too. the rest of the items, so so.. but please do not order anything with lobster sauce.. will still go back there for the ambience and atmosphere. and i should probably be less adventurous when ordering the next time.

address: 42 Holland Grove Road (Other branches here)
contact: 68751233
ambience: 6
taste: 3
service: 5
value for money: 4
overall rating: They have good food, but i was unluckly this time round

Thursday 5 July 2007

Adam Mutton Soup

My dad loves the chinese mutton soup at adam food centre. I'm not too sure how does good mutton soup taste like, but i quite like this one. there isn't too much of the foul mutton smell or taste. probably because of the ginger they put in the soup. the soup is really rich in taste and they serve the soup with cabbage rice. at least it;s not plain white rice. If you happen to be there, please give it a try and let me know how this soup is compared to the other chinese mutton soup stalls in singapore

address: 2 Adam Road, Adam Food Centre
ambience: 3
taste: 7
service: 5
value for money: 6
overall rating: above average

Tuesday 3 July 2007

Margarita's

Seldom go for mexican food cos unlike jap or italian, you have in mind what kind of food you are going for. i totally have no idea what to expect for mexican food except for nachos.. this place was suggested by a friend who has got a good experience dining here.
It's located near clementi, and you gotta drive there, it'sat the end of a road in a private estate, it's on the first floor of an old apartment. looks interesting from the outside. a little retro i gotta say.

Looked at the menu and as expected, i didn't know what to choose, so what we did was to get the waitress to help us with the food, told her what we do not want to have and she suggested a few items for 6 person to share. and definitely we gotta try their margarita since they are named after this drink.
Plain nachos with salsa dip was served as appetizers. the dip was really spicy, i dun really fancy spicy food but i happen to like this.. i could take the salsa even without the chips.
The appetizer was so good that we decided to try the nachos in the menu, it was served impressively, the garnishing the cheese, and we finished a plate in no time. we had to order another plate after the latecomers arrive.
Lime margarita, frozen, really nice. i never liked tequilla, but over here the tequilla taste that i didn't like wasn't that obvious, probably the lime had covered it, and the drink it strong, i could feel it after a glass of it.
Chicken quesadillas,a little like popiah but with slightly thicker skin. there's melted cheese and chicken strips in the wrap and the combi is fantastic. just a small slice for each of us and it made us more hopeful for the upcoming dishes.
Didn't know the actual name for this dish, only knew that it was cod fish. fried, it was very crispy on the outside but the fish is still tender and very soft inside. with some bean sauce to go with. i realised that they use a lots of mash beans in their food.
Chicken again. but this time it's as a main, the gravy reminded be of idian food, a little spicy, you can smell like curry like smell when it was served. chicken is tender, and the gravy is interesting
This was served with the chicken. initially i thought it was something like curry rice, but when i tried it, the gluey things that came with the rice is actually mash beans again. felt a little like mash baked beans but without the tomato taste.
Final dish was the beef. suppose to wrap it in the tortila and accompanied by the various sauce. i especially like the fruit salsa, sweet and sour and refreshing.

The experience there was really good, the staffs were friendly and helpful. food was delicious, ambience was really good too. it's quite a small place, so remember to make reservation if you intend to try it out.dinner came out to be $300 for 6 person. quite expensive considering we didn't order dessert, but i felt that it was quite worth it. a nice place to go again but not often, or i'll have a big hole in my pocket..

address: 108 Faber Drive
contact: 67771782
ambience: 8
taste: 8
service: 8
value for money: 7
overall rating: wonderful experience, will definitely go back again