SoShiok Gourmet Safari

Posted some entries on soshiok.com to try my luck in winning the gourmet safari about a month back and woah.. i really won, so called up 3 friends and off we went to novena square 2 for a sumptuous lunch on a sat afternoon.

First up, secret recipe. have tried the food here quite a number of times, and my fave has always been the lamb. today we chose the lamb again, and also the dory fish, lamb was still really tender as i have expected, and as a lover of potato, i find the mash quite nicely done. didn't really like the fish, probably cos the gravy was made from lobster broth and it gave a very fishy taste, the texture of the fish wasn't very great too. white choc macadamia cake was a little too sweet, the banana chocolate cake is still a better choice.

Next, we moved on to zhou's kitchen, a chain by the tung lok group, a general comment i would give is that the food tasted very homecooked, if you are a person who like the feeling of having home cooked food, this is a good place you can try. loved the sweet potato leaves, always prefer it to sambal kangkong, but you dun get it very often at the usual places. they cooked it very well here too, smooth and tasty. the xing hua noodle wasn't quite my kind of dish, a little bland, and the gravy was gluey. the pork was really good, tender but not fatty, soaked with the tastiness of the sauce, something nice to go with rice. dumplings were awesome, seldom you get to have dumplings with the skin so smooth so thin so silky, this is a must try.

Round 3, seoul yummy. The shrimp roe bibimbab with beef was ok, probably we were too full for rice, didn't really like this much, but i must say that their sliced beef was really tender and fill of taste, a little sweetness from the sauce, i think i'll have to try their beef alone the next time. didn't try the octopus cos i do not like octopus, dumplings were a little dry, the meat in it is not tender. dessert is really good, wanted to eat the items separately until we were told to toss them all together, the ice mixing with the yogurt ice cream was refreshing, a slightly different taste and texture from other desserts you get outside.

Finally, with a stomach that's already very full, we moved on to the last stop, lerk thai. pomelo salad and prawn cakes are a must. very spicy salad but the sweetness from the pomelo sort of mellowed the spiciness down a little. prawn cake was really good, freshly made, it had a really nice chewy texture. phad thai was too salty and i feel that the noodle was a little over cooked. didn't really like the pudding too, too much sago at the bottom of it and it made the whole thing a little mushy. if you are going there, remember to try the salad and the prawn cake.

Gotta thank soshiok.com for the wonderful lunch we had at novena square2!!

Borshch Steakhouse

A friend was asking if i wanted to join him and some friends for dinner, they were going to try this russian food at serangoon gardens. hmmmmm, russian food, something interesting, go i tagged along... the place looks normal from the outside, seems like it has been around for quite a while, should be quite good then. upon stepping in, the place had a very funny smell, not a pleasant one, i cannot describe it, but i got used to it after being inside for a while. we got the set dinner which comes with appetizer, soup, mains and dessert. $22+ and we ordered a dozen of escargot ($24) to share.
Carpetbed steak. the special part about this is that they stuff an oyster in the middle of the steak, and it's really in the middle, you have to cut the meat to see the oyster, but it's a mini oyster.. haha, according to those who had this, it wasn't fantastic.

Shashlik of fillet. medium rare. i had this and i find this quite good, portion i really small , but the meat was tender and juicy. served with a side salad and some grilled onions. did not regret choosing this one.

Cannot remember this. i think it was lamb cooked on a skewer like kebabs. forgotten to ask about the taste of this item.

Escargot, i feel that there isn't enough garlic, didn't have the shoikness i was hoping for.

Borshch soup, mushroom soup, shrimp salad. very disappointing. the borshch soup tasted like something anyone can whip out at home. mushroom soup was worse. shrimp salad was more like haybee salad.

Banana pancake and peach ice cream. very disappointing again. serving was so small, ice cream didn't even fill up half the cup. pancake was soggy and banana taste was for too artificial..

Taking the set was a wrong choice, should have ordered ala carte. oh yes, the drink that came with the set was in such a small cup, i think you need 4 cups to fill up a macdonalds small size drink. not going back anymore..

address: 58 Serangoon Garden Way
contact: 63834069
ambience: 3
taste: 4
service: 6
value for money: 3
overall rating: quite run down, food not very nice, quite expensive

Barracks @ House

You might have seen this old building which has been painted green at dempsey hill with a huge "house" printed on the wall. house is actually consist of a spa on the second level and a cafe/restaurant and bar on the ground floor, quite a different concept to mix spa and eatery. check out their website, it's quite nicely done up.

They called the cafe barracks, and it's made to look like an army camp, and the staff wears something that looks like uniform. look at the menu, they used the figurines that we used to play when we were kids, so cool..

They have very interesting teas in their menu, so since there were 5 of us, we decided to have 5 pots of tea.

Ordered this one called the jungle julip, supposed to taste of spearmint, when i took the first sip, i recalled the spearmint chewing gum that i used to like, and without sugar it taste like gum after you chew it for hours. and when sugar is added to the tea, it taste like fresh gum again. buddha blend taste like oolong tea. spa esprit smells like some aroma oil but taste like plain warm water.. not impressed with the tea at all.

Carrot cake, quite nice except for the rasins, i happen to not like rasins, but other than the rasins, it's a nice cake.

Strawberry shortcake, this one is good, rich taste and it has different textures in the cake, there's something crispy in it and the strawberry taste really good. must try.

The place is set up wonderfully, very good place for a chat, if you want privacy, they have a few private rooms which you can book, as long as you spend $300, there's no extra cost for the rooms (if i did not hear wrongly), the best room in my opinion should be the green house, it seems that you are dining in a green house with all the glas walls and ceiling and the green plants that put in the room. thumbs up for the decor!!

Some of the staffs are wearing uniform and a few were wearing own clothes, i would presume those are the owners or the managers.. but generally, it's the uniform ones who smiled more and were more polite, the better dressed ones were very stucked up.. maybe we don't have the rich men look, so they didn't bother about us, except this one called desmond, he was really patient with us when we asked him about the things in the menu, and he could even joke with us. The reason why we might go back to this place is definitely because of him, plus the ambience..

address: 8D Dempsey Road
contact: 6479 0070
ambience: 8
taste: 6
service: 5 (general) 8 (this person called desmond)
value for money: 7
overall rating: This place is more for ambience. food so so.. service not that good

Outback Steakhouse

Had lunch at the outback steakhouse, was my first time dining there, but i gotta say that i was quite disappointed with the standard of the food. ambience was quite good, staffs were friendly. oh and if you have a friend celebrating birthday, there's something interesting, the staffs will bring the cake out from the kitchen, and at the same time, all the staffs will be singing the happy birthday song, very loudly and they are very in tune, birthday person will get a really pleasant surprise... ok, lets take a look at the food.

Outback sirloin. i felt that the meat wasn't tender enough although i already order medium rare. the garlic potatoes that it comes with was quite tasteless. i suggest that you order the grilled onions as the sides instead of the potatoes.

Spring chicken, didn't try this.

Mixed grill, the beef looks quite dry right? i didn't taste this either.

Ribs, the ribs was quite alright. a better choice as compared to the steak.

You might wanna check out thier website for the menu or promotions..

address: 9 raffles Boulevard, Time2 @ Millenia Walk
contact: 68373242
ambience: 7
taste: 5
service: 7
value for money: 5
overall rating: Pricey for the standard of food served. Not worth it.

Fish & Co.

Went for a gathering at fish & co at novena square on a weekday evening. the place was quite quiet, many tables were empty. it wasn't my first time at fish & co, but previous experience wasn't really good, cos i felt that the food were too oily.

While waiting for the late comers, we decided to get some appetizers to start off. ordered the fried calamari and the caesar salad.
The salad was ok, tasted like how a caesar salad should taste like. many places out there actually serve caesar salad with some creativity and it turn out to be something you shouldn't call caesar..
The fried calamari was good, so much better than the roasted ones.
In the end, 7 of us shared 2 orders of seafood plater for 2, which consists of prawns, mussels, fries, flavoured rice and roasted calamari, and the amount was just right. they still do serve food is large portions. i can never finish the portiion for 1 person. so if you haven't been there, try to go there in a larger group so you can order some mains and share it among yourselves. and this time round, i realised that the food isn't as oily as i remembered it to be a few years back.

address: 238 Thomson Road, Novena Square, #03-11/12 (other branches)
contact: 62557001
ambience: 7
taste: 6
service: 7
value for money: 7
overall rating: Larg serving, not very expensive, good for large group gatherings

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

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

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

Hog's Breath Cafe

7 of us went to the hog's breath cafe at vivocity for dinner, the place was suggested cos a friends tried it once and found it not bad. decor of the place is quite different from the usual restaurants, it gives you the country ranch feeling. if you get a seat by the window, you get a wonderful view of sentosa and if there's a cruise parked at the cruise centre, yu can see it very clearly too.

This is interesting, we were a little shocked to see the salt and pepper placed in a large corona beer bottle. i think they do not need to refill the bottle for many months, there's just so much in them..

since there're so many of us, there'll be photos of quite a number of items to come, will give my views on the food items individually, and it's up to you to decide if you wanna go try it out for yourself. managed to find the menu online at their website, so i decided to place the price here too.

Caesar Salad($12.50) . the egg was wonderfully cooked, just nice with a bright orange coloured yolk, i can never get this effect at home, usually the eggs anywhere else are overboiled. the chicken taste alright, and the salad is fine too. nothing really special except for the egg.

Crispy Chicken & Ranch Salad($14.50) . dun really like this cos these vege are a little bitter. didn't try much of this, oh and there's chopped baked potato in this salad, quite special.

Finger Food Combo ($17.95) . potato skins is not nice, calamari is good, buffalo wings is fine, chicken tenders are not really tender. the honey mustard is nice though.

Macho Nacho($11.95) . totally not worth it, nachos are normal, would expect the dips to be better, the ones here are quite tasteless, and they seemed to be a little stingy with the cheese. we have to dig to find the melted cheese. i dun think you can even see it in the photo.

Cheese Burger in Paradise($14.50) . not bad according to a friend.

Blackened Prime Rib($32.50) . the beef was good. we had it done medium, i think it would be nicer medium rare. oh and if you order a main and had to choose between mash, baked potato or fries, choose mash potato, their mash is fabulous, very smooth and buttery.

Chicken Dijonnaise($20.50) . this chicken is tougher then the chichen tenders on the finger food platter. the sauce is unique and quite tasty though.

Fish and Chips($19.50) . dun be fooled by the size of the fish. 2/3 of it is flour and oil. there's only a thin slice of fish inside. a very oily item, you feel a little sick of the oil after a while, i guess too much batter is used and lots of oil are trapped there

Atlantic Salmon($20.95) i realised that i didn't get to try this, maybe if anyone who have tried it can comment on this.

The bill came out to be about $31 per person, i felt that it's on the high side, considering we didn't order drinks, no dessert, no liquor, only food!! I dun think i'll go there again. But i gotta comment that the waitresses there are all very courteous and friendly, with one of them being a little forgetful but comical.. no complains about the service standards. they should lower the price of the food..

address: #03-07A VivoCity (see other branches here)
contact: 6376 8378
ambience: 7
taste: 5
service: 7
value for money: 5
overall rating: generally quite expensive for the food standard