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!!

Bosses

Whenever i'm at vivo and i walk past bosses restaurant, i can't help but be attracted by the beautiful decor, and have been wanting to try it since long ago, and finally, i had my chance and here's my review of the food they serve.
For a start, you'll be served with this as appetiser, fresh carrots and this roll of hhmmm wanton skin? but it's quite tasty, something different from the usual peanuts..
Spinach with butter. dun really like this cos the vege has a very strong mud taste in it.. the gravy was nice though, with the rich butter taste.
Deep fried spicy chicken cubes. reminds me of the fried chicken cubes from the streets of taiwan. here the meat is done very nicely, tender on the inside, crispy on the outside. not as spicy as it seems ...
Wasabi prawns, very fresh prawns, wasabi flavour was just right, not too choking, this dish is getting more and more popular, seeing more chinese restaurant serving this nowadays.
Ma po tofu. this is fantastic, a little salty though, but it's good to go with plain rice, nothing special about the tofu, it's the gravy that i really like, i can eat just this alone with rice!!
Xiao long bao. i cannot deny the fact that this xiao long bao is the one with the most soup/gravy in it that i have every tasted, definitely more juicy then that of ding tai feng or crystal jade or imperial treasures. but there's something about the skin that made it lose out to the rest, else it would easily be the best!!
Sweet and sour pork. almost perfect, meat was tender, sweet and sour coating tasted just nice, i have tried some places where the vinegar smell was too unbearable, but this is good.









Check out the meat, it's pinkish, very soft, this dish is a must if you happen to be there!!

Had a generally good impression with the food and the service here, will definitely go again, probably going to try their dim sum next time round..


address: Vivo City #02-156/157
contact: 63769740
ambience: 9
taste: 8
service: 7
value for money: 8
overall rating: most of the dishes are good, worth the money although it's a little pricier than the usual chinese restaurant

Five Star Chicken Rice

They have quite a number of branches, can google for the addresses of the other branch, i went to the one at river valley and 3 of us ordered half a chicken and 2 side dishes.. i find the food so so only... nothing fantastic

Half a chicken, i felt that it wasn't tender enough, the savory sasame and suy sauce they had over the chicken was nice and salty.. goes well with the cucumber.
Baby kailan.. not bad. but nothing special.
Deep fried tofu thai style. the tofu was soft and smooth, the thai style sauce is the same everywhere, nothing special.

This meal costs us around $30, the price was fine for a clean and comfortable dining environment, food was decent. maybe i need to try boon tong kee soon, so i can compare these 2.


address: 417 River Valley Rd
contact: 62356760
ambience: 6
taste: 6
service: 7
value for money: 7
overall rating: not very expensive, but food also not that great

Crystal Jade Restaurant (Airport Branch)

Crystal jade is a chain of restaurants that we are quite familiar with, and i have always have good impression of their food, from crystal jade kitchen to crystal jade la mian xiao long bao. but this time round, this one at the airport was really disappointing. the best dish we had for the whole of dinner was the plate of peanuts with ikan bilis.

Deep fried squid with pepper and salt. it seems as if it was fried quite some time before it was served, not crispy at all, the one at crystal jade kitchen is much better.
Steam chicken with ham. quite an expensive item, $20+, ham is very salty and chicken is very tough, feels like chicken that we usually cannot finish , leave it in the fridge and reheat it the next day.
Briased beancurd with vegetable, ok this dish was passable.

Something else to note, plain porridge is very very salty, never order that... hhmm i think better don't visit that place at all... the above items came out to be nearly $80 for 4 person, and we left still feeling hungry.



address: Changi Airport Terminal 2, Viewing Mall North # 036-084
contact: 6214 1488
ambience: 8
taste: 4
service: 6
value for money: 3
overall rating: Very bad food, dun waste your money

Sze Hwa Ba Kut Teh

Was at kulai on a visit to my relative's place, had to go up early in the morning so that we won't be caught in the jam, and since we are there early, cousin brought us to this coffee shop kind of place for ba kut teh, yes for breakfast.

Salted vegetable is something you must get to eat with your ba kut teh, the one they have here is normal, nothing too special.
Ba kut teh.. fantastic, in singapore we usually get the very pepperish soup, and you can feel the spicy sensation after drinking the soup. over here at sze hwa, the soup is not pepperish at all, it has a nice herbal taste to it, i just love it!! the meat was really tender too, according to them, the meat taste good becasue it's fresh pork meat, not frozen one like we have in singapore, frozen meat can never achieve such standards.
You cha kuey is a must for me, i love to soak the you cha kuey in the soup before eating it, i myself can finish 2 bowl of this!!

But one thing i dun really like is their pig organs, they seemed to be a little overcooked, cos the kidney and liver were both quite tough. so if you happen to be there, just order the ba kut teh.. this meal for 7 person cost around rm$80. you decide for yourself if it's cheap of expensive.

address: Kulai, Johor, Malaysia (Do not know exact address)
contact:
ambience: 6
taste: 8
service: 7
value for money: 7
overall rating: very tasty, but not as cheap as expected

Wong Kok Char Chan Teng

You might have noticed a new hong kong style cafe at bugis junction called wong kok char chan teng. so one of the evenings, we decided to go check it out, the place was quite pack on a weekday evening at around 7pm. environment is roughly the same as most of the hk cafes in singapore, decor is generally the same too. they do have some special items on their menu though.

Baked rice with portugus sauce (i thin it's portuguese sauce, i wonder why they spell it that way) it taste a little like curry sauce but not that spicy. the sauce is quite nice. baked rice and the cheese not that good though. we tried the tomato sauce too, not a good choice, stick to portugus..

Chinese pan cake with sausage, dun order this, it's not good at all, very plain and tasteless pancake.

Cannot remember the name, it's some xo roll thing, this is a must try, it;s really good, it has pork floss and omelette in it, the egg is fragrant, the roll is a little savory with some sweetness from the pork floss.

Some tea, i cannot remember, i didn't try this

Instant noodle with luncheon meat and egg.

Snow cat, it's a drink with yougurt in it, if you like yougurt drinks, you might like this.

Things worth trying out is the xo roll and the bake rice with portugus sauce, the rest of the items are generally the same as other hk cafe.







address: Bugis Junction #02-50
contact:
ambience: 6
taste: 6
service: 5
value for money: 6
overall rating: Gotta order the right items, they have good and bad items on the menu

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

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

Ah Yat Abalone Forum Restaurant

This restaurant used to be at singapore shopping centre, before they shifted to allson hotel about a year ago. it took me some time to find the phone number to call to confirm the address
Please remember to call up to make reservation, cos we didn't and ended up waiting more than half and hour for a table, there's an uncle sitting at the entrance of the carpark, just let him valet park your car, i think it's free. driving into the carpark yourself is going to be a horrible experience, because it's really small

We took the set meal because we do not have to wait too long for that. anyway, it was the abalone that we wanted to try, and it's included in the set meals. here are some of the dishes we tried
Buddha jumps over the wall. this soup has a really rich taste and the ingredients are really good. large pieces of shark's fin, sea cucumber, chicken, pork, etc etc. wonderful start for a meal.
The famous abalone with goose feet, this abalone is really different from those you get from cans. it's much more tender, the ones you get from cans are usually quite tough, this one is really slippery and tender when you bite into it.
Shark's fin. so different from the ones you get at wedding dinners. the fins come in a piece like fish maw..
A different version of the shark's fin.

The set meal you can choose from cost $48 or $60 before extra charges. not cheap, but the quality of the food is very good. another thing i'd like to add is that the service standard of the staff is very very high. i have never been to a place with such good service for a long time. every single staff, from waitress to managers, never fail to put the smile on their faces, prompt response to all your requests, like new plate, more tea, even an simple after meal chit chat. this should be the first time i'n giving a 9 for service on my blog.. this service makes you really feel that it's worth the money eating here. maybe that's why this place is so crowded.

address: 101 Victoria Street Allson Hotel Level 1 & 4
contact: 63322288
ambience: 8
taste: 7
service: 9
value for money: 7
overall rating: