Xiao Xuan Feng

小旋风. Don't you just love the name? I do! It was only opened for 2 months, but there are already many people who flocked to the place for meals. I wouldn't be surprised if some are attracted to the place because of the name too. ;P

Whenever there is a new kid in the block, I would definitely patronise the restaurant with either my hub or my mother. This week, my mother was all alone at home as my brother is out having fun at Genting >.<*, so I decided to bring her out to this place for a meal.

Type
Chinese

Taste
Eight Treasure Tea (5/10)























When I took my first sip, I was like, 'What did they put inside?' If you like those chinese tonic, then this is the beverage for you. Since young, I have always disliked the taste. It's nothing but bitter liquid to me.

To order another drink and thus waste the current order, however, is just not my practice. So I thought I will just bear with it and finish up the pot with my mother. Surprisingly, after a few cups, I can taste the sweet aftertaste, that probably comes from the crysanthemum, and some other flowers that the waitress claimed was included in the tea. Still, I prefer my good ol' chinese tea. :P


Sauteed Mini Vegetables (Xiao Bai Nai) 8/10


















This dish is really nice. It looks easy to prepare, but to make such a simple dish so savoury and at the same time not too bland nor salty, I think it requires a certain level of skill. I would really be happy if I can cook this kinda standard at home. *dreams*


Sweet and Sour Shredded Pork (9/10)


















I was full of praises for this dish. I am not the lohsoh type who will repeat the same thing so many times. But subconsciouly, I kept telling my mom. "Jin ho chiak" heh... it's really good.


Xiao Long Bao (7/10)


















It's probably one of the best I have tasted. It's skin is not too thick, the soup inside taste good. Perhaps I am not so into Xiao Long Baos, so 7 is all I can give.

Ambience
It has many cheena items all over the restaurant. Seriously, I wouldn't give a hoot, but am glad that it entertained my mother, who seemed to be intrigued by the deco.

Service
üüüüü
The service was pretty good. From getting us to wait for the seats, to the ordering, to the payment of the bills, the staff were very friendly and polite. The cashier even asked how we find the food. When we told her that we liked the food very much, which is the truth, she was very happy. I can see that she is genuinely happy that the restaurant is receiving good feedback, even though it's not owned by her. If I were to be a boss, I would want to hire such staff! :P

Price
$$$$$
After a 10% discount for NTUC members, it only cost $27 for the above. Good deal for such a fantastic meal.

Place
Tiong Bahru Plaza
#01-15

Thai Express

Type
Thai

Taste

Curry Chicken Rice (8/10)
Yum yum... the gravy is savoury and delicous. Not too heavy.


















Beef Kway Teow (8/10)

I don't take beef, if you didn't know by now. But this plate certainly looks very very appetising. I believe it is good because my hubby connoiseur gave thumbs up for this.


Pancake Popiah (9/10)


















I don't really know why they call it this, but who cares? This dish is really good! And it taste even better with the Thai Chilli Sauce. I don't usually dip my food into sauces, but this Thai Chilli Sauce might make me a convert.



















Omelette wrap (6/10)

We ordered above $20 and is entitled to free omeletter wrap if we use a Standard Chartered Bank card. So so only. Don't tell me it's because it's compliementary? :P



















Ambience
Casual

Service
üüüüü
Not too bad. Though there was once they make us stand at the counter for 15 minutes because they charge us the bill for another table. :P

Price
$$$$$

Place
Tiong Bahru Plaza
#02-09/10

Sticky Rice 2

Perhaps it's just very convenient, being located just at the entrance of AMK Hub, my hub and I found ourselves in Sticky Rice restaurant again, despite the fact that there are many other restaurants in that shopping centre waiting for us to conquer.

Even before I take my seat, I told my hub, "I want the Chicken Fried Rice I took the other time". See how much I miss my Fried Rice? Hee...

Type

Thai Food

Taste

Chicken Fried Rice (8/10)

It's slightly more oily this time, but taste just as good as the other time. No regrets on choosing this dish again.

Glass Noodle (9/10)

My hub's glass noodle taste really good too. It's so good that I helped myself to at least three forkfuls of it. If I wasn't worried that my hub would not have his fill, I could have gobbled up the whole plate. heh! I wanna order this on our next visit!!

Seabass salad (5/10)

Ok, I confess that this order was made by me. The first question that both of us asked when we took our first bite was, 'Where is the fish meat'? We were expecting fish in salad or something along that line (the bubble above my head shows the fish we had at Lao Beijing), but we were served crispy 'flakes' instead. Although it does have some fish flavour, but it taste and look very much like the Malay tauhu telor. It costs $8.90 only. Maybe that's why. :P

Overall, I had a very good meal there until I turned over to see what the two girls beside our table took. Just 2 or 3 vegetable dishes... no rice, no noodles. Very diet. kwa kwa... thanks for making me guilty hor! >_<''

Ambience

As per previous post

Service

üüüüü

Pretty prompt. Smiley faces all the time.

Price

$$$$$

Got a good deal again. $27.

Place

Ang Mo Kio Hub

#01-32

Ramen Ramen Singapore

I was rather reluctant to enter because the name sounded so unfamiliar to me and there were only two person in the restaurant! My hub insisted that we gave it a try, so we went in.

I was greeted by these pictures on the wall.

Aren't those pictures of happy people eating ramen attractive? If I have lots of money, I would want to decorate the walls in my house with huge wallpapers too! :D

Soon, we were served the green tea we ordered. Just look at how unique the cup is!

My hub said it is ergonomical. I tried lifting up the cup and indeed it is! Wow. If only I have such cups for my use at home! Then I asked my hub, "What about those left-handers?" He went -_-'' and said, "Don't know lah" heheh Me and my 10000 questions. :D

Came my hub's set meal - Ramen Ramen Ramen (dun ask me why the dish repeats the word Ramen three times) and Salmon.

I ordered the Ramen Ramen Ramen too, but without the set. According to the waitress, it consist of Japanese Char Siew, seaweed and egg.

Type

Japanese

Taste

8/10

It doesn't look the least appetizing eh? But voila, it is good man! I was already full halfway through, but I kept stuffing the ramen and the soup into my mouth. Heh! So glad that my hub chose to enter this restaurant.

Ambience

Casual. But very quiet environment coz there were not many people around.

Service

üüüüü

The service was generally good. The waitress was friendly and patiently told us the ingredients in the dish when asked.

Price

$$$$$

It only cost us $26 plus. Quite a good deal.

Place

60B Orchard Road#01-16A,

The Atrium@Orchard

Aji-teh Japanese Restaurant

Q : Why do we have Japanese food almost every week?
A : My hub loves Japanese food, especially salmon sushi
Q : Why does my hub love salmon sushi leh?
A : My brother intro him one lor!

Thanks to my brother, my hub and I are here in a Japanese Restaurant AGAIN. We need to go to bugis to get some things done and Aji-Teh seemed to be the only choice for having a Japanese meal there.

Type
Japanese

Taste
I ordered this.


















I don't know why, but the first time I had this, I could have given a 8 or 9 out of 10. The second time, a 7. Now, I only have 6 to offer. *ponders*

My hub's one taste better than mine.




















I didn't quite like the dessert the first time I had it. But when I gave it a second chance, it taste not bad! I give it a 7.























The 2 people in the next table ordered at 2 main courses and maybe 5 other side dishes! If only I could take photos of what is on their table. I wonder how many days were they starved :P

Ambience
Casual

Service
üüüüü

Poor coordination among staff. One of the staff said that we can take a table in a moment's time. The other came along and ask us to take a number and to queue up all over again!

One of the staff delivered the wrong meal to me and even claimed that he is right until another came along. Staff there are really blur lor.

When we asked whether we can pay the bill at our table or we have to go to the cashier, the staff actually nodded and said 'ok'. Grr...

Price
$$$$$

$39 for the above. Hmm... slight on the ex side.

Place
200 Victoria Street,
#01-94-95,
Bugis Junction

Wow! Noodle

As usual, we didn't want to queue. So we ended up in Wow!Noodle. Ironically, both of us ordered rice in this noodle specialty shop. :P

Type

Chinese - Hong Kong?

Taste

7/10 so so only

I miss the fried rice at Sticky Rice!!

Ambience
Casual

Service

üüüüü

Price
$$$$$

Place

AMK Hub

#B1-22

Lao Beijing

I had my first meal in Lao Beijing, Tiong Bahru a few weeks back when it was only their second day of opening. I still remember the big 20% discount that was given to us during the promotional period. :) The only regret that day was not to bring along the camera, as the ambience and food looks really good.

Today, I decided to return to Lao Beijing in Tiong Bahru Plaza for an early Mother's day celebration as we couldn't make it this Sunday. :(

As my hub came slightly later, I asked my mother to place the order first. She is afterall, the 'star' of the night. ;) It took a while for her to come to a decision as there were too many choices and she was amused (just like me) by the interesting categories of food on the menu such as '水里游的' and '不甜的甜品', just to name a few. Finally she decided on the following.

1) Ma Po Tou Fu
I was rather surprised she chose this because firstly, she has never expressed her liking for this dish before. Secondly, it's also my hub's favourite dish. I have no idea why they have so many food that they like in common, but for some reason, am very happy that this is so.

2) Beijing Style Sweet and Sour Fish
I had to convince her that S$38 for this fish is not expensive, although I feel otherwise. :P It IS expensive, but for my mother, I don't feel the pinch. :P

3) Kailan with Garlic
A vegetable dish to complete the meal.

Type
Chinese-Beijing

Taste
Ma Po Tofu (8/10)

Perhaps because I have had taken blander or spicier versions of it, Ma Po Tofu is something that I don't really hanker after and definitely a dish I will not suggest when placing an order. However, they cooked it so well that I kept returning to the dish after my first try. The tofu were still whole and the sauce complements the tofu very well.



















Beijing-Style Sweet and Sour (Song shu) Fish (8/10)




















Just in case you thought I got my mother and husband to 'pose' by placing their chopsticks on the fish, you are very much mistaken. The reason for their plunging in could either be that this dish looked attractive(com'on, you really have to agree with that. Dishes that are red or orangey always whet appetites, no?) or they were very hungry! ahhah but why were they SO hungry that they couldn't even wait 5 seconds for me to do a snap? Answer will be revealed later. ;)

Meanwhile, my comments. This fish not only looked attractive in terms of presentation, but was also very tasty. I wonder how they managed to remove all the bones and make them into 'flower buds' like that. The sauce was sweet and sour, like it's supposed to be, but a bit towards the starchy side.

After we have finished up the 'body', my mother put back the tail and said, '有头有尾'. Hee! so funny!



















Kailan with Garlic (7/10)
Came the vegetables. Ooook is the word. I wouldn't say that it's fantastic, yet I couldnt find any fault with it. Maybe what I like is, although the stems were very huge and seemed difficult to bite, it was not.











































Ambience

I really like the chinese yet very modern design of the restaurant. It has got that clean cut look. I always like it when a restaurant uses an all-white plate/bowls to serve their food. It sure made their food more appetizing!

Service
üüüüü

Came the important part of the blog. The service is really good. Unlike other restaurants whereby they will stop being so attentive when the crowd comes in, the waiters and waitresses were very prompt in refilling the cup with tea at all times. They even ask if they can get us new plates when our plates are slightly filled with food.

But of what use is good service if the food are not served promptly? After the Ma Po Tofu was served, we had to wait about 20 minutes for the fish to be served. And that was not without several reminders to different staff members. Ok, maybe the elaborate presentation of the fish did require some time to prepare. But, the vegetables? It came even later than the fish and what's more by another 10 minutes or so. If I say we spent 45 minutes on waiting time, I wouldn't be the least exaggerating. Oh, that explains much for the hunger thing huh? kekeke

When we were about to pay the bill and leave, we were pleasantly surprised by the 变脸 performance. This is the first time we see a live performance on this and my mother seemed pretty entertained. :)
























All our unhappiness stemmed from waiting seemed to be forgotten as we stepped out of the restaurant, with pretty ladies bidding us goodbye... :P

Price
$$$$$

Place
Tiong Bahru Plaza
#02-12

Chilli Padi Nonya Restaurant

It was my mummy's birthday. I wanted to bring her to somewhere special this time, instead of the usual chinese restaurant. I thought it would be interesting to bring her to her Nonya Restaurant, since she is a quarter peranakan. Oh, and that makes me 1/8th. :P As usual, I did some research on the web before I chose the restaurant. There were many good comments about this restaurant and so I decided to go for it.

Type
Nonya

Taste
Overall : 7/10



















From Top left and clockwise.

Kueh Pai Ti (8/10)
We had Kueh Pai Ti for appetizer. It was good. I like the crispy 'cup' so much, I had a second helping.

Cabbage Roll (8/10)
Don't you just feel like ordering it by just looking at the photo? I don't eat otar, but this dish, with otar wrapped in cabbage is one of my favourite dishes for that night. It tasted just as nice as it looked. The gravy taste superb especially when poured over rice! My brother was grousing over the price though. It costs him $4.20 per roll (cut into three). But I thought it was worth the price. :P

Kepetin Bak Wan (7/10)

The soup was good, but the bak wan was not as tender as I would like it to be. Surprisingly, I prefer the blander version of Kepetin Bak Wan in Simply Peranakan in Esplanade. :P

Ngor Hiang (6/10)

The Ngor Hiang was a disappointment and definitely not something worth raving about.


























From Top and clockwise

Honey Pork (10/10!)
I would definitely rate this as the best dish of the night! I almost gave it a miss, if not for my hub and brother. I thought there were already many dishes that were ordered and besides, this isn't their 'star' dish. It's so good, I can have the whole plate to myself and just a bowl of rice to go along for my dinner. :P

Chap Chye (5/10)
My mother and I wanted to give this a skip because we had one really bad experience of this dish at Simply Perankan. But we decided to go along with my hub and give this dish 'another chance' It turned out that it's indeed better, but still not too our liking. This is the only dish left unfinished. :P Looks like chap chye's just not our cup of tea.

Curry Assam Fish Head (6/10)
This is supposed to be their signature dish, but I don't fancy that at all. The curry tasted fine, but it's not something that makes you want to conquer the whole pot. In fact, after a few spoons of curry, I stopped returning to the dish. My mother, on the other hand, found it rather nice. Both of us preferred the one at Perankan, though. Seems like the two of us have been comparing the dishes between the two restaurants. Talk about competition!

Ambience

Very Peranakan. My mummy can relate to the antique perankan stuff on display as it brings back memories. I am so glad she likes it.

Service
üüüüü
Nothing special or any things extra. But I must say the dishes were all up in a jiffy.

Price
$$$$$
$70+ (after 20% for ocbc card holders) for all the above dishes. It's a good deal, I must say!

Place
11 Joo Chiat Place
#01-03

Breeks

We were looking for some place to have our dinner after our Best Denki visit at Taka. For the whole stretch of high-end restaurants (eg Pariss, Imperial Nan Bei Restaurant, etc), Breeks seemed to be the only choice that matches the limited size of our wallet. >_<

For quite a long time, I have not heard this sentence 'The soup of the day is cream of mushroom'. I was so delighted when the waiter announced so, as this is the only soup I would love to take.

Mushroom soup (7/10)

It turned out that this soup is very much to my liking. It's rich and creamy. The downside is, there are not much mushrooms in the soup. I wonder if it is because they were closing soon... *ponders*

Fish and Chips (7/10)

The fish and chips I ordered were served pretty fast. It was crispy on the outside and tender on the inside. Not too bad! The fries are not too good, though. Perhaps it was left in the cold for a while already and doesn't have the crunch effect that I always look for in fries.

Grilled fish (6/10)

The fish that my hub ordered was rather attention-grabbing. Almost all the people around us turned to look when it came sizzling its way to our table. With many eyes still in our direction, I felt too paiseh to take a photo of it, but my hub dearest was very supportive of my interest and took the photo for me. It wasn't in the angle that I wanted and I even complained that I have to do a bit of photoshopping with the photo he took. :P But the truth is, I was really appreciative.

Anyways, I took a bite and didn't really like it. My hub finished up the whole plate, though.

Type

Western

Taste

7/10

Ambience

Dim lights, moderately quiet

Service

üüüüü

Pretty prompt. Appreciate the 'grand' entrance and exit with their unison greetings, but would prefer to keep a low profile.

Price

$$$$$

$36 - quite reasonable.

Place

391A Orchard Road

#05-29, Ngee Ann City

Carl's Junior Criss-Cut Fries

It's been nearly two years since I last saw my 'net friend', J. Initially, I was rather afraid that we might run out of topics to talk about, especially when I am someone who needs a loooot of warming up and ice-breaking before I can enter into a hearty conversation. It seems like my worries were unfounded. J and I had just as much to talk about in person, as when we chatted online. I guess we just really have too much in common. :P

When I suggested to go Carls Junior, this resourceful lobang queen actually printed $2 discount vouchers from the web. That really came in useful because Carl's Junior food ain't cheap!

I was a bit sheepish when I took out the camera to take photos of my faaavvourite, ever-so-sinful, criss-cut fries because I was not too sure I will be embarassing her by taking photos of food in the public. I explained to her that I have just developed this new interest in taking photos of food and putting them up on the blog. It only made me more paiseh when she gave a chuckle. Then she told me that she also had the habit of taking photos of desserts! LOL! say so lah... :D She even helped me to position the burgers to faciliate my photoshoot. hahah


Fish Sandwich (5/10)
My fish sandwich burger wasn't really nice as it has the fishy smell in it. :( It's portion is enough to feed someone who hasn't eaten for one day. :P



















We wondered for a while, the difference between a charboiled and the Santa Fe Burger, but didn't manage to come to a conculsion. heh! This is her Santa Fe Chicken Burger. It certainly looks much tastier than mine.




















Criss Cut Fries (10/10)
I have just had my Carl's Junior exactly a week ago. Seriously, I don't really fancy the burgers here. They are dry, messy and huge enough to make you feel guilty for the wastage. The only reason why I suggested this place is to take photo of this. My crispy, tasty criss-cut fries. *crunch crunch*




















Type
Fast food

Taste
As above

Ambience
Typical fast food restaurant setting

Service
üüüüü
A young staff came to us and asked if he could help to fill our soft drinks because he was free. Heee... I thought that was really nice of him.

Price
$$$$$
For fast food, the price is generally quite steep. For that criss-cut fries, every cent is worth spending!

Place
Marina Square
#01-202

Vegetarian Black Pepper Chicken Kway Teow

If there is anything that will make my day during working days, it would be this.


















Type
Chinese, Vegetarian

Taste
9/10
One would really have to try it to know how good it is. Especially the mock chicken in it. It's tender... it's succulent... it's deliciooous! :D~~~


















I had to reserve that 1 point because the kway teow is something quite dry. That could be due to the fact that it dried up in the packet before I open it up to eat. Still, there should be more gravy in it to prevent that from happening. Other than that, it's perfect.

Ambience
Eh... nothing to comment as it is a take away.

Service
üüüüü
Normal transaction

Price
$$$$$
$2 only. :)

Place
Boon Lay Area

New York New York

Super long queues outside New York New York is a common sight, especially during meal times. Even Jacky Wu mentioned this restaurant in his show. It certainly arouses the curiosity of many on whether if the food in this restaurant is THAT good. At least, it does make my hub and I wanna queue up when there are 'only' four different groups in front of us.

We didn't have to wait long before we were directed to a table right at the end. The menu certainly looked very attractive to us as we scan through the list of food items. We decided to go for the food items marked 'gotta have it'.

We ordered the Fiery Buffalo wings, Creamy Spaghetti with Pork Chop (for me) and Spare Ribs (for my hub). Can't remember the exact fanciful names for the two mains. Our verdict? 'Why the queue ah?'

Type
Western

Taste
Rating 7/10 (for me) 5/10 (for my hub)




















Fiery Buffalo wings (7/10)

The Fiery Buffalo wings were not bad but nothing really fantastic about it.






















Pasta with Pork Chop (7/10)

I went 'yuuummm' for my first few bites of my main. It's creamy delicious and the pork chop went very well with it. However, when I was halfway through the meal, the same creamy taste that I liked the meal for, became a burden to my stomach and I just couldn't finish it. -_-''



















Spare Ribs (6/10)

The spare ribs looked extremely appetising and we couldn't wait to set our fork and knife on it. It was kinda a disappointment because it really didn't match up to its appearance. My hub didn't like it at all and he had to dig into my spaghetti and finish up the buffalo wings to have his fill. The spare ribs were still of acceptable to me (I am very chin chye mah), but strangely, it tasted and looked like duck meat to me. *roll eyes* :P

Candy Floss (8/10)

There were no room in our stomach for dessert so we decided not to go for the dessert. We did harbour thoughts of twirling a stick of candy floss from the candy floss machine (yes, they allow hands-on), but decided not to, as the long queue of people was formed just in front of the candy machine. :P As much as we wanted so much to lay our hands and teeth on the candy floss, both of us were too paiseh to even get near the machine.

When we were to about to exit, my dearest hub finally gave in and took the ready-made candy floss from the machine, but not without asking me a few times, 'take ah?' in front of the people at the queue, to show that it was ME who wanted it. LOL! So cute of him. :D

The candy floss was really sweet and some melted on my lips before I even get to taste it. I can't help but giving it more and more nibbles. Guess I really have a deprived childhood because as far as I can remember, I would have only have tasted candy floss once? My husband felt that it is not up to the standard and that the pink candy floss he has tasted was so much better. On the contrary, I felt it tasted great! I nibbled so many times at the candy floss with so much joy and delight on my face that he can't help but taste it again to confirm that he didn't miss out anything that I seemed to be experiencing. LOL! He's really adorable. Love him! :D

Ambience
Restaurant suitable for gatherings and chats

Service
üüüüü
Service is normal, but good enough.

Price
$$$$$
Reasonable.

Place

Ang Mo Kio Hub

#B1-25