alcovian

Had a family gathering here last Sunday - ambience and service was great. Food was not too bad too. It's a taiwan porridge buffet, and there were the usual salted eggs, preserved tofu and vegetables which were fresh and delicious. There was soya sauce chicken, braised pork, braised egg, beancurd, vegetables and steam fish. The best part though was the dessert! Tangyuan in a very yummy ginger soup. Several of us had more than 1 helping! Coffe / tea provided, the only thing lacking was perhaps a soup.
Service was friendly and the place cosy for a family get-together.

2012-10-28

Have eaten here a few times over the years but never reviewd. Had dinner there with B on Fri night. Place was not too packed, and we were seated promptly. We ordered the eggplant ( melazane parmigiana) and pork sausage pizza( salsiccia e scarmoza). The eggplant was interestingly mashed before it was baked with generous amounts of cheese, but it was slightly too cheesy and mushy. The pizza was good.. I love the texture of the crust. Slightly small in size for price ($23), but good to be shared by 2. Overall, ok, but quality and size of dishes seems to have dropped a bit over the past year.The service was passable, but I do love al fresco dining!

2012-10-19

First time visit to Star Vista! Brotzeit outlet was surprisingly as crowded as the outlet at Raffles City, efen at 9 ishpm! We tried the grilled pork sausage and the cold cut salad. The salad was generously topped with lean ham strips and bits, with just the right amount of dressing. Very enjoyable. The grilled sausages were nice, but ordinary. I usually love sauerkraut, and can eat additional helpings, but that night it seemed a bit rich and we couldn't finish the extra portion between us. Beers great as usual. Not too bad, but I would still say the Raffles City branch has better food.

2012-10-20

Went for Sunday buffet dinner with family. Place was nice and cosy, and service was good too. Food was fairly good - a good mix of western and local cuisine. My family liked the oxtail ( nicely done stew) while I thought the soft shell crab with chicken floss was great! Salmon sashimi was fresh, and durian crumble looked interesting and is a must try if you like durians. 1 for 1 promotion currently with citibank... Good experince overall!

2012-10-21

This is my favourite Soup restaurant, having tried their outlets at Suntec City, City Square Mall and Seah St. Partly, it's the ambience - the interior of the restaurant is cosy and quaint. The food at this outlet also seems to be tastier than their City Square counterpart!
Me and B usually order the Samsui chicken, Soup (of course!) and a veggie. The soups are yummy - I have tried several of their individual soups including soups for specific indications eg. lethargy, detoxification etc. That Tuesday, we decided to just try the Soup of the Day ( for 2) which was a familiar soup from childhood - lotus root with pork-rib soup. It was great ! Piping hot in a ceramic pot, it was tasty and not too oily. The Samsui chicken is their specialty - best part of the meal is to wrap the chicken slices in the lettuce provided and add a good heap of their divine, famous ginger! We had their Ah Kong Sweet potato leaves as our vegetable dish that day, and although it was nice, the star of the meal was, as usual the chicken.
We didn't order this dish as there were only 2 of us, but the other great dish we tried previously was the minced pork with water chestnut... it's a simple dish, but one that makes me nostalgic for my late grandmother's steamed minced pork. If the Samsui chicken was available in a smaller portion, i would be happy to order both meats! However, as it is, the 3 dishes between the 2 of us was already quite sufficient.
One of my favourite places to go to when craving good, old-fashioned, "home-cooked"-style Chinese food.

2012-07-03

Walking past the restaurant on a Friday evening and decided to pop in to try their Hotpot Buffet (Mini Steamboat). The place was quite packed and tables were rather squeezy. Still, we were seated promptly, and the waitress came to take our orders fast too.
We tried the Hotpot buffet (without ala carte cooked food). The soup comes in a small metal pot above a burner (disposable fuel) used. We decided to try the soups recommended in the menu - the herbal chicken ( clear but bland), and the Hot and Spicy ( much tastier). Unfortunately, my burner (chicken soup) took significantly longer than the hot and spicy soup to boil, even without any food in it. In the end, I kinda gave up and decided to chuck everything into the hot and spicy soup!
There are a few steamboat items you can order from the menu - we tried the beef/pork slices, mushrooms, crab claw and fish "glue". All were pretty ordinary except the fish glue - interesting thin layer of sticky fish paste that is you scrape in to the soup. When cooked, it is sweet, and not too soft. There is also a chiller to get the rest of the buffet items - rice/nooddles, frozen fish slices, some veggies, eggs and well... alot of meatballs! There was chicken ball, mushroom chicken pall, prawn ball, sotong and fish ball.. As with all steamboats though, the most important part of the meal is the sauce! Sadly though, there was only 1 type of chilli sauce available, although there is garlic/ spring onion etc that you can add to suit your taste, some variety in sauces (including non-spicy options?) would have made a huge difference in the meal... the food all started to taste the same after a while!
Iced lemon tea is provided, free-flow and the service staff were quite prompt in taking orders and re-filling soups. 2 types of fruits that day - sliced oranges and cubed honey-dew melon (both types not too sweet).. and very small cubes of dry banana bread/cake ( like 1cm by 1cm!) to pass as dessert. Not great.
All in all, the food was edible but not great. Cost ~ $30/pax after GST (Fri and weekend dinners).

2012-07-13

Headed to Changi Airport Terminal 1 to try the restaurants there for lunch with my 2 colleagues, and decided on eating at Astons. There was a slight queue to be seated, but the waitress seated us promptly within 5 minutes, and the service staff were polite and smiley!
The interior was quite cosy.. we were seated at a booth in the middle of the restaurant, and it was not too cramped.
I had the black pepper grilled fish with coleslaw and garden veggies - I liked the black pepper sauce! Nice, thick and peppery! The fish was a good size but slightly soft. Veggies were cooked just right, although the coleslaw dressing was a little bit runny. My colleagues had the grilled fish with herbs - they tried the tasty rice and vegies/coleslaw for sides. They liked the rice - fragrant and buttery!
We topped off the meal with a coffee each. Definitely value for money, as our lunch came up to $10/pax. We're glad Astons and other eateries (Paradise Inn etc) have opened at Terminal 1... Definite improvement in terms of choice when previously we had Delifrance, some cafes and BK.

2012-07-13

Headed to Tampines to check out the Hokkaido Fair during lunch hour with colleagues and decided to have lunch at Swensons. There is currently a promotion - order a main/sandwich/pasta/pizza and get either a side dish, ice cream or drink free. I ordered a Tuna Ciabatta and my colleagues ordered the salmon/mushroom pasta.
The tuna ciabatta was very good... generous amount of tuna, side serving of boiled veggies and the ciabatta was toasted to perfection! Light and crispy! I've always only associated Swensen's with ice-cream and not so much for food, so it was pleasantly surprising to find one of the best sandwiches I've eaten in the past year or so here! Both my colleagues had the salmon / mushroom linguine, and while they both thought it was ok, they agreed it was rather bland.
Since all of us needed a coffee boost for the 2nd half of our work day, we decided to skip ice-cream and had coffee instead. One of the rare times I'm at Swensen's and not tucking in to their ice cream ( my fave Coit Tower!!)
All in all, a pleasant lunch, although the air-conditioner was blasting in certain parts of the restaurant. Restaurant staff were generally good and friendly, and the first waitress who seated us was patient and allowed us to find a section where it wasn't so cold. Only 1 senior manageress or female supervisor was a tad "hoity-doity" when we were asking about our bill and the lunch promotion. Strange, the younger servers were all smiling and friendly, and they are supposed to be learning from their Seniors. Well, in this case, I hope not.

2012-07-05

Had dinner there on a quiet Monday night - ~$64 for 2pax, but there was good variety of food, so much so, I couldn't decide what to give a miss to save "stomach space"! Service was friendly and attentive, and we were seated in a cozy corner, over looking the pool at the neighbouring condo.
They had 4 types of sashimi - I stuck to my usual fish, the salmon and tuna. The tuna was fresher than the salmon, but I liked that they topped up the sashimi frequently, unlike some places where they leave the trays empty until the next serving is scheduled to be brought out. I also enjoyed the fried section - veg/mushroom/ebi tempuras, fried salmon skin, fried salmon cheek. The radish is at the side,help yourself. We also tried the freshly cooked mushrooms, beef and vegetables (tou-miao), all quite yummy, although the seasoning tasted similar for all 3 dishes. I also sampled some sushi - soft shell crab topped with salmon roe, and unagi/tamago sushi. Not too dry which sometimes occurs at buffets. There were also hand rolls, and though sorely tempted to have one, I decided to head over to the dessert section. There were 6 types of ice-creams! I loved the macha (green tea) ice cream - it was not too creamy or bitter. There is also a chocolate fondue so I coated my fruits with chocolate. I also enjoyed the cut guava, which they seasoned with preserved orange peel, a nice take instead of the usual plum powder.
Topped off the meal with a nice hot cup of coffee.. strong and aromatic! There was so much I didn't get to try yet, but sadly, I couldn't fit in more food comfortably. Next time!!?
It's not gourmet Jap food, but for a Jap buffet, I think they give Kuishinbo a good run for their money. Will definitely be back to try some of the things I skipped --- baked mussels, chawamushi, cold soba. The list is actually quite long!!

2012-07-02

Decided to try the Penang food here for dinner. I liked the retro decor.. especially the floor tiles! But sadly, the food was not quite as authentic as we had hoped.
I ordered my perennial favourite- Penang Assam laksa. The gravy was very good - sour and spicy, but not so spicy you couldn't taste the prawn-paste or fish bits. The noodles though, were a bit too chewy. But, generally, I enjoyed slurping the gravy! The other dishes we ordered were the Sambal Belacan Fried rice and the grilled stingray. Sadly, the laksa was the best of the lot.
The Sambal belacan rice looked fairly unappetizing... it was a pale orange clump of rice in the middle of the plate, with small little bits of food spread around. The few strands of green mango were stringy and dry, the sambal belacan was less than a spoonful, and some dark meat. The sambal stingray came on a small little plate, and although it was quite meaty, it was rather dry , and not as tasty or aromatic as those served at the seafood restaurants/hawker centres on banana leaves.
They also had some biscuits on sale at the counter ( tau-sar peng), packed individually in plastic wrappers. I didn't try them because they looked like I could get them from any bakery (Crystal Jade bakery a few doors down!).
All in all, the food was definitely not Gurney Drive Penang standard. The service was quite good though. I would probably only go back if I was craving Penang Assam laksa.

2012-06-26

Had dinner there with bf cos we felt like simple, hot jap food... We shared the Wasabi Prawn salad (large), mushroom tempura and Unagi Hot Stone rice. And it was exactly what we were looking forward to ! Simple and comforting, hit the spot!
The service was good, and I think effort was made to seat the customers with at least an empty table in between. I found that very nice as so often, restaurants sort of want to "pack" us into sections, even when it's not crowded. Unfortunately, the tables made our seating rather uncomfortable. The menus are kept under the table and the extra compartment made the tables rather low for the seats. Luckily, the food and service made up for it!
The wasabi dressing for the salad made the dish very tangy and refreshing. The shitake mushroom tempuras were large and creamy. I usually find tempuras good in small doses only, but between 2, it was just right. The unagi hot stone rice was sizzling, and our server dished out just the right amount of sauce for us. Very yummy, although the unagi pieces were rather small.
We topped off our dinner with a pot of their signature "healthy" teas - waitress was good and re-filled the pot for us without us asking.
All in all, good, healthy and simple food.

2012-06-25

Went to Raffles City on a Monday afternoon. After some hectic hours of shopping , decided to stop at Fruit Paradise (Basement One) for some tea. Service was good - efficient and courteous. They had a Tart set - a slice of their signature tarts and a drink ( soft drink/ fruit soda/ blend tea/coffee). Value for money at $9.80++, considering a slice of tart on its own is about $7 ++. Decided to try their Mixed Berry with Chocolate tart and a blend tea ( comes in a pot, ~ 400 ml). The mixed berry tart was fruity and not too sweet, blending well with the fresh cream. Berry delicious! . Went very well with a nice cup of non-sweet, fruity blend tea.
Felt completely refreshed after the break and could continue shopping for a couple more hours!

2012-06-11

Heard of their current 1-for-1 dinner offer ( citibank, stanchart and some other credit cards) so had a family bash there last Sunday. The spread was good! Most of the dishes were quite yummy but I thought a few really stood out and deserve a mention! Firstly, the smoked salmon ( rolled with omelet/tamago) was really good! Not too salty as smoked salmon tends to be, with just enough sweetness in the omelet. Perfect! The nonya achar was also quite authentic. Arguably the best dish though, was their laksa yong-tau-fu..very lemak! Good enough to fight Katong laksa! A nice touch was also the toaster available to warm up the breads. Great! For the main dishes, the oxtail stew was generous in portions but a trifle tough. The penang kway teow was too spicy for me, but the sambal belachan with fried chicken was good. They offer 6 flavours of ice-cream ( compared to the usual 2-3 at most buffets). Have to say though, their western cakes ( banana chocolate, pie) were better than their nonya kuehs which were too hard. I enjoyed the cheng tng though.. Simple, clear sweet soup to wrap up the meal. Coffee and tea available. With the spread there, sure to over-eat . But it's definitely a buffet place worth trying out.

2012-06-10

Walking by Eastpoint basement and decided to have lunch at Hanis. It's located in the atrium area of the basement, so the environment is not too cosy. Still, the food was definitely value for money! Ordered the grilled dory set lunch - $9.90 for soup, a slice of garlic bread, main dish, drink and cake/ fruit! The soup of the day was cream of something-or-other, unfortunately, I couldn't quite taste what , it was too creamy. The fish was done well, not too fishy or limp, and the potato wedges were nice too. Sadly, I was served a watermelon slice, as I heard the cake slices had run out, but the coffee was nice and hot. Basically, with the reasonable pricing, definitely worth Visit!

2012-06-01

Had a nice Saturday dinner at Brotzeit .. The staff seated us quite promptly, and were very efficient. Tried the Currywurst ( Curry Pork Sausage) .. Nice, tangy sauce with a fair sprinkling of curry powder over the sausage.. Yummy! But good for 2 to share, otherwise might be a bit much. Also tried the mozzarella salad, which was unfortunately, no big deal. The mozarella balls were too powdery and bland. We did enjoy the mushroom soup - not too creamy, especially accompanied with the Classic Pretzel... Divine!! Definitely a great place to hang out, have good, hearty food and guzzle a beer or 2!

2012-06-02