The rising popularity of thai cuisines in Singapore is evident with the influx of anything thai into the local food scene, ranging from thai milk tea joints, thai shibuya toast, and in recent years Thai Mookata/steamboat. Many restaurants and even food centres offering Thai Mookata has popped up, leaving thai food lovers with a plethora of choices.I had the chance to try Thai Mookata for the first time thanks to the OpenRice food tasting last Friday together with a few other OpenRicers. Thanks OpenRice for the invite! I actually love Thai food and Thai Milk Tea, but not being a steamboat or bbq person, I have never tried Thai Mookata as yet. The Charcoal Thai outlet at Nex is big and spacious, and there were ample space to move around between the tables. Ambience is typical of that of a busy bbq steamboat restaurant especially when the lunch crowd started streaming in.

We were served first with the Thai Milk Tea. Blended from thai tea leaves, the Thai Milk Tea is rich and fragrant, having tried many thai milk tea in Singapore, this came off as one of the better ones! Authentic Thai Milk Tea are known to be sweet, so for those who don't like sweet stuff, thai milk tea may not be to their liking. After taking the first sip, I couldnt stop drinking it! Love it so much that I actually wanted a second glass, but I have to leave space as I wanted to try the Lemongrass too.The Thai Lemongrass drink is light and refreshing infused with a mix of lemongrass and pandan leaves. However, I personally feel that the lemongrass taste could be a tad stronger as I actually find the lemongrass taste too light. It's also not ice cold enough. Both drinks are $3.95.The hotpots are accompanied by three types of sauces, namely the Thai Chilli Sauce, Garlic Sesame Sauce and Thai Tomato sauce. These sauces are really good and enhances the taste of the food.The Thai Mookata BBQ Steamboat Set ($39.95) comes served in a choice of the traditional charcoal or the normal electric stove. Cook your meats on the barbeque grill and the layer of oil from the meats will roll down to the surrounding steamboat, adding more flavour to the soup. The set consists of well marinated pork and chicken, prawns, squids, sausages, fishballs/meatballs etc. A serving of tang hoon and assorted vegetables are also included. We tried both the chicken and tom yam soup base. The chicken soup base is light and fragrant while I like the mildly spicy clear tom yam soup. I prefered the meats cooked on the traditional charcoal, as it has more oomph and gives a more distinct and better taste over those cooked on the normal electric stove.The Thai Beauty Collagen Hotpot Set ($48.95) is stewed for hours into a smooth collagen pudding. Watch the collagen pudding slowly melt into a pot of rich creamy broth. The set comes with marinated chicken, pork, beef, cheese sausages, prawns, enoki mushrooms, fishcake, tau pok and assorted vegetables. Didn't really like the meats cooked in the collagen hotpot though as there isn't much added taste. The Thai Chicken Hotpot Set (Small $15.95/Big $19.95) is actually not Thai style but more of a Chinese style hotpot. The special recipe sauce is made from fermented soybean and chinese hua diao wine among other ingredients. The chicken is tender, savoury and flavourful, while the soup base is spicy and quite strong-flavoured. It's a little too salty for my liking though.Our meal ended on a sweet note with refreshing fruit cocktail as desserts!Overall, food quality is quite decent though prices are slightly high. I personally love the Thai Mookata BBQ Steamboat Set the most, as I prefer a mixture of grill and steamboat. Drinks are good too. The restaurant also serves a selection of ala carte cuisine ranging from the usual thai fare to thai desserts.

Attended my first food tasting hosted by OpenRice and Harry's last Thursday. Thanks for the invite, OpenRice! Was really excited for I have not dined or drink at Harry's before, was really looking forward to the food and drinks and on the whole, it did not disappoint!The Clarke Quay travel-themed outlet with a warm and cozy interior decor is the latest addition to the Harry's family. Located alongside various bars and restaurants, and near to the fountain, the place is relatively easy to find, given that I do not visit Clarke Quay often. The bar and dining establishment offers quality drinks and delectable modern european cuisine. On the table during the food tasting session are a selection of Harry's new Menu, consisting of Small Plates, Platters, Big Plates, Desserts and of course the drinks!First up is the crispy, crackling (true to it's name) and very addictive Fish Cracklings ($13) which I couldn't resist! Think eel fish skin and garlic mayonaise dip, and there you have the winning formula! These crispy darlings are even good on its own without the aioli dip. Harry's Signature Wings ($13 for 6pcs/$19 for 10pcs) is another personal favourite. Already good on its own with Harry's secret spice, it is all the more alluring with the homemade chilli jam. Not to worry for those who can't take spicy food, it is not going to put your ears on fire, skip the chilli jam if you are worried. With or without the chilli dip, it is finger licking good!The Crab & Potato Cakes ($19 for 6pcs) will definitely go well with crab lovers! The blue swimmer crab and potato cakes have a very strong crab taste with a light tinge of lemongrass. Didn't really like this as I felt the crab taste was too over. So, I had it dipped in lots and lots of the Sriracha Tomato Dip in an attempt to cover the crabby taste. Apparently it didn't really work, true quality ingredients used indeed! That explains the higher price tag.The above three small bites or Small Plates as it is called, are great finger food especially for those who just want something light to go with their beer! They are perfect with a pint of Harry's Premium Lager ($13). For someone like me who don't usually drink, I find this refreshing and not too strong. I will definitely order this if I were to dine at Harry's!Grilled beef sliders with bell peppers and jalapeno cheese sauce, the Jalapeno Steak Sliders ($13) has a tinge of little and light spiciness. A great bite size platter to share. These mini burgers looked good but tasted quite ordinary. Didn't impress.The Dirty Harry ($16) is served next, to pair up with the Big Plates which are the mains. A signature cocktail of vodka, brown sugar and lychee liqueur, it is refreshing and zesty. But I didn't finish the glass, as I find the alcohol content slightly high. Not a drinker, so vodka is considered quite strong for me. Happy enough to manage a few sips! The Chicken Masala ($23) is a surprise crowd pleaser. Didn't expect much from this but it turned out that this became my favourite main dish for the night. Generous chunks of soft and tender flavourful chicken with an aromatic gravy that was not too overly strongly spiced, it was a delight savouring this with the toasted Charcoal bread. A must order!Another Big Plate served is the Crabmeat Spaghettini ($23). A tomato sauced based spaghettini cooked with fresh crabmeat and toasted pinenuts. Simple and perfect comfort food for the tomato pasta lover. I personally do not fancy tomato based spaghetti, (I'm more of the al dente aglio olio type of person instead), so this dish did not appeal that much to me.There is nothing best than to end a meal with a sweet dessert. The Toffee Apple Crisp Tart ($14) is a sweet thin-crust dessert with thin apple slices and spread with salted caramel, with a dollop of vanilla ice cream. Quite a nice dessert, except that the tart itself was not crisp, it's actually soft on the contrary. It's not overly sweet too, you must have every bite together with the ice cream, and you get the right taste! Love how the ice cream complements the dessert itself!A glass of fruity sweet Moscato ($13.50) is the perfect drink to go with desserts! The fruity dessert wine is sweet, refreshing yet subtle, which concluded our delicious dinner on a sweet note!

If you are thinking of great drinks and food for a good chillout gathering or to unwind after a stressful work day, do drop by at Harry's latest outlet at Clarke Quay! Try it and you will know!

Have always walked past PODI thinking it is a high end restaurant and wouldnt have went there if not for a complimentary voucher. The name PODI sounds high end too! After the first visit, I sort of quite like the ambience of the place and the food and went back for quite a few times.

The Duck Berry Waffle priced at $18 was the dish that attracted me when I saw other diners ordering it, so I have to had that too! Presentation was good and appealing. Duck leg confit is served atop a belgium waffle with a pretty runny egg, and with blueberry compote and honey mustard sauce. The duck leg confit is tender and flavourful, and I quite like it with the waffle, it goes well with it. The waffle is crispy, and eating every mouthful together with the duck and the egg is perfect!

During my many visits to PODI, the Iced Chocolate has become my preferred choice of beverage. It is decent at $5, and is priced reasonably as compared to other restaurants or cafes which may price the Iced Chocolate at a higher price.

Was looking for takeaway food in the food basement of Raffles City and this is one of the stalls that offer filling food and the cheapest option that you can find there, other than the food court. The nasi lemak Lunch Box ($4) is available in different sets and options. Had wanted to buy the chicken wing set but was sold out, so had the breaded fish lunch box instead. The lunch box includes breaded fish, ikan bilis & peanuts, otah and fish cake. The ikan bilis and peanuts were sealed and prepacked, together with the sambal chilli. The otah is good as it is on its own. I like the big and tasty fish cake the most. The breaded fish is quite normal, I still prefer the chicken wing. The nasi lemak is average and not fantastic, Lee Wee is more famous for its otah rather than nasi lemak anyway. The rice portion is huge, too much that I couldnt finish the rice, good for big eaters though.

Saveur recently introduced a special 3 course lunch menu on Mondays to Fridays from 1130am to 3pm at $22.90++. It is slightly cheaper than if you order them ala-carte. From a selection of entrees, mains and desserts, make your choice of one from each category.

We had the Saveur's Pasta as the entree, duck confit as the main and the earl grey creme brulee for dessert. The Saveur's Pasta is my all time favourite, al dente angel hair pasta tossed with chilli oil and topped with sakura ebi. With its nice presentation, price and taste, I feel it well surpass pastas served in some other restaurants. It is just so tasty and addictive that I can never have enough of it. The duck confit is tender and fragrant, well marinated and flavourful, served with very yummy mash potato. These two dishes are my must haves whenever I am at Saveur. I have always wanted to try their other mains but eventually I would succumb to the Duck Confit. The earl grey creme brulee is as tantalising as it looks!

If you are looking for french fare at affordable prices, this is definitely the place to be. Ambience wise, dont expect much, afterall this is a place for the masses. Im not sure why, but the place is very noisy, like a marketplace, even fast food restaurants arent so noisy. It makes one just want to leave immediately after finishing our food.