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Showing 1 to 5 of 21 Recommended Reviews in Singapore
shauneeie_
56 Review(s)
Level 3
Hvala waffle bar @ Somerset 313 OK Jun 07, 2015   
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Categories : Desserts and Cakes | Ice Cream and Gelato

Waffle fever has yet to slow down on our sunny island and another waffle bar has popped up in the basement of 313 somerset. Run by this young couple, they bring creative waffle ideas to the masses. We decided to give these stick doughs a try.

Original hvala waffle

 
Berries Delight

 
Apple cinnamon

 
Bella banana

 
Tiramisu

 
Creme Brulee

 
full review and pictures @ http://shauneeie.blogspot.sg/2015/06/hvala-waffle-bar-somerset-313.html

 

 

 

 

 
 
Spending per head: Approximately $3(Tea)

Other Ratings:
Taste
 3  |  
Environment
 2  |  
Service
 4  |  
Clean
 4  |  
Price
 4

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Diner
230 Review(s)
Level 4
Tradition kept alive Smile Feb 14, 2013   
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Categories : Cantonese/Hong Kong | Hotel | Seafood

The Chinese restaurants at the Shangri La, Sheraton Towers, The Marriott and the Meritus Mandarin Orchard used to be the preferred venues for special occasion meals until the Millennium when new restaurants serving nouveau Chinese cuisine such as. Peony Jade, Silk Road, New Majestic and Yan Ting overtook them in popularity. Shang Palace retains their older clientele by keeping tradition alive while adding new ingredients to old favourites and tweaking the presentation of their dishes through individual portions & minimalist plating. Only the yusheng is presented the usual way on the lazy susan turntable, but once the tossing is done, the waitress removed the platter aside to divvy the salad into single portions.

The classic Chinese ambience is retained but with the addition of drapes & screens to offer privacy to diners, while the wait staff continue to impress with their quiet efficiency in serving their customers.

 
After the yusheng, we were each served a generous portion of the sublime sharks fin which was immersed in a double boiled chicken consomme. Definitely prefer this version compared to the usual sharks fin bisque (thick soup) which is too filling and also clouds out the clear, clean taste & texture of the fins.

.

 
The appetizer duo of baby abalone tart and fresh scallop with egg white are luxe dimsum from their lunch menu. Next up was my favourite - sliced abalone with dried whole scallop (conpoy), dried oyster & prawn.

The steamed garoupa in HK style was also faultlessly prepared & presented.

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Another lightly seasoned dish to showcase the quality of the ingredients was the sea cucumber stuffed with minced seafood paste, which was served on a bed of blanched young spinach.

The pork rib with chef's sauce was delicious and the succulent meat was easily separated from the bone. We were already quite full after this dish. We requested the waitress not to plate the glutinous rice in lotus leaf. What is nice here is the range of desserts included in the set menu. Besides the glutinous rice, we also passed for takeaway the warm dessert of panfried nian gao.

We ended our dinner with the trio of cold desserts - a tasting portion of mango puree with pomelo sacs and almond jelly, a chewy little mochi symbolizing reunion and Shangri La's signature pineapple tart. That's a sweet finale to the Year of the Dragon.

 

 
 
Date of Visit: Jan 09, 2013 

Other Ratings:
Taste
 4  |  
Environment
 4  |  
Service
 4  |  
Clean
 4  |  
Price
 3

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Diner
230 Review(s)
Level 4
Overhyped, Overrated & Overpriced Cry Dec 20, 2012   
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Categories : Pasta

The Place: Skinny was buzzing with activity when two of us dropped by about 1:30pm on a midweek. We were given the 2nd last empty table left. Square tables were spaced as close together as a fast food outlet, and we sat on the most uncomfortable chairs there ever was. If you have long arms you're likely to knock elbows with the customer seated next to you. Even if you speak in hushed tones your neighbor will hear every word you say. Obviously eat and be gone type of place.

The Prices: Pizzas were priced comparably with Italian restaurants in five star hotels. Think Pontini, Prego, Pete's Place. We ordered two pizzas for two of us. But the pizza is best eaten as an appetizer or a snack on hindsight. For a proper meal go for the pasta or sausage. Ordering a pizza per head leaves one peckish after 3 or 4 hours max.

The Service: Servers take your orders in a business like fashion and after serving your pizza and cutting it into quarters at the table, you aren't likely to hear from them again. We spied a server dusting the crumbs off the paper placemat on a nearby table after the guests had left and arranged new sets of cutlery on the table. The two drinks we ordered arrived without straws and when I requested them only one was given. Water was never topped up unless you asked, and we had to ask two servers before the glasees were eventually done. When we requested extra paper napkins and a change of our soiled plates, the server pretended not to hear. A lady seated next to us was kind enough to offer us a pack of tissues for us to clean our fingers and wipe the squid ink off our plates.

The food: A friend who had visited Skinny's Raffles City outlet had advised us not to order the bolognese pizza, so we picked their two other signature items Squid Ink Pizza and Ginger Butter Chicken Pizza. Imagine a 9" table water cracker with toppings. We liked the crispy crunchy crust. The Ginger Butter Chicken had no taste of ginger whatsoever and reminded us of Indian masala curry. The biggest letdown was the Squid Ink Pizza. It looked like a pizza that Scrooge had made. Not a pizza made with love as the rocket leaves were almost wilting and cheap ingredients like onions and diced tomatoes are sparsely used even though it was closing time. The squid rings were a little chewy ie slightly overcooked.

 


 


The Verdict: My lunchmate and I would have 2nd thoughts even if our next visit was on the house.
 
Date of Visit: Dec 20, 2012 

Spending per head: Approximately $35(Lunch)

Other Ratings:
Taste
 3  |  
Environment
 2  |  
Service
 2  |  
Clean
 2  |  
Price
 2

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Diner
230 Review(s)
Level 4
Seafood Feast Smile Jan 13, 2013   
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Categories : Restaurant | Seafood

We had a 7pm reservation for the monthly dinner gathering among members of our extended family at Seafood Paradise Restaurant in Defu Lane 10. It was here in the middle of an industrial estate amidst a motley cluster of motor workshops, warehouses & light industries where the highly successful & popular homegrown restaurant chain Paradise Group had its origins. We've dined at their restaurant at the Singapore Flyer which was very busy & crowded so we thought we could have a fuss free meal in the boondocks away from the madding crowds, plus free parking. A mistaken notion indeed. When our group arrived both the aircon & non aircon sections of the restaurant on the ground floor of the sky blue Swee Hin Building was a hive of activity, the car park & the lane outside the compound were packed with cars & a cheerful trio of aunties were on hand to welcome us & usher us to our tables.All these people are here just to eat, there's nothing else to do in the vicinity. If people bother to find their way hete the seafood must be of top notch quality & freshness, & the cooking must be excellent. This proved to be so. Our tables were already set out, complete with finger bowls, nutcrackers for attacking the crab shells, wet towels, peanuts & copper pots of Pu Er tea. The table crew is a veritable United Nations with local aunties, young women speaking Malaysian accented Mandarin, China men & women and several Indian guys. Great teamwork among them throughout our dinner, they were unfazed by the crowds & their demands, and promptly fielded our requests for more rice, tea & ice cubes throughout our meal.

We ordered cheesy bacon rolls & cuttlefish with water spinach (kangkong), steamed goby, poached live prawns and crabs done two ways and a roast chicken for our two tables of family members, with each & every dish tasting lip-smackingly good. The food startef to arrive within half an hour of placing our orders, so the kitchen crew works briskly to meet the customers orders of a restaurant operating at full capacity.
Cheesy Bacon Rolls

Cheesy Bacon Rolls

 
The cheesy bacon roll recommended by our server was a great choice, crispy bacon encircling squid paste with a core of molten cheese. Yummy. This was so popular we ordered an additional portion for the kids.
Cuttlefish Kangkong

Cuttlefish Kangkong

 
Seafood Paradise has a unique rendition of this popular dish that we first tried at their SG Flyer branch & liked it well enough to order it again. The kangkong is fried till crispy complementing the springy cuttlefish very well. We could enjoy the textural diffetences between the KK & cuttlefish as the chef has wisely drizzled their spicy chilli gravy on the dish, instead of masking the natural flavours in other restaurants by submerging everything under a dense gravy.
Roast Chicken

Roast Chicken

 
The roast chicken was a crowd favourite & well executed by the chef, with crispy skin covering meat that was moist. Even the breast meat was not tough & could be eaten even without the accompanying saucer of flavoured salt.
Poached Live Prawns

Poached Live Prawns

 
We ordered 300g of prawns & requested a marble goby fish not exceeding 600g (both at market prices). The prawns were served together with saucers of dark soya sauce with minced chilli. However we preferred to dip them in the tangy Thai chilli with fish sauce that was provided at every table.

The goby fish was very fresh & steamed to perfect timing. The kitchen crew has loads of practice daily steaming market fresh seafood so they've mastered the knack of timing the steaming process expertly. Even 10secs too long on the steamer will ruin the texture of live fish & prawns. However we made a wrong decision opting for the goby fish to be served Teochew Style. The chef added too much shredded salted vegetables to the stock so the dish was too salty. If he had just added a few shreds of pickled vegetables we would have a better appreciation of the fresh juices of the fish that had filtered out during the steaming process.
Teochew Style Steamed Goby Fish

Teochew Style Steamed Goby Fish

 
The highlight of our seafood feast - the crabs - were served last. Seafood Paradise's signature Creamy Butter Crabs need no introduction. We ordered not one but two Sri Lankan crabs to be cooked this way. The creamy gravy's taste was accented by a sprinkling of chopped kaffir lime leaves. We ordered a basket of the deepfried Chinese buns (mantou) to mop up the smooth, rich gravy with not a drop wasted.
Creamy Butter Crab

Creamy Butter Crab

 
Black Pepper Crab

Black Pepper Crab

 
The Black Pepper Crab was fragrant & robustly spicy so this dish is not for the faint hearted. Even those with low spice tolerance thresholds could appreciate the sizzling aroma of the black pepper when the dish was served.

It was obvious we spent more time getting our fingers dirty tucking into the lip-smackingly good seafood, bacon rolls, etc than bonding with the family. Our meal would have been perfect had the restaurant thrown in a complimentary tropical fruit platter for our dessert. The family agreed unanimously to assemble again at Defu Lane for another seafood feast once a month or at least once every two months. Borrowing a word from the Mastercard adverts, family time spent this way is Priceless :-).
 
Recommended Dish(es):  Live Seafood,Creamy Butter Crab,Cheesy Bacon Rolls,Roast Chicken,Cuttlefish Kangkong
 
Date of Visit: Jan 12, 2013 

Spending per head: Approximately $35(Dinner)

Other Ratings:
Taste
 4  |  
Environment
 3  |  
Service
 4  |  
Clean
 4  |  
Price
 4

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Diner
230 Review(s)
Level 4
Nice Dim Sum! Smile Mar 23, 2013   
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Categories : Cantonese/Hong Kong | Dim Sum

First time visitors to Canton Paradise Restaurant at B1 of 112 Katong may find it just a little eerie with chilly aircon, bare granite walls and dim lighting (think The Ship Restaurant), if not for the show kitchen with big windows, the staff who greet & show you the way to your table and the buzz of diners' conversations inside the dining hall itself. The main colour theme was royal purple upholstery on dull granite gray. There are round tables that seat up to 10 each, booth seats for groups of up to four diners and a row of square tables for couples, scalable to seat bigger groups. Canton Paradise is an all-day restaurant with a full ala carte menu at lunch & dinner; HK style congee & noodles are available up to 5pm, while dim sum which was hitherto served at lunch & tea times is now available in the evenings too ~ good for people who do not desire heavy dinners.

We opted for dim sum with free flow Chinese tea at $1.20++ per head. Only Pu Er tea is served (unless you opt for HK style milk teas from the menu which is not free flow).

Sharks Fin Dumpling Soup ($8.80++ for a single serving) ~ This was supposed to be a prelude to our dimsum lunch but ended up being served last. Perhaps demand for this soup is low so it is only prepared by the chef after diners order it. The dumpling skin resembling wonton pastry was thin & chewy, sealing in a mound of assorted dried seafood, diced dried shitake mushroom, diced yunnan ham & some loose strands of sharks fins. The double boiled soup that the dumpling was immersed in was flavorful. However, I prefer the version served at Imperial Treasure as the clearer consomme served there allowed the flavour of the dumpling's contents/fillings to take centrestage.

Steamed Rice Rolls with BBQ Pork Filling ($4.50++ for a small plate) ~ The rice rolls were soft & smooth, with balanced proportion of the rice flour wrap & diced BBQ pork. Would have preferred leaner cut of & less finely diced BBQ pork bits so that we can better appreciate the quality & taste of the meat.

Steamed Egg White & Scallop Dumpling ($4.80++ for 3pcs) ~ This was excellent, thin translucent rice paper parcels each containing a fresh scallop, steamed in a silky egg white custard & drizzed with superior soya sauce. My favourite dim sum item that is not offered at other mid-priced Cantonese restaurants like Crystal Jade & Imperial Treasure.

Deep Fried Teochew Dumpling ($4.20++ for 3pcs) ~ an oval dumpling of faintly sweet-tasting glutinous rice flour skin and savoury filling of diced roast duck, roast pork, carrot & turnip. The skin was thin, the filling was tasty & it is less heavy than other deep fried dim sum like yam puffs.

Cheesy Bacon Rolls ($4.80++ for 3pcs) ~ these are toothsome rolls of fresh squid paste wrapped in bacon & fried till delightfully crispy, then coated in melted cheese. Yummy.

The restaurant used to offer at lunchtime a dish of blanched leafy greens served with oyster sauce ($6.00++) so that diners could have some fibre with their dim sum for a balanced meal. This has now been taken off their lunch selections, so if diners want a balanced meal, they would have to pick a stir fried vegetable dish from the a la carte menu, with prices starting from $12.80++ for a standard/regular portion.

We decided not to order dessert here so that we could have the final course of our meal at Honeymoon HK Dessert Cafe which is located just around the corner on the same floor as Canton Paradise.

Service was polite and prompt, in line with the standards at all Paradise Group's restaurants.

Overall it was a pleasant dining experience.

 

 

 

 

 
 
Date of Visit: Mar 22, 2013 

Other Ratings:
Taste
 4  |  
Environment
 3  |  
Service
 4  |  
Clean
 4  |  
Price
 4

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