Oriole Cafe at Somerset has been my favourite place in the somerset area for coffee, drinks, mains and even tea. It's a one-stop shop that is a jack of all trades (albeit master of none!), but that doesn't mean that their food & beverages are just mediocre. Believe me when I say that they have certain standards -I've tried this place for lunch, dinner as well as tea.

Their current June 1for1 lunch promo is valid with every purchase of a beverage, and the complimentary dish will be the one of the lower value... Great selection of dishes if you ask meThe cafe has both alfresco and indoor seating, and the indoor seating has a bar top counter overlooking the main pathway so one can people watch. The lighting isn't too dim nor is it excessively bright so its really comfortable to chill.

We ordered Chicken Quesadillas, Bangers & Mash (both $18 each) as well as a Caffe Latte ($5.50).The Chicken Quesadilla was complemented with potato wedges, salsa and a lovely salad (with balsamic vinegar dressing). The quesadilla was delicious -not too salty, and the cheese was still stringy. The grilled chicken had enough flavour and the the pocket was lightly toasted -delicious! My dining companion preferred it slightly more seasoned though, but in my opinion it wasnt overly salty. The wedges were crisp on the outside, yet the potato was so fluffy and soft. Eaten with the salsa, which had bits of diced tomatoes and onions, the taste was absolutely perfect! The salsa wasn't overly sour, great for those who are adverse to super-tangy sauces.The Bangers & Mash were slightly more disappointing. While the pork sausages had a delicious herb-y fragrance, its flavour fell a bit flat. I exceptionally liked the mash and gravy, which went deliciously together (I COULD HAVE IT ALONE!). The mash was slightly sweet on its own, and its oh-so-fluffy texture wasn't overly whipped such that it had lost its original potato texture. I also liked the onion gravy -it wasn't too thick and starchy and had a pleasant savouriness. I wish there was more gravy though!

ps. another grouse -my dining companion also felt that 3 sausages instead of 2 would have given him a better run for his money!This Latte is honestly one of the best lattes I've ever drunk!! The milk is steamed to perfection and the coffee goes down wonderfully smoothly. You can add your own sugar and customise the sweetness and i find that 1.5 sugars work perfectly for me. This small cup is really worth $5.50 -the taste is just gorgeous. Not too bitter nor acidic and the temperature + flavours all harmonised

Oriole also has standard happy hours for drinks, as well as tea time promos such as waffles + ice cream & tea for $12-13. The service is earnest and the food is delicious too -will definitely be back. If you're here for desserts, we recommend the peanut butter crumble -its the ultimate sin in a cup!! Sticky date pudding is strong on the rum so if you're adverse to alcohol, steer clear of their rendition of this dish!

The coffee is surprisingly, stellar. Go for their latte, and anything with steamed milk. I promise you won't regret it.

Newton Hokkien Mee in koufu is one of the better Hokkien Mee I've tasted in a food court. It's difficult to miss it, given that the storefront has two large prawns printed on their glass....Yes, it's tacky but it does the trick! The foodcourt is decorated in a sports-stadium style, with basketball hoops and wallpaper resembling stadium stands...A bit strange if not for the fact that it's located right next to the Singapore Indoor Stadium and the to-be sports hub.This stall gets quite busy during the lunchtime so expect a queue to form! The service however, is brisk, so no need to worry that the waiting time will be excruciatingly long. Besides, one can also watch the cook fry the noodles from the glass panels Food court's pretty large, and spacious -there are enough seats, and some tables are long/large enough to seat up to around 8. Turnover is high and even if you don't get a seat immediately, tables are usually freed up fast.

This stall specialises in the Hokkien Mee, but they also offer other things like Oyster Omelet, Char Kway Teow and their newest addition, Pork Rib Hokkien Mee (hmm, not too sure how that will pan out!). The noodles go for either $4, $5 or $6 depending on the portion. The $4 portion is definitely substantial enough for one person, though! There is also no extra charges for takeaway Although I wouldn't recommend for you to takeaway the noodles as it absorbs all the prawn stock leaving it slightly on the dry side, it isn't all that bad. The noodles are well-immersed in the deliciously rich prawn stock and hence the flavour becomes more intense -overlooking the fact that it's also drier. Pros and cons, I suppose.The chilli has a distinct hae bi hiam taste, which is lovely because it ensures that this potent blend of chilli does not fall flat in a disappointing attempt to spice up the dish. The noodles aren't overcooked/soggy even though I had it take-away. The lime also gave the whole dish a nice touch. A good mix of both white bee hoon and yellow mee, this hokkien mee is not only flavoursome, but the tastes also balance out nicely as it wasn't overly salty.

We recommend that if you like your noodles with more stock that you can actually slurp up in a delightful, slippery mess, have your noodles on the spot! Chilli lovers should also ask for extra chilli because I certainly didn't think that that meagre spoonful of sambal was going to be enough! Their Char Kway Teow is not as fantastic as their prawn noodles, so give the prawn mee a go if you can only try one item on their menu.

I might point out that one thing disappointing about my noodles was that there were only 2 prawns in it. I was a bit surprised as I had expected at least 3 given that the price was $4. No matter, it (sort of!) compensated with its sizeable portion of noodles. Filling and delicious.

Let's Toss is a Sichuan Salad Bar style stall and it's becoming 1 of my favourite place to eat!

The place is clean and there's a small counter (approximately seating space for 6 pax) in the shop where you can dine in.They sell vegetables and meat by weight. You can choose as many selection as you want, and they will portion it according to the weight you order.. Default is 200g for $5.

For me, I like to have their cold noodles set. $5 for cold noodles, 30g of meat and a cup of ice lemon tea.For the cold noodles, they will mix spaghetti like noodles with cucumber, beansprout, peanuts, chili and some condiments with the meat you choose.. tossing them together in a metal bowl before serving to you in a cardboard box.

Portion is usually quite big and filling. Especially love the crunchiness of the cucumber and beansprouts with the tangy noodles!

This place makes me come back again & again even though the location is not very convenient for me. (at Aljunied MRT station) Definitely recommended to everyone!

This stall has recently featured in a food programme that aired just about a week or so ago. I kinda expected the queue to be long but never did i expect it to be so extremely long. I was there at about 11.55 am and started to queue then. I counted. It has got about 20+ customers queuing in front so i kinda estimated the queuing time to be about 30 minutes. I waited. I was still in the queue 30 minutes later. I waited. There were still 5 customers right in front of me at about 15 minutes later. I only managed to order at about 1 pm. Some customers came to take away many packets of rice and noodle. I guess that would be the main reason of such a long waiting time though the queue might not seemed to be as long.

I was told that roasted meat have already sold out. So, i decided to go with the wanton noodle for $3. The well-marinated char siew nicely roasted to give it the beautifully carmalised dark red color with a slightly charred surface. It has got a good mixture of the fat and the lean part of meat to give it the desirable tenderness with the just right balance of sweet and salty taste.

The noodle has got a noticeable springiness and it tasted nice after mixed in the chilli. A bowl of soup with 2 pieces of wanton came along with the noodle. The wantons were of a slightly bigger than average size. It has got a good amount of minced meat and prawn filling. I could actually see and taste the prawn in it. It tasted wonderfully fresh. The soup tasted light with a slightly peppery taste. When i went back to take the picture of the stall at 1.15 pm, the stall was about to close. They left their last few plates of noodles and gone is the long queue too. They were already sold out before their usual closing time at 2 pm.

So, is it worth the queue? i seriously doubt so. The taste of their wanton noodle is good but not exceptionally outstanding. I am rather certain i would not queue another hour just to taste it again.

I would be delightful to eat it again only if the queue is short with reasonable amount of waiting time.

More delectable food reviews on my blog here: www.jerjerjer.com

Italian cuisine is my second favourite type of cuisine, next to Japanese food that is. And I was really glad that I had the chance to participate in a Food Tasting by OpenRice at Ristorante Pietrasanta (along Portsdown Road at Wessex Village and just next to Temasek Club). This restaurant is truly a hidden gem located in that area. You’ll need to do a bit of searching to find the place – exit AYE after North Bouna Vista, go past Temasek Club and you’ll see a forested area with low lying tin-roofed buildings. Here you’ll find a cluster of rather unique and interesting restaurants, similar to those you find at Dempsey Hill enclave.

The food tasting session began with a demonstration by Chef Alfredo Colle on how to make some Homemade Mozzarella Cheese.Apparently, this is the only Italian restaurant in Singapore that makes their own fresh Mozzarella cheese by hand. Look at just how stretchy that cheese can go. Mozzarella cheese is usually semi-soft and has high moisture content which makes it stringy and great for pizzas.The final product that comes from all that stretching, spinning and cutting is a ball of perfectly round cheese which is chewy and slightly rubbery in texture. Since the Mozzarella on its own does not have much of a taste, it was served with some Burrata – another type of Italian cheese made from a combination of Mozzarella and fresh cream to achieve a more flavourful and rich, creamy taste.We also had a basket of freshly baked Focaccia Bread to eat with the cheese. The bread also goes really well with some extra virgin olive oil and a drizzle of balsamic vinegar.These Parma Ham Mozzarella Rolls are wrapped in more Mozzarella cheese and also has rocket leaves rolled up within it. The pungent taste of the rocket does not overpower the salty parma ham and I thought the combination went really well together. Both equally strong flavours rolled up into one and wrapped up in a rather tasteless cheese. Mmmmmm.. mamma mia~! How refreshing..After all that cheese, it’s time to dig into the main course! First we had some Fettuccine al Tartufo ($24.90) which is basically Fettuccini pasta cooked in a mushroom truffle sauce. It also had minced sausage meat in it which gives it a rather interesting texture. The truffle taste was quite strong too and since I love mushrooms, I really enjoyed this pasta! =DNext we had some Spinach and Ricotta Ravioli ($17.90) served with a butter and sage sauce. The thing I love about Italian cuisine is that it is very rich and flavourful but that also means that it can be rather fattening, especially when almost everything contains butter, cream and cheese. Well, I say eat first and worry about the calories later! =PThis is one of my favourites here – the Risotto Porcini ($23.90) with saffron and bone marrow. You’ll probably notice a few red strands in the sauce – those are the saffron which is one of the most costly spices available in the world. A few strands of saffron also has a coloring effect which turns the sauce into a deep orange colour. This dish is creamy, rich, and oh-so-very satisfying.We also got to sample some Mixed Sausages which turned out to be quite average end when compared to the many delectably rich pastas we just had.Doesn’t this piece of meat on a bone look impressive? Well, it’s a Lamb Shank ($28.90) with Chianti wine that has been braised for over 4 hours, such that its meat is tender enough to just fall off the bone. However, I felt that the tomato-based sauce was a little bit on the bland side for me. I would have preferred it to take on a stronger, saltier and richer flavour.I seldom associate fish with Italian cuisine, but here’s one on the menu – Grilled Lemon Sole. Fish, to me, is mainly about how fresh it is more than how it is cooked. The meat for this was fresh enough and also flavourful enough, but it’s not exactly the kind of dish you would think of ordering at an Italian Restaurant.

Finally, for my absolute favourite part of every meal; it’s dessert time!The Lemon Tart here is sour and refreshing enough to invigorate your senses, but at the same time the sourness is not too overpowering and well balanced out with the sweet meringue on top and tart pastry. Plus, it comes with a little bit of jam on the side too, if you’re not good with sour foods.And finally, the main star of the show is… Tiramisu! One of my all time favourite desserts. This Tiramisu reminds me of the one I used to get at Paragon (though the restaurant that sold it closed down a long time ago). It has really light mascarpone cheese and a rich, strong espresso coffee flavour to it. Though I would have liked my Tiramisu with a bit more Tia Maira liqueur in it to give it that extra kick! =P Still, this is one of the best Tiramisu I’ve tasted in a long time.

Overall, I really enjoyed the good Italian food and with the great company of other food bloggers as well. Here’s a big THANK YOU to Chef Alfredo Colle and Ristorante Pietrasanta for hosting us!