"The Simple Cravings in life", well said from their business tagline. It did really match how I felt after craving for days since I last went there on Monday and they were closed. The shop was relatively new in the area and only accept cash or EZ Link payment. For patrons who are looking for ATM, the nearest will be at Bukit Gombak MRT Station. The shop was compact and space was rather limited. Manned by a humble couple, their service were generous.

All Flavours from Beans&Creams were home-made. Be most welcome to request for any Ice Cream Flavour try out before purchasing them.

The couple were polite with service above average. Price of the Ice Cream were clearing indicated in the price list plastered on the wall. Besides helping ourselves with the free flow of ice water by the side of the counters, these flower biscuits are complimentary for the dine in customers but it is limited to 1 scoop per dine in customer, remember A moment of insanity, we had kept their waffles machine from going hot with 4 plates of waffles. Ice Cream to me is just insatiable especially when it comes to pairing with these waffles.

Waffles with Ice Cream costs $6.50 but with premium Ice Cream ordered, an additional of 80cents is required. Vanilla is one of the premium flavours, their ice cream was creamy with visible Vanilla Bean Specks which consists a pleasant faint vanilla scent.



The presentation looks yummy with the scoop of vanilla ice cream topped the stacking waffles with chocolate and maple syrup over the plate. They were sweet but not cloying. The drizzle of flour powder over the waffle was used sparingly giving a perfect final touch to the savoury dessert. Scattered among the classic flavors, Rum and Rasins were more towards the unique tastes with alcohol filled. It looks pretty divine with its rum soaked raisins diffused through the creamy, smooth ice cream but still a little sweet for me. Well, I guess the local ice cream chains has a challenger here.Bitter sweet tasting ice-cream, dark chocolate, it is! As creamy as it was taken, are you shaken by these two yummy-licious scoops of sweet flavours? For the sweet tooth, Cookies and Creams is a good bet. Enjoy the roughness over the smooth creamy white cream from the crushed cookies. While waffles do taste delicious plain, these sweet nibbles were perfect with Pistachio and Earl Grey. Its thickened size was cripsy and soft at the same time. Yums! Pistachio and Earl Grey fans, this cant be missed. Each mouthful of pistachio was burst full of nutty flavour, driving me nuts. While the Earl Grey was light, infused with sweet scent nature from the tea.I'm please after trying out a number of their flavours, satisfying my crave. Overall, I find that their ice cream were decent but not to die for. But frankly speaking, I love their instant production of waffles. they were outstanding.

Thai cuisine is so popular in Singapore that recently many popular restaurants from Thailand has opened overseas outlets here.

Nara Thai Cuisine was voted as Thailand's best restaurants from 2007 till 2013. There were many features on Nara Thai too. Not too long ago, I had seen a magazine write-up on the 50 must-eat food in Singapore (whut), one of which was Nara Thai's yellow curry soft shell crab. As an avid lover of Thai food and after reading that article, I decided to waste no more time to try out Nara Thai.At first glance, this looks like a posh restaurant relative to the other restaurants on that level. However, we were seated near the kitchen area where there was a section dedicated to collector cart trolleys which was not very sightly and did not quite fit in with the classy look that the restaurant was going for.

The food that Nara Thai has to offer is not very extensive, but enough to capture the focus of authentic Thai cuisine. Thai Iced Tea $5+?
This was really good! Most thai iced tea that I have tried are quite sweet but the level of sweetness for this was just right for me. It was also distinctly Thai in taste, making me want to have more with every sip.Deep fried chicken in traditional thai shrimp paste $9.90
They could have done a better job at cleaning the plate before serving this to us. There were only a few small pieces of chicken that barely filled up half of the plate. The taste of the chicken was good though. They were well marinated in the thai shrimp paste and chicken was quite tender. The powdery condiment (not sure what it was) served separately at the side did not go well with the chicken and had a really weird taste. Stir-fried Soft Shell Crab with Yellow Curry $18.90
Here's the dish that we were looking forward to because it was (claimed) to be the top 50 food items you must try in Singapore as mentioned above. The yellow curry was barely warm and it was not very nice to eat after it turned cold halfway through our meal. There was nothing fanciful about the soft shell crab but I am guessing that the yellow curry would have tasted really good if it was served hot. The taste of the curry was rich and sweet and could easily go well with white rice ($2). Tom Yum Kung $19.90
There were only 2 big prawns and 1 mushroom in it. I don't think I will be willing to pay for a small pot of tom yum soup with only 2 king prawns and a small mushroom for such a price. The spiciness was there but there was nothing fantastic about the taste. It was too milky for my liking. The best part of the soup was that the prawns were really big and fresh and the superb freshness of the prawns lingered in the soup. They certainly can do better by offering more (at least 2 mushrooms hah) at such a price.

Overall, the portions were too stingy and the taste of the food did not quite justify for the hefty price. I understand that they are located in a prime location like Ion and they certainly have to mark up the prices to cover for rental costs and other expenses. I am willing to pay a premium for good food but I don't think Nara Thai is worth the money.

Visit http://rachelays.blogspot.com for more food reviews

1 Market is a halal buffet restaurant opened by the famous Chef Wan, which attracted a lot of media and hype when it first opened! I met up with two of my friends to try the lunch buffet here ^^ The first stop I went for is the Japanese section! I love sashimi which I happily spam those on my plate! The soba noodles are not bad! Some of the food from the Thai, Viet and Indo sections. The charcoal black pepper prawns are a must-try! After sometime, I realize they have a pretty wide range of sauces available! These are surprisingly tasty! There is a long queue for the satays and after getting a plate, we found it to be nothing fantastic and definitely not worth queuing for. I was already pretty full but I saw this laksa station and decided to try this last item! Lucky I ordered as it was surprisingly good and I finished the whole bowl! Moving on to the desserts, there is an especially long queue for the waffles! I think we waited around 10 minutes for our turn. I had the chocolate ice-cream on my waffles and drizzled it with strawberry sauce I like that the waffles are crispy and it was worth queuing! There is a range of kuehs, tarts and pastries at the dessert section and these are just some of it! There is also a ice kachang machine! Overall, I find that the buffet spread didn't have much variety but considering the price, it is reasonable ;)

Astelle and I were really lucky to be selected as one of the 6 couples for the OpenRice and Between* event on 17 Nov 13. Venue was Supply and Demand.

It was our first time there and honestly we did not know what to expect. Personally I read up on the restaurant and the general comment was Italian and Peruvian so I didn't really know what to expect. Making this all a bit exciting.

We spent some time searching for the restaurant, as we were not too familiar with the esplanade grounds. Although located slightly away from the main area at Esplanade (i.e. Harry's bar etc) it was very easy to locate the restaurant due to the décor placed just outside the restaurant.Supply and DemandOrnaments and Menu just outside the restaurant

OpenRice and Between* kindly put together the following dinner menu for our consideration:

Appetizers (To share):
- Shrimp and Avocado Salad
- Fries with a Side of Guilt

Choice of Mains:
9' inch Pizza from the menu selection

Pasta (Spaghetti or Penne)
- All' Arrabbiata
- Ragu Di Maiale
- Carbonara Classic
- Maiale Orientale

Dessers (1 of the following)
- Italian Style Tiramisu
- Molton Chocolate Cake
- Textured Chocolate Cake with Salted Caramel

and Drinks.

After much thought and debate, Astelle and I decided on the following items:

Maiale Orientale PastaJeremy from OpenRice mentioned that this is a very peruvian style of cooking pasta. I feel that there was also a Asian style fused into it. The dish reminded me of Thai Basil Leaf Minced Pork (Pa Ka Prow Moo) with Pasta. Just less spicy and with a more fragrant herb taste. This is good for adventurous eaters who are on the look out for new tastes.

Carbonara ClassicI have always always always liked to eat CARBONARA since I was a kid and I am constantly on the look out for good Carbonaras. The Carbonara served at Supply and Demand ranks in my top 5 Carbonaras in Singapore. I usually prefer to have my Carbonara with more sauce (e.g. Yomenya Goemon). However, the amount of sauce and portion of pasta in the Carbonara Classic was just right due to its rich taste. I particularly like the cheesy flavour of the Carbonara Classic.

TiramisuThe tiramisu came in a glass jar (similar in size to the one served at Poulèt). It comes in a generous serving that is enough for two persons to share. The Tiramisu is creamy and not too sweet. The lady fingers are thoroughly soaked with coffee and you can taste it in every mouthful of Tiramisu that you take. We shared our Tiramisu with Between* Co-founder Jake, who also thought it was wonderful.

Fries with a Side of Guilt
(Apologies we can only post 8 photos ): )

Very good side dish. We were very impressed that the fries are not the pre-packed kind and are probably cut by the restaurant. They are thick slices of potato, come dipped in cheese sauce with an option to dip into the 'Guilt' sauce (which resembles barbecue sauce). Despite the fries being thick, the texture of the fries is just right and not over nor under cooked.

Maybe this won't strike you at first but the décor inside the restaurant is unassuming and comfortable. The lighting and music further enhanced the atmosphere making it an ideal place for any get togethers, be it with friends or for a romantic night out.A unique collection of items at the counter greets you as you walk into the restaurant Homely and warm designCreative use of space to create a more homely atmosphere in the form of a library/study on the stairs. You can even borrow the books to read in the restaurant! (We think (: )

The stairs leads to a nice rooftop bar with a nice cosy corners where you can relax and catch activities on going in the bay. You can adjourn there for drinks after dinner and chill.

If you are looking for a restaurant with delicious food and great ambience, Supply & Demand is definitely a place you should check out (:

This is one of the newest stalls in this food centre.I was greeted by the Auntie when she spotted me taking picture of the stall. We chatted and she recommended the Katong Laksa to me. The Auntie insisted i took a picture of the poster featured the Katong Laksa. She even offered to give me a small bowl to try it. Interestingly, their Chee Cheong Fun came with various selection of fillings such as Roasted Chicken, Veggie & Egg, Seaweed Mushroom, Abalone, Otah, You Tiao and even Durian! The prices range from $2.80 to $5.00. Fried Rice is available right at this stall too.

I decided to go with the Hong Kong style Char Siew Chee Cheong Fun for $2.80. The Chee Cheong Fun is freshly handmade upon order. The Auntie scooped a ladle of the rice flour batter and poured them onto the steamer. The rice sheet was formed almost instantly. She then laid the chopped char siew together with shredded lettuce down then quickly folded it. She divided it into 3 rolls then further cut it into smaller pieces. It was then placed on the plate before poured the soya sauce over it and sprinkled with bit of sesame seeds. I wanted her to place the chilli by the side but she suggested that it tasted nicer when applied on the Chee Cheong Fun directly. She then applied on just one of the three rolls of Chee Cheong Fun so i would get to taste the difference between chilli and non-chilli. The presentation was pretty neat. I tried both the chilli and non-chilli pieces but prefer the chilli one much more. The sauce tasted quite different from other stalls. Auntie mentioned that it tasted more like sweet & sour sauce with rather minimum level of spiciness. It generally tasted nice to me though i could not distinctly taste the spiciness nor sourness or sweetness out of the sauce. The filling of char siew was of quite a generous amount. The thin rice sheet was of a desirable softness with a delightful smoothness. I could not quite appreciate the combination of char siew and shredded lettuce. If i ever come back, i would definitely request to leave the shredded lettuce out.

An interesting stall to look out for especially if you are game enough to try out the Durian Chee Cheong Fun there.