For full review and photos please visit http://look-see-eat.blogspot.sg/2013/07/jamies-italian-now-open-in-vivocity.html

Singapore has so many fine dining restaurants (7 out of the latest Miele Guide's Top 20 restaurants in Asia) and so many celebrity chef outlets. Most of these are extremely expensive; so it's great that Jamie Oliver's latest entry in Vivocity is much more accessible at about $30-$40 per person.

What I like most is that the cooking and service standards aim to be fine-dining, but without the price and the pretentiousness. I love the about 30-foot-long open kitchen where you can watch the chef walk up and down and "encourage" his cooks. Like watching Hell's Kitchen.The food is overall very solid and very good; although some dishes like the Crispy Squid I guess we are used to a more strongly seasoned with salt and pepper, etc.Jamie's Italian is located in vivocity 1st floor along that stretch of restaurants facing Sentosa Island. Non halal.

For a complete review, visit http://rachelays.blogspot.sg/2013/07/mandalay-style-authentic-burmese-food.htmlStreaky Pork Belly Salad ($8.00)
appetizer dish. The dressing complemented the pork belly well but I am still not a fan of it as I do not like pork belly. Spicy Mix Vegetables ($6.00)
this dish is moderately spicy. People who can't take spicy food would not be able to tolerate this. I love how they use several types of vegetables to make this dish. They give the dish more variety and make it more colourful. This is great to go along with rice. Chicken Legs Soup ($3.50)
Fancy something healthy? Here's a bowl of chicken feet soup! The broth was extremely flavourful and there was no oil at the surface. However, I find that the taste of the soup was too strong and I could not tell if it was naturally flavoured or because of the M.S.G. Most people (including me) do not take chicken feet as it might be an acquired taste. Good for you if you do as chicken feet contains a lot of collagen! Pork Legs Soup ($3.50)
Another collagen-laden soup, drink this and you are on your way to looking more youthful (that's why most chinese people look younger than their age as compared to their western counterparts). This soup was quite spicy due to the chopped chilli padi inside. It was still manageable for me though. Deep Fried Pork Ribs ($6.00)
Don't be fooled by its unappealing appearance, they actually tasted good! I had 4 mini pork ribs! The meat was tough yet tender enough to chew and digest. It also came off the bone easily.Kong Pao Chicken ($6.00)
This dish is mildly spicy, with many chunks of bite-sized chicken fillets, dried chilli and mixed vegetables. The meat was tender and seasoned well. Mandalay Mee Shay (4.50) (Thicker Noodles)
Meeshay noodles are rice noodles mixed with meat sauce. Some found it spicy while I don't. I still prefer my chinese noodles though.

We also tried the Shan Rice Noodle ($4.00) (Thin & Sticky). This bowl of noodles was the more popular version among the foodies and I have to agree.Steam Fish with Special Sauce ($15.00)
This has got to be my favourite dish for that evening. The sauce complemented the soft and tender steamed fish very well. While the sauce was rich in flavour, the fish - plain on its own - went so well with the sauce. There was a subtle taste of peanut and mild chilli which I felt was gentle on the tastebuds yet really flavourful at the same time.

Overall, the meal had a very homely feel and a sense of satisfaction came over me as I finished my meal. If you are looking for yummy burmese food, check out Mandalay Style.

Switch is known for its billingual live band -singing crowd-pleasing mandarin and chinese songs. Switch by Timbre also serves up similar food as their sister branch, including the signature duck pizza, with duck, hoisin sauce and crispy crackers topping the sinful pizza. Switch is also conveniently located next to SAM, which is just right outside of bras basah MRT, making this more accessible than timbre where it can be quite tricky to find!!

Happy hour is from 6pm to 9pm, and first order of drink applies. They accept all major credit cards and water is self-service from the bar. Ordering is via their iPad, and the food gets served to you!

We ordered a Smoked Salmon Pizza ($18) [a welcome change from the usual duck pizza], Chicken Wings ($12), Fusili with sausage ($18) for dinner.

FoodFor $18, this smoked salmon pizza is perfect for sharing between 2-3 people (it depends on how big of a eater you are haha), plus a side dish to complement it. The smoked salmon gave the pizza an extraordinarily savoury taste, heaped with the mozarella. However, I really liked that raw onions were also thrown in. The onion really brought this dish to the next level and it prevented the monotony of the salty fish. The pizza is thin crusted and we'd say that if you're seeking out something new to try and you don't mind smoked salmon -this pizza is worth a shot!The sausage fusilli wasn't exactly the best pasta, but it was decent. The fusilli wasn't overcooked, the pasta sauce had chunky bits of tomato in it, together with capsicum and onions. It's a very chunky pasta that is chock-full of the vegetables as well as sausage. The sausage wasn't particularly tasty, but the tomato sauce made this dish very appetising.The wings were surprisingly good! There were both drumsticks and wings so if you're either a wing/drumstick person you won't be left out! It was fried to this crispy perfection in this batter that I know not of, but I will return for more. It wasn't overly salty, and the aroma is just so appetising! It makes you want to sink your teeth into just..one..more....But each is never your last until you've polished off the whole plate.

Drinks

We ordered 2 alcoholic and 2 non-alcoholic drinks, all $10 during happy hour -Virgin Mojito, Shirley Temple, Havana Club Rum with Tonic and a Chivas w Ginger Ale.The Virgin Mojito is by far the best non-alcoholic drink here! It's wonderfully icy -perfect for cooling off on a hot day, with bits of lime sprigs. it's wonderfully refreshing and reminds us of good summer days by the beach! It wasn't overly sour/sweet either Perfect.Chivas is one of the more common housepour drinks during happy hour, and $10 gives you a glass of chivas either on the rocks, neat or with your choice of mixer. This one is with ginger ale, and the mix was delicious -not too strong and the oaky, slight vanilla frutiness of the Chivas is rounded off nicely with the sweetness of the ginger ale.The rum & tonic was stronger and I decided to go for tonic because I felt like having tonic water -it was an odd combination though, rarely heard of but it was decent. The rum used in their house spirits is Havana Club.The Shirley Temple was a little too sweet for me -it tasted a bit like fruit punch and cherry cordial. Not really my kind of drink but if you need something sweet -this is it!Tuesdays and Thursdays are when the bilingual liveband (kexin & alfred) performs. They are really a crowd-pleaser and dedications can be sent in. We were very amazed and impressed by how they could easily play and sing any song, both English and Chinese. It's really entertaining and great to just chill out with a few friends and good company.

Service wise, I was slightly disappointed. Switch requires you to give your credit card to hold on tab when you first order, and even though I explicitly told them not to charge to this card both before ordering AND when asking for the bill, (a friend gave hers when we were paying), they charged to my card instead of my friend's. I was quite disappointed with this because I had told the same staffperson who served me not to charge to my card. It's not a big deal but I wish that they could have paid more attention to details like this because in the service industry, it's the small things that matter.

Other than that, Switch is a fantastic place for food and drinks, entertaining and having a great time. Weekdays are relatively quiet so walk-ins are fine, it starts to get crowded around 7+ or 8, and during Fridays, Eve of PH and PHs/Saturdays, it gets really crazy so reservations are advised. Be warned though that they only designate 50% of their seating to reservation, the other 50% is for walk in!

Katong original Tao Kwa Pau/Duck Rice stall has relocated from East Coast Road to Peranakan Village Food Centre at 369 Tanjong Katong Road. The food centre is next to the Katong Student Hostel.

Standard of tao kwa pau (wrapped bean curd) and the ingredients are still as good. The braised duck meat is still as juicy and tasty.

Additional to the food served are fresh steamed cuttlefish price ranging from S$4.00 to S$5.00 per piece. Also not forgetting the deep fried fresh fish balls. The dark brown sauce and chilli sauce complement the dishes very well.

Combining the intricacies of sashimi to the theatrical flair of teppanyaki with an innate intuition of local tastes to forge an inimitable identity of their own, Sushi Tei is no ordinary dining restaurant.

We enjoyed ourselves with their assortment of scrumptious and creatively designed Japanese gastronomy - appealing to the delight of aficionados of Japanese cuisine.

With also the modest and unassuming homegrown Japanese Kaiten (conveyor belt) chain, an open-kitchen concept allows us the prerogative to relish the mouth-watering savories amidst the gazing of the culinary skills of their restaurants' chefs.

Be prepared to queue during meal peak hours to get a seat.