For full review, please visit http://www.makeyourcaloriescount.com/2014/03/sg-hanare-unparalleled-japanese-sashimi.html

While writing this post, I could not resist referring to my calendar and realised that my reservation at Teppei Restaurant is not till June 2014, with my reservation placed on 2 January 2014. Yes, the queue is at least six months long.
While the wait for my omakase at Teppei continues, we read about the opening of their sister restaurant, Hanare. We jumped with joy when we learnt that this new offering is located conveniently in the vicinity of Tanjong Pagar, a short five minute walk from the MRT station. Unlike Teppei Restaurant, Hanare do not accept reservations and have a walk-in policy only for both their lunch and dinner seatings, at the same price.At present, there are only two options with no ala carte menu. All prices are nett and inclusive of GST and service charge. Do note that you are expected to make payment upon arrival.We opted for the buffet on this occasion and with more than 20 different types of side dishes ranging from curry beef to chicken cutlet. As part of the buffet offering was the daily special and on this instance, there were three slices of salmon and two slices of scallop sashimi.

The bara chirashi, which essentially refers to a bowl lunch special is somewhat like a bento set with a fair share of sashimi offering. One would however be limited to four different kinds of side dishes, such as tamago ("egg") or seasoned vegetables.The sashimi slices were thick and fresh. The salmon slices were highly palatable with three slices to each portion served alongside fresh salmon roe. What I particularly enjoyed was the punch of freshness from the protein and with the wasabi, it surely heightened our senses.

The generous serving of salmon roe added a layer of glutinosity in texture with its gluey-ness while the salmon roe were firm and burst with goodiness with each bite. If you are a lover of salmon roe, this will not disappoint.After finishing our sashimi, it was time to check out what the buffet has to offer! Do not expect to be wow-ed with sashimi platter or the likes as the buffet features mainly cooked food such as chicken cutlet, spring rolls, seasoned and stir-fry vegetables and more importantly their signature curry dishes!The chicken and beef pieces were located beside the rice and curry pots though there were clear signage to indicate so. For those with a heavier appetite, load up on the fragrant rice, the tender chicken and beef and shower it with some curry love for a satisfying main on its own!
Unlike the usual sweet Japanese curry that we are more used to, this was largely adjusted to the palate of local Singaporeans as it spotted a slightly spicier touch. We loved the viscosity of the curry and the heat was cleverly balanced with the appropriate level of sweetness.Quite frankly, the buffet offering was not particularly impressive, with the usual chicken karaage, edamame, udon, etc filling the trays but this spring roll caught our attention as it had a layer of ham and cheese on the inside of the fluff pastry.The interior was simply decorated with a touch of minimalism to it. We liked that everything was pretty much self-service, including free-flow of iced and hot Japanese roasted rice tea. Do not set your expectations too high prior to trying and you will leave the meal satisfied. If you are looking for free-flow sashimi sort of Japanese buffet, then this might not suit you well either.
Overall, we enjoyed the lunch though it was a quick lunch affair before rushing back to Raffles Place! I liked that it was a no-frills dining experience, reasonable prices (considering that it was nett pricing) and the lady manning the counter was friendly and approachable. Would certainly return soon to try their bara chirashi set! While they are open for lunch till 1430hrs, do note that they are also open for dinner at the same prices with the same offering till 2200hrs.Hanare is located on the first floor, therefore look out for this signage to enter the flight of stairs.

A burger & bar joint concept with tantalising burgers that are in the perfect serving size!
Some of you might have heard of the first outlet at Orchid Hotel, now there's a 2nd outlet which is located conveniently near Raffles Place MRT station at 64 Boat Quay! Able to cater for bigger group gatherings
We had Truffle fries, Pulled Pork burger, Prime Beef with Portobello, Prime Beef with streaky bacon, the Lamb burger, and some of the special mocktails

The Prime Beef with Portobello: The huge portobello definitely helps to make the burger really juicy! Most importantly, the beef was tender and nicely done, not tough at all! YUMS!!

Pulled Pork Burger: The combination of Marinated pork, Gruyere Cheese & Honey Mustard was simply superb~ Every mouthful was filled with so much goodness *slurps*

Prime Beef with Streaky Bacon: The sinful combination; Prime Beef, Streaky bacon & Truffle mayonnaise! Yes, it's not just normal mayonnaise~ It's infused with truffle too! Just check out the generous filling in the burger when we sliced it into half

Our votes goes to the Pulled Pork Burger and Prime Beef with streaky bacon! Absolutely satisfying and worth the calories hehe.. Happiness with cheese oozing in your mouth with every mouthful Very generous helping of the meat patty too! Definitely worth a try!!

In addition, the serving size was just right! Everyone managed to finish every single bit of their burger~ YUMS!

Check out my blog at chloewl.blogspot.com for more pictures and food reviews <3

You can't buy happiness, but you can buy ice cream and that's kind of the same thing. Went Ben & Jerry's the other day to get the Mix & Match of Triple Caramel, Chocolate Therapy and Phish Food and they were really awesome.

However, the chiller probably ran into some problems and they didn't tell us honestly, my ice cream started to melt after awhile and I had to complete these sinful indulgence within minutes after purchasing. 

The place had some Halloween decorations in preparation of the upcoming festival. It's pretty cool but ain't scary about it. I think that's the idea.

Happiness doesn't come cheap this time round, it's $20.

So we passed by this place many many months ago but didn't pay it much mind but one day my Brother texts me and says that we simply have to check this place out.

How good did he think it was? Well, he back with me the very next day to eat more!

So I'm not sure how long The Waffle Factory has been around in the Singapore Post Centre but it seems really famous judging by all the newspaper clippings and TV show snippets adorning the walls of the outlet.
In fact, apparently they're quite famous for their All-You-Can-Eat Waffle Buffet which we had no idea about because we just had some ala-carte items.So we started with some Dim Sum which is one of our favourite things.
Prawn Dumplings are always welcome at our table and we've had it at a few other makan places before.

You do get a pretty big piece of the prawn in the dumpling which is nice but it's also got this fish paste in there which was kinda had a dough-y taste to it (or maybe I was just being too fussy?) A nice crispy skin to go with it but a little on the extra-charred side. I'm guessing they might have re-fried it when ordered?Another Dim Sum favourite of ours is the Fried Beancurd Roll which kinda has a Thai accent to it.
Nice and tightly packed with fish paste and some sweet chilli sauce to accompany it. I believe I enjoyed this more than the Prawn Dumpling actually.

But the $4.20 price tag is quite high for 3 pieces of Dim Sum I reckon.

And in case you were wondering, my Brother's all-time fave Dim Sum - Siew Mai - is strangely absent here because apparently he had some the day before and it really wasn't very good at all so we gave it a miss.

This is one item my Brother and Sister-In-Law were absolutely raving about.
Something new and a little unique to us - Salted Egg Custard Buns.

It's no secret that we are HUGE fans of anything to do wit Salted Eggs and this definitely seemed like something we were going to enjoy. But please allow me to point out that this was Salted Egg Custard which means you can expect a sweet taste instead of all-Salted Egg.

But it is a thing of beauty when you crack it open though.All that nice gooey and runny custard flowing all over the place.
Isn't that enough to get your excited? No? Well maybe the video my Brother sent me might do a better job. (View video on blog!)

Well anyways, like I said, it's more sweet than savoury so you know what to expect. I guess it's more of a dessert bun than anything else.

And here's a tip, be sure to eat it fresh and while it's still hot.
Because when it cools down... It's not going to be very runny anymore...

Anyways, on to the mains!

Something which I'd say is really good about the menu at The Waffle Factory is the wide variety of dishes and even different types of cuisine they offer. Everything from Nasi Lemak to HK-style Noodles to even Western Food and Pasta!

But then again, is that a good thing or a bad thing?I love the whole HK-style Noodles scene (remember this post?) and I'm glad to say that the number of Halal makan places offering it nowadays is on the up and up!

Well here's a really simple dish of noodles with some chicken luncheon meat veggies in a nice hot soup.
(This was the Spicy option by the way. You can choose the Non-Spicy as well).
Just a really satisfying bowl of comfort food for me and something I really enjoy.

By the way, you can also have the same thing in a Prawn-based soup instead.
That's what my Sister-in-Law had but would it really make much of a difference?ZOMG YES IT DOES MAKE A BIG DIFFERENCE!

The prawn stock is really rich and flavourful and it did not have any of they overly-prawny taste which I expected. A really really good bowl of noodles! Not too sure about the sausage though... This would have been perfect if they had used a better quality sausage or maybe the chicken luncheon meat?

And now that I think about it - is it really worth an extra $1.40 for the prawn soup?So my Brother decided to break away from the Asian flavours of the day and had something on the Western side of the menu.

He says that it was a pretty respectable plate of pasta but I personally felt that the cream sauce was actually quite tasteless... But the one thing we agreed on is that we did not understand why they called it Crab Claws and Mixed Seafood Pasta when there was only ONE crab claw (and yes that's the small thing on the left)

Maybe he lost the other claw in a fight? Well, then bring me the winner!
(So we'll get 3 claws geddit geddit? Okay I'll just stick to eating then)Okay time for some dessert and when you're at a place called The Waffle Factory, you're probably gonna have some waffles am I right?

Well they have 2 types of waffles on offer. One is the fresh type which they'll serve you on a plate with all the lovely toppings like berries and cream etc. And the other type is like a miniature version where theysandwich your topping of choice in between 2 waffles.

"OUR WAFFLES ARE THICKER.
MORE THAN HALF A MILLION SOLD WITH OUR SECRET WAFFLES RECIPE"

This is the sign outside and they were not kidding about the 'thicker' part.

One of the most popular waffles on offer is the D24 Durian waffle which is delicious durian flesh in between two waffles. (See what I meant about the 'thick' part)

The durian is definitely a must-have for durian lovers.Actually, by the looks of it, they are quite creative with their waffle flavours so it might be best to double check what exactly you're ordering before you actually make your decision. And they have a massive selection of waffles to choose from so you're gonna have a hard time choosing.

But as you can see from the pictures, these are not the same waffles you get from your neighbourhood bakery. These are really thick and actually very very filling. If you're having full meals then it might be a good idea to share.

The fillings are not bad but the waffles themselves are quite overwhelming.

They also have loads of other stuff on the menu that might be worth a try like the Chicken Rendang (which apparently is so tender you can eat the bones) and Crayfish Laksa!

We'll definitely be paying another visit soon!

For the full review and more mouth-watering pictures, visit our blog now!
http://thehalalfoodblog.blogspot.sg/2013/11/the-waffle-factory.html

This humble looking Cantonese style Tze Cha stall could has easily been overlooked if not because of the few good reviews floating around the internet. It just gotten me to be really curious and it seems to be a definitely must try stall for a foodie like myself.

I was there for a late lunch just before they closed at 2.00 pm for their afternoon break. I ordered few of their signature dishes like the Golden Tofu ($4.50), Steamed Chicken with Salted Fish ($11.00) and Fried Beef Horfun ($6.00). I given my table number. The friendly female assistant suggested that we sit at the table right in front of the stall. She even volunteered to 'chope' the table with bowls, chopsticks and spoons first while i went over to the table to fetch my lunch partner over. She informed that i might have to wait for a while while they prepared a take away order. I expected it to be longer but the first dish came at about 15 minutes.

Golden Tofu ($4.50). This is one of their signature dishes strongly recommended by a few reviewers. The handmade tofu was steamed and shaped into the bite sized pieces to resemble the look of a golden coin then coated with egg yolk to have it deep fried once more to achieve the delightful texture. It was silky smooth deep within with a distinctive eggy taste and slightly crispy if you eat upon it served. It came in 6 pieces in a pool of savory gravy with a handful of crunchy beansprouts. It was a comforting dish though not an outstanding one. Steamed Chicken with Salted Fish ($11.00). Not a fancy dish but a rather homely tasting dish. This seems to be a dish that could easily prepared even right at home. It is mainly chicken meat steamed with salted fish but they done it well to infuse the chicken meat with a rather distinctive taste of salted fish. This is an ideal taste to go with rice as it tasted rather salty by itself. I would think the sauce itself is good to finish at least 2 bowls of rice. Another comforting dish and not an outstanding one too.Fried Beef Horfun ($6.00). The worth recommending dish has to be their signature Beef Horfun. I could clearly smell the appetizing wok smell when it was served. It is usually achieved by stir-frying rapidly over a very high fire. It sounded rather simple but not many are willing to put in such an effort to do it or maybe they are just not skillful enough to do so. And, this alone is worth all efforts to travel here just to satisfy my crave for a plate of wonderfully stir-fried horfun. I could taste a certain amount of fermented black bean sauce was added to enhance its flavor. So, if you are not fan of black bean sauce then you might want to order their Seafood Horfun instead. The horfun only fried upon order unlike most of the stalls that done it beforehand and only added in the gravy before served. Thus, a certain amount of waiting time is expected.

Good foods are always worth waiting. This Beef Horfun is definitely one of those dishes. This is easily one of the better Fried Beef Horfun in Singapore.