Peperoni Pizzeria is owned by the Les Amis Group. Peperoni Pizzeria specialises in serving Italian cuisine such as pizzas and pasta. They are well known for their family size pizza. Today, there are three outlets in Hillcrest, Binjai Park and Frankel Avenue.This is my 2nd visit to Peperoni Pizzeria, I visited it's outlet at Hillcrest (Greenwood Avenue) again.It is quite ulu, located a long distance away from the nearest bus stop. The best mode of transport to this place will be by car. However, parking can be a problem during peak hours.The pizzas are cooked using traditional wood-fired oven.Noticed anything abnormal?

There's crayons on the table! And instead of having table clothes, paper is used. This way, customers can draw on the paper while waiting for their food to be served. Noticed some of the drawings being pasted on the wall?

There's no service charge in Peperoni Pizzeria.Noticed another abnormality here? (hint look at the cost of ice water and extra ice!)

Well, the ice water and extra ice are actually Free Of Charge (FOC). They are just trying to make a dig about places that charge money for plain water. Ordered a Large (12 inch) Pizza. The pizza is made on the spot upon order and take about 15 minutes to be served. Looks appetising? The pizza crust is thin and crispy. This is the second time I ordered the Prosciutto Crudo di Parma which consist of parma ham and rocket salad. The rocket salad complemented the parma ham well and enhanced the flavour of the pizza. Wish that more rocket salad was added. The Funghi pizza consist of mixed mushrooms (button, shitake and porcini). I am a mushroom person, hence found this delicious. But if I was to make a choice, the Prosciutto Crudo di Parma is a must order!

Besides ordering a pizza? we ordered a pasta too. We ordered Squid Ink pasta as we heard (online) that it was their signature dish. The Squid Ink pasta took around 20 minutes to be served.The Squid Ink Pasta was well coated in squid ink ensuring a consistent black colour and it was not dry. Moreover, the squid ink was fresh and there was no fishy taste. The squid was well cooked. The Squid Ink Pasta was so delicious that I wish that more serving was given. Certainly a must order!

Overall, Peperoni Pizzeria is the place to come for pizzas and squid ink pasta. Moreover, the prices on it's menu are NETT. Which means there are no extra charges. Despite not having any service charge, the staff are attentive and observant. I am certain that there will be a third visit for me! If this place was more conveniently located, I would have been a regular here!

Detailed review: http://foodiefc.blogspot.sg/2012/03/peperoni-pizzeria-hillcrest.html

I was thrilled when I heard that Arnold's Fried Chicken was opening an outlet in Yishun. The last time I last ate Arnold's Fried Chicken was in early 2012 at City Plaza. With this new outlet, it will be so much more convenient. Arnold's Fried Chicken specialises in serving fried chicken, has been around for more than 25 years and is one of the first Singapore fast food joint to be certified Halal.Arnold's Fried Chicken in Yishun is located at Yishun 10 Cinema Cineplex (just next to North Point), 5 minutes away from Yishun MRT station. We visited on a Friday evening and there was a queue (around 20 persons) outside which stretched to Wendy's. Nevertheless, we decided to queue after all there was just 20 persons in front of us. Guess how long we queue? You would not believe it... Read on to find out the answer. Menu

The menu which looked so much more colourful and appetising compared to their old menu! Easy to read too. Good job! The answer to how long we queue: we waited for a total of 1hr 20mins from the point we started queuing to the point we received our food. There was virtually 3 queues in total.

The first queue was to queue to get a chance to reach the counter to order the food (without making payment). Once you manage to order, you will be given a queue number where you would be placed in a second queue; to wait for a table. When your queue number is called, you would make payment and then be give a buzzer which would activate (shake) to inform customers that their orders were ready. This was third queue. 2 Piece Meal $6.60

Good news for those who prefer the 2 Piece Meal. It cost only $6.60, a 20 cents (3%) increase compared to 2012.2 Piece Meal $6.60

The 2 Piece Meal consisted of 2 pieces of crispy fried chicken served with mashed potatoes (normally comes with fries, but we switched to mashed potato) and coleslaw. Half Spring Chicken Set $7.10 and a Root Beer (Reg) $2.10

I ordered the Half Spring Chicken Set $7.10 and a Root Beer (Reg) $2.10. The price of the Half Spring Chicken Set has increased by $1.20 (20%) compared to 2012. I am not sure why there was such a huge disparity in increase in prices for the two sets. I should have just ordered the 2 Piece Meal. Half Spring Chicken Set $7.10

Half Spring Chicken Set comprised of a 1/2 deep fried spring chicken served with potato fries and mashed potato (normally comes with coleslaw, but I switched to mashed potato).Half Spring Chicken Set $7.10

The freshly fried chicken was still pipping hot when it was served. It was crisp on the outside and the seasoning of spices and herbs made the skin so sinfully addictive! The meat inside was succulent and well marinated. As seen in the above photo, it was still moist, not dry!

I hope they would review the queue system soon. I want visit Arnold's Fried Chicken again as the chicken was delicious. But the thought of the queue system along with a possible 1 hour 20 minutes wait are the deterrence. If you really want to visit, my suggest is to go during non-peak hour or to just order as takeaway (please note, there is a takeaway counter with a way shorter queue. I believe the waiting time is way shorter as there's only 1 queue). Another area of improvement would be the service - clearing and cleaning of the tables so that the turnover would be faster. On several occasions, we noted that when customers have eaten finish and left the table, the staff tasked with cleaning the tables were chatting away and only started cleaning the tables when instructed by another senior staff who was manning the counter.

http://foodiefc.blogspot.sg/2014/03/arnolds-fried-chicken-yishun-10-cinema.html

China Whampoa Homemade Noodles located at Blk 91 Whampoa Drive Market & Food Centre specialises in homemade (handmade) noodles. This stall is well known as it has been featured on several TV programmes related to food. I visited China Whampoa Homemade Noodles on a Saturday morning. I was surprised that there was no queue at this stall. The reason was because they customers were told to find a table nearby and come back at a certain time (e.g. half an hour later) to collect their bowl of noodles. They serve a variety of noodles such as Ban Mee and You Mian. In addition, these were available with prawns, abalone clams, sliced fish, pig's kidney or even with abalone! Abalone Clams Hand Made You Mian $4

I ordered a bowl of Abalone Clams Hand Made You Mian $4 and had to wait for slightly less than half an hour before I could collect my order. Abalone Clams Hand Made You Mian $4

The Abalone Clams Hand Made You Mian was delicious! It consisted of abalone clams, vegetable, minced meat and ikan bilis. The homemade noodles (you mian) was springy, soft and flavourful! It tasted slightly different from the other homemade noodles stall and seems to be accompanied by a hint of sweetness.

The soup was refreshing. It was robust, sweet and not salty. One unique ingredient which was used was the mani cai 马尼菜(aka sweet leaf). This was an essential ingredient as it provides a natural sweetness to the soup. Chilli Paste

The homemade chilli paste was slightly sweet with a extremely spicy after taste. Despite the spiciness, it was just so shiok (addictive) that I continually dipped the minced meat into it or just add some to each spoonful of noodles. By the end of this meal, I nearly finished all the chilli paste and found myself with swollen lips (just like Angelina Jolie's bee stung lips - sexy) haha.. You have been warned! Notice the containers of chilli paste? They started selling the chilli paste to customers after receiving feedback.

Service wise, it was impressive as the owner was attentive and polite. He never once snap at customers when some kept asking if their food was ready. In addition, when I wanted to pack some back home, he voluntarily offered to put the soup in another separate takeaway bag. Not all hawkers does this! Kudos to him.

Overall, China Whampoa Homemade Noodles serves one of the best bowl of homemade noodles in Singapore. Both China Whampoa Homemade Noodles and Poon Nah City Home Made Noodle 文尼城市面粉粿 are uncanny similar to each other. And maybe that is why I also rated Poon Nah City Home Made Noodle as one of the best!

The Eastern Restaurant, a restaurant located in the heart of Orchard specialises in serving authentic Northern Chinese cuisine. It is tucked away in a deep quiet corner of Centrepoint. It has been located at the same spot for many years. With virtually no signs to guide anyone here, most people would have probably missed or not know of this place. Even we ourselves who had been here before got lost while trying to recall how to get to the restaurant.

I first got to know of this restaurant more than five years ago, way before I started FoodieFC. I remember that the food here was not bad and its Xiao Long Bao was worth a try. So here I am, back here again for its Xiao Long Bao! Visited on a Saturday evening. The seating capacity at the restaurant seemed to considerably reduced. Previously, the tables and chairs extend all the way out and there were also tables and chairs under the escalator next to the restaurant. This time, the tables and chairs have been removed.

You may noticed in the above photos that it has a open kitchen concept. You can scrutinise view how your food is being prepared. Moreover, it also assure customers that their food are prepared diligently and hygiene is well taken care of. Despite the reduced seating capacity, the Eastern Restaurant was full! Quite surprising, considering the location and lack of signs. Clean, air conditioned environment. Even though there was such a crowd, our food was served fairly quickly within 10 minutes upon ordering. The Wanton with Hot Chilli Sauce (5 Pcs) $6 an authentic Sichuan cuisine was very well executed. The use of vinegar and spicy oil caused a distinct difference in taste that made it hard for me to stop at one. The skin of the wanton seemed slightly thicker than the other wantons else where helped hold the fillings in place and adsorb the immense flavours of the sauce. Very spicy and sour, yet addictive. If you are can't take spicy food, you should refrain from ordering this. The Xiao Long Bao (4 Pcs) $4, one of their signature items did not disappoint. The skin was slightly thicker in comparison to the other Xiao Long Baos I have tried. Each Xiao Long Bao contained alot more hot soup in it (more than those in Crystal Jade/Ding Tai Fung). Most probably, the thicker skin was required to hold the soup in place. The hot soup was tasty and well flavoured while the meat was well marinated. The only issue I had was that the skin at the top was too thick. This may not be the best Xiao Long Bao I had, but it was certainly one of the better ones. I ordered the Noodle in Hot & Sour Soup $8, which is another Sichuan Cuisine - spicy and sour. Luckily the sauce used was different from the Wanton with Hot Chilli Sauce. The sauce this time was more sourish and less spicy. It came with diced mushrooms, peas, black fungus, shredded beancurd and meat. The noodles were too hard and could have been cooked for a long period of time. Nevertheless, I really enjoyed this dish despite feeling the spiciness towards the end. Kudos to the chef as he got the difficult part right - balancing the taste of the hot & sour soup.The partner ordered the Stewed Beef Brisket Noodle Soup $8.80 which was one of the recommended items in the menu. The soup was light, clear and flavourful - very forgiving and not salty. Generous serving of beef chunks were given and the meat was stewed till they were incredibly soft and tender. It would have been perfect if the noodles were cooked longer as we felt that it was a tad too hard.

Overall, the dining experience at The Eastern Restaurant was good. It's a hidden gem. There's no need to queue even during weekend peak hours. The food that we ordered was delicious. Despite being at full capacity the service was prompt and efficient. Price wise, it was reasonable. In fact, I would say affordable considering that this is in the heart of Orchard.

Funan Weng first started out as a noodles stall in 1950s at Hock Lam Street which was then a re-owned food street. Subsequently, the owner Mr Ho Weng switched to serving Ipoh Hor Fun as it was not a commonly available dish back then. He perfected the dish and he recipe has remained the same since then. In the 80s, Funan Digital Mall was built on Hock Lam Street and Mr Ho Weng moved his business to the food court at the 7th level of the mall and officially started his business using the name 'Funan Weng'. When Funan underwent a renovation, Funan Weng moved to Ghim Moh Market. In 2009, it moved out of the Hawker Centre scene and opened a restaurant in Maxwell Chambers.The Funan Weng Ipoh Ho Fun in Maxwell Chambers next to Red Dot Traffic Building, is located across the road from Exit B of Tanjong Pagar MRT station. It is situated near to many government offices/buildings such as CPF, MND and URA. Funan Weng Ipoh Ho Fun at Maxwell Chambers, was modern and classy. We had the opportunity to enjoy the whole place to ourselves as there was no one else in the restaurant on a weekday night except for some customers who were waiting to takeaway their food.Customers are required to fill in the dishes which they would like to order and bring this order form to the counter to order and make payment. The dishes would be served by the serving staff.They had the Executive Set Menu. After pondering for sometime, we decided to order Set 3 and Set 4. The Homemade Luo Han Guo $1.80 (warm) had a bitter taste, was the perfect remedy for the partner's sore throat. The Set 3 - Crayfish & Chicken Ipoh Ho Fun was served with Vegetable & Mushroom. The Vegetable & Mushroom was average, nothing great to shout about. Just one piece of half a mushroom was given.The Crayfish & Chicken Ipoh Ho Fun was quite good. It was a pity the crayfish was not fresh and tasted fishy. The Hor Fun sauce was oh-so-yummy. It complemented the Hor Fun perfectly. Not overly salty yet fragrant with a unique mushroom, herbal and spices taste. In addition, the Hor Fun seems to be smoother, softer and thinner compared to those sold else where. Set 4 - Prawn with Chicken & Mushroom Ipoh Ho Fun served with Crispy Wanton.The Prawn with Chicken & Mushroom Ipoh Ho Fun was also decently executed. The soft mushroom soaked in the Hor Fun sauce fully absorbed the essence of the sauce and was so fragrant! The prawns on the other hand was disappointing. Similar comments to the crayfish, they were not fresh.

The Hor Fun Sauce and the Hor Fun were delicious. However, it would have been a better foodie experience if good quality ingredients especially seafood were used. It was a real pity else this would have been one of the better Hor Fun in Singapore. Ambience wise, it was perfect! It was as if we had booked the whole restaurant to ourselves. It was so quiet that we could talk softly and if a pin drop I am sure we would have heard it!