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The Alley Cafe is located around Outram Park, and walking distance from MRT could be around 10-15 minutes. This is my second visit to The Alley Cafe, as my previous visit was an awesome one, which my friends and I really enjoyed the food and sides a lot.
Shop space pretty much fits the name, from a narrow corridor which depict the "alley" to a little more spacious area for accommodating bigger crowd.
A range of food from brunch to mains, and drinks from non-alcoholic to alcoholic, all in the menu.
Sawadee-Chicks ($12.00). Drumette only dish, it lacks the crispiness on the skin, but the sweet and spicy sauce together with the juicy and meaty drumette is satisfying.
SP Squid ($10.00). The Alley's tempura battered calamari rings has both the crispiness as well as the chewy texture of the squid, but it lacks of the flavor in it.
Truffle Carbonara ($15.00). A very cheesy and buttery dish, awesome for first few mouths but could be sick of it mid-way through the meal. In any case, pasta is quite springy. I, especially love the oldie-fashioned plate used for serving. It just reminds me of how I used this when I was still a kid.
Captain Bob's Fish & Chips ($16.00). Fish meat is smooth, but lack of the beer taste but with the fishy taste, and is bland as well. I would say the fish & chips is a disappointment.
The Alley Half Pounder ($22.00). Consists of a 227g of beef, caramelized onions, matured cheddar and a portion of fries. Out of the 3 mains we had, I would say the highest popularity vote goes to the Half Pounder. Just like an ordinary beef burger, but the savory taste and beefy meat kept me cutting more portions into my mouth, savoring the juiciness of the beef patty!
There is no designated parking lots for those visiting The Alley, so be prepared to be circling round and round for an empty street parking lot if you are lucky. Friendly crew whom serves your table every time with a smile, even though the cafe is already packed with diners.
We have to admit that the second visit was a disappointing one, which really does not reflect the positive reviews we had before. It was the first visit that prompted us to visit them again, and perhaps we came on a wrong day, but I hope my next visit to The Alley would be able to bring back what I had expected.
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For more details, please visit http://www.foodesteem.com/2015/03/eat-at-taipei.html

Prices, I would say is not cheap in comparison with other stalls like Shilin and food court stalls. But the taste here is different from what we have tasted, and clipping in with bringing the popular dishes available various night markets of Taipei, makes the prices a little more worthy.

We had the nourishing soup, Taichung Night Market Ginger Duck Soup (台中中华夜市姜母鴨湯 - $6.90). As obvious as its name, Taichung Night Market is sure to have this nourishing soup if you are in Taipei and craving for it without searching high and low all over.

Taiwanese Street Snack, Shilin Night Market Vermicelli with Oyster & Pig’s Intestine (士林夜市大肠蚵仔面线 - $9.90). For those who had tried before in Singapore, most would be either just the pig intestine or oyster with the vermicelli only. I always head to Ah Zhong Mian Xian in Taipei because it serves Pig's Intestine Vermicelli!

Another popular snack in Taipei and also in Singapore, Keelung Night Market Oyster Omelette (基隆庙口夜市蚵仔煎 - $9.90). While this is also a popular delicacy in Singapore, it is different in cooking style. Singapore served the omelette in more like a scrambled type, but Eat at Taipei served the omelette like a pizza-style.

One of the popular Taiwanese Stir-Fried Snacks, Poached Savoury Chicken (鹽水雞 - $16.90). We had both of the choice of selections, one in Mala Spicy Sauce and another in Spring Onion Sauce. This dish is served cold on the tender chicken meat, and although I'm really a person who can take in a lot of spices, Mala Spicy version is more to my liking. I love the subtle taste of sourness and spiciness combination, and it opens up my appetite to grab for a few more pieces.

One of the Taiwanese must-have for rice, Nantou Taiwanese–style Braised Minced Pork Rice (南投卤肉飯 - $10.50). The kind of Braised Minced Pork Rice in my perspective is a bowl of rice, with half an egg and whelm with lots of braised minced pork. Eat at Taipei added in additional ingredients such as floss and shrooms. Overall was great, but I would still prefer my bowl of rice to be drenched with the braised mince meat, indulging in the sweet gravy!
‘Jiu Fen’ Taro Balls (九份芋圓 - $5.00) is a bowl of hot dessert. I would prefer to describe it as warm as there is no need to wait for it cool down, and you can literally drink from the bowl. It taste like a typical red/green bean soup, sufficient of sweetness and chewy colored taro balls.

Another bowl of dessert, but this time a cold one, and is also the recommended dessert, Special Mango Snow Ice (香甜牛奶芒果雪花冰 - $8.90). Definitely a must-have for mango lovers. It's a big bowl of shaved ice, and Eat at Taipei besides being generous with the ice, they also dished in a lot of mango sauce, extremely sweet mango chunks, and squishy mango "roes"?

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For more details, please visit http://www.foodesteem.com/2015/01/mama-shop.html
Located at the backyard of Chinatown, it wouldn't be an easy walk up either via the steep slope for vehicles or the steep flight of sheltered staircase. Housed in the old Police Force Headquarters, it can be considered a hidden find because from the outside, you wouldn't have known about Mama Shop because there isn't any signs or indicators of cafe/eatery in the building. With the difficult walk from Eu Tong Seng Street, very few would have even been bothered to conquer it.
Mama Shop sounds exactly like how most of us would have called the mini-marts, usually at the HDB void decks. Small shop space, selling lots of old school toys and snacks, they also serve food and drinks for those who managed to take out some time for an "exercise". Time for a celebration, maybe?
Their cashier is situated inside the kitchen, which is just right behind the only entrance of the small shop space. On the outside, laid are the old school stuffs, such as the comics, tidbits, toys, etc. Definitely a place for people of the 80's to reminisce their childhood of the past.
Peanut Prince ($4.50 for regular size) tasted like milk with peanuts being crushed and blended together. It was a refreshing drink, and might hit off with kids pretty well. Sparkling Limau ($3.50) has a strong sour plum taste, perfect for a hot weather and wetting the throat with icy cold sour drink.
Okaasan Waffle ($4.90) consists of 2 pieces of waffles sandwiching seaweed chicken and takoyaki sauce with bonito flakes, cut into half. Waffle with peanut or blueberry jam is the norm to me, but this is indeed unique. Waffle is crispy and neatly cooked till golden. If you love takoyaki and waffle, this will be another thing worth coming for.
Happy Peppy Seafood Burger ($14.90) consists of crabmeat, lobster chunks with citrus mayo and truffle fries. First taste came to me as too fishy, which I stopped after my first bite. Bread and truffle fries are ok, but main point of the burger has completely covered everything else.
Messy Messy Nice Nice Mama Burger ($10.90) consists of beef patty topped with melted Gouda cheese and caramelized onion mushrooms. I looked forward to the beef burger, but again another disappointment. Beef patty is overcooked, rather than juicy and succulent as described in their featured menu board.
Old school ambiance makes it a perfect place to chill, especially on a less hot and humid weather, and a great place to hang around with friends while sipping on drinks and biting on snacks.
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For more details, please visit http://www.foodesteem.com/2014/11/outback-steakhouse.html
I love the spacious seating arrangement, and looks great enough to host large groups or gatherings.
Typhoon Bloom ($14.90) is made of hand-cut fried onion strings with Outback's secret seasonings. Onion strings are stacked up to form a hemisphere, and is suitable for probably 2-3 pax. My first thought to it was calamari rings, and the mention of onion doesn't really interests me that much. But my first crispy onion string got me asking for more.
Appetizer Duo ($16.90) on the other hand, doesn't look as appetizing as it sounds. A combination of kookaburra wings and crispy calamari, which only kookaburra wings won our hearts. With the mild spicy level we took, the tender and juicy buffalo wings are just too hard to resist.
Toowoomba Chicken ($24.90) consists of sauteed chicken and buttom mushroom, with oven-grilled chicken and seasonal veggies. It seems like a lighter and healthier dish as compared to the other mains we ordered following up, but price is definitely worth lesser for the quality of the food.
Outback Special ($29.90 for 8oz) comes with two sides. A signature item in Outback Steakhouse where sirloin is used to serve diners. I ordered the Aussie Fries ($4.90) and Sweet Baked Potato ($6.90) for my sides, and added on Sauteed Shrooms ($2.90) and Peppercorn sauce ($1.90) for my rare-cooked sirloin. I do love their fries and potato, but their sirloin is not really up to my expectation.
Bacon Cheeseburger ($19.90) uses ground beef topped with bacon, American cheese, pickles, onions, mayo, lettuce and tomato. Aussie Fries are also served with all their burgers and sandwiches.
Typhoon Burger ($19.90) also uses ground beef, but with toppings of onion strings, American cheese, lettuce, tomato and Typhoon Bloom sauce.
For more details, please visit http://www.foodesteem.com/2014/11/outback-steakhouse.html

For more details, please visit http://www.foodesteem.com/2014/07/lentrecote-french-brasserie.html

L'Entrecote is one of the new restaurants in the basement of the Fountain of Wealth, since the revamping. Situated just beside the flight of staircase leading to Tower One and Two, it does seem like an expensive place to dine at, yet also look like an express version of a French cuisine.
Spacious interior, with red table-cloths to make it look classy and elegant for a dining experience.
It can easily made into a 3-course meal, with entree, mains, and desserts. Without much of a variety, I felt rather troubled when I am trying to look out for some steak options!
Honestly speaking, I am not a person into French dining, specifically. Thus, I was a little surprised when I received this plate of Walnut Green Salad on my table. This plate of salad actually comes with my ordered steak, as like an appetizer. It does whet my appetite a little, and probably also the reason why I was disappointed by the steak afterwards.
As mentioned above, ordered their Steak & Fries ($29.90) for a classic size, that comes along with the walnut green salad. Had wanted to ask for a rare-cooked steak, but shortly changed to medium-rare. Due to my lack of understanding, medium-rare (Entre à Point et Bien Cuit) in French cuisine could mean a little overcooked. Steak wasn't juicy and the type of rare-cooked steak wasn't of my expectation too. Perhaps should have gone for the rare (Saignant), which could have been a little nearer to my expectation.
Sea Bass Filet ($17.00), also known as Le Bar, is served with a portion of French fries, and also with either steam rice or fresh vegetables. It comes with a creamy sauce to go with the filet, and besides that, filet is easy to slice apart, meat stay almost firm, and skin is crispy.
Vanilla Bean Ice Cream Profiteroles with Hot Chocolate Sauce ($12.00), also known as Profiteroles de “L’Entrecôte”, can be pleasing ending item on the menu…..
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