Nowadays the highlight of our visit to any Swensens Restaurants is not their ice cream sundaes which built its reputation, but for the food. Huh? Granted that Swensens' food items are sometimes hit and miss, such as their baked rice and some entrees like steaks. However they do a good job with their appetizers, pizzas and pastas. We stuck to the safe bets on our recent visit and had a satisfying meal, with no room left for their sundaes.

The crispy vegetable fritters $5.90++ were excellent. Lots of shredded vegetables and thinly sliced shitake mushroom bound together by a light tempura batter, moulded into square shaped cakes and deepfried quickly into crispy fritters. Rabbit food never looked and tasted this good. The fritters were served with a tangy dip that tasted like a blend if 1000 island dressing and BBQ sauce but the fritters were tasty enough to be eaten on their own without any sauce.These were surprisingly filling too.

The BBQ Chicken Pizza $14.90++ for 9" was another entree that's good for sharing. Crunchy biscuit base topped with chicken chunks, diced bell peppers and onions, topped by mozarella and BBQ sauce. The pizza is cut into quarters when served so it can be shared by 2-4 people if other items are ordered.

It is nice to be given a carafe of iced water for us to help ourselves as we pleased, so we did not have to order drinks from the menu. Great for a casual fuss-free meal; the booth seats are comfy with some privacy so the place is good for chit chat sessions too.

Funan Weng, together with Yee Cheong Yuen in Holland Village, have historically been the places to visit just for their authentic, Cantonese style horfun with shredded chicken & mushroom. This month, Funan Weng is having a promotional set meal of special horfun with the works - shredded chicken, braised shitake mushroom, shrimp, wontons, charsiew and an appetizer of two deep fried soi gau (minced pork & shrimp dumplings) - all for only $5.80, with optional topup of $1 for home brewed barley drink or chrysanthemum tea. Diners may opt for the horfun to be replaced with HK style thin egg noodles without any extra charge.

The horfun was fine, smooth & slippery - just the way I like it. Nice to have ingredients to accompany every mouthful of horfun. The deepfried soi gau deserves special mention, it was delightfully crispy and tasty, full of lean pork, shrimp & finely chopped black fungus. Two thumbs up.

The casual European bistro chain Ambush is a popular & successful addition to the mass market western restaurant segment, posing fair competition to its peers like Aston's Prime, Pepperdine and Saveur. Two new Ambush Restaurants have opened in the short span of three months, first in the Atrium@Orchard, new wing of Plaza Singapura and now at heartland megamall JEM.

Ambush has a broadsheet menu listing its F&B offerings. The menu is not extensive but nevertheless offers a fairly representative and adequate range of European favourites from paella and pastas to hearty staples such as sausages & rosti, pork knuckle and fish & chips. The menu may not be large but most items on it are well executed and affordably priced - all that matters to the budget conscious but discerning heartland diners.

Mini Lamb Shank ($8.90++) was an appetizer or tasting portion of their famous Braised Lamb Shank. The meat was juicy, flavourful and tender, served on a bed of mashed potato to soak up the hearty rich gravy, and a generous side of thick cut frites.

Vongole pasta au vin blanc ( $13.50++ / weekday afternoon special price of $9.90++) needs no introduction - lots of fresh clams coked with butter, finely chopped onion & garlic and white wine sauce poured over your choice of pasta - spaghetti, linguine, fusili or penne. Delish! An a la carte order of a pot of clams or mussels cooked this way or in your preferred style, will set you back $14.90++.

Apple Crisp ( $6.90++) is actually an apple crumble pie made of buttery short crust pastry, served with vanilla bean ice cream and a drizzle of caramel syrup. The contrast of flavours and textures is great and I liked the light hand with cinnamon so that it did not overwhelm the refreshing tartness of the granny apple filling.

Well, Ambush has certainly got their culinary concept and pricing done right. What I would like to see is the inclusion of four or five homestyle hearty soup or chowder on its menu eg borsch. Afterall, soup with crusty bread or rosti is a popular lunch combo in Europe and is catching on among office ladies in Singapore too.

The crowds at this laid back and unpretentious Thai cafe attest to its popularity. Jai Thai has a reputation of serving affordably priced & fairly authentic Thai food for the masses. It serves set meals priced at $6.80+ or $8.80+ which offers a choice of beverages together with a piece of Thai dessert. The $6.80 sets are usually a noodle dish or plain rice served with either green curry or tom yum soup. The $8.80 set comprises either pineapple rice or olive rice served with four side dishes.

I opted for the olive rice which was served with thai style crispy fish, green curry with fried taukwa,mango salad and sauteed thai kailan. This set is good for solo diners who can try a few dishes from the a la carte menu at a price that is very easy on the pocket, with change left for $10. The olive rice was a little too mushy and bland for my liking, but scooping some of the green curry gravy over it enhanced the taste but made the rice even mushier. The thai style crispy fish was only mildly spicy, but the shredded mango salad packed a punch. The green curry lifted the fried taukwa chunks which would otherwise e a run off the mill dish.

This shop along the stretch of Joo Chiat Road near the Comunity Club diagonally across the street offers catering services as well as walkin dining/takeaway. There are tables that seat up to four to six persons at the front of the alfresco shop.

Thunder tea is a Khek/Hakka homestyle dish. The shop offers diners a choice of ordinary white rice, brown rice or rice vermicelli to go with the thunder tea, with regular portions for one adult priced from $5. We opted for takeaway with 30¢ surcharge for the plastc container. Your choice of rice or beehoon is topped with a colourful variety of shredded or diced vegetables in season such as round cabbage, leafy greens, long beans, carrots, celery, plus vegetarian meat floss, diced taukwa, chopped preserved radish (chye poh), crunchy ikan bilis and peanuts. If you're dining in the shop, the dish is served with a medium sized bowl of steamy thunder tea or lei cha, a refreshing and light broth concocted from finely ground thunder tea leaves and mint leaves. As we opted for takeaway, the staff gave us a small container of green thunder tea paste, telling us to add hot water to the paste to make thunder tea soup to pour over our rice or beehoon.

A light and wholesome dish that is perfect for cleansing the palate and reaching the daily fibre quota in ameal. I liked the thunder tea which tasted like concentrated grainy green tea but those who prefer more robust tasting dishes may find khek thundrr tea rather bland.