It was lovely to find warm Taiwanese hospitality at this store with friendly service, generous full sized samples and best of all no hard sell or softsell tactics to pressure passerby to buy their wares. The crust was buttery and crumbly, and the shortcake was cramped full with moist flavorful pineapple filling. This is real pineapple filling - juicy, tangy and full of bite not the usual saccharine pineapple jam or pure that has no mouth feel at all. Not cheap at $25 for a box of 10pcs, but you are paying for authenticity and quality here not fancy packaging. The cakes are individually packed in grease proof paper and presented in no Frills Eco friendly brown box. Thumbs up.

Visit Raffles City B1 for your Gyoza fix as Osaka Ohsho certainly lives up to its Gyoka King reputation of serving the most delicious and most economical Gyoza - only $7.80 per dozen. Here the Gyoza are handmade daily and they have the thinnest pastry skin you'll ever find locally. Th Gyoza are fried till crispy brown on one side while the ample filling inside remains juicy. Despite the wallet friendly price the restaurant does not stint on quality - filling the Gyoza with minced premium pork neck, finely chopped cabbage which adds sweetness and moisture and finely minced garlic and ginger for added flavor. Superb!

Prata Wala Cafe is a welcome addition to Junction 8 Shopping Mall's basement food hall that is directly linked to Bishan MRT. The Cafe has a casual, warm & homely vibe with its wood panelled walls, lamps suspended from the ceiling and two neat rows of tables with a mix of cushioned seats against the wall, chairs and stools. When we dropped by on a weekend, the place was abuzz with activity as customers were tucking into their food while two chefs were busy at work in the show kitchen and two staff at the counter taking orders briskly but cheerfully from the queue of customers.

After placing our orders, paying & picking up our drinks at the counter we were given a buzzer and had no problems getting a table as customer turnover was quite fast. Most of the other customers were having the prata with either teh tarik or milo dinosaur. Prata Wala Cafe offers a choice of fiery South Indian curries for the chilli fiends as well as milder North Indian curries for those with lower spice thresholds.

Our teh tarik at $1.80 per mug was milky, frothy and full flavoured. Our buzzer rang in less than 10 minutes and viola our order of paper thosai ($4) and tissue prata ($2.80) were ready.

The thosai was the biggest we've ever seen, rolled up like a scroll & sticking out from both sides of the platter (see photo). This is meant to be shared. The thosai was part crispy, part chewy and we had three types of dip to go with it - a fragrant, mildly spicy lentil curry, a tangy tomato ginger curry gravy and a savory coconut dip. The tissue prata was delightfully crispy and light - great on its own though you can have it dusted with sugar or drzzled with chocolate or strawberry sauce.

We will gather a bigger group of friends when we return another day on an empty stomach to try their dum briyani, naan and murtabak. While prices here cost slightly more than at food courts, the portions are very generous, good quality ingredients are used and the food is tasty. Thumbs up.

Ambush sounds like an unlikely name for a restaurant serving fairly authentic European fare. Apart from the name, the restaurant has all other aspects of its culinary concept right - laid back bistro theme & decor, a menu with a representative sample of popular European dishes and beverages, pocket friendly prices and speedy service. This formula hits the right spot for young working adults as well as nuclear families in the heartlands who are looking for good quality meals without busting their budgets.

Ambush has an impressive but unintimidating menu:
* pork knuckle, sausages and rosti from Bavaria;
* mussels and frites from Belgium in the heart of Western Europe;
* seafood entrees featuring salmon, hoki and cod from the Nordic countries; and
* paella and pastas representing the cuisines of the Mediterranean nations.

These are our recommendations:

Minestrone soup $3.50 - this was a hearty tomato broth full of diced garden vegetables like celery, carrots, pearl onions and zucchinis;Sausages $12.20 - we picked the smoked bratwurst and chicken garlic sausages which were robustly flavoured and meaty;

Ambush Paella $13.20 - a hearty and filling tomato-based casserole of rice with mussels, plump prawns and sliced chorizo sausages;

Baby Scallop Pasta with Fish Roe Cream $13.80 - a scrumptious and satisfying entree with six fresh scallops. A similar version at TCC costs twice as much.
Warm Chocolate Souffle $8.80 - this turned out to be a chwee kueh-sized chocolate lava cake topped with a tiny scoop of vanilla ice cream. It reminds me of America rather than Europe.Overall, we had a very satisfying meal at Ambush. The table crew was young but their enthusiasm and can-do attitude meant no service lapses. The appetizers and main courses were very good, so much so that the desserts seemed lacklustre & forgettable. Not bad for $20 per head without the beers.

Red Sun BB Tea Shop is the new kid on the same block which hosts Koi BB Tea and recently opened Gong Cha.

Red Sun's Yakult Lemonade is refreshingly good ($2.90 for 500ml & $4.30 for 700ml). It reminds me of a similar offering by Happy Lemon the popular HK beverage chain with a stall at Ion Orchard B4. However Red Sun's version is slightly cheaper and tastes superior to Happy Lemon's version which tends to be too diluted. The zesty zing in Red Sun's Yakult Lemonade makes it an excellent choice after a heavy or hearty meal, or after having crispy chicken from the KFC Restaurant next door.

'Irish Green Tea De Cream' ($2.40 for 500ml & $3.50 for 700ml) was supposed to be one of Red Sun's unique concoctions that was rather popular in native Taiwan. I like Irish cream flavored syrup which complements coffee perfectly & was curious & keen to find out how it goes with green tea. The drink resembled an attractive suspension - thick layer of milk foam topping a liquid that resembled beer minus the bubbles. I shook the cup to mix the green tea & milk foam then took a sip. Instant disappointment. There was no fragrance or taste of Irish cream at all. The drink tasted exactly like a Pina Colada - the overwhelming taste was that of coconut which I'm not a fan of. Once shaken, there was no taste or trace of tea flavor or milk flavor in the drink. I'm still wondering how this 'Irish Green Tea De Cream' can be a bestseller in Taiwan, unless the Taiwanese love coconut. I like coconut juice but this cloudy drink lacks the clear, refreshing edge of fresh coconut juice.

The Red Sun Special ($3.50 for 500ml & $5.00 for 700ml) fared much better. From the photo, this looks like milk served with a scoop of strawberry puree or jam. I shook the cup to diffuse the strawberry in the drink & took a sip. This tasted like a mild strawberry flavored milky drink. Not as thick as a milkshake, the consistency is more like bandung but flavored with strawberry syrup instead of rose syrup. A little overrated as the shop's signature drink but still acceptable.

The upsized 700ml option is good value, especially with the recent hot weather. The service here is faster than Koi Tea Shop & we will patronize Red Sun Tea Shop again to try the other drinks on its long menu.