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Having Meet Paul over dinner who serves the Halibut delights, either grilled or deep fried depending on customer preference was my pleasure. Meet Paul was located at one of the coffeeshops walkable from Tajong Pagar MRT station and would have gone un-noticed for people like me who seldom go into the vicinity as it was hidden below a HDB block.Having met the chef, Paul, he was friendly and service-orientated, explaining his products. Only Deep sea halibut was used, affirming freshness and quality to Paul's customers.

His menu was make interesting with his innovative style of serving the fish which changes about once every two weeks. When I was there, he was serving halibut in Japanese style which I thought was something different for a stall in coffeeshop to do that.

The mains were served on a metal pan which reminds me of dining in Fish & Co and they had double sided tapes pasted below the pan to secure a placement on the table.

Grilled fish was cooked to a textural golden brown perfection. It's crisp outer layer was coated with typical Japanese chilli flakes and pepper. It's fresh was white in color and a little salty had actually bring out the taste of the Halibut. Just below it, enjoy the fragrant Japanese rice heavily sprinkled with Wakame (Seaweed) accompanied by mayonnaise sauce. Appetizer was pickled cucumber with another type of wakame that has a subtly sweet flavour in nature. Crunchy and unique. The chilli was more towards Thai, sweet and sour with chopped coriander leaves, and these goes very well with the meal.
Cost: $7.50The only difference of this dish from the previous was the way how the halibut was cooked. Deep fried to a darker brown with japanese chilli flakes and peppers. I would prefer the former as I find that the taste of the meat was abit blend as compared to the grilled one. Dressed in vinaigrette, the presentation of the plate of the Nicoise Salad had given me a different perspective of a salad, consisting of tomatoes, green beans, Tuna croquette (home-made), hard-boiled eggs, olives and anchovies.
Cost: $7.50Anchovies had a very distinct smell once the plate of salad had landed on our table.The soft boiled (hanjuku) eggs which was part of the salad had velvety soft yolks but firm white. Totally japanese.In conclusion, the kind of serving Paul offered was exciting and filling to the stomach. To me scaled down version of commercialized fish and chips we had in mall at an attractive pricing and also specializing in Halibut. Why not mark down on your calendar on this weekend to meet Paul for your gourmet trail?

2fifteen is tucked in a cosy corner at Level 2 Rochester Mall, with the help of big signboards around, it made patrons easier to locate her by walking along the walkways at the outdoor area.

2fifteen was named after its unit number, #02-15 in case many of us wander why such an imitable name.

As we entered the restaurant, we felt that Interior Design was well done up, with a concept more towards a modern French ambiance furnished against some rustic looking brick walls and wood-liked homogenous flooring. Chandelier was seen hanging from the fore-ceiling with place brightly lited. Apart from these welcoming designs, service was above average with observant server who come in once a while to topped up our glasses of drinks.Though named as a kitchen but it was a place serving hearty, unpretentious comfort french European cuisine. Executive Chef Kenny Yeo who helmed 2fifteen kitchen had his culinary skills honed at Le-Cententaire Hotel-Restaurant, 3 Star Michelin establishment in France, some Singapore's best restaurants including Les Amis and at various private functions with reputable guests including the former Singapore's Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew.

During my visit, we had noted his presence and he was friendly enough to give us a smile and a waving gesture, saying "Hello" to us. One need not worry about bringing the kids into the restaurant as they were children friendly. Service was professional as the child seat was already prepared when we were there.Started our palates off with the freshly baked mini croissants & Baguette with Butter, warming right into our stomach.One of the appetisers we had. Sprinkled heavily with vinargrette and if lucky, one can actually get to crush on the little sea salt crystals within.Tangy tomato as the soup of the day. Sweet and tastes tad sour, standard, nothing to rave about.An additional main ordered. Crispy Duck Confit from Perigord, Medley of Mesclun, Balsamic Vinagretter. Uncover the cracking crisp layer and you will find a layer of fat. Perfectly marinated and amazingly delectable accompanied with garden of Mesclun and roasted potatoes. Yums!
Cost: $36Enjoy every bite of the Warm Salad of Foie Gras with Grape Petite Sald and Raspberry Vinaigrette. This is a top up at ($14) on top of the adult main course. Look at the bubbles formation, isnt the pan-seared fragrant slab alluring? Once we had it in our mouth, it literally disintegrate and melts right away. Thumbs up! 3 kinds of sausage was served, white, original and spicy flavour accompanied by a bed of smashed potatoes, sauerkraut with caramelized onions. Simple and very filling to the stomach. Home-made Apple Tart comes with Crushed Almonds, Caramelised Sauce and Vanilla Ice cream. Freshly baked and 20 minutes baking time is required. Voted this for the best desserts among all orders. Served in a hot pan, these paper thin crust had packed our last dish with cracking bites! Shiok!
Cost: $16 The presentation of Homemade Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese had brought laughter to the table. Served on a plate which reminds me of a tile from a renovation warehouse I had visited weeks ago, I thought this idea was crazy, nevertheless, I still find it innovative.

The dish was adorn with fruits like blueberries, raspberry, strawberries with 4 tiny dots of cranberry sauce at each corner, forming an invisible square. Carrot Cake was fragrant and not that oily with nuts and carrots crunch. A small ball of coconut ice-cream with coconut flakes was included too.A special moment done up for the birthday girl. Take a look at the video.


I always think that having French Food in Singapore is costly. Amazingly, with the eminence of Chef Kenny Yeo, French Cuisine had been make wallet friendly, saving us from burning a hole in the pocket. I was rather surprised that the place was near empty considering that those dishes whipped out by reputable Chef Kenny Yeo was exquisite. It's really a hidden Gem in the west. For such quiet ambiance, this is a perfect spot to romance your date on weekends if this style floats your boat.

Do remember to make reservations for weekdays especially.

For complete review, visit http://umakemehungry.blogspot.sg

I get to know of YY Kopitiam's existence when my Hong Kong pal told me that this was under her list of Must Go places in Singapore. Decided to give it a try and see how it fare.

Its retains of the old School Singapore Kopitiam Culture could be probably the reason why it was recommended in the page of singapore's tourist guide. Selling old styled local breakfast (half boiled eggs, big fluffy kaya toast with kopi or teh) and other local breakfast items. It does also serves zi char during lunch and dinner times.

Not forgetting its ambience, it drew us back into the 80s, 90s where coffeeshop (kopitiam) were simple and humble unlike the modern fanciful decorations we had in most of the breakfast places right now. Well, I should say, we can hardly find such places nowadays.Food served was pretty run of mill and one could probably get them from any coffeeshop.
Service was turned off especially when beverages were wrongly served and the worker was rude to took the cup away .

Kopi O was lacking in fragrance, I could not smell the aroma of roasted coffee unlike other traditional coffee like Nanyang Coffee.The toast was fluffy on the inside and crispy toasted outside. Nothing to shout about as I could get the same type of bun from many other places in Singapore. Kaya was spread sparingly on the toast and the taste was somewhat unique. It had overpowering of coconut sugar.The plate fried vermicelli wss served warm. Surprisingly, the bee hoon was rather tasty and was fried just nice. It was neither too dry or too wet. However the side dishes was standard-fare.Nasi Lemak was factory made with packet of sambal chilli sauce in it. Unlike traditional nasi lemak, there was not fried egg in it. Just deep fried kuning fish and ikan bills served together with rice which was hard and very cold. The fish was over-fried & the rice was not fragrant.It's kind of wasted or rather a disappointing for us to travel all the way down on a sunday morning and experienced its slow and blur service. In fact,

Perhaps if one is going for its environment, it's still acceptable. For food and service wise, there were definitely better players nearby.Total Cost: $9.20
For Full Reviews, visit http://umakemehungry.blogspot.sg/2013/10/yy-kafei-dian.html

Walked up the flight of colonial stairs of our majestic Raffles Hotel and it will bring you to the sign of Royal China's Signboard. Their Chinese name, 皇朝 (Huang Chao), was rather suggestive and immediately links one mind to some Atas Dining back in the era of those Emperors Dynasty.Standing guard with 2 auspicious lions in front of the country theme white doors with glass grids entrance gave us a mixed feelings of both a modern yet traditional as beliefs of a Chinese Custom were well displayed in there.

The interior had caught us in surprise as one would have never expected it's theme color as the modern Tiffany blue in a traditional Chinese / Cantonese Restuarant. Color Settings were elegant, calming and comfortable with white colors blending in. Chinese Music in the background was slow, outdated (Songs famous in the early late 70s, early 80s) but soothing to ears.All tables were prepared with folded Napkin on the side plate with complete set of dining utensils. Frankly speaking, it was our first gathering in a restaurant besides our friend's wedding ceremony and I must praised my pal as she had made perfect choice on this location especially as the place was rather quiet and central to all of us. Moreover, everyone's voice on the round table can be heard clearly.

We had chosen the easiest way out and took up one of their Menus for 10 persons.

Our First dish was none other than the Barbecued Peking Duck with Caviar & Homemade Pancake, one of Royal China's hot item in the menu. Handled by 2 lady servers, with one skinning the blistered looking Peking Duck while the other busying preparing the Pancake by the side of our table.Well Done! With the expert trained servers, our dish was prepared in no time.Comes in a plate of 20 pancake cakes accompanied by their sweet black sauce, each of us get to enjoy 2 pieces of it. The pancake itself was doughy with flour particles on it and wasn't that favorable. Luckily, it packed an aromatic duck flavour under its wrap and this unique taste had superseded the "powdery" feeling of the dish.Every pancake comes with a rectangular piece of delicious and crispy Peking duck skin. Flipped open its case and add the sweet black peking duck sauce to suit one's taste. On top of that, add the given Caviar (Black Fish Roes) and here you go! Enjoy these crispy and gritty texture on your taste buds!

Braised Shark's Fin with Fresh Crab Meat and Shredded Chicken in "Tan Jia" Style was the 2nd of our courses just like any other traditional Chinese wedding which cannot be skipped! Pumpkin was used with a fantastic harmony generous portions of crab meat and sharks fin.The 3rd dish, Sauteed Scallop & Asparagus in Homemade XO Chilli Sauce. This is the point when the standards gradually went downhill. No doubt that the dish packed with crunchiness from the stalks of the asparagus & red capsicums, food was more towards a salty side.Poached "Soon Hock" in Chef's Creation with Crispy Beancurd and Black Fungus was almost tasteless. All of us on the table would prefer Soon Hock fish to be served in steamed style as this would probably brings out the freshness a fish.If you ever wonder where did the peking duck meat went to, Stir-Fried Diced Duck Meat with Diced Vegetable Served in Iceberg Lettuce is where we can find them. Their idea of having the meat diced with capsicums, chestnuts and celery with Chinese parsley as garnishing had bought me over. This dish packs a crunch especially if you hand held them and consume with the lettuce.
The only let down I would say its that, it abit salty.Braised Homemade Beancurd with Mushroom in Abalone Sauce was salty just like other dishes. However, the vegetables were soft and easy to chew at. The abalone sauce was a perfect marriage to the beancurd and mushroom. Love the 2 textures of the beancurd - Fragile & Wobbly in the inside and protected by the brownish firm skin on its outside.Baked Seafood fried rice wrapped in lotus leaf was divided equally into smaller bowls by the attentive servers, each bowl of fried rice had it grains packed with smoked smell. It tasted close to any Zi Char Stall's fried rice. Nothing to shout at.Last on the menu: Chilled fresh mango juice with sago and pomelo. I would say it's milky and refreshing with diced mango included, not the best but pretty decent to sum up the meal for the night.Perhaps there were more misses than hits but this place serves a good location for big group gathering if you want a quiet surrounding especially nearing the weekend. Service was better than average with attentive servers who refill our cups of tea promptly even after payment were made. Hygiene and serving standards were well maintained as every side plate was exchanged for each course.

Total Cost: $538++ for 10 Persons (Menu A)
(+) Enjoy discount with OCBC credit card

For complete pictures, please visit http://umakemehungry.blogspot.sg/2013/09/royal-china-gathering.html

Try walking along Level One Of IMM Building and one would find ourselves as if we are winding the clock back into the 60s of Singapore. With the nostalgic design of POT LUCK with its old Chinatown Settings, I bet that one can never gave a miss to this. Moreover its uniqueness had drawn many attention towards its shop, pondering what cooking in their pots by having such a quirky name ? Pillar in front of the shop was eye-catching with its oscillating barber poles and Neon lighting. It's hard to walk pass without turning our head towards that direction.Enjoy a twist in the time machine as we walked into the rustic environment of POT LUCK accompanied by their 'Tao Jie' our 'Mah Jie'. Settings were authentic with formica chairs and tables arranged in the dining area. Into the shop and by the sides, customers get to experience the old looking stretch of shops with Peranakan tilings. The entire area was as good as those olden days that we had seen on the TV.Copies of newspaper was placed on the table. Wait, do not mistaken these copies as the daily newspaper. The piece of thin and flimsy paper is where we get to choose our food from - the menu.A condiments rack was prepared on every table with ordering slips. The ordering system goes like this: Filled up the slip, proceed to the cashier for payment and wait to be served by Ah Huat, their 'rickshaw boy' or even Ali their 'Satay Man'. POT LUCK had also introduced the free flow of drinks (hot / cold) at $2.80 each, as well as rice at $1.50 per pax, these can be self help at the self-service station together with the cutlery.
Look at the corner of the dining table. Your table is specially "CHOPE!" by one of their crews (Ali, Ah Huat, Ah Foong,, Tao jie, Mah Jie or Muthu). Looks Cute right?Dishes were quick to served and whipped out from the kitchen. Sizzling hot pot of Ginger Spring Onion Beef slices were tender, well marinated and fragrant.
Cost: $8.90Taste the Claypot Cabbage with Mushroom! Simply brought me back to the good old days! The cabbages were sweet & half braised, therefore one can actually enjoy the best of both world, a crunchy & soft bite. Though a simple dish, it was made different by using better quality mushrooms.
Cost: $5.60Searching for the "Wok hei" tastes of from a Claypot Hor Fun? Yes, Potluck Hor Fun did have the Charred smell but it was not that intensive as I would have thought. Standard is abit higher than average and would serve as a great replacement to the plain white rice.
Cost: $5.90Whet my appetite! Prawn Paste Chicken (4 pieces of winglets) were well marinated and very crispy. Yums!
Cost: $7.90I'm quite comfortable with the amount paid. As compared to a normal Zi Char Stall, some of the prices are on pile while some of them were about the same. Factor in its service and air conditioned environment, having Zi Char in Pot Luck isn't a bad choice either. Side Notes:
(1) 10% of Service Charge is not required.
(2) Be careful & Keep your hands away from the burning hot claypot, I'm scalded and it had left an ugly mark on my hand.