At Pepper Lunch, I always ordered beef and rice, never did I had a chance to order their pasta.

Today, I decided to have a try of their pasta. Here, I ordered Aglio Olio, which was a scallop with pasta at $11.90.

When the pasta came to my table, I was very surpised to see so many scallops! At this price, it was very worth.

But I wonder why there was no sauce with this pasta. Only a small saucer of soya sauce.

The taste of pasta was quite dry without sauce, worst was that the hot plate keep evaporating any sauces on the pasta.

Last time Qiu Lian Ban Mee was the best Ban Mee in Singapore, with savoury yummy soup and home-made springy noodles.

However, my recent visit was quite a disappointment.

The price was not very good, at about $5, you can get to eat more filling meals.

The soup was quite bland and lack of meat "sweetness".

The noodles was disappointing also. The noodles was soggy, not as springy as expected.

If you want extra ikan bilis, you will need to fork out another $1. No more smiles to aunty and ask for free extra.

Thanks Openrice and Hillary for the invitation to "I am Legend" food tasting session.
"I am Legend" is a Halal Western Fusion restaurant concept in a food court.
It was conveniently located at level 3 of Big Box Warehouse Retail Mall. "I am Legend" stands out from the rest of the food outlets with a huge signboard at the top.Truffles Fries ($8.90) 
The truffles fries was topped with generous shredded cheese. The fries were hot and crispy with a very mild mushroom scent. Though I could not related the scent to truffles.Seafood Aglio Oglio ($11.90)
The Seafood Aglio Oglio has generous amount of seafood such as squids, prawns and scallops. The seafood was fresh and perfectly cooked, complemented perfectly with spaghetti. The taste was slightly spicy and oily. Salted Egg Yolk Pasta ($15.90)
With all the rave on salted egg yolk, "I am Legend" also came out with a dish called Salted Egg Yolk Pasta. According to the Chef, the salted egg yolk sauce was specially prepared which took three days to ferment. Hence, this Salted Egg Yolk Pasta was sold in limited quantity per day. 

There was generous amount of fresh prawns in this pasta. The salted egg yolk sauce was very creamy with slight spiciness and saltiness. This reminded me of Chinese fermented bean curd sauce. Overall, I quite like this Eastern and Western combination in the dish.Grilled Aubergine
The Grilled Aubergine is sliced eggplant topped with cheese, seasoning and basil. The grilled cheese aroma and the soften eggplant tasted quite well. I liked the creamy and cheesy texture on the first bite.Fish & Chips ($10.90)
The Fish & Chip uses dory fish and tasted good. The battered dory meat was crispy on the outside and juicy inside. Tasted premium, not oily or mushy. At $10.90, with three pieces of fish, this dish was valued for money!Grilled Garoupa with Legendary Sauce ($15.90)
The Grilled Garoupa with Legendary Sauce tasted exceptionary good and one of the best grilled fish in Singapore! The grilled garoupa was crispy on the outside, seems like it was deep fried before. The meat was fresh, juicy and tender liked a steamed fish. The sauce was very unique. Sweet, sour, umami and fragrant, similar to Thai-Chinese sauce. Lamb Chop
The Lamp Chop was slightly disappointing. Though the meat was tender and meaty, the seasoning on the meat was overly salty and charred. The onion rings were homemade and tasted good with hint of curry powder seasoning."I am Legend" will be launching a brand new menu on 29th February. I would be eager to return back to try!

Thanks Openrice and Serena for the invitation to Charcoal Thai.

This Charcoal Thai branch at NEX seems to be very popular with diners. Queues started to form at the entrance and restaurant's phone keep rininging non-stop during weekdays lunch hours. Though only 3-4 staffs seen at this hour, service was still prompt and attentive to each table.

 

Thai Milk Tea ($3.95) was surprising good. This milk tea was thick and milky with nice aroma of english tea leaves. Those not having a sweet tooth maynot like the overly sweet taste.

 

Thai Lemongrass Tea ($3.95) on the other hand was quite bland. Lemongrass flavour was mild with added sugar syrup to the tea. I could understand that current fresh lemongrass from the market does not have much aroma or taste.

 

Three different types of Thai chili with different strength of hotness were given to every diner. I prefered the middle one, mild hot with corriander flavour. 

 

Mookata set ($39.95) was a hybrid of BBQ on top and steamboat on the bottom. This reminds me of similar Korean BBQ steamboat that was once popular in Singapore. The marinated pork and chicken was good, fresh, tender and juicy. I loved the charred BBQ meat with the smoky scent. The chicken soup tasted mild, even after cooking the vegetables and meat. This set had minimum seafood.

 

 

Thai Beauty Collagen set ($48.95), according to the staff, chicken collagen and chicken soup are the main ingredients for the soup. Beancurd liked chilled collagen are placed on the hot pot, allowing to melt. The collagen soup have a very mild aroma and has a slight starchy texture. The taste of the collagen soup was smooth and creamy. However, the meat or seafood boiled in the collagen soup, does not add any enhanced taste to the meat. 

 

 

Thai Chicken Hotpot ($19.95) was surprising value for money. I learnt form the staff this was actually a Chinese style hotpot. The fermented bean soup based was good with nice aroma of sesame oil and tasted of spicy miso soup. The boneless chicken thigh meat was used. The fermented bean goes deep into the tender chicken meat. This dish goes well with steamed rice.

 

 

Overall, the food at Charcoal Thai was okay, prices would be a little high if opted for ala carte menu. I would recommend to dine at this restaurant during lunch hour, with the 50% discount promotion during 11am-5pm.

Thanks Openrice for the invite to Seasons Bistro, prompt and friendly staffs, generous serving of food, cosy ambience, had a enjoyable time there.The Superfood Salad looked colourful, tasted fresh and crunchy but I felt the overall taste was plain and astringent in the mouth, I guessed must be some of the bitter leafy. The sauce or oil in the salad was not flavourful enough.The Baja Cobb's Salad was more flavourful, with grilled bacons and cajun chicken. I liked the onsen style egg with running yolk and the avocado, which make the salad leafy creamy.  The Jerk Spiced Pork Meatloaf had a different sensational taste in the mouth. The Meatloaf was heavily spiced with multiple ingredients, it tasted unique and mosit. It would be great if this Meatloaf can be used as a patty for the burger.The Pan Seared Foie Gras was the star of all the dishes. The Foie Gras was moist, yummy and almost melted in the mouth.  The Cajun Blacken Fish Taco serving was small as compared to other dishes. The boneless fish tasted fresh and well cooked. The Seasons Fried Chicken (SFC) was average. The chicken parts were small, the meat was slightly dry and the battered skin was bland, would need to dip in the sauces for added flavours.The Seasons Cheese Burger looked appetizing. The slightly sweeten buns tasted very yummy, but the beef patty was dry and over-cooked. It would be better if we can choose medium-cooked for the meat patty.The Roasted Lamb Rack was delicious and serving was big. The lamb meat was juicy and tender. Though slightly bland when eaten alone, I would need to dip into the sauce for added flavour.The Southend Pasta was quite ordinary. The tomato pasta sauce was light and very mild in spices. I would prefer the pasta sauce to have more herb spices in taste. The Maple Pumkin Cheesecake was thick in flavour. I would be full even if just eating the cake as a main course. The Miss D's Pecan Pie was very sweet especially the pecans. The vanilla ice cream had a chewy texture, something similar to gelata, with rich vanilla flavour, it tasted good.

Overall, this North American Bistro served good food for some dishes, but the prices were slightly higher than other restaurants in the vicinity for ala carte menu.