It was some times back when Peiyi and yours truly decided to get some light bites after a movie. After mulling for a few minutes, we decided to settle for Eighteen Chefs, a brainchild of former drug addict and convict, Chef Benny who believes in providing a positive working environment and experience for troubled youths and ex-convicts. Hence, do not be alarmed when a young man, full of tatoos is serving you. What a noble cause!

With students and youths as their targeted patrons (discounts or specials when you display your student pass etc), I wasn't convince about the food quality. Perhaps of previous bad experiences, I do not trust them as much. Eighteen Chefs surprised me. I wouldn't say that it was exceptionally good, but it was considerably above average, given that most of their dishes are value for money.

Down to the food, we ordered the Bolognaise Cheese Fries (S$4.90) - mozzarella cheese-baked fries topped with classic beef bolognaise sauce. The fries portion was generous and I assure you that they neither scrimp on their sauce. With the flavour incorporated to every single potato fry, this afternoon snack makes the cut to be one of their signature dishes. Do note however, that the cheese fries are really filling, so it is recommended to share this among 2-3 people, if you are eating it along with their mains.

The Waffle w/ Vanilla ice cream (S$6.50) topped up with chocolate fudge was okay. While the Belgian waffles is a little too cold for my liking, the generous drizzle of chocolate fudge is a plus point.
Eighteen Chefs also provides customized pastas or cheese baked dishes, where you D-I-Y your meals by choosing from a wide selection of sauces and ingredients, and they cook it for you.

Les Amis Group is one of the food & beverage giants that has the finest restaurants locally, with award winning concepts. ranging from high end Japanese restaurants to fine dining French cuisine including Aoki, Peperoni Pizzeria and Au Jardin. Besides raising the curtains of Casa Verde, a casual Italian restaurant at the Gardens by the Bay, Canele Patisserie Chocolaterie is introduced to the gastronomic scene of Singapore's newest attraction as well.

With a colorful collection of signature macarons lining the front shelves and savoury bites fresh from the kitchen, dessert lovers are in for a pleasant surprise when they visit the French-inspired chocolate boutique at Gardens by the Bay. Tea and coffee connoseiurs are also treated with an exquisite selection of finely brewed English tea, as well as artisanal coffees - a good cup of Cappucinno (S$6.00) never fails to make my day. Canele's baristas definitely know just how to hit the right spot that is longing for caffeine.

Flowers of the Sea (S$12.00) was my choice for sweet crepes, partially because it rhymes with Gardens by the Bay and has the most unique name, when I visited Canele recently, and boy, what a beauty it was. The nutella-filled crepe with chocolate ice cream, filo pastry (which reminded me of tissue prata), whipped cream and blueberries was drizzled with a good deal of salty caramel sauce and powdered sugar - and yes, it tastes as good as it looks.Besides desserts, Canele is known for its savoury main courses and sides as well, such as gourmet breakfasts, Big Bang Turkey crepes and, Smoked Salmon Wrap (S$8.00) - Premium smoked salmon over dill cream cheese with shallots, cucumber, Romaine lettuce, capers, and wrapped in a tortilla skin. It comes complete with fresh garden salad.Being very much satisfied after the visit, I will definitely be back to savour other treats Canele has to offer, for starters, their gourmet breakfast sets and other sweet crepes sure look tempting enough!

You don't usually come by an eatery with a quirky shop name, but when you do, you can't simply walk away without trying it out. After an evening of shopping at the recent computer show at Expo, a few friends and yours truly decided to have our late dinner, or rather supper at Table Manners - a casual American chic bar equipped with sleek, wooden furnitures and clever quotes, well-hidden amidst the outdoor garden of Changi City Point, an addition to the ulu area of the East.

We were immediately seated inside by a service staff, who skipped all the formalities and gave us a friendly "yo bros" with a huge smile, which is a plus point from me. Diners may also opt for al-fresco dining at their bar area or wooden pavilion surrounded by greeneries.

"The World Is Round, And Manners Aren't Square"
Truffle Chicken (S$8.50) was delectably crunchy and flavourful. It was a tad salty, but it would serve as a perfect drinking snack.Probably my favourite item of the dinner, King's Burger (S$16.00) - a large, juicy medium-done beef patty on caramelized buns with crispy greens, bacon slices and topped up with a good ol' sunny side-up egg. It is served with generous portion of truffle fries and salad drizzled with balsamic vinegar.
One of their speciality - Mary's Little Lamb (S$20.00) is indeed quite a "little" one literally, or maybe Mary has not been feeding her lambs sufficiently. Small it might seems, it was soft and tender to the flesh, and drizzled by light, yet aromatic gravy sauce. Served with mashed potatoes and salad.Angus Ribeye Steak (S$23.00) grilled to perfection with a pinkish soft center (we had it done medium), was succulent and tender enough to make me salivate at every single bite. Considering the price for this quality, it is well worth it.The chefs were a little heavy on tobasco sauce on their Jambalaya (S$16.00), seafood and chicken wings cooked in spicy tomato sauce. It is served with a bowl of pilaf rice (which honestly, is a better dish in itself.) One of my friends, Chang Sun added, "it is decent, but not worth the money."Besides ala-carte menu, diners can mix-and-match their lunch sets and drinks to their own preferences, as well. How cool is that? Table Manners in general, is definitely a great place to chill out with your friends over the weekend, what's more is that most of the food items are reasonably priced, so you won't have to worry burning much of a hole in your pocket.

Chilli Crab is a popular dish known by many and it is arguably the best local dish right here at its birth place. Listed by CNN Travel at 35th in "World's 50 Most Delcious Food", Chilli crab is with no doubt, a must eat when it comes to travelling in Singapore. Let's just put it this way - You have not truly been to Singapore until you savour the chilli crabs.

Located at Jurong West district, Big Eater Seafood could be identified with hundreds of signatures-filled crab shells hanging on the ceiling. Though it sure does look like a nightmare for crabs to end up in, tens and hundreds of crab-lovers throng to this particular seafood restaurant regularly and unite all in the name of this clawed creature.

Do not miss out their signature Chilli Crab (seasonal price ~ S$43.00) - whole crab stir-fried in semi-thick, sweet and spicy tomato-based chilli sauce with eggs and ganished with cilantro. Crab claws are the most fleshy and convenient part, hence it is quite the obvious favourite to many and more often than not, served to guest or the elderly. However, the actual fun of eating a crab lies in using the crab cracker and claw out the meat (it might not seem like an appropriate similarity, but it is like how an anteater dig out ants from a tree bark. Oh yuck. I know.) Anyway, the sweet-spicy gravy is best eaten together with white rice, or even better with its sidekick -Deep Fried Buns (S$4.00 for 10), or better known as Chinese mantou.

Salted Egg Yolk Crab (seasonal price ~ S$43.00) is another prefered way of cooking. The savoury flavour of the salted egg yolk infused with the natural sweet, juicy flesh tends to be difficult to resist. Oh, and if you're lucky enough, you might just get one that is full of delectable crab roes!Besides stir-frying with tomato-chilli and salted egg yolk sauce, other popular flavours include the drier and fragrant black pepper sauce and for the health gurus, how does steamed crabs sound?

Crispy Prawn Roll (S$13.50) - fresh prawn paste is wrapped in thin layers of beancurd skin and then deep-fried, is highly recommended. Simple, yet an amazing dish with a subtle crisp. Therefore, we always have this at our table every single time.Deep Fried Chicken (S$12.00) is no less awesome with its juicy flesh hidden under a layer of crispy brown skin. With KFC's chicken getting smaller and standards going downhill, one day I might just switch here to satisfy my chicken cravings instead.Besides its speciality seafood, Big Eater Seafood Restaurant is also well-known for their authentic KL-style Hokkien Mee, Hor Fun and various local dishes. Definitely recommended for family dinners and late-night gatherings.

For steamboat-idiots like me, the only place I could think of when it comes to having a good hot pot buffet, is Bugis (well, besides the recent Suki-Ya). Hence, it was an eye-opener, or rather, finding another hidden treasure, when girlfriend's mum, Amy suggested that we have an early re-union dinner at Le Le Pot 乐乐锅.

Located just a bus stop away, or a short walk from the bustling Tiong Bahru Plaza, Le Le Pot is an ideal choice for people looking for an affordable, yet homely and fuss-free steamboat buffet. The restaurant, opened by a part-time Mediacorp artiste, provides a wide variety of steamboat dishes, as well as home-made ones such as fried wanton, steamed dumplings and cheese fries. The deep fried buns (man tou) were a winner for all of us, as we found ourselves ordering plates and plates of that petite goodness. Other favourites include sotong balls and thin-cut beef, dipped into their various dipping sauce.

Diners can also opt to order salmon sashimi, prime beef and other exclusive "star dishes" on top of the included ones, for an additional fee, oh, desserts and drinks too. Well, of course, the best things in life are never free.
The thing I liked most about Le Le Pot is that unlike the usual buffet style restaurants, they do not display their dishes out-front, instead you order what you want on a piece of menu, and the service staff serves the dishes fresh from the kitchen. So you would not have to worry about pesky flies sticking their mouths on your meat or whatever, in fact, there was not a single fly in sight when I was there. That's how clean it was.

Overall, service was good, with the artiste himself helping out as well. It was weekend rush-hour at that time, but I could say that the service staff handled it well. All in all, the buffet costs $21.80 nett (weekend), exclusive of desserts, drinks and any other additional priced items. Decent for my palate, while girlfriend thought that the Bugis's outlets are better as there were more varieties of seafood.