Recently, I had a meet up with an old friend at Northpoint for dinner. Due to the lack of money, the most "expensive" good food we could eat is at the food court at basement 2.

To my surprise, I thought Ming Fa Noodles were a new food stall because I don't even remember it was there! Nevertheless, its promotion of its ba chor mee set appeals to me. Heehee. Around $6 for a set meal of Ba Chor Mee + Soup + Ngyo Hiang, quite a good deal I would say for a meal at shopping centre.

Not exactly those kind of delicate dishes, but something that you can eat comfortably without caring about dining etiquette with a full stomach at the end of the meal. Delicious and affordable noodles plus the oily small mouthful of ngyo hiang. YUMMEH!!!!!!!!!

5 OpenRicers were invited to 1-Twenty Six, a open-air & romantic restaurant by the beach for this week's ORTU at Playground @ Big Splash along the ever-relaxing East Coast Parkway.

We were first greeted by 7 different cocktails from their bar: "7 Desirable Sins"

Personally, I am not a good drinker nor do I know which alcohol is better and apparently I get really sleepy when I drink, which is a sign of me being drunk. Comments on the drinks? Not much. But I really like the first drink out of the seven that we had and if I am not wrong, it is called "Antoinette's Vanity" under PRIDE/Vodka Cocktails in the menu. This drink has minimal alcoholic bitterness and the fruity taste is also fully maximized. Strong taste, yet subtle. I like!

By the way, there's also this drink called "The Screaming Banshee" (DESPAIR/tequila) that is really unique because of its spiciness! I was so shocked when I first drank it, despite finding it too strong for me, I guess it would be a great choice for adventurous readers to try this unique drink.

Now, here's the exciting part: FOOD!

The Nibble Platter, $32 & Seafood Platter, $85

Even though both platters are delicious, I would prefer the Nibble Platter, especially the Homemade cod brandade with grilled brushetta (the minced fish meat on bread). Deliciously mixed with spices and spread on the bread, the mild taste in my mouth is so refreshing and I love the way this platter open my appetite. As I am more of a "warm food" kind of person, despite loving seafood to max, Nibble Platter is pretty much the kind of appetizer/finger food that I would go for instead.

For seafood lovers, if you would not mind cold dishes, try out their seafood platter too! For a person who does not like sashimi like me to actually like the taste of the raw food in this platter determines how fresh and how good the seafood is. It was really good. Get some of the oyster before anyone snatch it, get a mouthful of the juiciness and freshness.


Seared King scallops with smoked sea urchin risotto, $18 / $28
Scallops are my all-time favorite, other than that... I guess this dish tastes a little bit more "normal", more of like wet and sticky rice (or porridge) with some meat and garnishes on it.


Grilled King prawns, $24/$32
TIGER PRAWNS plus goat cheese at the bottom! Awesome grilled taste of the prawns with addition of the "bun" with goat cheese filling inside, this is one of my favorite dish that night.


Classic fish pie, $35
I kind of find this fish pie taste more of like... thick clam soup? It has quite a strong taste of cream and seafood, not a bad choice for creamy food lovers though. Remember to eat it hot before the crust lose its crispiness!


Roast Baby Chicken, $38
OMG! THIS ROAST BABY CHICKEN* IS TOTALLY WORTH TO MAD LOVE AND SPAZZ OVER! (*Though the name of the dish is kinda "cruel" to me - like they roast "babies" of chickens. =x) There could not be a more tender chicken texture than this dish! The marinated roast chicken's tenderness and its deliciously marinated sauce, with fries & apple sauce ... You do not even want to socialize with anyone at your table while eating this, well... that's for me. Haha.

Valrhona dark and white chocolate fondant, $14
MY ALL-TIME FAVORITE DESSERT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Nothing beats a superb dessert after meal, no matter how full you are, you were.


Chocolate Fondant, names in various terms; taste and texture differs everywhere, still tastes as awesome at 1-Twenty Six. The warm chocolate sauce in the warm chocolate cake, one mouthful of the cake and one mouthful of the chilling ice-cream. Life is as good as this.


Frozen 'desconstructed' strawberry shortcake, $14
Strawberry Shortcake, another classic favorites of all time, taste a little different here. This dish has many different layered textures, it is full of surprise!


Grande Assiette, $28
Ahhhh... this Grande Assiette ($28), a selection of 5 petits sized desserts, is another good choice for dessert lovers but do not like it over-sweet. I find the Lemons and Limes ($14) quite refreshing, despite being sour (guys, please do not try this if you can't handle sourness) in the awesome way.

So satisfied with the food and especially the dessert and I really like the ambience in the restaurant too. Service is brilliant (the waiters that were serving us were so nice! *thumbs up*) and I bet it would be the best place for dating and maybe anniversary dinner? No need to risk to ruin your night with bad service, plus with plenty of good food to choose over and of course, the romantic atmosphere.


For full review: http://lovelivfe.com/2010/09/11/ortu-1-twenty-six-1rochestergroup/

I am officially addicted to Waraku's pasta, the creamy taste of the spaghetti noodles plus the nice smooth sauce or soup base and yet it feels very healthy eating it.

A great place to have lunch or dinner once in a while, especially their pasta and service is definitely worth its price. Last but not least, Waraku is having lots of promotion for the students or debit/credit card holders with more discounts for its delicious food.

Every Sunday, I have to attend lessons at Prime Centre from 10am to 5pm and one of the things that I look forward to is LUNCH TIME!

Most of the time, I will patronize this store called Hong Hu Express for their absolutely delicious ramen. From what I understand, this store is operated by a few Chinese ladies and they are the best ramen cooks other than Ngee Ann Polytechnic's Ban Mian (Noodles) stall.

I love their Minced Meat Noodles and maybe the spare ribs noodles. Tom yam noodles is also a great try. The noodles are so nice that I don't even remember to take the pictures of the food before I finished them.

Last but not least, please don't be scared of the oil on the plate. Try out their gyoza! Gosh, ain't it delicious?

Read a review on OpenRice about Happy Lemon and I decided to try it when I go to town and I am glad that I did try! It was better than KOI.

When I first saw the menu, I was shocked with so many weird names and combinations. I ordered the unique Rock Salt + Cheese combo with Chocolate and to my surprise, it actually taste nice. But maybe it is because I have ordered the more "common" drink of their, I can't taste the uniqueness of Happy Lemon and my drink taste more like Chocolate Milk (because the rock salt taste didn't jump out and the milky texture is quite strong).

I will definitely try out the other drinks if I happened to pass by the store, even though the price range (around $2 to $3.50? for each cup) is a bit steep for students like me.

Overall, it is a nice experience! Look forward to queues outside Happy Lemon branches in the future, it is like the next KOI craze.