I'm a frequent shopper at City Square Mall but didn't really took notice of this restaurant until my friends chose this place for dinner. Paddington House of Pancakes was halal certified thus attracted mainly Malay customers. The whole place was packed during dinner time and we queued for 25mins to get a seat.
There were 100 items on the menu but we only managed to order these:
(1) Monaco $19- Lamb shoulder marinated with herbs and grilled over the fire. Served with homemade zucchini onion pancakes, accompanied by mashed potato and yogurt mint sauce.
The lamb was sliced too thin, thus over-cooking causes the meat to taste tough and chewy. The herbs marinade managed to conceal partial of the mutton fats' stench but it's more perfect when you eat it with the yogurt mint sauce. For this dish, the zucchini & onion pancakes was the highlight. Pancakes were soft, with additional crunch from the zucchini and fragrant from the onions, it's more oomph having them alone.
(2) Mexican Double Burger $22- This huge tower of meat was made up of 1 chicken and 1 lamb minced meat patty. You do have the choice to choose 2 patties of the same kind. Chicken minced meat patty was tender, flavourful with slight char on both sides. Lamb tastes slightly inferior because of the mutton odour and patty was abit dry too. Homemade buns used in this burger was actually called the "sesame puffins". It is rather bland, definitely a healthier choice and contains buckwheat too. Other ingredients such as pineapple ring, avocado slices, tomatoes, grilled cheese and gherkins are also part of this tall burger. Side was french fries and dip given was salsa.
(3) Nice $16- Homemade crepes wrapped with turkey bacon, chicken, prawns, mushrooms and grilled mozerrella. Finished with creamy mushroom sauce drizzled on top. This is my favourite choice among the 3. The eggy crepes were very fragrant, having slight crisp on the outside, it's yum! Pairs really well with all the ingredients, I felt myself as if I'm enjoying cheesy thin crisp pizza!!
(4) Fruit Juice- Immune Zoom $7- Fresh juice made up of Peach, apple, honeydew and cranberry. This combination tastes rather sweet but since it indicates to have "immune zoom" effect, I gulp the whole glass down without second thoughts.
Verdict: Food was average tasting and took more than 30mins to come. Ambience wasn't great too. The whole restaurant was really noisy during mealtime and not easy to chat with friends too. I admit pancakes, crepes are really their strengths but not the meat. It might take me very long time to come patronize again, unless it's for their pancake desserts.

Conveniently situated next to the popular Cheng mun chee kee pig organ soup, 20F Specialty Coffeehouse was easily spotted. There were quite a crowd when I go on Deepavali. Love the traditional shophouse feel that the whole place projected, woody furniture and old skool fancy tiles. If you love natural air rather than indoor air-con spaces, there's alfresco area at the end of the shop for you to enjoy the sun.
As for my first visit here, I ordered the following items:
(1) Flat white $5- Coffee beans are from Liberty coffee. This "Speakeasy" blend was medium bodied, with cocoa nutty aftertaste. It was slightly more intense than my usuals but I still appreciates it and finished till the last drop.
(2) Long Black $4.50- Using the same blend as the white coffee but without the milk, taste is much stronger and robust. If you're a hardcore fan for black, try this. Nutty aftertaste was more distinctive too and definitely perk you up after a tiring workday.
(3) Nutella Layered Cake $5.50- The sponge is very soft and fluffy. Together with Nutella spread in between, it's heavenly (at least for me lah)! My only complain is the outer layer of choco buttercream is too sweet but I still indulge all. I really cannot resist cakes!
(4) Ribeye Burger $24- My partner's choice as I don't consume beef. This food item wasn't a recommended dish on the menu, recommended ones are mostly duck dishes. He was pleased with this dish I guess, as he emptied the whole plate, not a bit of anything left. His humble comments were: The brioche bun made inhouse was soft and slight chewy. Ribeye steak was done well with red wine marinades and cooked to the right notes. The ribeye stripes were best consume on its own so that you could enjoy the juiciness of meat on your palate. Lemon mayo did perk up some zesty touch but wasn't necessary. The side salad played an important role by balancing this sinful yet yummy meal.Verdict: It's a great comfy place for a nice cuppa and feet rest. The bosses are really friendly and greet at every guest who stepped in. Service was top notch. Food was delicious. I will come back soon for other food on the menu. There were also other freshly baked pastries/ danishs on sale daily which I wanted to try too. Stay tuned.. I will be back

[Boon Tong Kee Chicken Rice]
18 Cheong Chin Nam Road
Singapore 599742
Many chicken rice stalls have been popping up each year and finding one was really convenient. Despite so, bigger players like Boon Tong Kee, Tian Tian, Five Star are still coping well.
I was travelling along the stretch of food street along Cheong Chin Nam road the other day, looking for dinner and decides to step into Boon Tong Kee (BTK). The last time I patronized them should be 3 years ago. I was seated indoors at the aircon area as alfresco area was too warm. Servers were going around tables with plates of honey char siew slices, asking customers if they willing to purchase them as appetizers or not. This move makes BTK look abit hard up. We didn't take it but ordered the following dishes instead.
(1) Signature Boiled Chicken $9- This is a 2-pax portion of Boon Tong Kee signature chicken. My preferred part is always the thigh area (鸡尾) as the meat is more tender therefore I requested for it as usual. I remembered BTK chicken used to have a layer of jelly fats beneath the skin but sadly it doesn't exist anymore. The meat is still soft and tender but lack juiciness. The chilli mixed mashed ginger was great companions to pair with as it brings up more flavours to the chicken.
(2) Plain rice/ Chicken rice $1- Chicken rice (油饭) was served in a pyramid-shaped cone. Presentation scores! Rice was really fragrance and texture was just right, not too soft or mushy. I can take 2 shares of this
(3) Claypot Fried Pig Liver (砂锅猪肝) $12- The pot came sizzling with very fragrant soya sauce and ginger smell, made me drool before I even start eating it. Liver slices were thick and yet so tender. Timing was right and liver not over-cooked otherwise will be very hard and rubbery. Take with the ginger to spice up your palate.
(4) Poached Chinese Spinach with Assorted Eggs $10- 三蛋苋菜 I tried many. BTK version was quite generous for small portion. Broth was sweet and filled with natural veggie taste of chinese spinach. Stems not crunchy due to slight over-cooked but overall dish still decent. The generous amount of eggs also made this ordinary greenie dish pretty!
Verdict: Although BTK Signature chicken wasn't as tasty as it used to be but still decent. I felt that their cze char dishes flared better now and is definitely suitable for family dinner/ friends gathering. I don't mind coming back for other cze char dishes. Staff service needs improvement as they talked rudely and wasn't attentive despite not much dinner crowd.

[ Chocolate Mark ]
8 Wilkie Road
#01-11 Wilkie Edge
Singapore 228095Situated at one corner of Wilkie Edge, Chocolate Mark sits at the end of the stretch from the main mall entrance on ground level. The whole cafe unit wasn't very big in size but can catered to at least 25pax. Furnished with wooden tables and chairs, the whole cafe gives out a very cosy feel to patrons.
(1) Firstly, the boss, Jeffrey, introduced us with their main highlights, Hot chocolate drinks. We tried 4 different types of hot chocolate drinks:
Artisan Chocolate:(A) Simply dark- Smooth texture but not dark enough. Contains only 56% cocoa.
(B) Milky touch- Too milky and sweet for me.
Premium Origin Chocolate:
(C) Saint Domingue- A surprisingly interesting chocolate drink with wine note aftertaste. Best of all, it's non-alcoholic!! I recommend you guys to try this.
(D) Equateur- I love this dark version most. Contains 76% cocoa, very thick yet tastes smooth down the throat. How I wish I have marshmallows to dunk in this luscious drink! (No picture provided. Go try it yourself! *wink* )

(2) Next, we have the snacks and mains.
(A) French fries $4.90- Skinny type of French fries. Air-fried made them tastes more healthy & less oily.
(B) Sweet potato puff $6.90- The common ones you can find from supermarket frozen section. Done by air-frying too. It's crispy on the outside & sweet inside.
(C) Earl grey waffle $11.90-Crispy texture on the outside, fluffy inside. Earl grey infused waffle was not distinctive in taste but got an unusual peppery aftertaste. Vanilla ice cream was common.
(D) Chicken sausage waffle $12.90- Waffle texture is chewy rather than crispy. Slices of chicken sausages are mixed in together with the waffle mixture. I find the overall taste rather bland, best to go with the bbq dip provided. Portion of chicken sausages can be more. The shredded cheese below the scrambled eggs didn't spark any fireworks in me too. Boss Jeffrey also includes a small piece of chocolate together with their savoury waffles. His idea was to let all his customers taste a hint of sweetness after the food. It also links up to what they're popular for: CHOCOLATE.

(3) Lastly, girls' best friends, DESSERTS! As told, all the desserts sold here are from suppliers, not made in-house.
(A) Triple crunchy chocolate $4- The portion of white chocolate layer in the centre was too much, causing it to be overly sweet. Ratio of the dark chocolate mousse vs white chocolate should be adjusted. I like the crunch base which helps to improve the overall biting sensations when cake is put into my mouth.
(B) Matcha Azuki cake $7.90- Cake texture was crumby and matcha taste wasn't distinctive. You can only taste it in the buttercream part which was seen here as too little in this cake. The overall sweetness comes from the red bean fillings.
(C) Chocolate Lava cake $5.90- Cut across the lava cake and chocolate flows out nicely. Yum! The chocolate filling was dark, very thick and causes some choking effect in our throat. But I still love it most among the rest of the desserts Paired really well with the vanilla ice cream scoop provided as it balances the sweetness.

Verdict: Overall experience was good. The boss, Jeffrey, was very friendly and approachable. He is also knowledgable, did a great job in explaining the different types of chocolate drinks they selling to us patiently. I was really impressed with their chocolate drinks. I will definitely come back for more chocolate as I'm a chocolate lover.
A pity that Chocolate Mark doesn't have a proper hot kitchen, therefore most food are from air fryer, oven. Therefore, main food wise, there's still room for improvement.
 

[Dunman Duckrice]
德明鸭饭
-Stall 10, Basement level-Dunman Food Ctr
271 Onan Road
Singapore 424768
(1) Duck Porridge/ Congee $3- This bowl of pipin' hot duck porridge is best suitable for a cold rainy day as it warms my tummy! Gravy was abit too salty for me but the stall owner is indeed generous in the portion of duck meat given.
(2) Duck Rice $3- I was given the duck breast meat. But still, meat is tender, well marinated and not dry. Rice is fragrant and texture is soft yet still remains some firmness, not mushy.
(3) Kway chap $3.50 + Pork Belly & Duck Liver $3.50- $3 for the kway chap ingredients and $0.50 for the "kway". For this price, the portion served was consider big. Drizzled with the braised gravy, the ingredients were full of flavour from the chinese spices. Bean curd skin "tau pok" soaked up a lot of the gravy that's why tasted abit salty when bite. But the pork skin and intestines were very chewy/Q which I like
The "kway" was plain as usual and additional flavour comes from the gravy broth it is soaked in.Pork belly was very tender and just like the kway chap ingredients, meat was well marinated with the spices. Pork belly meat and fats ratio was quite balanced too. On the other hand, I don't really fancy the duck liver as the duck stench was pretty strong which I don't like.
Verdict: Dining experience here was pleasant. Stall owners were friendly and generous in the food portions served. Prices are very reasonable too.
The only negative issue here is, the food center is way too warm and you will definitely be soaked in sweat after eating.