Many complain that Botak Jones is too much like fast food these days but the truth of the matter us that I still enjoy their burgers. Sure it's not GOURMET but it's decent for the price.

Their chilli con carne is actually really really good. Especially it's at $5.50 a bowk!!

Will try their pasta the next time. They have rather interesting pasta and I do hope they taste as good as their burgers.

Shopping nearby and read that Barbacoa got a good review so we popped over for lunch.

Our meal started with:
1) Cream of corn soup - it tasted freshly made, with bits of corn in it still. Nice

2) Traditional nacho - generous serving with cheese and salsa sauce to make it taste good

3) Ribs with Asian Sambal sauce - I found the meat tender but slight on the dry side. I wished for more Sambal sauce for that 'wetter' look and tase. Otherwise, it's good tasting.

Our meal is topped with a complimentary ice cream. Sweet ending. Best part of the meal is that for a place who doesn't charge service charge, their service is actually pretty darn solid!!!

We won't come all the way down but if in the area, sure.

It's a very nice setup with tables on the level of the Basement 1 of Orchard Central.

Inside the restaurant, their kitchen has an open concept decor where you can the chefs hard at work.

We ordered:

1) Deep Fried Calamari - it looked really good but I thought it lacked crunch when eaten. Quite disappointing as the squid was fresh.

2) Carbonara - the cream was light and not overpowering. In fact, it was a little bland actually. The ingredients were a little sparing to achieve that nice pan-fried bacon taste.

3) Marinara - boring me opted for this AGAIN! The seafood was fresh and surprising generous (compared to the Carbonara). I like my marinara with kick so their was a little too tomato-y and lacking in salt too.

Maybe the kitchen chefs all are very health conscious so they are watchful about how much salt they add in. This, both pastas can be considered 'subtle' in taste lah.

Not likely I'll visit again unless I ask for that little shaker of salt.

Had dinner with close friends last night and there was a wine with cake deal that we took.

Between the 4 of us, we actually only ordered 2 different dishes. We had:

1) Pepperoni Pizza - the crust was the thin crispy type but I found the tomato base too sweet. Like the bottled one supermarket carry. I have had better ones elsewhere.

2) Crabmeat Aglio Olio - this is their signature pasta dish. We ordered 3 portions of it! 2 of us found it rather bland but my other friend said it was ok. Otherwise, the crabmeat is adequate and the pasta al dente.

Personally it's a little ordinary to be called 'signature' but at least it's not awful. Service was ok considering they were running full house last night. Having said that, not likely for me to return on my own.

Had lunch with hubby and good friends and we ordered:
1) Linguine Granchi - the crab meat in pink sauce goes very very well with the pasta! Best dish of the meal!!

2) La Nonna Pizza - hubby said that the pizza is actually pretty tasteless. It's not bad tasting but expected more.

3) Chicken Wrapped in Parma Ham - chicken tasted ok but together with the ham, it's a little salty.

4) Squid Ink Pizza - same tasteless feel. Tho it looked different from the La Nonna pizza, it tasted the same - tasteless...

Not likely to return again on my own.