It's been quite some time since I had dim sum in Singapore. As my colleague had dim sum craving for lunch, we decided to head to the Bao Today restaurant round the corner from our office for some affordable eats.

It was pretty empty when we enter the restaurant at about 11.30am. After looking at the menu, we couldn't find any dim sum and were shocked. Only upon asking the waitress did we realise that the dim sum aunties would actually be peddling the variety of dim sum available for the day and we could order directly from the aunties.

Here are the dishes that we ordered:1. Steamed Yam Cake

It was steamed quite thoroughly so the yam cake was quite soft but not soggy. There was some yam taste though not plentiful.

2. Lo Mai Gai

The Lo Mai Gai was a big piece with lots of meat! Not bad, quite yummy, but we couldn't finish as glutinous rice usually fills one up easily. hehe

3. Siew Mai

OK, nothing fantastic, though I think there was 1 (or is it 2) small prawns in each Siew Mai which tasted quite fresh.

4. Liu Sha Bao

This is actually custard bun, and the custard inside really burst out when I bite into my bun! Great but not the best I have eaten. My favourite is still the one at Old Hong Kong Restaurant so far.

5. Charsiew Su (Pastry)

Not too bad... ;)

6. Charsiew Chee Cheong Fun

My colleague liked this a lot as she felt that the cheong fun was very smooth. But I thought it was just average haha. I didn't really like the charsiew in there though, quite tough. The charsiew in #5 was better!

Overall, I think the dim sum standard here is average, but maybe for the price you pay, it's still pretty alright as it still fills your stomach pretty well. However since there is no service charge please don't expect any service. Other than the dim sum aunties bringing the dim sum to you, you will have to self service when it comes to getting sauces for your food, e.g. chilli, pepper etc.

In addition, when we brought our order chit to the cashier for payment of bill, they cashier could even charge us for 2 extra dim sum dishes that we didn't order! If we had not been alert, we would have paid for $7.50 more unknowingly.. We also didn't like the fact that the bill was not itemised and we didn't know how much each dim sum cost, since the menu doesn't include the dim sum items.

So if you are thinking of heading there for dim sum, please be extra careful with what you are paying.

Frankly, my first encounter at Ippudo Mandarin Gallery wasn't very nice, as I don't really fancy food with strong ginger taste, and also because we had to share tables with another couple, which baffled me a lot given that I wasn't having my meal at a hawker centre or foodcourt. Anyway since my colleague who is leaving us soon is the queen for today's lunch, I can't say much haha.

We were able to book the VIP room as it was a table for 10. The room was not very big, just nice for 10 people. There is this weekday lunch promotion for March - the Ippudo pork/ fish/ shrimp buns (2 for $5++). It actually looks like the Chinese kong bak pau and we decided to order that first as we were all hungry.I had the Ippudo Fish Bun. The fish was nicely fried, but seriously, it's actually like eating a Filet O'Fish, same kind of crispiness, just a smaller portion hehe.

Shortly after, the sides to our set lunches came. I ordered Set A which comprises of the green salad, gyoza and choice of drink (I chose the hot green tea). The price of the set is just to add $5++ to the ramen that you pick.The green salad was very yummy. I like the sauce they used (tasted like wafu sauce?) and the vegetables were very fresh & crisp. As for the gyoza, it was nothing to wow about although they were pretty delicious.Before I could finish my sides, my Ippudo Shiro ramen arrived! I remember I actually had this the other time at Mandarin Gallery and was not impressed. However surprisingly, this time round I felt it tasted better. Guess could be there wasn't any strong ginger taste lingering in the soup. This ramen is actually Ippudo's original Tonkatsu soup served with thin noodles, 2 pieces of Chashu, cabbage and black fungus. I asked for the spring onions to be removed. Since the ramen soup didn't "stink" of ginger, I could finish every bit of it, although I didn't finish the soup as I was too full by the time I finish all the noodles and my sides.

We were all so full after completing the set lunch, but my colleagues went ahead to order the desserts which I decided to skip in order not to torture my stomach further hehe.

Overall, I think the dining experience this time at this Ippudo Tao branch was more pleasant than the one at Mandarin Gallery. Besides, with the weekday set lunch, it's actually more value for money. So I don't mind going to this restaurant again.

I was first introduced to Barcook's famous Raisin Cream Cheese bun by my colleague who treated us to this super soft and fluffy bread. So when our office moved to One Raffles Place, many of us were excited that the Barcook Bakery is just right at the basement of our office building!


The queue for its bread at One Raffles Place outlet is usually very long, especially during mornings, lunchtime and evening knock off period. So we usually try to beat the crowd by going down to buy our buns between 3-4pm.

Anyway, this time, I decided not just to buy the signature Raisin Cream Cheese bun ($1.40), but also to try its Ham & Cheese bun ($1.30).I was glad I made a wise choice in buying the Ham & Cheese bun. Although this is a very common bun sold in many bakeries, the one they sell at Barcook is marvellous! The cheese was melted in such a way that it complemented the ham so well, & not sure if my tastebuds were right, but I thought I tasted a tinge of spiciness in the bun? I could also see the cheese waiting to ooze out as I bit into the bun hehe. It is really a very well done creation of Barcook. Thumbs up!

I wasn't feeling too well today so thought of having something soupy for lunch and Cedele came to my mind as it was just across the street from my office building.

When I arrived at the outlet at about 11.30am, there were just a handful of customers. I noticed that there were 3 or 4 soups of the day to choose from, and decided on the Chicken Sweet Corn soup ($7.50). (If you order the soup set it would be $9.50 inclusive of a salad. The bread bar is free as long as you order the soup.)

I love the Chai Latte from Starbucks so when I saw that Cedele also has this beverage on the menu I decided to try it out ($5). The Chicken Carrot soup was quite delicious and warmed me up adequately, because the cafe was pretty cold! It was a very wholesome and healthy feeling that I got when I drank the soup hehe. Furthermore, the bread that I took from the bread bar complemented the soup perfectly.

As for the Chai Latte, I was quite disappointed as the smell of the spice was too overwhelming for me such that I did not think it was fragrant anymore.

So guys, next time if you want to enjoy some peace and quiet from the busy and hungry lunch crowd at Raffles Place and do not mind paying a bit more for the comfort, you can consider this cafe at Golden Shoe Carpark. However you can give the Chai Latte a miss!

It was a Monday evening when we visited Medz at about 6.30pm, and the restaurant was barely filled with customers! Since there were plenty of seats available, we took our time to browse through the various stalls first before we decide where to sit. A bit disappointing that there were not many stalls, compared to Marche.

My friend decided to settle on the stall selling Duck Leg Confit while I settled on the Greek/ Italian stall selling calzones, pizzas and pastas.I didn't try the Duck Leg Confit ($12+) as I don't like to eat duck meat, but according to my friend, it was quite good, although she had doubts about it when she first saw her dish which was so tiny.

I had some of the Portobello Mushroom ($3+) and we thought it was average, not fantastic but just like the usual mushrooms that you eat in other restaurants.

My Fish & Mushroom Calzone ($8+) took more than the promised time frame to be ready. The chef had told me that it would not take longer than 10 minutes, but my friend almost finished her confit yet my calzone was still not ready! At first bite, the calzone was pretty bland. However after I dipped it into the sauce (tasted like tomato sauce) it was much better. The calzone didn't look too filling but I guess it is just the right size for ladies.

I also ordered a Mille Feuille ($5.50+) as my dessert, as it looked very pretty at the dessert stall. However it was quite a disappointing piece of dessert as the pastry was too crumby and not fragrant. The fruit filling was not too generous too. Quite disappointed with this really, not a value for money dessert.

So if I were to choose, I don't think I will pop by this restaurant to try its other food stalls next time, given the average food standard and not really worthy food prices. Thankfully there was only GST charge and no service charge.

Oh, 1 thing to mention is the lack of beverage choices here! Yes there were many types of beer available (in fact one-for-one), but non-alcoholic beverages were scarce and expensive! We bought a bottle of Evian Mineral Water each, which costed us $2.30+ each. Guess only my Fish & Mushroom Calzone was the most reasonably priced amongst all the food & drinks we had....