For full review: http://molly-mia.blogspot.sg/2014/10/mias-review-old-school-delights.htmlThe cafe decoration gives off a strong classroom / school canteen vibe. There's even a blackboard written up with the Top 10 list of the things you should know if you're an 'old school' at heart.A wall mounted shelving was located at the entrance, selling numerous 'old school' trinkets like captek, marbles, bouncing balls etc.Their menu also comes in the form of a jotter book!On the table, sits a wooden box named the 'Toy Box'.And it was filled with the old school games of five stones, snakes, donkey, and erasers!

And of course, other than five stones (which T didn't even wanted/know how to play), I lost at every other games. T.T

And as my visit was a good while ago, no definite pricing shall be stated as I can't remember them well. But prices are still considered affordable for a cafe, but pricier if you compare the dish 'apple to apple'. Eg, you can get them at a few dollars cheaper if you've ordered them at your neighbourhood coffee shop or hawker centre. Our drinks for the night - Milo and Barley.

I wanted Milo Dinosaur while T wanted Horlick Dinosaur, but both are sold out.

The milo was okay, but the barley became quite washed down from all the ice after a while.Nasi Briyani with Fried Chicken.

The rice is quite a disappointment, tasting more like just plain rice cooked drier and dyed yellow and orange. There's totally no fragrance of our usual briyani rice, much less to say of any taste. However, the fried chicken was simply divine! Fresh from the fryer, it was piping hot, with the skin totally crispy and the well marinated meat flavourful. I wouldn't say the meat was succulent and tender, for it was more on the dry side but the crispiness and tasty flavour just made every bite so satisfying!

I didn't feel much for the curry gravy, for it was the more 'traditional' Indian curry taste with the distinctive taste of spices. The achar was not too sour, the cucumber remains pretty crunchy, just nice for my tastebuds.

Just for the fried chicken itself, I'll say this was worth it.T's mains for the night - Home-Style Curry Chicken

I asked him to try out their signature dish, the Mee Siam, but it was also sold out for the night, so he chose this instead. This was pretty okay, the curry deviating more towards the Chinese home-cooked style, flavourful and comfortably spicy.Jumbo Otak.

Hmm, once again this is just of mediocre standards. For an otak, I will prefer it to be slightly spicier, and the otak meat was a little too tender it tasted kind of mushy and feels "undercooked". Just my own personal liking, I prefer a chewy, slightly drier otak.

I was also eyeing their Sticky Chewy Chocolate Fudge cake, but when I was there, they were only left with the pound cake. T.T

Not sure if I'm just plain unlucky or they really get sold out on their popular dishes so early into the night, so just to play safe, do drop by earlier in the evening or do a lunch instead if you're interested to try them out.

So on a Sunday, I was back at Velocity @ Novena Square for my 2nd facial appointment and T accompanied me down so we can have dinner here at Velocity/Novena Square/Square 2/United Square!

And look what T has found!One of my favourite food, Ramen!

And this is the Tonkkotsu Kazan Ramen located at Square 2. It was pretty crowded when we got there at about 8 plus, and the small ramen-ya remained pretty packed up until we left at almost 9pm. Pretty popular huh! You'll find out why. And this is how small the entire place is. Erm, sorry uncle, I didn't mean to snap a picture of you slurping the hot ramen... So T chose a pretty 'usual' Karamiso Kazan while I decided to try something new and went for their Hinomaru Tomato Kazan. And then we were first served these jugs of soup....Then this intimidating "volcano" ramen is served, dry in the super hot stone pot. The server will then pour in about half of the soup in the jug and close the red lid back on. Then you wait for 1 minute (there's a cute little timer on your table), until you see smoke rising from the top opening of the lid and, and remove the lid, pour the rest of the soup in and viola, you get your kazan ramen done!

I'll definitely advise that you get the staff to help with removing the lid for it'll be VERY hot.Tadaa~ My Hinomaru Tomato Kazan Ramen,

I think this ramen will be the best choice for ladies, filled to the brim with a huge tomato, tons of cabbage shreds, beansprouts and red capsicums. The pork bone based broth is further 'spiced up' with a tangy flavour from the tomatoes, giving it a lighter and refreshing taste to the usual heavily flavourful ramen tonkotsu broth.

Seriously, I think that all the cabbage and beansprouts combined is twice as much as the noodles inside. Having a ton of beansprouts seemed to be how they do their ramen, so if you dislike beansprouts, please make a special order request to not add them in! It'll be a painfully infinite process if you have to pick them out one by one.T's Karamiso Kazan Ramen.

The broth was strongly flavourful, yet not spicy at all. So we're both a little disappointed. The charsiu, however, was heavenly! So thoroughly braised, and has the right amount of fattiness to make it tender and soft. I took a bite and it literally like melt apart in my mouth.Their flavoured egg was pretty disappointing too.

Yes, the yolk was almost perfect with the outside moist and just cooked through while the innermost is glistening gooey, but... where's the braised flavour?! It was pure white throughout on the insides and the surface was only so ever slightly tanned that on first look I thought it was just a soft boiled egg. Taste wise, same thing.

This is just a soft boiled egg sold as a flavoured egg. Period.Yaki Gyoza.

My first impression when I saw these burnt gyoza was also another mental thumbs-down. But hey, I was surprised when I took a bite! The slightly charred flavour actually added more taste to the gyoza, while the meat filling remains tender and moist.

Failed on the presentation, but passed with flying colours on the actual taste.

repost from: http://molly-mia.blogspot.sg/2014/12/mias-review-tonkotsu-kazan-ramen.html

If you didn't know, I'm a serial Katong hang-outer and Le Petit Paradis caught my eye one of those days as I was walking aimlessly along the street houses, while they're still under going their very final stages of pre-opening preparations.

"Hey, isn't this the French food stall from the Ali Babar kopitiam?"

And yes, it is. And apparently, this kopitiam really has some awesome fengshui, for its previous tenants include Aston's (after which they started 20 over franchises) and then Saveur. Le Petit Paradis has obviously, followed their footsteps and expanded just a few shops down the street. The restaurant is actually pretty small, yet not crowded on a Sunday evening when we visited. Interior decor is also kept simple and chic.Just showing off my pot of tea. xpSous-vide Lamb Leg - $21

62 degree Celsius slow-cooked lamb leg, served on top of creamy basmati rice and topped (or in a literal sense, surrounded) herb vinaigrette.

Sounds yummy? Yes it is! I love the lamb leg! It's not exactly moist-slimy kind of tenderness you find in chicken or duck, but it's definitely tender yet with a chewy bite. The meat still remain much of the natural sweetness and juices, brought out and complemented with a strong flavour of spices that I reckon, help to mask out the distinctive 'lamb smell' commonly feared by many.

As for the creamy basmati rice, it's pretty average and taste just like a mediocre risotto. The rice remains hard and generously covered in creamy cheesey sauce, albeit not as flavourful as I will like it to be.

And lastly, the herb vinaigrette didn't go too well with my tastebuds. Too.... herbal?Steak and Fries - $23

150 days grains-fed Angus Sirloin with thick crispy fries and caramalised onions.

T commented that the steak is too thin to be deemed nice, but later on changed his mind in relation to its affordable price. It would be a decent choice for a cheap steak & fries fix.

Set up just like a CBTL cafe with better chairs and tables, it may be hard to notice that it's a Beanstro and not just their usual cafe. To be honest, CBTL has never been on my favourite list, ever, for I'm really not a fan of their coffees. So, will the Beanstro impress me?

Hmm, we'll see.And of course, no coffee for me, thank you very much. I'll go for a cuppa tea! For starters, we got a few 'finger food' snacks for sharing while we waited for our tardy queen to arrive. Hand-cut Calamari - $9

Well, what can go wrong with a basket of well batter, deep fried squids? Near to nothing!

The batter wasn't exactly very crispy and the squid wasn't exactly tender-chewy enough, but it was still packed with flavour to make this basket of fried squid pretty addictive.Mozzarella Fritters - $7

I didn't really get to eat this, because the waiter came and cleared the plate even though there's still 1 whole, untouched fritter left on it. He didn't even bother to ask if he can clear it. Just reached in, grabbed the plate and left while we're engrossed in chit-chatting.

BAD SERVICE, CBB, BAD SERVICE!

Erm, any refund of the (perhaps) $2?

But according to the rest who has eaten it, it's still 'not too bad' for a cheese lover.Morrocan Lamb Casserole - $16

A pair of lamb Marquez in tomato stew done Moroccan style, overlaid with eggs and baked in a hot plate!

CBB is quite a bad place to be taking pictures due to backlight in every corner and every single angle.

But this dish is really delish! However, the serving is pretty small and if it's not for the 2 slices of toasted baguette and with the calamari, I might have left the place hungry. I can't really say I understand the point of adding 2 eggs on top of the dish, for it doesn't complement ANYTHING imo. Well, it might have been for the toasts, which were better off being paired with the tomato stew to begin with. So In the end, I pretty much gobbled down the runny yolks first (I really cannot imagine the taste of it getting mixed into the rest of the stew) before moving on with the rest of the dish. The lamb cubes were tender and savoury, and the tangy tomato stew simply brought out more of its flavour.

If you're a lamb and tomato lover like me, I really recommend that you try this!Bangers and Mash - $18

Oozing with cheese, grilled chicken snail sausage on Idaho mash with caraway sour cabbage and onion gravy.Classic Eggs Benedict - $17

Two softly poached eggs built on toasted Vienna with chicken ham, lime vinaigrette mesclun and hollandaise sauce.

Frankly speaking, I won't say that they're very affordable but the food quality is definitely there for a cafe (even though beanstro's concept is meant to be a casual dining restaurant, I still view CBB more as a cafe), and it makes the penny a little more worth spent. Service wise, they need to train the waiters not to clear off non-empty plates without asking the diners if it's alright to do so.

For full review, visit http://molly-mia.blogspot.sg/2015/06/mias-review-bricksncubes-cafe.html

Attracted by their avengers-themed burger set groupon deal, I took great pains to persuade T to drop by with me on a Sunday early afternoon, and found the café absolutely deserted. Frankly speaking, I was really surprised, judging from the fact that there is a groupon deal ongoing and I've expected a huge crowd on a Sunday.

And first up, their service didn't really impress me much. I had to walk to the counter myself to get a menu from the staff, and get reminded by him, albeit in a very polite tone, that I have to return to the counter to make my orders.

And the real first impression killer was the menu. The menu book really.... sucks.

It's just a worn out clear folder slotted with crumpled papers with dish names and prices printed on them. You don't even get to see what the dishes (will/may) look like when served. Avenger's Burger Set

The result of a collaboration between a few brilliant local chefs, these colourful buns are made from natural ingredients, with no artifical flavouring, no gluten and no trans fat. Each set comes in 4 different coloured mini burger but there's only 3 flavours to choose from: Grilled Chicken, Grilled Fish or Classic Beef. Needless to say, this is indeed an instagram-worthy dish! Such adorable looking mini burgers with such bright colours.

But the good things end here.

The buns are pretty, but dry and hard, especially the outer skin. There seems to have a slight tinge of flavour in the buns (especially the orange bun, with a hint of citrus flavour) but it really didn't add any brownie points to the dish.

The grilled chicken was pretty poorly done, with a strong 'frozen chicken taste' to it and thick globs of fats under the slightly slimy skin (the chicken definitely wasn't fully cooked on the grill, but probably in a microwave).

Grilled fish, albeit better than the chicken, was still nowhere near good. Just, acceptable and not as bad as the chicken.

The french fries were also slightly soggy and dry inside. Didn't taste like they were freshly out from the fryer either. Rocky Beef Burger

T chose a beef burger and his only comment was: At least the food is (temperature) hot.