Original Review at http://www.nahmj.com/2016/04/11/face-to-face-noodle-house-singapore/

Face To Face Noodle House Singapore is the first outside of Malaysia outlet. It is located at City Square with the Farrer Park Station connected. It is easy access for patrons to get to the Noodle House.The story of Face To Face began over 100 years ago, with the founder’s great-grandfather left China for Hong Kong in 1903 to seek his fortune. After finding a job as a chef’s assistant in a local restaurant and winning the Chef’s trust through his diligence, he was allowed the opportunity to learn the art of making Jook Sing noodles, considered one of the rarest forms of noodle-making in existence. It’s success story did not come easy. According to the noodle house, it went bankrupt twice before gaining fame for its brand in Malaysia.Once might have notice that that the setup seems like a fast food restaurant. Indeed that was the original concept. The Face To Face Noodle spokeman revealed that it has spent an hefty amount in the renovation of the shop. It has selected the straw hat with each represent a tribes in Sarawak. We thought it was very meaningful since the noodle originated from there.It has since changed from a fast food restaurant concept to a cafe with service after they have understand from their customers preference. Now, order is made by self at the counter and food will be served.

Menu
At the Singapore outlet, currently, Face To Face has carefully selected 8 of its best noodles among the list that was available in the Malaysia outlet to showcase in Singapore.First on the list is the Creation Pork Pan Mee ($8.90). It uses the pork belly for the braised meat and sauce. With the good ratio of fats, it added fragrance to the noodle. This is love almost the diners at our table.The second to be introduced is the Black Pepper Pork Chop Pan Mee ($12.90) for the black pepper fan. Personally, I didn’t find any special to this bowl of noodle.

For the Szechuan Mala fan, you might want to turn to Sichuan Piquant Pan Mee ($10.90). The soup is fiery. Most were shocked at the spice level. So beware when you are about to sip the soup.There are a total 5 signature noodles on the menu of Face To Face Noodle House Singapore. First, is the Traditional Sarawak Noodles ($8.90). This version is adapted to Singaporean palatte. The texture, firmness and even the moisture of the noodle and of course the Char Siew Meat in the bowl too. The noodle in the bowl uses a 105 years old recipe which was since Face To Face Noodle House started in Sarawak.Next is the Hot And Spicy Pan Mee ($8.90) is also another hot favourite at Face To Face Noodle House Singapore. I enjoyed especially the ikan bilis. This is the dry version. The soup version is the House Specialty Pan Mee ($8.90) which we didn’t order.The Genki Herbal Chicken Soup Pan Mee ($12.90) is also the other signature limited daily quantity. It uses a good number of various herbal to boil the flavourful soup based. Each day, it is limited to 25 bowls.The Curry Chicken Pan Mee ($11.90) is another limited quantity item, also at 25 bowls per day. The curry flavour is light, it does not overwhelmed at all. While the chicken is tender.The last limited item at 20 set per day is the Hakka Yong Tau Foo ($7.50).If diner like to have some snacks together with the noodles, 4 dishes were offered; Chef’s Special Fried Wantan ($4), Deep Fried Fish Cake ($1.50), Fried Taucu Wings ($4.50), Bacon Cheese Ball ($5.50).At Face To Face Noodle House Singapore, it offers a good range of Hot and Cold Drink. The signature drinks are the Iced Signature Organic Coffee ($5), Caramel 3 Layer Tea ($4.50) and Multigrain Soymilk ($3.50). I went for none but the refreshing Longan Ribena ($4).

Though food may not be come cheap, Face To Face Noodle House Singapore may be a good alternative to the only other famous Ji Xiang Sawarak Kuching Kolo Mee in Singapore.

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Tang Restaurant And Bar located along the highly dense street of restaurants and eateries is owned by Zoe Zhang. It was re-branded from Tang Steamboat Restaurant. The restaurant specialises in Szechuan Hot Pot. 

We understand from them that the objective of creating this restaurant was to provide a more refined Szechuan Hot Pot where the expat and foreigners would enjoy.With that objective in mind, you will observed that the interior design of Tang Restaurant and Bar is classy and elegant. The space isn’t big, in fact, I would describe it as relatively tiny. It could occupied only a maximum of 40 diners.

The space is divded into 2 section. First section, at the entrance is the bar where diners could enjoy a glass of wine or any drink before or after the meal with some bar snack such as the Deep Fried Enoki Mushroom.
The latter section is the dinning area where diners get to enjoy the piping hot pot. Tang Restaurant and Bar is also thought to provide private dining rooms for guests too. There are 2 rooms which has a removal centre partition to make it one big room that can occupy a total of 14 diners.

The Hot Pot
It was certainly an experience to dine at Tang Restaurant And Bar. I felt the experience is equivalent to fine dining. The service crew will dish you the first bowl of soup before you start the meal. And all food will be cooked by the service crew too.There are about 3 soup based served at the Tang Restaurant And Bar. We have the Mala and Signature Golden Imperial Broth. Beside these, there were Tomato Soup which is also very popular among their regular guests. Diners could choose 2 out of the 3 soups for $21.The Signature Golden Imperial Broth was boiled for more than 8 hours with Pig’s bones, Fish bone, Old Hen and together with over 10 herbs till it is whitish in colour. The Mala soup is also worth a mentioned. The ingredients used to boil the Mala Soup was in consultation with traditional Chinese Physician to ensure that all herbs and spices are in the perfect harmony by Chef Zou Bin who helmed the kitchen of Tang Restaurant And Bar. This avoids having excessive heat, diarrhea, stomach pain and other ailments after having spicy soup especially in huge amount. Importantly, the soup are free of MSG.The soup are generally light in flavour so if you have a light palate, this is perfect for you. I truly enjoyed the soup at the end when lots of ingredients wer cooked in it and it created even a sweeter and richer flavour tone.We started off with the Translucent Sliced Fish ($22), since fish has a lighter taste among the rest of the ingredients we ordered.The service crew will help to cook the sliced fish in both the Signature Broth and the Mala Soup. Though the sliced fish was so thin till it was translucent, nonetheless, I could still enjoy the flavour and texture of the fish.Various homemade minced meat paste were served at Tang Restaurant And Bar too. The noteworthy items were the Minced Seafood Paste, Minced Fishball and top selection the Homemade Meatballs. I enjoyed the meatball as in it there are cilantro to provide the herb fragrance and chestnut to provide the crunch texture.
All the minced meat paste were chewy to the bite. It was certainly excellent.For meat selection, the Beef Sliced and the Iberico Pork Sliced are two of the must ordered hot pot ingredients.One other ingredients which all of us enjoyed so much till we ordered the second portion is the Homemade Dumpling. This dumpling is made using Zoe’s mother recipe. The dumpling skin was so smooth and in it there are some, I think were black fungus to provide the crunch. Should the dumpling skin be thinner, it would certainly be perfect.Even though I am not a beancurd fan, I would want to miss having the Deep Fried Beancurd especially with the Mala Soup based.Mushroom fans, great news, there are assorted variety of mushroom to go along with the hot pot.For those like me who need greens, there are quite some good selections at Tang Restaurant And Bar too. There are Chinese Cabbage, Spinach, Lettuce and Kai Lan.If diners need to turn to some carbohydrates, a good recommendation is the Cold Noodle ($7). This version has lots of vinegar and lightly spice in it.At the end of meal, a complimentary bowl of dessert, Snow Fungus was served to each guest.We enjoyed the lightly sweet and a little jelly like texture of the dessert.
It was a fabulous dinning experience. It is highly suitable for a small group dinning, perhaps with your best family or a small family of 4 – 5. It would be a little tough to settle for large group unless you opt for the private dinning room.
If you don’t like doing your own cooking of hot pot and preferred to be served, Tang Restaurant And Bar is the place to turn to.

Original review at http://www.nahmj.com/2016/04/08/mookata-orto-yishun-singapore/


Mookata At ORTO Park is the second outlet after their success at the Katong flagship outlet. Mookata Katong was one of the first in Singapore to launch this authentic yummilicious Thai Steamboat BBQ.When I first heard about ORTO Park, I was wondering what it was. ORTO occupied an area of 555,000 sqft (about the size of 7 football fields). It is first the multi-recreational park that is open to the public 24 hours a day, catering to all-day and night activities such as prawning and fishing. Other activities found at the park that aren’t operating at 24 hours are Katapult Trampoline, Paintball and UberSports Futsal. Though the address of ORTO Park is Lorong Chencharu, entered via Sembawang Road but for those who do not drive would probably be taking the MRT. Good news is that there is an entrance for visitors by foot via the entrance facing Yishun Ave 2.This Mookata outlet at the ORTO Park has a lushy green as backdrop and clear blue sky as ceiling. This is great for the nature lover to indulgent in the delish food and at the same time appreciating the surrounding.As such, Mookata At ORTO Park offers not only the usual indoor seats but also Al Fresco. We took the Al Fresco area. Initially, I was worried that it might be too hot and there will be lots of mosquito. To my surprise, none of my apprehension were a concern. In fact, I was glad to have taken the outdoor seats.At Mookata At ORTO Park, it offers both the set menu and Ala Carte Menu. A selection of Set for 2 ($34.90), Set for 4 ($68.90), Meat Lovers' Platter ($74.90), Seafood Catches ($54.90) and lastly the Vegetables Platter ($15.90). Diners could always top more ingredients via Ala Carte.At Mookata At ORTO Park, the restaurant provides 3 chilli dip with different spicy level. The least spicy one being the darkest, on the right of the photo and the most left is the most spicy chilli sauce.Food with no drinks seems strange. Mookata At ORTO Park offers a page worth of various beverages; ranging from soft drinks, coffee & tea, Homemade Beverages such as Barley (hot - $2.30/cold - $2.50), Luo Han Guo ($2.50), Lime Juice ($2.50) and Lemon Grass ($3.30). And other beverages such as Coconut ($4) and 7 others. If you keen for a beer, the only available selection is the Singha ($6.80).Some of my favourite items at the Mookata At ORTO Park are Prawns (big and fresh), marinated chicken thigh, suriyaki and pork collar.We like the the ambience of Mookata At ORTO Park as it is as close as dinning in a nature park. Certainly great for family.

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Full review with photo on http://www.nahmj.com/2016/04/07/spicy-thai-thai-aljunied-singapore/

Spicy Thai Thai Cafe is hidden at a quiet corner of Aljunied Ave 2. Beside the block is a swimming complex. When I saw the spot, I believe most would miss this gem if they don't frequent the area often even. To make things worse, there is a food centre diagonally across the block which most patron will stop there when they spotted it.This Thai cafe is founded by Ron Poh who is very passionate of seeking authentic Thai food. As such at Spicy Thai Thai, tea leaves were imported from Thailand for the signature Thai Iced Tea, different dressings for different dishes were made in-house and desserts were made from scratch. This is the dedication of Spicy Thai Thai in providing authentic Northeastern Thai dishes to their customers.Menu was thick. One could easily be drowned in it. Food offered is array, ranging from Appetizing Bites, Salads, Soup, Seafood (King Prawns, Squid/Shells, Abalone, Crab), Fish, Meat, Eggs, Vegetables, Noodles and Rice. And it includes Mookata Combo Set. There is no lack of selections.We started with a soup, the Fish Maw Crab Meat Abalone Soup in Coconut ($28). It is similar to the Shark Fin Soup. In each bowl, there are 2 ten heads abalone with generous amount of Fish Maw and Crab Meat too. Soup was flavourful with a perfect level of salt amount.

If diners prefer some regular choice such as Tom Yum Soup, both red and clear ($7/$14) are available and the Coconut Tom Yum Soup Special ($18/$28) were also offered. Other choices includes Mushroom Soup ($7/$14) and Tofu Soup ($6/$14)We didn’t have any of the salad. As much as 8 types of salad were found on its menu. Instead we proceeded to have its Hommok, Thai Style Otak ($18) which is found under its “Succulent Squid/Shell” Section. The Otak has a good sense of coconut and aroma and the various herb and it is lightly spicy. It also has hefty amount of seafood in it.Don't be deceived by the look of this dish. The Stir-fry Fish Maw, Crab Meat & Bean Sprouts ($18) was surprisingly good. It was flavourful contributed by the various sauce and the egg. The beansprout and the carrot added crunch to the dish.In this same section, we ordered BBQ Squid (seasonal price). It was tender to the chew with its natural sweet retained. Most may find the chilli roe sauce that is by the side, weird. This has a strong liver flavour, coming across pungent to many. It certainly is an acquired taste. I was neutral. For the faint-hearted, don't try it. It is for the adventurous only.The last dish we ordered under the “Succulent Squid/Shells” section was the Lala (Clam) Mee Hoon ($18). This is a MUST order. All the diners at the table enjoyed this dish. The Lala amount was plentiful. I hardly see Mee Hoon but the clams. The flavour of this dish is mainly garlicky.

Other dishes found in the “Succulent Squid/Shells” section are Squids in Spicy Lemon Soup (seasonal price), Thai Style White Pepper Clams, La La ($15), Steamed New Zealand Mussels ($18) and Basil Mussels ($18).Coming to meat selection, there is a page devoted to it under the category “Tender Juicy Meat”. First dish from this section we ordered was the Stir-Fry Basil, Minced Meat (Chicken) with Long Beans ($10)is one of the best as it has a strong basil fragrance. I could have only this with a bowl of rice.BBQ Pork Belly ($28) is the other meat dish we ordered. It was succulent and a nice marinate outer coat.The Deep Fried Sea Bass with Mango Salad (seasonal price) was fresh and well fried till golden brown, leaving a nice crisp layer to the bite. With the Mango salad, the dish was appetising. I wouldn't mind eating the deep fried fish alone.Thai Style Curry Crab (seasonal price) was what we chose among the 11 selections available under the “Luxurious Crab” section. It isn’t spicy instead it has lots of eggs and lightly curry flavoured with some Thai spice.
Among the selection, there are 3 other crab dish which was highly recommended by the restaurant, Crab Meat Curry Egg ($18), Basil Black Pepper Crab (seasonal price) and Stir-Fry Tang Hoon with Crab (seasonal price). If diners are keen to eat the Chill Lady Boy Crab (seasonal price), this would require advance order of 2 days.Fried rice is usually a must to complete the meal. As such, we have a Tom Yum Fried Rice ($6). It wasn't a strong tasting dish, instead it has light Tom Yum flavour with seafood.
The other rice option are Thai Style Pork Porridge ($5), Braised Pork Rice Set ($5) and Stir-Fry Thai Basil Minced Meat Rice Set with Chicken or Pork ($5), Seafood or Pork Belly ($6) or Beef ($8).For beverages, there is a good range of the typical Thai drinks such as the Ice Thai Tea 'O' ($2.20), Ice Thai Tea ($2.50), Ice Lemon Tea ($2.20) and Ice Lemongrass Tea ($2). The best part of the drinks was they were lightly sweetened. To me, it was the perfect sweetness level. Other drinks include the Barley, Coffee, Milo, Chrysanthemum with both hot and cold available.

A pity we didn't manage to order any dessert as we were too full to have any.

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Original review on http://www.nahmj.com/2016/03/16/toss-turn-vivocity/


Though I like green, I am not a big fan of salad. This is always the last thing I would choose to have it as a meal. Nonetheless, once in a while, I wouldn’t mind eating clean as such I turned to Toss And Turn Salad Bar By Cedele at VivoCity one fine day. The outlet at ViVoCity looks relatively huge, contributed by the high ceiling. It has a yellow tiles-top communal table. It is kind of in the centre of the space and is surrounded by normal dinning tables and chairs.Since it is a salad bar, the highlight is of course Salad. Either the Regular Salad ($10.50) or with Hot Mains. Diners could get it as a set with either a drink (orange juice or iced tea) or with a small or large soup.And others include the wraps, sandwiches and soup. Since it is by Cedele, you could expect to find the Cedele Cakes. Drinks such as coffee, fruit juice and smoothies (only available at the VivoCity outlet).As Salad is the main draw at Toss & Turn, I dived into the Salad Bar at my first visit. I went for the Regular Salad where I get to choose 1 base, that's the carbohydrates, from a selection of Cous Cous, Rice, Soba and Pasta. Option of greens are either the Green Mix or Baby Spinach.

Next choose 2 Deli. Some options available are olive, tuna, ham, sausages, omelette, goat cheese, smoked salmon.Finally choose 4 veggies or crunch from a selection about 20 options. And 4 dressings to choose from; Honey Mustard, Plum Sesame, Cesar and Paprika dressing.If diner opt for Hot Mains, diner get 1 deli instead of 2 and a hot mains instead. There are 4 options; Peri Peri Chicken, Tomato Beef Balls, Teriyaki Chicken Fillet and Pork Carnitas.The Meatball in Tomato Sauce was lightly tomato flavoured which is good for me since I am not a tomato sauce fan. And it has a nice scent of herb.Peri Peri Chicken was in its natural chicken taste. I couldn't savour much of the savour or herbs.In case, you are interested to know what are my selection for the salad, here it is. All the bowls are pretty similar. For base, I tried it with the Cous Cous, also with Rice and Pasta. Rice was flavourful with wolfberry. Strangely it was a little mushy but yet the grain was considerably firm. Pasta was al dente and tasty with pepper flavour. Cous Cous was in its natural taste.For deli, I chose the Goat Cheese and once the Smoked Salmon, the other was ham. Coming to the Veggies and Crunch, both were the same. I have the Sweet Potato, Alfalfa Sprout, Cranberry and Mixed seeds and nuts. Lastly the dressing. I tried with the Honey Mustard dressing, lightly sour, the Plum Sesame is more sour and the Pomegranate has a good balance of sweet and sour elements while the Island Parika which has a mild flavour. Lastly was the Caesar dressing, which was mainly sourish with a mild creaminess which didn’t impress me.Toss & Turn offers 3 vegetarian and 7 non-vegetarian sandwiches option. The 3 vegetarian sandwiches are Beetroot Burger & Avocado; Kumara, Tofu, Aubergine & Carrot and Mushroom Cheese Melt. The last was what I tried. The Mushroom Cheese Melt ($7.50) was too healthy for me. All the ingredients tasted so natural. There isn't much sauce or condiments to enhance the taste.While the 7 non-vegetarian sandwiches are Rosemary Chicken Sandwich ($8.50), Roast Chicken Avocado ($9.50), Teriyaki Chicken, Eggplant & Cucumber ($9.50), Beef Pastrami, Sauerkraut, Cheese & Mustard ($8.50), Ham, Cheese & Mustard (8.50), Smoked Salmon, Onion & Cucumber ($8.50), Prawn, Avocado & Cheese ($9.50).The Rosemary Chicken Sandwich was rather bland. It seems the chicken used was mainly breast meat. The flavours were contributed first by the mayonnaise spread and largely from the cranberry. It was a healthy sandwich. Diners could get a set with soup by adding $3.50.Each day, there are about 4 selections of soup. I tried the Boston Clam Chowder and on another occassion, I tried the Grilled Pepper Tomato Soup. The Boston Clam soup wasn't creamy but rich with vegetables sweetness and potato flavour but lacking of clam aroma.I thought well of the Grilled Pepper Tomato Soup even though I am not a tomato soup fan. With the grilled pepper added into the tomato soup, the lightly pepper fragrance complemented the tomato flavour to the max.For Tea, I turned to the Cake Set ($8.50). Diner could choose any slice of cake and tea or coffee (black / white). The Carrot Walnut Cake is the signature at Cedele which I always enjoyed.

I like the selections of ingredients for the salad. The salad dressing was the key to increase the taste experience of each bowl of salad. The food provided by Toss & Turn Salad Bar By Cedele was healthy and delish.

My favourite ingredients for the regular salad is Cous Cous, Goat Cheese with any other cold proteins plus dried cranberry, mixed seeds, alfalfa sprouts and sweet potato with pomegranate dressing.



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