Full review with photos at http://www.nahmj.com/2016/03/29/rise-and-grind-coffee-co-on-hollerout-app/

An array of food is served at Rise and Grind Coffee Co, from Breakfast & Brunch to The Lighter Side, The Mains, The Burgers and of course the desserts (Sweet Cravings).
On the menu, under The Lighter Side, basically these are finger food or rather snacks, there are about 7 dishes. Out of the 7, 5 were devoted to fries, French fries of different flavours such as Truffle oil & parmesan French Fries ($9), Sea Salt & garlic aioli and Cheeesy Bacon bits. Alternatively, there is Sweet Potato Fries with Mentaiko sauce ($10). If you prefer to have more both the French Fries and Sweet Potato Fries, go for the Two-some ($10).Two other options are the Roasted Garlic Tomato Soup ($8) which we didn’t try, and  ($9) which I thought this makes a good sharing plate and a good way to start of especially a Brunch.

Rise And Grind Coffee Co serves 7 Breaskfast & Brunch dishes till 5pm. We tried 4 out of the 7. That’s more than 50% of the dishes.The first being the Hei Amigo: Our take on Huevos Rancheros ($16) is with Chorizo Sausage, scrambled eggs on tortillas, cheddar cheese, sauteed wild mushrooms, guacamole, tomato salsa and greek yogurt on the plate and pickled onions on top of the dish. We like the combinations.The Goodfella ($16) is such a colourful plate with Prosciutto di Parma, mini sweet peppers, parmesan cheese, sliced radish, pomegranate, olive powder and 2 sunny side up and the sourdough toast is hidden beneath these abundant ingredients.For diner who prefer Smoked Salmon could order the Ocean’s Thirteen ($17). Besides the Smoked Salmon, there are salmon roe, 2 poached eggs and asparagus, arugula, on toast and there are beetroot yogurt and apple cider hollandaise. With the beetroot yogurt, this dish is differentiated from the egg ben from other cafe.Pulled Pork Benedict ($15) is one of the very popular breakfast & brunch dish at Rise And Grind Coffee Co. The pulled pork is said on 2 slices of sourdough toast stack and topped with 2 poached eggs. Apple Cider Hollandaise is drizzled over the dish. I am not a fan of pulled pork but thought pretty well of this dish as the pulled pork wasn’t as sweet and yet flavourful.5 burgers were on available for selection. We tried only The Gold Standard ($18). It has the typical beef patty, bacon, cheddar cheese and differentiated with garlic & chice aioli, and with arugula leaves sandwiched with a brioche bun and a small bucket of fries by the side.
Rise And Grind Coffee Co offerred 7 Mains likewise; with 5 pasta, 1 salad and 1 steak. We tried 2 pasta. And I would like to try the steak the next time.I have read a lot of raving about the Tom Yum Seafood Pasta ($17) but personally, I thought the flavour was too weak. But what I like about the dish is the amount of seafood and the al dente pasta in the dish.Personally, I prefer the Truffled Spaghetti Alla Carbonara ($15) to the former. Thi is rich, creamy, flavourful with nice scent of truffled on the tastebud.No matter after how much food, we will still have space for dessert. We have 2 desserts for sharing; Chocolate Lava Cake with Vanilla Ice Cream and Salted Caramel Sauce and the Sticky Date Cake with Vanilla Ice Cream. Both were equally delish.Some of the beverages we ordered were the White 5oz ($5) and Mocha ($6.50), Matcha Latte (hot/cold) ($6). The rest of the drinks availabe are Tea (hot/iced), Chocolate, Juice and a handful of Draft Beer.Rise And Grind Coffee Co is certainly a great cafe with aesthetically plating that entices the various senses.

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Review with photos at http://www.nahmj.com/2016/03/26/hai-di-lao-hot-pot-313-somerset-singapore/

I have heard alot of raving about Hai Di Lao Hot Pot; the food, the soup and the services and so on. It set me really curious about how good it really is but as I am never a fan of Hot Pot, I drag my feet for a trip to try them out. Until one day, a blogger friend suggested to have dinner at Hai Di Lao @ 313 Somerset. I was gamed for it.We took our queue number at about 7pm. We waited for a little more than 2 hours before we were ushered to the table for our Hot Pot dinner. In other words, if you want to dine at Hai Di Lao, be prepared for a long wait.

The consolation was Hai Di Lao serves some fruits, tibits and drinks to their customers who are in the waiting, some colourful papers for origami, a manicure service for free and a children playroom. One more, free Wifi too.At about 9. 15 pm, finally our table is ready. Hunger pang has kicked in by now.
We ordered 4 different soup; Chicken Soup, Mala, Tomato and the Mushroom soup. Tomato Soup is a highly popular soup at Hai Di Lao Hot Pot. And this was high loved by our group of diners except me. I didn’t like it, perhaps the main factor was contributed to I am not a fan of anything tomato. My personal favourite is the Mala as there is enough Szechuan Peppercorn added that will numb the lips and tongues. Next, I would opt for the . But somehow, I felt that the soup was with quite a lot of MSG. After the meal, I kept feeling thirsty. I am one who is not sensitive to MSG unless the amount added was significant.One point to note, if you find that the soup was diluted after they have topped it up with more soup, do inform the service staff. They are able to increase the concentration by adding some concentrated stock.
The ingredients for the hot pot was of a good mix. There were sliced the usual Sliced Meats; pork, chicken and beef.Various innards were also offered on the menu. Even Pig’s brain was available too. We ordered only the Pig's liver, one of my favourite food.In all Hot Pot, the Fried Beancurd Skin can never be missing. We order the Fried Fish Skin too.I was so glad that it was the Minced Meatballs that was offered instead of the processed meatballs, which I termed it as the fishball and its like.One of the popular item at Hai Di Lao Hot Pot is the Handmade noodles. If you order this, the chef will perform his “La Mian 拉面” skill at your table.I was surprised at the high quality food versus reasonable pricing. And there were lots of what I termed as value added service that were offered free to enhance the total customer experience. It was absolutely awesome. I wouldn’t mind going back whenever I feel like it.
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Review with photos at http://www.nahmj.com/2016/03/29/cheek-jowl-boon-tat-street-telok-ayer-singapore

When I got to know about Cheek By Jowl along Boon Tat Street has opened its door to welcome diners, ever since, I was eager to try them out. As I have my regular meet up with this group of foodie colleagues, I took the opportunity to have a feast there. And guess what, we ordered almost the entire Dinner menu. Lol!I was surprised that one of my friend went to read up about the restaurant and the Chef. We were not in anticipation of the dinner.Cheek By Jowl has a very much, I would term as open concept. From the kitchen and even the front door. As such the cigarette smoke got into the interior dinning area which was quite annoying for me since I am sensitive to the smell. The ambience was causual. It is interesting to see the only round table at a corner of the restaurant.
Coming to the dinner menu, all its dishes are designed for sharing, staring from light bites, small plate, large plate and lastly desserts.We started with Oyster ($5/pc) as the light bites. The oysters were topped with shaved tomato ice. Oh my! It was icy cold and with to the tomato aroma, it was refreshing and masking any strong seafood flavour. We enjoyed so much till we ordered more of it. The two other light bites which we missed were Marinated Olives ($6) and Padron Peppers ($9).5 small plates were offered at Jeek By Jowl. We ordered everything except the Roast Pumpkin ($22). First on the table was the Beetroot ($17). Interestingly, it consisted of beetroot marinated in 2 ways. The lightly sweetened beetroot was topped with the pickled beetroot. These were sat on goat cheese. It was an appetiser to us, whetting our appetite for more food to come.The Ocean Trout ($22) has a colourful plating while its combination is genius. All the ingredients, Cucumber, picked green, sauce and buttermilk, complemented the lightly seared Ocean Trout.Next on the table was the Wild Venison ($22). It is a dish which was enjoyed by all 3 diners. This dish is in the form of Tartare, so it is usually raw. Interestingly, the venison was light pan fried on the side before dicing it. It is much like rare instead of raw. The entire flavour was sourish and due to the pepper and garlic, these added much flavours to the dish.Our final small plate was the Braised Rabbit ($24). We were attracted to this dish as it has the Northern Chinese cooking ingredient, Szechuan Peppers in it. The Szechuan Peppers aroma was light and it reminded me of a popular Northern Chinese dish, the Chilled Chicken. But certainly, this is a healthier version compared to the mentioned Chinese dish. In case you have not tasted rabbit meat, it is very close to chicken. If I were not told that it was rabbit, I would have mistaken it for chicken.Moving to the large plate. Our first was an interesting Confit Duck Leg ($36) served with waffle. This dish has an Asian twist contributed by the sauce. That's how I feel. The sauce tasted like the Chinese BBQ sauce which is a little sweet. We enjoyed dipping the waffle with the sauce. Waffle was no doubt fluffy and yet with some bread like denseness in it. By its side was a Asian like salad.Next was the Rangers Valley Ribeye ($55) with doneness rare. Simple but yet enjoyable. It was accompanied with Romaine Lettuce in I think Mustard dressing and a Chinese like soy sauce. We prefer having the steak without the sauce.

There were 2 other large plates on the menu which we didn't order were Lamb Shoulder ($36) and Barramundi ($32).Finally, it is dessert time. There were only 2 desserts on the menu and we ordered both. First was the Coconut ($15) has the Laksa Leaf Ice Cream which was too light to savour the laksa leaf fragrance. The rest of ingredients to complement the dessert were pomelo, green chili and some meringue like. Despite not savouring much Laksa Leaf flavour, we enjoyed the dish as I like the various texture coming to play in the dessert.The last dish of the night was the Black Olive Cake ($15) with diced strawberry on top and by the side were yoghurt and strawberry ice cream. Though I couldn't savour much olive aroma, we enjoyed the dessert. This is especially so when all the components were eaten together.

This was the first time that we were satisfied with all the dishes we ordered. It was truly enjoyable. 

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Original review on http://www.nahmj.com/2015/07/10/leclair-by-sarah-michelle-singapore-shopping-centre-dhoby-ghaut/

L'ÉCLAIR has finally opened their patisserie cum cafe at Singapore Shopping Centre with their dazzling instagram worthy looking Eclairs. I can assure you not only it is gorgeous looking but delish too.I was Wow by the design of the cafe. If you missed your Paris holiday, have a little of the mood over here. Design was elegant, modern, classy and cosy too.Speciality at L'ÉCLAIR is Eclairs. According to the menu, they will have 10 flavours daily with 4 Classic Collections, namely Vanilla & Pecans, Dark Chocolate, Salted Caramel and Isapanhan. The remainings are under the Seasonal Collections.

Savoury was offered besides the sweets, Chicken & Bacon Pie (served with house salad).
For drinks, 8 types of tea, coffee, hot and iced chocolate and 2 sodas.The box is in white and blue theme, though simple were classic. The box of 4s has each box designed to contain exactly 4 with no extra piece in between. And each Eclairs is contained individually in a paper container. The design of the box is very friendly, it allows ease of removing each Eclairs from the box.

Classic Collections

I have tried all 4 classic flavours.

A dark chocolate with brownie bites is what offered in the Dark Chocolate Eclair is best for the Chocolate lovers. We felt though it was good but it didn't wow us as much as the other flavours, as chocolate is a common flavour.The Salted Caramel has the classic scent. The good part was it was lightly sweetened with popcorn adding to the crunch.My top fave in this collection is the Ispanhan, a flavour of Rose, Raspberry & Lychee. The Rose flavour slowly emitted the fragrance and infused with the subtle Lychee and Raspberry. Our conclusion for this flavour was amazing. A point to note, this is a signautre of L'ÉCLAIR.Lastly was the Tahitian Vanilla and Pecan. I was surprised that I enjoyed as I don't usually like anything vanilla. Perhaps it was due to the layered flavoured and texture present. It has a nice vanilla scent pair with nutty caramelised pecan that gave the crunch. These ingredients complemented each other well.

Seasonal Collections

Each week of the year, the seasonal flavours are rotated and there may be new flavours crafted.One of which I tried was the Passionfruit Eclair. I like the sourish sweetish fruity passionfruit sensation, though my Mom felt it was too sour. Certainly thumbs up for me.We tried the Banana and Walnut too. All we could describe was banana like how the Minions would say it. Lol! Bananas fan, you got what you wanted.The Lemon Merinuge has this classic meringue on top of the eclairs which diners could easily identified with. As it lack of the crunch such as the biscuit tart base, somehow it is not as enjoyable. Though the lemon custard has a good balance of sourish and sweetness taste.I am the Earl Grey fan. As such I will never missed out on anything Earl Grey. This Earl Grey Eclairs has a light scent of Earl Grey and lightly sweet. I would prefer the flavour to be stronger.For diner who like nutty flavours, one could choose the Roasted Pistachios & Strawberries and Hazelnut Praline. Both has some nutty crunch added to enhance the texture too.Coffee lovers and especially the Espresso lovers, Cafe Eclair would be the perfect choice. Speculoos is an Easter special which has a cute rabbit on it. As for taste-wise, except for sweet, I don't really favoured more than sweet.And at various special festival, there are special flavours. For 2016 Chinese New Year, out of the 4 flavours, I tried 2. The Pineapple which is so Chinese New Year, reminded me of the Pineapple tarts. The other Black Sesame which was like having a good bowl of the traditional black sesame paste. I prefer the former while my mom the latter. The other special flavour was created for the SG50 was the Kaya. It was so local. The last in the box is the Chocolate, pretty usual though.

The choux pastry of the Eclairs were perfectly bake with the best texture and consist of all the correct elements. Each Eclair is pretty decorated, tempting all your senses. Taking a stock count of the number of flavours I tried so far. Wow! That was 12 in total!

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Review with photos at http://www.nahmj.com/2016/03/18/alfero-artisan-gelato-orchard-gateway-singapore/

Alfero Artisan Gelato is now located to the heart of Singapore shopping belt, Orchard Gateway. The man behind Alfero Artisan Gelato, Marco Alfero, is an Italian who grew up eating gelato and even as his regular meal. Me too am one who does that at times does too. Lol! He ditched his profession as a Finance Manager for a Gelato Chef, a passion he holds since he was a kid. His first outlet was opened right after his training at the fame Gelato University of Carpigiani in Italy.At Alfero Artisan Gelato, there are 3 guiding principles; Be Natural, Be Nice, Be Excellent. That’s explain the consistency in quality of all flavours anytime. Most of the ingredients were imported from Italy or Europe, except some of the local ingredients. And the interesting part about Alfero Artisan Gelato, you won’t be able to spot the physical gelato. They are all hidden within the pozzetto cabinet so as to maintain and ensure the best quality gelato is served to their customers.At Alfero, both gelato and the sobert are offered. Each day there are about 2 dozen or so flavours for diners to choose from. Oh my, we are so spoiled for choice. It really complicate decision. Lol! The good news is that as all Gelato shop, diners could try before ordering.I tried almost all the flavours. Most flavours were outstanding but there are a few which somehow I am dazzled, fall head over heels with. Pistachio and Bacio are my ultimate favourites. The new flavour was the Raspberry Lychee Rose which was a little too sourish for me. I find it acceptable if I have it in a small quantity. Certainly not the entire scoop. The other new flavour was the Masala Vanilla.Fresh with a varieties of flavours is how I would describe Alfero Artisan Gelato. I am sure everyone could find their favourite flavour or even flavours at this dedicated gelato parlour.More reviews at http://www.nahmj.com/