Bukit Timah Shopping Centre wasn’t my usual hunt for food and neither was it a hip & trendy mall . I would personally call that shopping centre ” The home of maids”. Indeed, 90% of the shops here are maid agencies . Of course, there are a few restaurants & cafes . One of them ,Buddy Hoagies Cafe & Grill , offers reasonably- priced & great Western Food.The cafe was insanely crowded during lunch time. I would expect it to be crowded as well during the weekdays as students from the nearby schools would drop by for lunch. Well, the prices are reasonable and the food was up to the mark so business was brisk.

Food selections
Upon entering the cafe, I looked at the cake display & saw cakes from Sweet Secrets( one of my fav shop for choc cakes) .
The usual Western fare you would expect – BBQ chicken, ribeye steak, dory fish, sandwiches…etc. The mains comes with a choice of 2 side sides and additional side cost $ 2.20/ea. They offer a selection of sides- mac & cheese, baked potatoes, coleslaw , french beans, corn on the cob, cauliflower & cheese…etc. The popular dishes are labelled with ‘‘Popular choice” .



Charboiled Salmon with lemon butter sauce($13.90)
2 sides- Cauliflower & cheese & sauteed green veggies
A patient wait ( 15 mins) for my grilled salmon to be served . The salmon looked overdone but the interior was slightly medium rare. It was just the doneness that I would prefer. I enjoyed every slab of the fatty piece of salmon.
The sides, cauliflower & cheese would have been better if the cauliflower was boiled till a little softer. Melted cheddar cheese on cauliflower — yums! It reminds me of the KFC cheese fries ( replaced by the cauliflowers).
Sauteed veggies were normal but I guess greens has its natural sweet flavour & simple boiling or steaming are perfect.

Verdict: NO GST & SVC charge here ( give tips generously). Great food @ Great prices. Given the food standard, I would probably make a return… yeah ambience was great too!

Ambush, a cafe offering Western cuisine at affordable prices. I walked past this cafe, took a glance @ the menu board & found the prices reasonable & interesting dishes being offered.The cafe adopts an open concept style and people could easily watch what you are doing ( of course eating !) at the cafe.

The Menu
The menu was printed in a large board which makes it easier to read. The cafe offers a wide range of cuisine – spanish paella, Italian pasta, German pork knuckle… yes! you can find them here @ Ambush!They offer a range of pastas which allows you to decide on the sauce and ingredients.


Mesclun salad with salmon belly ($8++)
I had the (s) Mesclun salad with salmon belly and it came with generous fillets of the salmon belly. The salad leaves were cool but the salmon belly was warm. The salmon belly was well prepared ( middle rare ) and oozing with flavours in every bite. I wished the salad leaves were a bigger portion cos there were too much salmon belly fillets.



Salmon fillet with Honey mustard dressing ($14.50++)
The 2 generous salmon fillets were really worth it’s price. I request the salmon to be done medium rare and it was well executed. The salmon fillets were served with slices of potatoes sauteed with bacon strips & onions & top with purple cabbage.
The pieces of potatoes had a fragrant aroma of bacon and the onions further enhance its flavour. I like the sweet purple cabbage which were soft & easy to chew.The salmon was really juicy and has its natural sweetness . The accompanying lemon honey mustard sauce ( serve @ the side ) was really good. It has a tangy flavour and melts in my mouth … like butter.


Verdict: Reasonable prices and delicious food (rate 8/10 ) , I would definitely make a re-visit. Service is prompt and friendly too.

Sabroso Tapas Wine Bar, the latest Tapas wine bar at Holland Village. Sabroso is officially opened on 1 st October, which is just 3 days ago. Sabroso means delicious, flavourful and tasty and they hoped to offer delicious Spanish Tapas with an Asian Twist .

The Menu
They offer light spanish tapas but they are still in the mist of updating their menu therefore some of the tapas listed in the menu are not ready and there aren’t much selections . According to the chef, they would be introducing new tapas gradually to the menu.

Garlic prawns ($11+)
6 succulent prawns marinated with some spices and lightly sauteed with bits of garlic. The garlic bits were lightly burnt and infused with sweetness of brown sugar. The bits of garlic complement very well with the prawns.


Pan Broiled Scallops ($10+)
The scallops were bouncy and juicy, bursting with flavours in each bite. There were strong flavours of coriander and spring onions due to the garnishes on the scallops. The sauce were infused with white wine and it goes well with the scallops. Thumps up!


Verdict: Prices are reasonable and they absorb the 7% GST for these 2 weeks. Bring along a friend for buffet dinner & get a complimentary bottle of wine ( promotion ends 31 Oct).

The last visit to Le Figue was with Rachel to celebrate her birthday as well as trying the set lunch. Both Rachel & I were impressed by the Chef’s creativity as he was able to play around with the food – textures, emulsions, carpaccio…etc. Every dish is a piece of art ( too pretty to be consumed ). I went back again to Le Figue to try the set lunch for this week.


Tortellini of suckling piglet

” Tortellini of suckling piglet, arugula Salad, Bouchon Green Apple, Balsamic Reduction, Jus De Brun”

The 4 tortellini were wrapped with cubes of suckling piglet .The texture & flavour reminds me of the chinese braised pork belly cut into mini cubes. The skin of the tortellini was not too thick and balsamic reduction added a tangy finish.

Crabmeat salad

”Salad Of New Season Beetroot, Crab Meat, Chive Flower, Flat Parsley, Citrus Cream, Orange Reduction”

3 small portions of crabmeat were a thin beetroot carpaccio were served with citrus cream. The citrus cream has bits of orange peel in it which I enjoyed it. The crabmeat would be better if a little black pepper was sprinkled . You could ask for some wholemeal bread to go along with the crabmeat salad.


Tuna Maguro

” Pan Seared Tuna Maguro, Crispy Silver Fish, Celeriac Puree, Garlic Chips, Fine Beans, Potato Emulsion”

2 pieces of thick seared tuna was served. Sad to say that there was one piece that was over-seared, resulting the fish meat to be tough and difficult to chew. The celeriac puree was smooth and the sliver fish was battered till crispy.

Verdict: If you like to enjoy your lunch/ dinner in a quiet & peaceful environment , Le Figue is the ideal choice. According to them, the restaurant is very quiet on Wednesday & Thursday afternoon so feel free to drop by for lunch . I wouldn’t mind returning weekly for their set lunch.

Jules Cafe is well-hidden at a corner of Jalan Riang ( near to Nanyang JC) , I took a 5* mins walk in from Wolskel Road , perspiring under the scorching sun but that is worth every effort! When Dad told me he was going to Serangoon area, I thought of Jules immediately ( an Australian Cafe which I’ve been wanting to visit) .

* Duration may differ as I’m used to walking fast.

Jules Cafe is owned by Jules, who specialises in Contemporary Australian Cuisine. Jules is the only chef here and he makes this cafe like his own apartment ( his lovely daughters are there too).

Menu
The menu is a piece of paper placed on every table. Although there wasn’t much selection of starters & desserts, the mains look interesting. Having read reviews from HGW, I already made up my mind of what to have for lunch .

Green Salad with lots of veggies ($8)
The simple mesclun salad has cubes of baked pumpkin & chickpeas and finished off with a very light lemon vinaigrette.

Grilled Red snapper, mashed potatoes & veg salad ($23)
The cafe ran out of the ” * HARRISA CHICKEN BREAST WITH ORANGE” , thus I had the Grilled Snapper instead.
* Moroccan SpiceNO GST/ SVC charge here, all prices are nett.
The chef offers lots of veggies in replacement of the boring mashed potatoes. The Fish is fresh & well-grilled but I find it a little mild ( just add salt & pepper!!!). The roasted vegetables ( cubes of pumpkins, capsicums, mushrooms & zucchini )were bursting with flavours, I enjoyed it !

Verdict: The trip to Jules was fruitful, the food here is not exceptionally good but I can feel Jules sincerity when he prepares the dishes. The cafe is located in an ulu place , it’s so quiet & peaceful …. I can relax & enjoy a delicious meal without any disturbance. Shrrhhh….. I wanna keep this as a secret.
P.S I would be back for the ”Harrisa Chicken Breast with orange”