I've heard raves about this place being one of the best in Singapore for high tea, but was a bit concern about whether it'll be an ideal place for dinner as well, since we're about to patronize Plaza Singapura to catch Eat, Pray, Love after work on a Friday night.

On the outside, Tea Cosy looked unlike any other place in the mall, with a blend of retail therapy that offers angels and vintage furniture for sale as well as cosy dining with nicely crafted comfort food.

Initially, I thought Tea Cosy is just another pretty place without much regards for the quality of the food as most pretty places are, but surprise surprise, their food is as delicious as it is well-presented.

Take their Tea Cosy Peppermint Cool ($5.95) for our first example. Arriving with style in a martini glass, the drink was an interesting shade of baby blue with 4 colorful flower marshmallows floating on a bed of foam, contained by a glass rim of brown grainy sugar. It's arrival halted us in our conversations, as my girlfriends demanded to try out my drink. Hmmm, interesting strong taste of milk and peppermint, they all seem to agree.

Next came the Volcano Nachos ($10.95) which caused an eruption amongst four of us as we attack the corn chips and dipped it into the bed of melted cheese, salsa, guacamole, sour cream and jalapeno chillies. A definite crowd pleaser as it provides as with something to pick at while we waited for our main course and chatted about office woes.

The Tangy Tomato and Crabmeat Soup sounds delicious on the menu, but it was merely ordinary and nothing tangy about it. A waste of stomach space if you'll ask me. The Baked Mushrooms ($9.50)starter, on the other hand, is worth a mention. Bite-sized and addictive, it came in 10 pieces, topped with sun-dried tomato strips and melted Parmesan cheese and was quickly gobbled up in a matter of seconds.

For the main course, I had the Smoked Salmon and Prawn Salad ($13.95) which was nothing spectacular but overall still quite enjoyable. I even had room for their creme brulee, my favorite type of dessert!

Overall, I would say I'll definitely come back here again. It is indeed a piece of heaven in a crowded mall like Plaza Singapura.

$14.30 for a burger combo (inclusive of a small fries and a small-sized watered down drink).

Seriously guys? Since when has it become normal for a fast food outlet to charge the same price as a restaurant? Walk further down to Kai Sushi and Grill and you'll find steaks that go for a similar price with a less rowdy, more enclosed ambiance and service! Not exactly top-notch, but that's a restaurant/cafe for you, and Carl's JR is still a fast food outlet, and no matter how you say your burgers match up to that of an actual restaurant/cafe, there is still no justification for you to charge as such.

So why did I pay for it despite being so turned off by the price? Well, my whole gang is there (who are easy-going when it comes to food), and I wanted to see how magical this burger really was. Granted, the burger I ordered was interesting - The Guacamole Bacon Thickburger® (Guacamole! With Charbroiled 100% Angus Beef Patty, Two Strips of Bacon, Two Slices of Melted Pepperjack Cheese, Lettuce, Two Slices of Tomato, Red Onions, and Santa Fe Sauce on a Toasted Sesame Seed Bun) and very filling, but nothing so magical.

So if I'm not paying that much for the food or the ambiance or the service, then what is it that i'm paying for? Edison Chen's endorsement?

But really, with Carl's Jr using Edison Chen to endorse their brand during their launch in Singapore and who used Paris Hilton in the states, it reflects on (the lack of) judgment and corporate strategy of their management (and hence the poor pricing).

Not that I have anything against the Hilton or Edison, it is just that their brand (especially the logo) matches Hannah Montana or Justin Bieber way more. If they're wanting to associate their burgers with sexiness, the first step they gotta do, isn't to engage downfallen d-list celebs, but to change their star logo with the smiley face!

Average at best.

With raving reviews about the strategic rooftop location and celebrity Chef Daniel himself, who is known for his award-winning dishes, expectations are set to be somewhat high.

Though i do agree with other reviewers that the price of $28 is considered very reasonable for a 3-course dinner at a fancy restaurant (It's only $10.50 for a 3-course lunch), but after trying the food and experiencing their service first hand, I can only say that it is average, so very average. I guess you get what you pay for.

While I wouldn't say service was bad in the sense that staff were rude or anything like that, but i'll say their staff was clueless, with a petite China waitress asking us if we'll like to order our deserts when we have not even finished our soup starter.

The restaurant keeps playing up their strategic location at the romantic rooftop sky garden on the 7th floor of Illuma, but so what? There's not much of a scenery or view even if you sit near the floor-to-ceiling windows because curtains were drawn (i heard that it is also drawn in the day time to block out the sun), neither is the place romantic because the tables and chairs are arranged so closely together that you can easily hear other people's conversations should they be conversing a tad too loudly. The only thing comforting about the ambiance is its high ceiling and warm lighting.

On to the food...

I'm absolutely delighted that they served Focaccia bread with vinegar and oil, one of my favorite ways to start the evening and perfect way to ease the long waiting time (contrary to the no. of chefs they actually have). The Potato and Leek soup was a nice change as i don't have it very often. A simple but tasty dish I must say.

I was glad they had lobster (I'm a steak kind of a girl, but would occasionally opt for lobster for indulgence and in this case everything was the same price so why not right?)

Thing to note when you order lobsters: they never come in big pieces and you're almost always never filled, not just here but other places as well. Apart from the miserly portion, I liked the interesting use of button mushrooms and cod roe gratin on the Baked Lobster which was overpowering the taste of the lobster, but in a good way.

Finally, the deserts! Black Florest Layered Cake. Fortunately and unfortunately, my group all thought that it was the best dish of the day (that's only because one of them ordered the chicken which he suspected to be chicken backside).

Overall, the food was really okay to me, but we were all expecting a lot more from Chef Daniel. But alas, Chef Daniel was nowhere to be spotted in the open kitchen.

There are only this many places you can eat at Jurong East and I always find myself a regular at Red Ginger because service is quick, food is up to standards (or could even be considered good for the kind of price you pay), not overly crowded and tables are quickly cleaned during peak lunch hours.

At first, I wasn't expecting much from this self-service restaurant tucked at the corner of IMM, but was pleased when I ordered the Sizzling Beef Steak that comes with fries, broccoli and cauliflower for only $7.90, which is thicker and better than the ones I had at Phin’s Steakhouse in Tampines Mall (priced double by the way). Even the coffee shops at Jurong East Central are priced around the same with no air-con (unbearable in the scorching heat), long wait, dirty utensils and served in smaller and thinner portions.

Overall, it is a great place for quick-fix lunch without sacrificing too much quality. They also have quite a variety of other stuff served here, such as sweet and sour chicken, curry chicken, laksa, etc.

Drinks also include healthy choices like Ribena and Orange Juice (though a diluted).

The title says it all, really.

Orgo, is short for "Organic Chemistry" and sits on the roof top of Esplanade offering pretty sights of the city skyline, but that's about it. Perhaps it was the inflated reviews about renowned Japanese mixologist Tomoyuki Kitazoe and the promise of using Asian and French ingredients of the finest quality that set expectations somewhat high, like that of its roof, but their food was far from expectations. Perhaps it is because we didn't order their signature dishes, but with the kind of prices that could get us a 3-course fine dining meal at other restaurants, we were expecting tasty and organic, and they were organic alright, but far from tasty.

Still, I gotta admit, the grapes in cocktail glass and well-design red menu as a start was a nice introduction to our evening. Then came our first shared dish for the night: the Escargot in a Puff Pastry with Tomatoes and Garlic Butter for $18. It came in six pieces and mediocre to say the least. And mediocre could also be used to describe Pan Roasted Rack of Lamb with Cucumber & Yogurt Salad, Sautéed Potatoes and Port Jus that I had for my main course at $34. We were still hungry so we ordered the Creme Brulee with Light Custard with Caramelized Top flavored with Raspberry ($11) and Date Cake topped with Toffee Sauce served with Vanilla Ice Cream, both of which I say was less than mediocre: it sucked. Doesn't help that service was inefficient and inattentive, but hey we already read that from somewhere.

Then what happens when it rains? There is no shelter and you're lucky, you get a chance to move into the glass room which is limited to only 10 px or move to the corner with no views.

Alcoholic were diluted and not mixed very well. Possible that mixologist Tomoyuki Kitazoe wasn't around?