Pho Street is one of the up and rising brands for Vietnamese cuisine, which seemed to have sprouted in new malls of the late. We were craving for Vietnamese food for dinner, which we decided to give it a shot.Fresh Summer Rolls ($2.50) are my favourtie Vietnamese side dish, and I enjoyed having the ones served here. The rice paper had the right degree of elasticity, and coupled with the vegetables, juicy prawn and pork, it was refreshing yet flavourful at the same time.My dining partner ordered the Pho Beef Combination ($9.90), which allows one to have both beef balls and beef slices in a single bowl of Pho. The noodles were silken smooth as it slides effortlessly down the throat, and the broth carried a light flavour of beefiness. We loved how the beef balls were bouncy and the beef slices were tender, all without tasting to gamey. My dining partner was not a fan of the broth and noodles though; he found it bland and rather tasteless.Being the usual “rice bucket” I am, the Roast Pork with Fragrant Rice ($7.90) was the choice I made for dinner. The pork was sliced like Char Siew without retaining the skin. While it was missing on crispiness, it does carry the taste of sio bak but in a more subtle way without the smokiness. The fragrant rice was not particularly fragrant as it was just usual white rice, though it worked well with the preserved vegetables served as a side for a hint of sweet and sour.Homemade Chrysanthemum with Corn ($3.00) did not really contain much chrysanthemum, but felt more like a concoction of diluted corn syrup.Vietnamese Iced Coffee ($3.00) was equally disappointing, which was really diluted and bland.

For more photos and the full review, please visit: http://jiaksimipng.wordpress.com/2014/02/01/pho-street-westgate/

Following the recent craze for chicken wings, a number of eateries specialising in chicken wings opened up stores in Singapore. Wings Stop, an American “wings specialist” entered the shores of Singapore by setting up their first outlet here at the newly opened Bedok Mall.Wings are sold in meals, which consist of a drink, a speciality dip, a side and six or eight pieces of chicken with a maximum of two flavours. Burger junkies would also be happy to know that a Wings Burger is also sold here. My dining partner went for the Classic Wings (six pieces) @ $9.95, going for the Atomic and Hickory BBQ flavours, together with seasoned fries and the Ranch dip, while I had the Boneless Wings (six pieces) @ $9.95 of both Garlic Parmesan and Oriental Soy Pepper flavours with coleslaw and Honey Mustard dip.We were warned by the counter staff that the Atomic was an extra spicy flavour, but my dining partner decided to take on the challenge. This was indeed not your typical spicy, and seemed like a selection of peppers put into one to create that numbing effect. Try this at your own risk!Hickory Smoked BBQ brings back that familiar smokey goodness which was all good, but the chicken was not really in the favour. The fried chicken was barely crispy and the skin was hard to come off from the bones; not exactly a pleasant sight with all the sauce loaded on top.Garlic Parmesan was a powdered flavour, and closely resembled the cheese powder you usually get in pizza restaurants with a garlicky twist. This works particularly well with the Boneless Wings, which were at the least crispier than the Classic Wings but still a bit dry.Oriental Soy Pepper was a flavour that was claimed to be suited for the Singaporean taste bud. It was somehow similar to the Soy flavours usually served in Korean fried chicken joints, so I presume locals seem to have a liking on Korean fried chicken? To further enhance its taste, pepper was added to the soy flavour to give it a spicy kick.The Seasoned fries were nicely salted and fluffy but were all rather limp somehow.Coleslaw was fresh and cold. It is also interesting to note that it does not contain the milky flavour that the ones from KFC carries, but otherwise nothing much to wow about.Between the Ranch dip and Honey Mustard dip, I preferred the Honey Mustard dip which was sweet but with a light touch of mustard; good for people who do not like the numbness that mustard can bring. The Ranch dip was milky and lightly sour, though verging on tasteless. Personally I thought we could do away with the dips as they were meant for the chicken, which already have sauces on their own to taste. The dips were great for the fries though.

For more photos and the full review, please visit: http://jiaksimipng.wordpress.com/2014/01/21/wings-stop-bedok-mall/

Butterscotch is the first of a wave of new eateries that have settled at Bukit Merah Central, which replaces the now-defunct Le Bon Vivant.Mains are served here, but who could resist from the variety of desserts they serve here? We were glad to have found Churros ($11.00+) here; something we had been craving for quite some time. For those who prefer stiffer Churros, this is the one for you. The Churro were rather thick but crispy. Coated in cinnamon powder and sugar, it gives a sweet yet spiced flavour. A chocolate dip is also paired with the Churro, though we found the sour aftertaste not to our liking.We also ordered a Butterscotch Souffle ($14.00+), and it comes coupled with Salted Caramel ice-cream and the same chocolate dip from the Churros. The souffle was jiggly and custardy as we dug our way to the bottom of the pot. As much as we did not like the chocolate dip, we did not really enjoy the Salted Caramel ice-cream as it was a wee bit too salty for us.Initially an excitement, the Red Velvet Cake ($6.60+) also turn into yet another disappointment. While it held up nicely, it was missing of sponginess and turned out to be pretty stiff. It is also undeniable that it is a cake, but it tasted just like any normal cake despite all the cream cheese which was bland.The Flat White ($5.00+) turned out to be rather milky; not my cup of coffee.

No doubt the desserts here are great, but I am a bit skeptical on their other offerings here, as well as the various items that come with the main dessert. The safest option would be to come here for Souffles or Churros instead of cakes and coffee; at least it would make the trip more worthwhile. Just a side note; Butterscotch does not charge 7% GST, but still charges 10% service charge on top of the listed prices in the menu

For more photos and the full review, please visit: http://jiaksimipng.wordpress.com/2014/01/18/butterscotch-blk-164-bukit-merah-central/

Some time back, my friend introduced Tonkatsu by Ma Maison to me while we were deciding on a place to go for dinner within the Orchard area. While there are many restaurants that serve Japanese cuisine, there are not a lot that specialise in serving up Tonkatsus, so we decided to head down to check it out.

Tonkatsu by Ma Maison is a restaurant under Ma Maison. The restaurant is easy to find as it is just located after a turn from the escalator. It is a mid-sized restaurant that had seats within the shop space as well as along the corridors outside the restaurant. The usual dining table seating and booths are mostly catered for groups of fours, so be prepared to take up the counter seating facing the kitchen if you are going alone or with another friend. The menu is pretty extensive, with different types of meat available and with or without curry, though it revolves around fried items mostly.I went for the Chicken Cheese Roll which somewhat resembled Chicken Kiev/Chicken Corden Bleu less the ham in favour of some vegetables. I pretty much liked the tangy sauce that is placed on the table for you to dip your Tonkatsu because it was sweet yet sour at the same time which makes it insanely addicting. The breaded crust was also crispy and not greasy at all. The shortfall was that the chicken was quite tough and it felt a bit little on ingredients to justify the hefty price tag. For the record there was so little cheese in it it was barely cheesy at all; no stringy goodness coming off from it. All you pay for was the soup, rice, a rather tough chicken roll stuffed with vegetables and a heap of salad with no dressing.

For the full review, please visit: http://jiaksimipng.wordpress.com/2013/12/14/tonkatsu-by-ma-maison-mandarin-gallery/

Hidden in a corner of United Square is Banh Mi 888, a cafe that serves up authentic Vietnamese cuisine such as Glass Noodles, sandwich rolls and spring rolls.The Fried Vietnamese Spring Rolls ($2.40) came in threes and were so small that they could be finished in a single bite. The complimenting vegetables came largely from the Fresh Vietnamese Spring Rolls, using the same cucumber, pickled vegetables and vermicelli. Unlike the Fresh Vietnamese Spring Rolls however, they felt very similar to Chinese spring rolls in taste except meatier and having a flakier skin.Fresh Vietnamese Spring Rolls comes two rolls per plate ($6.80 with drink combo). The spring rolls here contain pork, prawns and vegetables with vermicelli. The dish is served cold, and was light tasting with just a hint of flavour coming from the pork with a bit of lemongrass. A sauce is also provided to bring up its taste, which is similar to the sweet sauce that we get for Yong Tau Foo.Hot Coffee with Milk which came as a combo with the Fresh Vietnamese Spring Rolls was pretty decent, with just the right proportion of milk added, though there was nothing much to shout about.

For more photos and the full review, please visit: http://jiaksimipng.wordpress.com/2014/01/02/banh-mi-888-united-square/