For full review - http://midas400.blogspot.sg/2014/03/new-menu-at-nanas-green-tea.html

I'm back again at Nana's after I spotted new food items on display at their entrance.The restaurant was already crowded at 5.40pm as school holidays has begun. Lotsa youngsters having desserts here. I got a table after about 10mins wait. They have a brand new menu with bigger and better pictures. Check out their new Hamburg rice sets and Millet rice bowls.As I don't eat beef, I decided to try the new Millet rice bowls. Millet rice is a healthy version of Japanese rice with 10 kinds of grains/cereals mixed with polished white rice. It is high in dietary fiber and contains extra minerals and vitamins that's good for the body.
Chicken Nanban Don $15.80++, has a crispy fried chicken fillet topped with Jap tartar sauce and served with fresh greens on millet rice. All rice bowls come with miso soup.The Chicken Nanban was quite delish. Although the tartar sauce is not as good as the one from Tsukada Nojo, I still like the well marinated crispy chicken meat. The fresh greens complimented the chicken fillet well too. The millet rice beneath tasted very good, it was still soft and fluffy despite the multi-grains mix. Thumbs up.
Tori Karaage Salad $6.80++, crispy fried chicken nuggets on top of assorted veggies and hard boiled eggs. This is served with a choice of Japanese dressings, and I picked my fave sesame dressing to go with the salad.The chicken nuggets were well marinated and crispy. Veggies were freshly chopped and taste fabulous with the yummy sesame dressing. Portion was quite ample for a $6+ dish.
Azuki Shiratama Soft Cream Latte $8.50++. I love this dessert-drink! The sweet and creamy latte was filled with robust flavor of Jap azuki beans and the Soft Serve ice cream simply makes this drink divine..slurp!I'm rather satisfied with the new dishes at Nana's. I will come back again to try more dishes.

For full review - http://midas400.blogspot.sg/2014/02/dinner-at-ambush-plaza-singapura.html

My second visit to this casual european eatery. On my first visit I tried their German sausages and pork knuckle. This time round, I'm trying their pasta dish and the highly popular Belgian mussels pot.For drinks, I ordered a mocktail Green Apple Mojito $5.50++. This is basically fruit flavored syrup and soda, nothing special.Mussels & Clams mixed pot w/ white wine sauce $18++, mussels and clams are air flown twice weekly to ensure freshness. Choice of 3 cooking style (Aglio Olio, Thai Basil & White wine), the white wine sauce contains bacon bits, onion, garlic & parsley. The broth was rather light and flavorful, I can taste the natural sweetness of the plump and juicy mussels and clams...very delish.The Garlic bread (focaccia bread) that comes with the mussels pot (choice of bread, fries or mash potato) was soft, fluffy and garlicky...pretty good but I gotta save my stomach for the pasta main course. Tip, dip the bread in the mussel sauce, its yummy.
Pan seared Norwegian salmon pasta w/ Thai basil sauce $13.20++ (choice of spaghetti, linguine, penne or fusilli). The Thai basil sauce is a tomato based sauce with a tang, I suspect tom yum/lemongrass was added in the sauce. Basil leaves were used sparingly so that it will not overpower the taste of the sauce...very palatable indeed. The salmon was cooked just right, tender and juicy...fantastic pairing of protein and carbo!Ambush impresses me yet again with its high quality food at reasonable prices. Coupled with decent service from staffs, I would gladly return again for more tastes of Europe.

For full review - http://midas400.blogspot.sg/2014/02/lunch-at-putien-food-fair-tampines-mall.html

My friend's food photo posts on FB has awakened my craving for the Braised Intestines from Putien. I have not been to Putien for quite a while, time to check out what's new there!Instead of the usual peanuts, they served a mini selection of crispy seaweed and crackers together with the roasted peanuts. This was yummy and costs $2.50 which is kinda pricey for the tiny portion.Something special at the TM outlet, economical set meals (only available at TM). At $13.90++ each, the set consists of a main course, a soup or side dish and a set of 3 mini appetizers. Customers can top up $1.50++ for a drink (soursop or bayberry juice), pretty good deal I would say.Grandma's Bayberry Tea 杨梅茶 (warm/cold) $1.50++, this was very sourish and sweet at the same time, I like it...reminds me of the preserved bayberries I used to eat as a kid.I ordered Set B $13.90++ which has a bowl of Lor Mee, a slice of Deep fried ikan tenggiri (mackerel fish) and a 3x appetizers set.
This is the first time I'm eating the Putien Lor Mee, its nicer than it looks. The pale colored broth is not the starchy gooey kind, but it was loaded with flavors from the quality ingredients such as pork belly, prawns, clams, dried scallops, mushroom, veggies etc. The noodle has a nice and smooth texture...very yummy.The Deep Fried Ikan Tenggiri was done homecooked style, simple comfort food.The 3 Mini Appetizers consists of Vinegar seaweed, Spicy jellyfish and Braised mushroom. 3 contrasting flavors, all delicious in their own unique way.Last but not least, the dish that I've came here for, Braised Pig Intestines 九转粉肠 $13.80++. Made by hand daily by meticulously folding multiple thin layers of intestines neatly together, then braised in homemade sauce till fully infused with flavor. I love the bouncy and chewy texture...thumbs up!Food and service at Putien was great. I would recommend the economic set lunches to everyone!

For full review - http://midas400.blogspot.sg/2014/02/dinner-at-so-pho-nex.html

With many eateries ceasing operations from Dec last year, new dining concept restaurants started appearing in place of the old ones. The first Vietnamese restaurant at Nex opens its doors early this year selling popular eats from Saigon. I love the modern and brightly lit interiors of this new restaurant.Simple table settings with order chit for patrons to write down their orders and hand them over to the waiting staffs.The menu has a selection of about 60 food and drink items with clear indications of the popular items with a red star, as well as chef's recommendation items. Dishes are rather reasonably priced with most main courses costing approx $9.80++, Viet style baguettes (Banh Mi) are sold at $5.90++ each. There is also one vegetarian option in almost every food category.For drink, I picked the Salty King $4.50++, a plum flavored soda with a ball of salty plum in it. It was sweet and salty and fizzy...not bad at all. Do note that they charge $0.30++ for ice water here (refillable).My main course Grilled Lemongrass Chicken noodle w/ Spring rolls $9.80++, served in a huge peach shaped bowl...portion was pretty generous. The lemongrass chicken was done just right with nice flavoring and juicy tender meat. The spring rolls were good too with yummy filling marinated with Viet spices. The dish also comes with generous portion of fresh lettuce and a bunch of pickled shredded carrot/radish...these provided a good balance to the rich tasting grilled meat. I like it!I also ordered a Sesame Rice Crackers w/ basil leaves Chicken $10.80++ as appetizer, and boy the cracker was huge! The crispy cracker loaded with black sesame seeds was very fragrant even eaten on its own. The minced chicken dip with crunchy peanuts was utterly yummy, I was blown away by its wok hei aroma usually present in well cooked chinese dishes...thumbs up for this dish!I ordered takeaways on other occasions and the food didn't disappoint as well...
Grilled Chicken Banh Mi w/ chicken pate $5.90++. The baguette was soft, not crispy, served with generous portion of tender grilled chicken meat, pickled carrot/radish, fresh lettuce and topped with mayonnaise. I enjoyed munching on this very much.Vietnamese Seafood fried rice $9.80++, it tastes similar to our local sambal fried rice, mildly spicy with fresh squid and prawn meat, quite nice.I'm pretty pleased with this new find at Nex and will be back to try more dishes!

For full review - http://midas400.blogspot.sg/2014/03/dinner-invite-by-m-hotel-cafe-2000.html

My friend Wendy received an invitation from M Hotel to review their Buffet Dinner at Cafe 2000. We fixed an appointment to try their International Buffet Dinner on a weekday (they serve BBQ buffet on weekends).
Cafe 2000 is located at ground level just beside the hotel lobby. There is a direct entrance from the street on the other end with some Al Fresco dinning tables providing an option to dine outdoors.The cafe is not very big but they managed to pack in quite a bit of varieties in their buffet spread. Lets check out the different food stations available here.Fresh Seafood station
Loads of fresh cooked prawns, jumbo raw oysters, mussels, scallops, crayfish and two kinds of crabs. Choice of sauces are available for pairing with the fresh seafood.Sushi & Sashimi
Fresh sashimi and assorted sushi for Jap food lovers.Salad & Cheese station
Good spread of salads and 4 kinds of cheeses.Local Delights Live station
They are serving Lor Mee today, and some awesome looking braised pork knuckles. The ingredients selection for the Lor Mee Live station is pretty good. There's ngoh hiang, prawn wanton, youtiao, fishcake, quail eggs, meat balls and taupok with two choices of carbo (yellow noodle & thick beehoon).Assorted Cooked Food
A variety of local and western cuisine. I didn't take photo of all the dishes as there are quite a number served here.Roast Meat station
Two kinds of sausages, BBQ pork ribs and roast beef.Breads & Soup station
Assorted breads and buns, and two types of soups (western & asian).Desserts
Cheng Teng station, chocolate fountain, fruits, cakes, nonya kuehs, durian puree and ice cream.My food choices
First round, I had the fresh seafood. My fave are the oysters that are plump and succulent, prawns are sweet and crunchy, and the fleshy crayfish was good as well.Second serving, I'm having fresh sashimi, sushi, pumpkin salad, prawn salad and smoke duck breast. All are nicely done and fresh...delish.Next, I tried the Lor Mee from the Live station. I picked quite a few ingredients and chose to eat them with thick beehoon. The fried items were deep fried again till crispy...a delight to eat. The gravy was well flavored and had the right consistency, and I added the provided garlic, chili and vinegar sauce which complimented the dish perfectly...thumbs up.Last round of food before I move on to desserts. Assortment of cooked food I sampled are chicken satay, spicy bull frog, seafood paella (looks like fried rice), and sweet & sour fried fish.Chicken satay was the best, the tender and well marinated chicken meat was delicious. I would've love the peanut sauce to be spicier though. The rest of the dishes were kinda disappointing. Bull frog was overcooked and very chewy, Paella was very bland, Sweet & sour fish was over-fried and tough.
Dessert round, 2 shots of Durian puree, some Cakes and Nonya kueh, Matcha mousse and Cheng Teng. The Durian puree is a must try! Bitter sweet and creamy with lotsa real durian pulp...utterly satisfying to eat. The rest are not worth mentioning.We had an enjoyable dinner here at Cafe 2000. The buffet spread was rather decent, food quality has more hits than misses, service level was within my expectation of a hotel grade restaurant. I wouldn't mind coming back again to try their BBQ buffet.

** this is an invited tasting session.