My evil sistas were celebrating my birthday with me and I chose to dine here. Many has compared this place with the Royal China @Raffles Hotel just across the road. I had my last year's birthday celebration there and the food and service was impeccable. So how do they compare?

We made an advanced booking and were led to the dining room upstairs. The staircase is very nicely decorated with a Victorian feel: walls were lined with portraits; the ceiling, a modern chandelier.

There is a spacious waiting room at the second floor. On the right, a long corridor leading to many private and non-private dining rooms. All the rooms on this level can be partitioned into private dining room of different sizes. Our table is at Room No.1, where there are about 8 tables set up in this dining area. Nicely painted wallpaper adorned both ends of the room.

We ordered a whole Peking Roast Duck - $62.00++ to share as well as multiple dim sum dishes. The duck skin was cut into thin slices and served wrapped nicely with a crepe skin. The duck skin was crispy but extremely oily even when eaten with the crepe and cucumber. My mouth was full of grease after eating this.

The balance duck meat was brought back to the kitchen to be shredded and cooked with Ee Fu Noodles and served later. There is a hefty charge of $25++ for this dish. Noodle was well-fried, has lot of wok hei aroma and generous ingredients added too - yum yum!

Prawn dumpling - $5.20++
This is super delicious! Fresh and crunchy prawns wrapped in thin and translucent skin...its was so good we ordered this thrice!

Pan-Fried Carrot Cake - $4.80++
This dish was the top dish of the day... Best I've ever tasted in the year! Lots of premium Chinese sausage bits inside, making it super fragrant and addictive to eat. We ordered another one... and another!

Prawn Rice Rolls - $5.20++
This is good! Had generous amount of prawns and chives inside a slightly thick but smooth rice skin...the sauce was delicious.

Braised Beancurd with Peanuts - $6.00++
The beancurd was well braised and flavorful. However the peanuts were a little dry. An expensive dish though.

Japanese Style Chicken Mid Wings - $8.00++
This impressive looking dish was super salty! Thumbs down for this dish.

Stew Chicken Feet in Abalone Sauce - $7.80++
The abalone sauce was nice, both chicken feet and peanuts were fully infused with the fragrance of the abalone sauce. Great dish!

Shanghai Xiao Long Bao - $5.20++
This is good too. The skin of the Xiao Long Bao is thin and has tasty meat juice.

Steamed Custard Buns - $4.40++
Bun was soft and slightly sweet, custard cream was runny enough...not bad.



Overall, the food served here was very delicious and of comparable standard with Royal China, except for the oily Roast Duck and the salty Japanese Style Chicken Mid Wings.

However, the same cannot be said for the service standards here. The staffs weren't very attentive and basic service such as refilling of tea and ice water needed to be prompted repeatedly. We had to wave very vigorously multiple times and call out loudly to get their attention for additional orders.

Last but not least, do note that this place charges a 'cover charge' of $2.50 per pax (children counted too) that will make dining here more expensive than it should be. Definitely not value for money.

For full review and more pictures, visit http://midas400.blogspot.sg/2013/04/birthday-lunch-at-lei-garden-chijmes.html.

For detail review please check out - http://midas400.blogspot.sg/2013/03/tcc-connoisseur-concerto-vivo-city.html

Impromptu meet up with some girlfriends for a belated birthday dinner celebration. We had a great time at the TCC branch at Central Clarke Quay several days ago and wanna try their new dinner menu at this newly opened outlet at Vivo. The decor of this outlet is of a contemporary chic style with plush cushion seats and carved antique picture frames on the wall..We took quite a while to look thru the menus and finally decided on our orders...staffs were quick to attend to us, and was able to explain ingredients used for certain dishes...I ordered the cute looking Easter Bunny Surprise almond white coffee and the new Tobiko Scallop pasta with jap soy sauce dressing.

The Bunny drink is pretty lackluster...the almond white coffee is very bland, the coffee pops has some coffee flavor but did not wow my taste buds...better stick to my usual drinks next time.The pasta was delicious, I liked the jap inspired sauce and bits of tobiko roes (flying fish roe) bursting with flavors every bite. Scallops were huge and fresh and cooked just right. The shimeji mushrooms adds texture to the pasta dish...thumbs up!My friend ordered the Seafood Aglio Olio, she said it was done al dente and the chili padi added a spicy kick to the pasta. Prawns & Scallops were huge and fresh and cooked just right...kudos to the chef.We also ordered some appetizers to share...the Mentaiko Shrimp Martini was yummy! The Calamari rings were fine, my friends loved the tangy dip that comes with the dish. The Spicy hot wings were not too bad either..Overall dining experience was very good....good food and great service made our day We will be back soon!!

For detail review and more photos please visit - http://midas400.blogspot.sg/2013/06/birthday-celebration-with-hubby-at.html

Kuriya Penthouse is my favorite restaurant of the year so I had planned to give hubby a treat at this place since 2 months ago. I made reservations with them via email and enquired about what they can do for birthday boy. They offered to custom make a small cake (choice of 3 flavors) with a short message at a reasonable price of $6.00++. They promised to make it a surprise for hubby. I chose the Lychee flavor over mango & chocolate cos hubby like fruity flavor stuffs. And so we waited for D day to come.

For drinks, hubby picked a sweet Plum Wine 八岐の梅酒 $8.00++ recommended by the staffs. He had it 'on the rock' and he enjoyed sipping it with the huge ball of ice.I had the Lime Juice $4.50++ which tasted alright. For mains I chose the Noodle Set $42.00++ with choice of Udon (Hot/Cold) served with Starter, Assorted Appetizer Plate, Tekka Maki, Assorted Tempura, Chawanmushi, Dessert & Coffee/Tea.

My Udon in hot soup....the udon is not the typical thick and chewy type sold in supermarkets. This one seem to be handmade as the thinner strands of noodle varies in thickness. I only had this once when in Japan. The udon was springy and smooth in texture, the soup has the light japanese soy taste and blends well with the simple garnishes of egg strips and spring onions. A satisfying dish! The Assorted Appetizer plates 5 items. The Salmon Sashimi was fresh, Fish cubes with Vinegar Sauce was tasty, Chicken Karaage was crispy & juicy, Edamame & Prawn was also very fresh and the Potato Salad had generous toppings of tobiko roe - really yummy!

Starter - Edamame Tofu, nice and light taste with soy sauce and wasabi, Tuna Tekka Maki 鉄火巻 - the tuna is fresh but I find that they put in a little too much wasabi though, Chawanmushi - nicely done smooth and soft steam egg custard, Assorted tempura - fresh ingredients were used so everything tasted awesome!



Hubby's food choice Beef Shabu Shabu set $45.00++, served with Starter, 2 kinds of Sashimi, Chawanmushi, Miso Soup, rice & pickles, dessert and coffee/tea.

Hubby's verdict...the beef was good, very tender and the soup base was nice as well. He polished off everything in the set meal too.





Now comes the surprise... the customized birthday cake! *drum roll* Tata! The cake arrives with a sculpted ice-dome cover over it...looks very impressive! My money well spent...



We broke the ice to get to the cake...the Lychee Mousse Cake was not very sweet...with assorted fruits topping and a white chocolate birthday message...nice!

Another excellent dining experience with Kuriya Penthouse..kudos to everyone at Kuriya Penthouse that made this happen!

Full review - http://midas400.blogspot.com/2016/03/montana-brew-bar-pomo.html

Finished my medical appointment early, so dated hubby for lunch in town. We decided to try out the savory waffles from Montana, a specialty coffee house located at POMO, that is also well known for their creative waffles.Their simple menu consists of 3 category of food, Savory Waffles, Sweet Waffles and Pastas. There's also a $11.90+ set lunch option which includes a pasta dish and a drink.

On the drinks page, the inhouse specialty, Coconut Cold Brew coffee, was their signature brew. Regular espresso coffee, filtered coffee, a couple of artisan teas and wine are also available.We ordered two savory waffles for main course and one sweet waffle as dessert.

Southern Fried Chicken Waffle $14.50+, crispy fried chicken with tangy coleslaw served with corn salsa on the side. The crispy waffles were nicely done and pairs well with the fried chicken. It's a pretty decent dish but the chicken pales in comparison to Arteastiq's Thai style chicken waffle though. The later had a much more appealing dressing for their savory fried chicken waffle.Assam Crab Waffle $18+, spice infused waffle with crab meat and pineapple cucumber salsa served with assam gula melaka mayo on the side. This waffle has too much going on in one single dish, and the soft cakey waffle got soggy soon after soaking up the salsa dressing. Overall, we did not enjoy this dish.Chocolate Banana Waffle $14.50+, served with grilled bananas, granola, hazelnut rocher ice cream and drizzled with salted caramel sauce. This waffle did much better than the savory ones. The crispy chocolate waffles tasted heavenly with the sweet bananas and cool ice cream. Thumbs up.For drinks, we tried their signature Coconut Cold Brew Coffee $6.80+, created by steeping ground coffee in coconut water. Served with a coconut ice sphere, this chilled black coffee was a delight to drink. The subtle hints of coconut water sweetness gave it a refreshing and very unique taste. I like it.Other beverages we had were Hot Chocolate $5.50+ and Spiced Chai Latte $5.50+. They were rather decent. I love my chocolaty hot chocolate with its lovely latte art.It was an interesting adventure exploring the creative waffles at Montana. Some waffle flavors may be too creative for our palates, but we think that they do have a lot of potential. The specialty cold brew coffee does leave a pleasant impression though. We would order the other variants to try next time.

Full review - http://midas400.blogspot.com/2016/03/dinner-at-hard-rock-cafe-orchard.html

Met up for a birthday dinner treat for Dec sista. We picked this place as it has 1 for 1 main course deal on The Entertainer App, and also it has been many years since we visited it. The restaurant still looks the same with that vintage Cadillac hanging atop the entrance.The usual Rock inspired decor theme with all kinds of electric guitars lining the walls, and various music memorabilia from some of the greatest Rock legends.We ordered a main course each and one appetizer dish for sharing. But first, some refreshing mocktail drinks to start the dinner off proper. Mango Berry Cooler $13++ each.Buffalo Wings $17++, served with blue cheese dip and raw carrot and celery sticks. They were nicely done and pretty addictive to much on.For my main course, it's the Hickory BBQ Ribs (full rack) $34++, served with coleslaw and fries. The ribs were delicious, meat was tender and well flavored with smoky hickory sauce.Other mains ordered were Hickory Smoked BBQ Combo $36++ (Ribs, Chicken & Pulled Pork), and Bacon & Cheese Wagyu Burger $32++. Both were well received by the girls.Hard Rock Cafe is still the place to go to for classic American food. Despite being in operations for over 25yrs in SG, food quality and service are still well maintained. It's not a bad choice for friends to hang out over yummy food and drinks, while listening to Rock music.