Characterised by the marshmallow-on-sticks they give with every drink ordered, it’s becoming a gimmick that drew people in, including myself, just to satisfy that craving of a roasted marshmallow at typical BBQ sessions.

Conveniently located across the street from Telok Blangah MRT station, it’s an overhead bridge away, and you’d just have to walk to the end of the stretch passing by those old school shops. Be prepared to wait around for sets though or to share the communal table as it’s a really small space with only about 20 seats or so.

Lemon Meringue Pie - S$4.80/-I’m still on the hunt for good lemon meringue tarts, and this never fails to attract me with its pretty appearance. A tad disappointing though, with the meringue being too heavy and the lemon curd tasted a tad too sharp, greeted with a sharp tang then overwhelmed with sweetness after that. The only consolation was the crispy base to go with the soft insides.Giving in to the gimmick, I’d ordered a rose latte just to get the roasted marshmallow. Perfectly roasted to give a warm and gooey inside, while remaining crisp on the outside, this doesn’t get to enjoy much camera-time. Have it while it’s still hot!

Rose Latte ($4.50)

The rose latte that came was far from what I’d expected. Having tried rose lattes elsewhere, I was expected a usual latte infused with rose flavour. Astonished to see a pink drink approaching us, it was worse to find that it tasted just like Bandung (Rose syrup). The only difference was this was served warm and on the milkier side. Not a very pleasant surprise for me while expecting coffee for a little perk-me-up, though some may like it for a caffeine-free and slightly sweet drink.

Waffle Condenseé ($5)This is not for the faint-hearted! Waffles drizzled with condensed milk sounds sinful enough, then topped with milo powder? For those who’re fans of milo dinosaur, this would probably sit well with you as some might not enjoy the overwhelming sweetness of it. I would have preferred the waffles to be slightly crispier so that the condensed milk can melt into it. This was just a pretty soggy piece that wasn’t all that impressive, except with the heavily fattening combination! This place didn’t quite manage to impress, with its rather cramped and uncomfortable seating. We managed to get one of the private tables instead of the long communal table in the middle and found it uneasy to keep bending down to eat, that it would probably have been better if we’d sat on the floor. The desserts weren’t exactly the kind to bring me back either, unless I have the craving for marshmallows.

Greeted by a table in the middle of nowhere and a huge sign that says Kam Leng Hotel, we were initially dubious and then found the entrance to be on the left corner, with pretty limited and small spaces available. We would have preferred the 'outdoor' seating of course, after seeing how cramped it was on the inside, but it was occupied by a group gathering.

Settling down, we took a while before registering that there wasn't much on the menu to choose from, given that we weren't exactly looking for a heavy lunch, hence forgoing the Suprette Burger which seemed to be their signature. The brunch selection was pretty limited too, with nothing especially standing out that we both decided to order plain old simple breakfasts.

Besar Breakfast ($21)
Pretty fanciful name for its 'big breakfast', there was the usual eggs (choose from scrambled, poached or fried), bacon, ham, sausage, mushroom, roasted potatoes and homemade baked beans. I've never used to think much of scrambled eggs until I've had my fair share of mediocre ones and sad to say this was another one of those. A tad too watery, it didn't have the rich fragrance of scrambled eggs and was slightly too liquid for my liking. The rest were just normal, though my companion thought that the bacon was too salty and it wasn't the juicy flavourful sausage she was expecting.

Breakfast Set ($12)
A smaller version of the Besar Breakfast for those who'd like a light brunch, this was a portion with 2 eggs (choice of fried/scrambled/poached) and 2 sides. I chose the pork sausage and roasted potatoes to go along, the simplest breakfast can get. The scrambled eggs were the same as the one for Besar Breakfast, a disappointing attempt, while the pork sausage was slightly too savory for my liking. I didn't like how it had too much water on the inside as well, whereby every slice results in an oozing sausage and when the water got into contact with the paper lining they had on their plates, it wasn't quite an appealing sight. I'd nonetheless enjoyed my portion of roasted potatoes and only wished that I had that as my 2 sides instead. Slightly spiced, it was cooked to the right softness, not too mashy yet not too hard on the jaws. But then again, I'm a potato lover, so try it for yourself!

Its items were all served on a piece of white paper lining the old school kinda yellow metal plates. I loved the rustic feel, just not sure if that is the best form for the items we had as the fluids/oil from the sausage and eggs soon surfaced and started soaking up the piece of paper, a reminder of the unhealthy oils going into your stomach. Not exactly the most appetising sight!

Just another one of those brunch hipster cafes, this didn't manage to impress us. Perhaps it was just the items we've ordered that didn't quite match up to what we were looking for, but with the pretty cramped interior, we didn't feel that the ambience was a nice hangout spot for chillin', hence quite unlikely to return again!

Another place that has added on to the list of affordable French food dining places, along the ranks of Saveur, Black Gold and a few sprouting ones. Serving up its signature roast chicken, just as its name suggests (pronounced as pou-leh), we were pretty surprised by how reviews were ravingly good and wondered how different or great can roast chicken get.

Roast Chicken with Cranberry Sauce and Double Mustard ($17.80)
A special off their menu, we ordered the cranberry half chicken, with accompanying mustard sauce. First mouthful, I was pretty surprised by the juices that flowed out with every bite, and a nicely marinated chicken. I thought the meat was slightly tough, and the skin wasn't exactly a wow version, just slightly savory like what you'd expect of a typical roast chicken.

Ordering this for its cranberry sauce, I was greatly disappointed. It tasted nothing like cranberries, without the sweetness of it and in fact, had a strong resemblance with brown sauce that usually goes on top your chicken chop ordered from the food court. I'm not a fan of mustard as sharpness of it isn't exactly to my palate, but perhaps mustard go-ers would find this a good complement with the variation to excite your taste buds.

Roast Chicken with Mushroom Chardonnay Sauce ($15.80)
This was their classic dish, a taste of the sauce and I thought it went much better with the dish. A light creamy sauce, again, it didn't quite go with the description. It was just slightly flavoured with a tinge of mushroom, and mostly I could only taste the savory-ness of the creamy sauce.

Tiramisu ($7.80)
A classic dessert for any French place, I was hoping that this would be the redeeming factor for my less-than-satisfying meal. A pretty container, we opened up to a nicely powdered top. Digging in, I was overwhelmed by how creamy it was, followed by a mouthful of overly moist sponge fingers. There wasn't a strong coffee flavour in it as well, at least not strong enough for me, and it got too jelat with the rich cream after just a few mouthfuls.

With a half-chicken for dinner, I thought the serving was a little small, with no sides that usually accompanies when you order it at western joints, that I still felt hungry after finishing it. I thought it was a pretty decent roast chicken, but doesn't live up to its claimed 'amazing roast chicken' title. It was quite overrated with the snaking long queues I've always spotted and if you'd really want a shot of it, reach before 7 to avoid the long queueing time!

Fans of brunches wouldn't be unfamiliar with Hatched, one of the first few places that come to mind, whipping up all-day breakfasts in Singapore. More established in their first branch at Evans Lodge, they've recently opened one at Holland Village, conveniently located near the exit of the MRT station, right beside Swensen's.

It was my first time at Hatched, bearing high expectations since they were rather established and there has been many good reviews going around. Stepping into the place, it gave a cosy and relaxed feeling, adding on to our lazy Saturday afternoon, perfected with the background music playing Bruno Mars' The Lazy Song. It was still rather packed, considering that we were there at about 2pm and 90% of the seats were taken up.I personally like the use of chalkboards as it gives a very old-school touch to the cosy cafe. The colours also made it cheery and somehow added on to the fun image that Hatched portrays. Cute salt and pepper shakers shaped like eggs. Different tables have got different designs, and thankfully, we've got the cutest one of all!

Sir Benedict ($12)Their classic of eggs benedict. Poached eggs with half a muffin, black forest ham, topped with Hollandaise sauce and with homemade mash. According to my friend who's rather expert in poached eggs, Sir Benedict has managed to withstand the test of poached eggs and has been certified well done. The yolk was done just right that it oozed out right upon cutting it, having cooked just nice. It was a slight pity that the egg wasn't exactly warm enough and tasted like it had been left out in the open for a while before serving it. The homemade mash was quite good too, with me being a fan of potato. I like how you could really taste the potato bits used, giving a mixture of texture instead of the ultra smooth kind like KFC's mashed potato.

Hitch me up ($28)A choice of two eggs of any style, choice of two meats (bacon, ham or sausage), waffles and toast. We chose omelette and scrambled eggs, bacon and sausage for our meal. It was quite a disappointment as the eggs weren't done very well and the other sides were just as bad. Just like the poached egg, both the omelette and scrambled eggs tasted rather cold. Only thing that wasn't too bad was the bacon and the potatoes. The sausage came cold, was a tad too skinny (it seemed more like a hotdog sold in supermarkets) and overly salty, overpowering the taste of the entire dish.

The waffles, though it looks enticing, was pure disappointment as it tasted more like bread than lightly whisked waffles. It was abit too heavy for the meal and the only redeeming factor was perhaps the bottle of maple syrup that came along with it, allowing free flow of maple syrup to mask the taste of it. But oh well, being a die-hard fan of maple syrup, it was slightly more acceptable and made me a happier customer.

Overall, I felt that it wasn't a very good experience, especially when they pride themselves upon an all-eggs specialist. I felt that it was slightly overrated as there are definitely better breakfast places that can do eggs better, especially when there are more brunch places sprouting up. However, I do give them credit for its slightly more affordable price range and convenient location, plus the really chillax ambience! That said, my review of Hatched is solely based on its HollandV outlet and not its flagship store at Evans Lodge, hence I'm not too sure about quality control standards across. I will definitely visit the one at Evans to try out in the future!

'Sa-nook!' means to have fun in Thai and it is an experience that Thai Express hopes to bring for their customers. Singaporeans should be familiar with this brand name with their 19 outlets spanning across island-wide, each promising to bring a relaxed yet contemporary ambience with no strict decorum to its diners. With a good spread of affordable Thailand classic local favourites such as the Thai fish cake, mango salad to its famous curry and tom yum, the menu would be sure to whet one's appetite yet catering to the price-conscious foodies.

I could not agree more with the age-old adage that 'It's all about the customer' and it is indeed one of the reasons which kept me a satisfied diner of Thai Express over the years. I used to be a regular at the outlet located at the basement level of Paragon Shopping Centre before moving overseas, owed partly to the consistently good service and food rendered. A walk around VivoCity looking for dinner solution proved hard than expected with a seemingly endless number of restaurants located on each level. I was on my iPhone checking the food directory before my growling stomach got the better of me and we unanimously settled for the eatery before us, Thai Express.

Strangely, there was a nostalgic feeling that stirred from within when I browsed through that familiar orange-coloured menu. It must have been some 4-5 years since my last patronage to Thai Express and it seemed like only yesterday when I was sipping off the clear chicken broth or tom yum soup. Did they manage to stay consistent with the quality of food and service after these years? Let us find out now!

Right, it took quite a bit of waving before we finally managed to catch the attention of one of the waiting staffs. I found it rather unforgiving as our table was smacked right in the middle of the entire restaurant and you would imagine there should be no problem in trying to get some 'loving' in placing food orders. I am not sure if this is now a common practice across Thai Express restaurants but when we tried a feeble attempt to articulate some Thai words or recite the English name of the dishes we wanted, we received a rather discouraging flat response: 'Can you give me the code number of the dish?'. Is customer interaction and service still alive nowadays or has everything gone routinely 'SOP'?

(6103) Fried Shrimp Paste Rice with Seafood, Khao Kluk Kapi Talay - (S$10.30++)Apparently a Thai royalty, King Chulalongkorn wrote in his diary that this was his favourite dish and our noses were blown away literally when the dish was served! The aroma of the shrimp paste was really strong and lingered in the air which certainly titillated our senses even before we warm up to our cutlery! The accompanying condiments were simply presented around the plate with some scrambled egg, sliced green mango, pieces of cucumber, tomato and a saucer worth of the secret sauce which won this dish a 'Popular' mark on the menu.

I almost choked upon the first spoonful which was repugnant to say the least. Expecting a pleasantly savoury dish to the extent of savouriness, the fried rice was too salty and the bold flavours of the shrimp taste was overwhelming. Nestled within the bed of carbohydrates were some seafood - prawns, fish coated with batter and squid. It was rather disappointing that each of these ingredients failed to pass the freshness quality test. The batter coating the pieces of fish cubes were soaked with the shrimp paste and it was too salty for our palate and regrettably we had to leave the dish unfinished.

The accompanying sauce tasted very much like your classic Chicken Rice chilli! It seemed like a blend of soy sauce, red chili, vinegar and lime juice which we struggled to find a fit within the dish. The green mango salad was also bland and dry and the dish just did not go very well as a whole.

(3108) Glass Noodle with Sliced Chicken in Clear Chicken Broth, Woon Sen Kaeng Chued Gai Jiew (S$11.30++)This was my personal favourite and I noticed that this dish now has a 'Recommended for kids' mark on the menu! The serving was more than generous in portion size and one which many Thai kids grew up eating. Look elsewhere if you are after some elaborate spicy dish for this bowl of goodness fits the bill perfectly for what I would regard as 'THE' comfort food. Admittedly, I have a peculiar ordering habit where I would order the same dish from a particular restaurant for every single visit and this is one of the few dishes for me. Thankfully I always have my trusted dining companions on food tasting sessions with me, who are more adventurous to try seemingly more exotic dishes!

What I particularly enjoyed about this dish is that hearty bowl of clear chicken broth that was so light and I highly recommend it to gym enthusiasts as a post-workout protein meal. The chicken portions in that bowl seemed like a bottomless pit because every time I scour, I find another big chunk of protein in that 'egg drop soup'. The beautiful flavours of the fresh coriander complemented the dish well and coupled with the al dente glass noodles, it was a delightful dish.

What I used to like about the dish was that even if I were to slurp up that entire bowl of broth, I would not be hungry for some water to quench the thirst resulted from MSG. Sadly this time round, I was constantly reaching for my bottle of mineral water post-dinner, oh well.

(6101) Rice with Soft Shell Crab, Egg and Onion Curry, Poo Phat Pong Kari (S$12.90++)This Thai Express speciality was one of the recommended dishes on the menu and we were particularly attracted by the caption which read 'created by a Thai chef and a Japanese chef for their wedding dinner'. It was no surprise then that the curry in this was only mildly spicy which would suit those with a low tolerance for the heat (similar to the Japanese curries), so it was quite a 'no-no' for me for I preferred my curries strong and bold. Depending on individual but the curry was a little too viscous for our liking for we would have preferred a smoother version. This was owed to the addition of eggs into the curry, so expect a grainy texture. Like the other two main dishes, the amount of greens in the dish was sparingly little. The portion was really value for money though considering the size of the soft shell crab. It was however not deep fried to a nice crispiness where one could crunch through. Instead, the batter was limp and it was hard to distinguish exactly if the seafood was fresh for the flavours from the curry were too strong and pretty much masked it all.

(1402) Thai Mango Salad, Yam Mamuang (S$8.90++)We were quite surprised when the appetizer came after all the mains were served. Clearly the servers were too focused on just bringing the dishes to the customers and neglected the simple basics of service! While Thai Express present themselves with a concept of relaxed dining, I believe it was only appropriate for the order of dishes to follow the simple thumb of rule - Appetizers-Mains-Desserts.

There was nothing too praise-worthy about this salad. The green mango were slightly crunchy and we enjoyed the crunch from the crushed peanut bits sprinkled across the salad. It gave a good layer of texture but again I struggled to find the right balance in flavours between the chilis, mangoes, onions and that sauce which seemed a little too diluted for our liking.It was while doing this write-up that I realized that Thai Express belonged to Minor Food Group Singapore which within their F&B portfolio holds other well-known eateries such as Xin Wang Hong Kong Cafe, Buffet Town, Kiseki, Poulet, Shokudo Concepts, Pinle, New York New York and Heng Heng Curry Cafe.

I am not certain if this was a case whereby the outlet at VivoCity served in my humble opinion, substandard food and service or is it a chain-wide phenomenon. It was a disappointing visit on this occasion although the one dish which I stubbornly refused to strike off my order list stayed resilient to critique. We had difficulties getting the attention of the servers when we tried to get the bill as well and it was with dissatisfaction that we left the restaurant. I would give another try at another outlet but for now, I would look elsewhere when I am at VivoCity next time and looking for a quick meal fix.