For the full review and more photos, please visit http://makanarts.com/2013/12/03/catch-n-bite-westgate/

Today marks the first day of opening at Westgate. Being the same as Jem, Westgate offers some shops and brands that are first-in-Singapore, unique only to the Orchard area and startups.

Catch 'n Bite is one of the new startups. Opened as a fast-food take-away booth, it offers sandwiches at affordable prices. The sandwich can also be upgraded to a meal for an additional $3 (consisting of a side and a can of drink). The sides are also available as an a-la-carte.I ordered the Crunching Crab Po' Boy. The crab is very crispy and I also noted they used the crab parts in the process as the shell could be tasted. The pickles and the sauce made the whole experience better by enhancing its taste.Although the Golden Fries looks like normal fries you can get at other fast-food chains, the fries here are slightly bigger and more filling.If you want to get a sandwich, this is an affordable place to get one. Do take note their flavours are limited to seafood (hence the name Catch 'n Bite!)

For the full review and more photos, please visit http://makanarts.com/2013/12/01/churrosity-241-holland-road/

Churrosity has been opened for quite some time in Holland Village, being the only take-away booth in the region to offer churros. I finally had the chance to have it while walking down Holland Village.The regular Churros Bites ($3.20), added with chocolate sauce was great. It was well-coated with sugar and cinnamon and accompanied with the chocolate sauce it tasted divine. However, it was slightly less crispy, less hollow and harder to bite off. This will not deter people from having it as the taste is still very similar.If you are craving for churros and is around Holland Village, this is the place to come to (it's affordable and it's a take away counter!)

For the full review and more photos, do visit http://theurbancityexplorer.com/2013/11/17/the-missing-pan-619d-bukit-timah-road/

Taking over the space of 7-Eleven is this new cafe called The Missing Pan. Opened by The Organic Baker (who owns Meat the Butcher and Eat Organic a few shops away), they have formerly operated at OUB Centre and Circular Road as UpperCrust. Spanning 2 levels of seatings (there’s another 2 levels which I don’t know where it leads to), there is a lift inside the shop to facilitate the move between both levels (there is also a staircase right beside for people who aren’t willing to wait).

For a start, they served complementary baguette.The Iced Chocolate is rather diluted. Otherwise, the quantity is a lot.The Flat White is ok although it is slightly burnt and thus had a bitter taste. X had this last week while he was here and he had the same comments as well.The Over Hangover consists of chicken schnitzel, bacon and sunny-side egg sandwiched by the sourdough, bacon vinaigrette and served with chips. Besides the chicken schnitzel being a bit too dry, this is great to order as the egg and bacon is cooked nicely.The Crustacean is rather acceptable. The serving is rather generous, and the pasta taste great. However, some of the crustaceans were not thoroughly cooked and tastes rather raw. Notwithstanding, this is something that can be ordered if you want something pasta (provided you take seafood).The 62 Degree Eggs Benedict with Ham had honey-grilled gammon ham, sauteed spinach and mushroom and buttered corn spreaded with in-house hollandaise sauce on top of 2 pieces of sourdough and served with salad. This is a definite must order. The ham tasted great. The egg is cooked to perfection (maybe it is really cooked under 62 degree heat!) with the yolk oozing out easily with a prick of the fork. The sauteed spinach and mushroom and buttered corn was excellent as well.The Iced Mocha tasted better than the Iced Chocolate as it is more concentrated in terms of chocolate taste. The amount of milk added is also just right.The Cioccolatto, a dessert consisting of a chocolate cream (in the form of a ball), sprinkled with Maldon salt flakes and vanilla-infused olive oil and topped with a sugared bread, came out rather disappointing as we thought the quantity would have been slightly more. The chocolate cream was rather rich (we thought it was chocolate ice cream at first and as such thought it tasted odd). The use of Maldon salt flakes and olive oil made the chocolate cream tasted odd as well. Probably I do not know how to appreciate this dish, but I feel it isn’t to my liking.If you are around the Bukit Timah area and looking for a cafe to have dinner at with family and friends, this is the place to consider.

For the full review and more photos, do visit http://theurbancityexplorer.com/2013/11/17/the-missing-pan-619d-bukit-timah-road/

195 Pearl's Hill Terrace used to housed the former Police Operational Headquarters. With the move to Police Cantonment Complex not far from here, this place become vacant but got occupied for office usage few years back. With a small amount of snack shops and takeaway kiosks available there, it's no wonder a retro-looking cafe that pays tribute to the past will be opened there - The Mama Shop, which is opened by MediaCorp actresses Felicia Chin, Sora Ma and 2 other friends.The menu. Currently at its soft launch, it only features waffles, burgers, certain pastries and a small selection of drinks but come the official launch next week, do expect them to introduce more items into their menu!For a start, complimentary wheel snacks and iced gem biscuits are served!The Peanut Prince ($4.50) is probably The Mama Shop's take on peanut smoothie. It is full both on flavour and taste, but could do with a bit more sweetness.For Takoyaki lovers, the Okaasan Waffles ($4.90) is a must order. The waffles are crispy and the mix of the savoury seaweed chicken with the takoyaki sauce and bonito flakes, makes this an slightly less filling alternative to the octopus balls while achieving the same taste.The Messy Messy Nice Nice Mama Burger ($10.90) consist of a New Zealand beef patty with melted gouda cheese and caramelized onion mushrooms, topped with grilled buns and served with tofu sticks. The tofu sticks are great and crispy. The bun, on the other hand, is too hard to cut into. The beef patty tasted not too bad and is briefly enhanced by the gouda cheese and the mushrooms.Located at a more secluded corner of town, this place may be hard to access via the main road, though there is a back gate from People's Park Complex that leads to 195 Pearl Hill Terrace. If you are around the Outram Park / Chinatown area, why not visit this place for a quiet respite?

For the full review and more photos, please visit http://makanarts.com/2014/10/01/the-mama-shop-195-pearls-hill-terrace/

Toa Payoh has yet another bakery to its neighbourhood. Les Patisseries is opened today by 3 pastry chefs that graduated from At-Sunrice and Shatec. They also run a website to receive online orders prior to this.The menu here consist mainly of cakes and pastries, but also include drinks such as coffee and tea, waffles, all-day mains, brunch and dinner options.Coffee heres originates from Pacamara Coffee Roasters, the second cafe to use the Thailand blends so after OZ Specialty Coffee. This Flat White ($5) tasted strong and firm that had a medium acidity.The Fraisier ($5.50) is a French strawberry shortcake that has a layer of sliced strawberries covered with immensely rich cream and topped with a juicy strawberry. The Tiramisu ($7) cake here is made one by one, rather than being made as a whole cake and cut into slices. The huge amount of mascarpone cheese and cream managed to balance out its flavour with the strong coffee taste, which makes the one here a better option as the coffee taste isn’t too overwhelming.The Pain Au Chocolat ($3.20), also known as a chocolate croissant is greahere is not only flaky, but slightly crispy as well! The rich chocolate taste is also evenly spread across the pastry.Being at the heart of Toa Payoh (Toa Payoh MRT station is within 3-4 minutes walking distance), it will definitely be able to attract the crowd. There is already a crowd on the first day, mostly made up of the lunch crowds and passerbys who probably didn’t know of its existence. If you are around the area, do give this place a support!

For the full review and more photos, please visit http://makanarts.com/2014/09/12/les-patisseries-block-186-toa-payoh-central/