I was wandering around Chinatown after dinner looking for some sweet and cold dessert to take away the hot and sticky Singapore night and I found this gem of a place! It was around 9pm on a Saturday night and the place was SUPER crowded, with tables spilling out onto the road and people loitering around waiting for seats to free up. After a little pro aunty skills, I managed to secure two seats for my friend and I and we looked at the menu with high expectations.

Mei Heong Yuen offers both traditional Chinese desserts like Almond Paste, Fu Zhok (Barley with Beancurd Skin), and Mango Pomelo Sago, and also more modern and youngster-friendly desserts like flavoured Shaved Ice. Both are equally popular, as both families and older people, as well as youngsters looking for supper troop over for dessert.

I got the Watermelon and Lychee Shaved Ice, while my friend got the Fu Zhok (cold), so that we had a chance to sample the old and the new. The Fu Zhok was creamy and sweet with barley and pieces of beancurd skin. However, I felt that it was a little too sweet, and that my mom makes a better version ^^ The Watermelon and Lychee Shaved Ice, on the other hand, hit all the right spots. I'm a sucker for fro-yo, and I personally think that the texture of shaved ice is actually very similar to that of frozen yoghurt. The watermelon and lychee complemented each other very well as both are light flavours, and it wasn't too sweet nor artificial, a major plus point. Moreover, it was COLD! Perfect for quenching thirst and cooling the body down.

While the prices of the desserts are a little steep- my shaved ice cost $6 ((- Mei Heong Yuen Dessert is not a bad place to have supper/dessert with friends and family and enjoy the ambiance of a typical small, crowded eatery with bustling aunties serving desserts.

KOREAN BBQ! I recently went to Tanjong Pagar for a korean bbq fix; I was hoping that 2 Day 1 Night would miraculously be empty at 6pm on a Saturday night, silly me. In the end, my friend and I ended up at His.tori, another Korean BBQ place just a few doors down.

I am traditionally suspicious of new things, and His.tori was no exception. Having only been to 2 Day 1 Night, I was worried that this new place would disappoint me. Moreover, the service staff that greeted me was, horror of horrors, not Korean! LOL anyway after we settled down, I went to check out the buffet spread.

The spread was similar in layout and content to that of other Korean BBQ restaurants, and was overall quite acceptable and tasty. However, I felt that the pork belly at His.tori wasn't as good as other places ie. 2 Day 1 Night, as it was still very frozen even as it was on display, and the frozen food taste was quite strong. Also, they don't have the cold barley drink that I really like; I find that it helps to cleanse my palate after all the meat.

While there were minor disappointments, on the whole the meal was quite satisfactory indeed, and it is slightly cheaper as well I think, at $24 per person for dinner. I left smelling slightly of BBQ, stuffed to the brim, and rather happy.

My friends and I had actually wanted to go to neighbouring Fat Cat and then Wimbly Lu for dinner and dessert, but when we reached Jalan Riang, lo and behold, both were closed -.- The only place open was La Pizzaiola, and while I was hesitant about going in, there didn't seem to be any choice.

La Pizzaiola is a italian restaurant (no surprise there) doing traditional pizza and pasta dishes with antipasti and a few mains. When we walked in, the place was abuzz with people and caucasians, which put me a little more at ease. They seemed to enjoy the food and looked comfortable, so we settled in and looked at the menu. As far as italian food went, this restaurant didn't stray too far from the path, with the usual proscuitto al fungi pizza and risotto with porcini mushrooms. My eye picked up on a slightly more unusual pasta though, squid-ink potato dumplings in crab meat sauce, and in the end we decided to go with that and a calzone to share. The pasta came first and we peered hesitantly at it. It looked slightly dubious, but it tasted good, thank goodness. The potato dumplings weren't too hard or 'jelat', it felt a little like tang yuan? And the crab meat sauce it was in was tasty, not too salty, and the tangy-ness of the tomato was present as well.The calzone came soon after and did not disappoint as well. I was worried the inside would dry out (which happens if its not done well/properly) but when we cut into it, the gravy sipped out pipping hot. ^^ It was filled with ham, mushrooms and olives, and the pizza skin was thin enough that there was enough filling for skin and enough skin for filling.

The service was also good, with friendly and helpful service staff. One of our servers was slightly pushy toward certain items on the menu, but it's probably what he was more familiar with, and it didn't negatively influence our experience at La Pizzaiola. On the whole, it was sad that we didn't manage to go to Fat Cat/Wimbly Lu, but I guess there is always a silver lining.

I went for a dinner recently at The Rotisserie, which was located at Rochester Mall. After reaching Rochester Mall, I soon realised that food there was pricey and that there were few restaurants to choose from. As a result, The Rotisserie- reasonably priced food- became the venue for dinner.

From what I hear from my friends, the pork knuckle there is really good, but I wasn't really in the mood for salted meat, so after pouring over the menu I opted for a 'safer' option- soup, salad and panini.

While it may sound bland, boring and blah, it was actually really tasty and filling. It basically consists of a Soup-of-the-day (it happened to be chicken and vegetable on my day), a choice of salad from the salad bar, and a choice of panini from their selection of filling. Long story short, I chose the Chicken ranch salad and the Italian panini.

The Rotisserie works in a self-service manner, (you're given a buzzer after you pay at the cashier which will alert you to when your food is ready for collection) but I was quite glad that they didn't take too long to prepare the food. I've heard that for the pork knuckle, only a few are available at any given time, so if they run out you'd have to wait for a half-hour before you'd get your food. Anyways, my food was served rather promptly.So, first things first. My soup was really tasty, and I liked that there was a chicken bone/thigh and chopped vegetables in it- it made me feel that it was home cooked (although there was also a rather strong MSG taste). Next, I chose the Chicken Ranch salad, which was an adequate portion. While it wasn't very generous, the lettuce was crisp and there were quite a few slices of chicken so I've not qualms about it. My only peeve is the amount of dressing they used; whatever notion of healthiness I had when I ordered a salad vanished with the thick dressing. Lastly, the panini. The bread used seemed to be the normal gardenia bread, but because it was grilled panini-style it wasn't bad, and the filling wasn't sparse. The Italian panini came with ham and salami, dressed with basil pesto.

Together, the soup, salad and panini made quite a filling meal that left me not bursting, but content. Moreover, the setup at Rochester Mall was quite chill and laid-up, making it a nice place to meet your friends for a meal and a catch-up session (if Buona Vista happens to be convenient).

I had passed by Bull and Butcher a while back and it looked good, so I decided to go there for dinner a few days ago. Together with my friend, we got a set menu for dinner- consisting of a appetizer, main and dessert- and a mixed grill with a separate appetizer of oysters and a side of sauteed forest mushrooms. First to come was the salmon salad- the appetizer from the set menu. It was a generous portion, there were thick slabs of smoked salmon with rocket and capers and a drizzled cream cheese dressing. The cream cheese went extremely well with the salmon and the capers took the edge of the bitter rocket. The half a dozen oysters came next. They were fresh and juicy; although they were cleaned, you could still taste the sea, which in my opinion, added to the flavour. My Australian Wagyu beef fettuccine came next (it was the main I chose). I enjoyed the tomato base and the al dente texture of the pasta, but it was nothing to write home about and I felt there wasn't enough beef.


The Mixed Grill also arrived at the same time, but I was so busy with my pasta I forgot to take a photo of the Mixed Grill That is a true pity because both my friend and I really liked it. There was a selection of steak, sausage, and lamb. The steak was done medium rare and so so juicy! Eating it I could tell that steak was Bull and Butcher's forte. The lamb was decent, but again nothing amazing, but I really liked the sausage. It was stuffed with herbs and this offset the otherwise 'jelat-ness' of the meaty sausage.We also ordered a side of sauteed forest mushrooms. While simple, the mushrooms were tasty and flavourful, accompanying the meat and pasta well.We were really stuffed by the time it came to dessert, but I couldn't help myself when it arrived. The cheesecake was very light and not at all creamy, and the fruits went very well, making it a delightful end to the evening.

All in all, I really like Bull and Butcher, both because of the great food and the lovely ambiance. A great place to go for a date, or just a quiet dinner with someone special.