Some time ago I've went to The Soup Spoon as I was yearning for a warm hearty dinner on a rainy day. 

The Chef's Special that time around was the tweaked version of clam chowder, which was the Peace, Love & Muscles Chowder. This consists of New Zealand green shelled mussels, sweet potato, russet potato, celery, spinach, fennel and bacon. The ingredients sound delicious but in reality it's not that awesome, consistency needs to be thicker. I would still prefer their regular clam chowder. I also got myself a Fish Taco Wrap with side salad and seriously, it tasted horrible! There was this sour taste to it that irks my appetite and I gave up eating after 2 bites. My friend who tried the same dish at another outlet also experienced the same issue, so this is definitely something that can be taken out from the main menu. Overall, with high hopes come big disappointments. I have not returned to this place for awhile now and will only go back after I rid the fish taco image from my mind.

Decided to takeaway from BBQ Express the other day, it was around evening time and I hadn't had anything the entire day so I was kind of looking forward to a good take out to enjoy at home. 

Got the Teriyaki Chicken with Pineapple Rice ($4.50). Man, was I disappointed at paying at that price. The portion given to me the last time I visited was kind of worth it's value, guess the consistency just isn't there? Well, the chicken tasted fine, not exactly flavourful unless dipped in the sauce, the pineapple rice was a tad bit overcooked. I might return for some other items but definitely not from their set menu again, or probably not takeout. They do sell 10 nuggets for $2 and I might probably get that next time.

I wasn't feeling that well one night and decided to just order Pizza Hut delivery. The online order site was user-friendly and they're offering the usual hot deals. I've gotten the Variety Meal Box A ($19.90) which I've chosen a personal pan Haiwaiian Pizza and a Chicken Supreme which came alongside with 4pc Honey Roasted Wings, 5pc Mini Hash Browns and 6pc Chicken Karaage. Really worth the money! 
On the website, they also promoted the Pasta Perfectto as an add-on and I've also gotten that, a Chicken Pomodoro ($5) which I was looking forward to. However, the delivery guy came promptly in 30minutes but didn't pass that to me. It was too late the time I tried to go downstairs to find him. I resorted to calling the hotline for help & the operator told me she'd dispatch the driver immediately, but the "immediate" took almost 50minutes, although the pasta did arrive warm, the lateness was kind of disappointing. Would take me awhile to patronize Pizza Hut again. 

Being my favourite casual dining restaurant to go on a simple date, Bangkok Jam always have something great to offer despite its limited menu. Came to the outlet at Plaza Singapura on a weekday night, almost all the tables were occupied but luckily, we were directed to this corner table for 2. Space may be a little limited and we could easily hear the other tables' conversations, but it was manageable. Decided to skip the usual curries that we love to try something different! Got their Chicken Phad Thai ($11.50) with the original stick noodle. The dish was sumptuous, very flavourful despite its simple laid-back presentation. They weren't very generous with the chicken meat but for the taste, it was worth its price. I also got their Grilled Chicken with Thai Herbs - Half ($15.90), this item was under the "sides and mains" section and I thought that this would be a main course on its own since its ultimately a half grilled chicken, but no it came like this without any side dishes. And since service was very slow I didn't bother wasting time to get the rice. As usual, my buddy got himself the Red Ruby with Coconut Icecream ($7.50) because it's always been his favourite. Its a simple yet comforting dessert on any occasion. We also gave their Mango Sticky Rice ($8.90) a try. We love everything about it! The warm sticky rice and cold fresh mango flesh topped with sweet but not overpowering sauce were really great combination! Really worthy to be one of my best Asian desserts. Overall, I really love the food as well as the interesting city-inspired ambience. However, I wasn't impressed with the service at all. Firstly, we asked for 2 cups of ice water when we were ordering, the waitress nodded but did not open her mouth. Secondly, not only did the waitress not repeat our orders, she had forgotten about our ice water even after 2 dishes arrived. Thirdly, it was more than difficult and frustrating to get any staff's attention and when we finally managed, the attitude given were worst than standard. Fourthly, other customers who came later than us were served with their table of food before we even got our first dish.

I have written over 120 reviews on Openrice and never did once I complained much about the service. So it really shows that I'm pretty upset over the service served here despite my love for their food. I may still return to the other outlets but no way am I coming back to this particular outlet anymore (not till the day I see the change in their waitstaff).

I've held pretty high expectations about Dean & Deluca at Orchard Central. If you don't already know, it's an up-market brand in New York that sells premium groceries but also has a good bakery and cafe.

Learned that they adopt the self-service concept and customers basically read from the large menu board above the counter to order. Got myself the Chicken Burrito ($22), because it has some really nice ingredients such as ancho chicken, black bean, tomato salsa, guacamole, jack and cheese in tortilla wrap. I love all the flavours and texture of the ingredients combined, but for some reasons I wasn't impressed and the overall taste felt like something I could make at home. The burrito were hard and tough to bite despite the flavours. However, I did like the chips and salad. My friend got himself the Italian Meatball ($22), made out of Italian pork and beef with marinara sauce on bread. The hero of the dish, the meatballs, tasted tough too. We were not sure what went wrong on that day but it sure was a pretty stable weekday early evening. Overall, I visited this place with high hopes but left with disappointments. The food weren't bad, they were just .. too average to be priced like that. If only they price things lower and rid away the self-service concept, I may consider visiting again. For now, no. However, I do fancy their fresh grocery selection with really interesting premium ingredients.