Pictures are at http://thehungrybunnie.blogspot.sg/2015/08/long-ji-seafood.html

I love crabs (so much I eat them at least once a week!) so when photos of Long Ji's crab bee hoon began popping up on my newsfeed on a daily basis, I thought I'll make a point to try the signature dish, see if it was worth the hype.
Located across the alley from Tiong Bahru Bakery, and a little behind cze char-heavyweight Sin Hoi Sai, the small-ish coffeeshop establishment has been doing a roaring trade since it set up shop late 2014. Possibly even better than when the chef-owner was toiling in the kitchens at the now-defunct Golden Spoon Seafood (it was "that other restaurant" across the carpark from Por Kee).
We had:
1) Long Ji Crab Bee Hoon ($): a towering mound of bee hoon drenched in broth with a crab sitting pretty atop, looks impressive but pedestrian in taste. A little disappointing, after all that hype. The lard-tinged broth was sweet but lacked depth, and needed a little spice or piquancy to kick it up several notches. I had to ask for copious lashings of fried garlic crisps, and sambal,for oomph.
2) Fermented Pork Belly ($15 for small): another signature dish but wow did it deliver. The bite-sized strips of pork were scrumptious- flavoursome, and juicy. Elevated by that awesome sambal that was at once punchy and lively. I'll return just for these.
3) Cereal Pumpkin Beancurd ($18 for small): also lackluster. It was creamy and sweet enough, but one-dimensional in flavour, and missing in that well-rounded savoury component.

Pictures are at http://thehungrybunnie.blogspot.sg/2015/09/com-nam-vietnamese-street-eats.html

It's surprising that the sister restaurant to Nam Nam, incidentally located next to Nam Nam at Raffles City, hasn't quite taken off. The self-serviced eatery was only half-filled, unlike Nam Nam's perpetual full-house. Perhaps the "broken rice" concept isn't quite as distinguishing, or as internationally-beloved, as Vietnam's national dish - the comforting pho.
We had:
1) Spicy Beef Rice Noodle Soup ($9.90): a robust mix of tangy and spicy flavours, but let down by the tough chewy thick slices of beef and undercooked, almost raw beansprouts.
2) Vietnamese Sizzling Crepe ($10.90): excellent, with thick slices of tender pork belly, succulent prawns, fresh lettuce, pickled radish and julienned cucumbers. Skip the beansprouts, these had an undercooked alkalinity.
3) Napa Cabbage Soup ($5): sweet and delicate, and choc-a-bloc with bouncy juicy squid balls.
4) Squash Soup with Pork Ribs ($5): middling; the pork ribs were dry-ish and soup base lacking in depth.
5) Crispy Shrimp & Sweet Potato Fritters ($6.50): authentic, but I hated the shells-on shrimp. Would have much preferred the deshelled version

Full review's at http://thehungrybunnie.blogspot.sg/2015/10/the-bark-cafe.html

The entirely alfresco restaurant serves coffeehouse-type fare, so you get a hodgepodge of local classics like nasi goreng and seafood hor fan, as well as western mainstays like beef stew and cheeseburgers. The food was ok, but if I had to take into account the 40-minute drive in heavy traffic from town, I wouldn't go to The Bark Cafe. That said, this would make a worthwhile visit IF you're already in the area and looking for sustenance in a chilled-out spot with lots of quiet and charm.
We had:
1) Tangy Calamari Rings ($9.90): thinly battered and deep-fried to a delectable crisp, but what impressed me was that the squid encased within was perfectly cooked.
2) Sweet Potato Sticks ($13.90): balanced out by the salty creaminess of the Parmesan mayo dip.
3) Bark Cafe Famous Chicken Wing ($15.90 for 6 pcs): they really shouldn't have slapped a superlative such as this, because it set expectations too lofty to meet. The prawn paste-accented wings were nice, but vapid, and so, failed to leave an impression. I've had better for less.
4) Smoky Black Pepper Duck Breast ($18.90): surprising refined. I wouldn't have expected a casual place like this to serve this typically highbrow dish, or to do it this well. Sparkling fresh meat, with nary a hint of game, was slow-roasted to luscious perfection. This was sided by wafu-dressed mesclun greens, and mashed potatoes.
5) Fish & Chips ($18.90): decent, but the deep-fried Pacific dory fillet was a dime a dozen.
6) Grilled Guinness Balsamic Chicken ($19.90) marinated in Cajun herbs, sided by steamed root vegetables, mashed potatoes, and slathered in a Guinness beer gravy: nice enough, but it reminded me of those hawker centre western food stall productions.
7) Chicago Roasted Tenderloin ($29.90): even though cheap, this was lackluster. The beef was gamey, so no amount of roasting finesse could save it.

Full review's at http://thehungrybunnie.blogspot.sg/2015/11/paddy-hills.html

Food-wise, it was a hit-and-miss averaging on decent, and occasionally bordering on so-so. Methinks Paddy Hills would make a pretty worthwhile option if you're in the area, but I don't think the food was excellent enough to warrant travelling from afar.
The bistro is run by a lean workforce, but, for a place that doesn't have any service charge, service was fantastic - smiley and efficient. Another perk, no GST either!
That said, my grouse was mainly regarding the menu, it tended towards unnecessary and wasted pretense. If a menu requires Dr Google's assistance to make an informed decision, that's far too much posturing. I mean, how many regular people know what bagna cauda is? Or even how to pronounce it?!

Also, a girlfriend took issue with the mispresentation on the menu. What was named 'Hash Hash' with a description of "sauteed beef, mushroom, chorizo, doughstick and sous vide egg" turned out to be a beef bak kut teh. Calling a dish "hash", she said, and I quite agree, implies that the whole jin-gang is sauteed, as you would a breakfast hash. A soupy bak kut teh IS NOT a hash. Strip away the pretense, I think, and re-direct the effort to the food. That's what draws in the crowds anyway.
We had:
1) Berry Ricotta Hotcake ($23) adorned with blueberry sugar, pinenuts, raspberries, strawberries, blueberries, yuzu gel, and maple syrup: Very pretty, and it tasted as good as it looked. Thick, dense, but fluffy, these were the best pancakes I've had for as long as I can remember.
2) Quesadillas ($20) stuffed with pulled duck and pickles, served with charred baby capsicum and sweet corn, and sided by a garlic aioli and guacamole: The quesadillas, in addition to being laced with parsley, were mediocre. My parsley-loving friend, who had this, said to give this a hard pass.
3) Hash Hash ($24): Misleading description aside, this was a reasonably commendable and very comforting bowl of beef bak kut teh. Meltingly soft and wonderfully fatty, the luscious hunks of meat could have passed off as pork if I hadn't been informed otherwise. I particularly liked the western twist of the sous vide egg, arugula leaves, and chickpeas.
4) Kimchi Fried Rice ($20): much touted, but turned out middling, even with the perfectly wobbly sous vide egg, and medium-well tender steak. I've had better

If you grew up in Hongkong or Malaysia in the 90's, chances are that you would have enjoyed many after-school trips to Hong Kong Kim Gary with your friends. The food is unabashedly B-rate, a bastardised hodgepodge of the east and west flavours. Compound that with value-for-money sets that helped stretch a limited allowance, Kim Gary was a teenager's paradise. One thing I hated though, was how disorganized and repetitive the 7 different menus here were; it drove me crazy.

The Seven Treasure Cheese Baked Curry ($12.50) was laden with pork chop, squid rings, ham, chicken wing, sausage, egg, and potatoes; great for hungry hippos.The Cheese Baked Rice with Pork Chop ($13.90) with red sauce was decent; moist and sumptuous.The Cheese Baked Rice with Pork Chop ($13.90) with white sauce got a little cloying and heavy halfway through, although a girlfriend, who loves her cream, lapped this all up. I much prefer the red sauce, an instant bottled spaghetti-like sauce, the Cheese Baked Rice with Chicken Chop ($13.90) and the chicken was better done than the pork. More juicy.All the sets comprise a choice of Borsch or Sweet Corn Cream Soup. I say to get the minestrone-like borsch over the sweet corn cream, which was marginally better than a can of campbells.Hong Kong Kim Gary Restaurant

1 Harbourfront Walk

Vivocity #02-128

Tel: 6376 8183

Open daily from 10am to 10pm