I love the seng bee here. the portions are generous and the prices are slightly lower than the ones at amk ave 6. without fail, it'd always be an order of the fish porridge with century egg. The porridge is consistently a smooth gruel. There's enough century egg to be shared with mum and the fish slices although sliced thinly, hold well together and taste fresh. The ginger slices aren't just for show, they actually have some spice in them. unlike some places where the ginger strips have been soaked so long in water they no longer have a taste.

Instead of their signature hor funs with various choices of the toppings, we decide to go for their plain hor funs and add on shared dishes.for a table of 9, we had servings of hor fun all around ($2.80). Slippery and smooth, it was a good hor fun but a relatively small serving.

A sea cucumber and mushrooms claypot that had very thick and savoury sauce but was a small serving. A side of kailan that was good but too salty.

A whole tender chicken that was really done very well. The skin was smooth and it wasn't fatty. a pretty good sized chicken for $22. A bowl of dumplings $12 for 12. although a substantial size, it would have done well with more flavouring in the meat rather than the MSG laden soup.

Coming at an offpeak timing was very good news because of their special menu. And this time round, it was mini ishiyaki dons. I chose the mini ishiyaki kurobuta don. which has tofu, sliced black pork, mushrooms and sukiyaki sauce in a hotpot. You might want to put in their red pepper powder for an additional spice kick.

This comes with a starter chawanmushi and a green tea. all for just $5.And of course i love my pumpkin croquette too much to skip it.

this was my first foray into beanstro. the tealight cups on all the tables were a pretty sight. and although cosy, it got a lil chilly.

the service was alright. the people at the counter were more fun than the waitstaff walking around. a chicago cheesecake with the addtional chocolate drizzles and a quarter of a sour strawberry saw a sizeable price increase to $8 from the usual $6.50 that I was used to paying at the regular coffee bean cafes.

the ultimate ice blended with java chip was a lot more diluted here today, even with the addition of whipped cream.

unless it's another attempt to try the food, i don't think i'll be back here soon.

i randomly walked into palio because I had a while to spare before picking up some people from Hotel Michael.

after i was given the menu,

this arrived.and boy was it bad news.

because this lightly toasted bread was so good!

crisp on the outside and soft on the insides.

with the olive oil tomato dip. it was finger licking good!

and what's better for bread than a soup dip?i made an order for a mushroom soup. earthy and topped with all that generous truffle shavings.

i was delightfully drinking it till the last drop!

so much for a light bite.