I finally tried the famous Punggol Nasi Lemak. The chilli is really spicier than normal but very fragrant. I had to eat the keropok at the side quickly as it was becoming soggy really fast. The rice wasn't fragrant enough for a nasi lemak, the coconut taste was really faint and almost non-existent. Not as great as I thought it would be, you can find better nasi lemak at hawker centres! But at least, it's air-conditioned here. There's milo dinosaur too - and I must say that it's well-done because it's very thick (the way I like it!) and sweet too.

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I finally braved the crowds and joined the ranks of the queuing warriors at Tim Ho Wan. After eons of its debut at Plaza Singapura and subsequently at Toa Payoh, Bedok and last month at West Gate, this dim sum restaurant still attracts throngs of people to dine at this place. At Sunday noon, it took me thirty minutes to get from the end of the queue to the front. Not as bad as I thought it would be - but do note your whole group needs to be physically present before you will be issued a table.

The legendary Tim Ho Wan!!!Baked Bun with BBQ Pork (3pcs) - $4.50
There's always their '4 Heavenly Kings' to make up for it... here are their signature BBQ pork buns. Much much smaller than I've always seen on blogs and reviews. I've only got to say kudos to the food photographers for micro-focusing on the baked buns! It is in real life only smaller than (my) palm-size. Living up to its name, the baked buns do break apart with a crispy exterior and fluffy inner walls. The pork fillings are also melt-in-your-mouth delicious and sweet. Recommended.Pan-Fried Carrot Cake (3pcs) - $4.50
Quite the ordinary carrot cake which did not impress much.Steamed Egg Cake - $3.80
Right outside Tim Ho Wan, one of their television screens was playing an excerpt of a Channel 8 foodie variety show raving about this Steamed Egg Cake, or affectionately known as Ma Lai Gau. This one-star Michelin restaurant's rendition is not as appealing as the usual Singapore/ Malaysia street snack. It's pretty good, but it lacks the sweetness and the softness. Quite a surprising fail for one of their signature dishes.Vermicelli Roll with Sweet and Sesame Sauce - $4.20
Very old-school taste with the classic sweet sauce which gets cloying after a few mouthfuls. The vermicelli roll is pretty good but maybe go for those with fillings rather than just the sauce.Beef Ball with Beancurd Skin (3pcs) - $4.20
An interesting dish of beef balls with a dash of lime/lemon (can't tell which) and really chewy with a soft bite.Pork Dumpling with Shrimp (4pcs) - $5
Ordinary siew mai without much interesting innovation... Tim Ho Wan needs to up their ante to compete with other restaurants when the taste is little more than average.Prawn Dumplings (4pcs) - $5.50
This dish managed the bare minimum requirements as har gaus but really nothing beyond the average to justify for the higher prices.Beancurd Skin Roll with Shrimp - $5.50
This was really good. The crunchiness of the skin roll was really good and complemented its soft and juicy shrimp fillings. Not much to be said except that this dish emerges as a surprising favourite as it is a fried dish! Recommended.Congee with Lean Pork, Century Egg & Salted Egg - $4.20
Thick congee that is extremely yummy with much ingredients but probably due to a lot of MSG content. I am quite sensitive to MSG and this is definitely more than what I would consider acceptable.

Tim Ho Wan falls below my expectations on an overall with only two dishes that I really liked - their BBQ Pork Buns and their fried beancurd skin rolls. I'm not sure which ones (or all) of their dishes had MSG in it - I could sense that the tastiness of the food wasn't coming from any of the ingredients but from somewhere else and my unnatural thirstiness after the meal confirmed my guess. Oh well. I won't be going back on my own accord because of the overrated queues and MSG-laden food. I am surprised there are people still queuing for it - there can't be so many first-timers, right? So Tim Ho Wan - tried & tested. The dimsum trail continues.

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Truth be told, I've never tried a dish of mantou like this anywhere. I always thought it's to be paired with something flavourful like crabs or kong ba pau. Then again, there's always a first. Ordered a plate of mantou like this for $3. The bread exterior is crispy and to be dipped with the buttery sauce on the side. The boyfriend thinks it's not fragrant enough though, and considered it not good enough. and doesn't recommend it. I found it very similar to youtiao and quite interesting for a first try, though I probably wouldn't order it on my own.

d'Good Cafe has been hailed as one of the better cafes in this era of cafehopping, it almost earns itself celebrity status in the industry. Housed at the second and third floor of the shophouses in Holland Village, this cafe's menu spans across house brews to pasta to desserts.

Alfresco seating is romantically decorated against a backdrop of high-rise apartment buildings. Those fairy lights do magic. Unfortunately diners on the third floor have to repeatedly head to the order counter at second floor, come back to wait for the order beeper to ring and then collect their food again. Up and down the stairs... it's a trap! You'll get hungrier from the exercise and you would order more.Chicken Pesto Pasta - $14
The sauce tasted like a 50-50 garlic and cream base, with a very fragrant and light hint of basil. I don't really like the taste of basil; thankfully it wasn't encroaching. The linguine pasta was cooked al dente perfectly. The chicken slices were too thick for comfort and hence quite dry, but at least they were generous with it. They could do a lot better with thinner chicken slices and retain more moisture within the meat. Hot Mocha - $5.80 (R)
d'Good cafe's hot mocha is relatively much more acidic than the other cafes I've been to, against my self-preference. Not spectacular, but generally still enjoyable, and bonus points for the coffee art! $6.80 for a large cup.

For more photos and full review, visit http://spherepiece.blogspot.sg/2013/12/food-feat-dgood-cafe-holland-village.html

Lunch today with Averie at Benten Cafe! I refrain from school food on Fridays hence, here I am. Benten Cafe is an open-concept restaurant, much more open than the usual kind because you are likely to be seated right beside shoppers walking past you. Stretch your hand out and you can block someone's path - that kind of open-concept. Luckily, it's located on the third floor where the traffic flow is lesser (but where in Jurong Point is completely free of crowds - the answer: nowhere).
Weekday lunch set menus from Benten, which includes Soup + Bread + Main + Drink + Dessert for the stated prices. GST and service charge not included in stated price.Mushroom Soup & Garlic Bread
The mushroom soup tasted like store-bought mushroom soup with the exception of the sprinkling of parsley herbs at the top. But I profess a secret love for store-bought mushroom soups... though I do prefer to taste the real chunks of mushrooms. The garlic bread was burnt to a crisp at the edges, which screams cancer-causing but at least it is still evenly buttered.Tomato & Prawn in Tomato Cream Sauce - $13.80 for the set meal
The pasta was cooked al dente and springy, which was good. The tomato cream sauce was teetering on the brink of being too sour - they needed a good dosage of sugar to balance the tomato's sourness. The sauce was also a little too diluted. What they could have done was to blend the tomato a bit more so that the sauce will be thicker. It tasted almost home-made - not exactly a compliment because I was referring to home-made by myself. They were generous with the prawns though, which were sweet and not too artificially springy. Bacon & Mushroom in Garlic Sauce - $12.80 for the set meal
I pinched a small mouthful and agreed with Averie that the pasta was too bland. It was only slightly salted and there was no hint of garlic sauce at all. The bacon had more fats than real meat, which was quite a pity. Mini Green Tea Ice-Cream
I was quite pleasantly surprised that the dessert was much more elaborate than expected. From the description on the menu, I would have thought that the dessert would come in a mini bowl with a scoop of ice-cream. Instead, the green tea ice-cream was balanced atop another scoop of vanilla ice-cream, garnished with some red beans and a slice of peach. The green tea ice-cream was rich and strong in its matcha taste, though the peach was a little sour. The red beans were sweet and not sandy in texture. I don't like red beans but this was surprisingly great. Mini Strawberry Ice-Cream
Averie's choice of dessert

The service is generally quite laidback but maintains their minimal level of professionalism. Overall verdict of this place: The mains are really quite not up-to-standard even for regular pastas, but considering the amount of food you are getting for the price, I guess if you're not too picky it's fine. Their desserts look promising though.