Basil Seed in Vanilla Sauce with Vanilla Ice-Cream ($5.50) is definitely the worst HK dessert I've ever tried. The Basil Seeds are overwhelmingly generous, tasteless, with no definition when biting them. The vanilla sauce was also very weak in flavour and does not blend well with the basil seeds at all. The only saving grace is the vanilla ice-cream, but I think it is shipped from elsewhere so no credits to the shop itself.

All in all, I have no idea why this item is on the menu - it tasted more experimental than anything.

Worse - there was no more mango on the menu at around 8pm, which makes almost all the cold items unavailable which resulted in us resorting to order this weird dessert. The servers were not apologetic about it NOR did they warn us before we entered the shop either.

What a bad experience. From a loyal customer of Honeymoon Dessert, I might be switching camps to Mei Heong Yuen officially.

What happened here was a quick lunch at Astons @ The Centrepoint. I was having a massive craving for pasta so I didn't order the teaks or slabs of meat that people usually get at Astons but I chose the Beef Bolognaise (comes with a Soup of the Day) - $9.50++.Soup of the Day was Mushroom Soup - my favourite! I've always liked their Mushroom Soups, thick and full of mushroom flavour plus a generous dollop of pepper. Oh my, I love pepper even though it's a lazy shortcut to win my heart and tastebuds. My only gripe was that the Garlic Bread was too tough to bite and the butter is never spread out evenly (happens all the time at different branches too).
Beef Bolognaise at Astons is a mistake, now I know. I should have stuck with the usual steaks offerings. When I thought nobody could mess up such a simple pasta dish, it happened here. The spaghetti tasted half-cooked and rather raw, despite quite a long waiting time of about 15 minutes. The rest of it was almost tasteless, not sure if it's because the soup was too flavourful and numbed my tastebuds. It was very uninspiring and did not satisfy my cravings.

It's best to stick with the meats at Astons.

The rage about 4 Fingers Crispy Chicken is all around. I see (very) long queues everywhere for this fast food fried chicken, both at ION Orchard and Plaza Singapura's outlets. Are those queues justifiable by the food it offers? Hmm. Here are some shots of their menu - basically a haven for chicken lovers. I like chicken, but not interested in fried versions of them - unless they are really very good. So it's really hard to please me in this department. I haven't found a fried chicken that I liked, the ones that barely come close are from Charlie Brown's or KFCs, but I avoid them as much as I can. How it works: Find a seat (and chope it, please. It's packed during peak hours!), order at the counter and then be seated and collect your order at the designated point. No additional service charge/GST - what you see is what you pay! You get to choose your seasoning sprinkle - Soy Garlic, Chilli or Mixed (both). I chose Soy Garlic with Chicken Burger Meal (the burger + kimchi fries + coke) - $9.95. My verdict for 4 Fingers is that... it's not worth the queue nor the money. While I did made a previous disclaimer that I don't like fried chicken, I think even from a somewhat more objective point of view, the fried chicken offered here is neither tender nor juicy. On the contrary, it is dry and crispy, and bordering on being sharp as the prickly skin cut across my mouth as I tried to bite it. The kimchi fries were also limp and soggy even though I ate them within five minutes of retrieving them from the counter. I could barely finish half of it too.

Don't understand the hype about this fried chicken and the long queues baffle me every single time I walk past them. Then again, food tastes are always subjective, eh?

PS Cafe is one of those places that keep appearing on my social media newsfeed! I knew I had to go check it out one day for myself to quell that curiosity in my heart. I liked the quiet, classy European al fresco dining area a lot, especially the tall ceiling! A whole tree was in there. It is really quite interesting and special because it is on the second floor instead of the first floor. Not much of a view though, it is just some sort of a back alley. There is also the air-conditioned area if you don't like al fresco dining.PS. Caesar Salad with Rosemary-Honey Dijon Chicken - $26++ was what I ordered... I always prefer to find positive points to write about the food I eat ... but for this, I am quite at a loss on what to write. Disclaimer: I don't normally like salads but I thought that with this price, it should be a good platform from which I can start liking salads. Big mistake to associate proportional increment between price and the tastiness of food.

I just remembered chewing the vegetables till the sides of my mouth ached (I was barely one-third done with them) and then I thought the chicken would be better, so I switched to eating the chicken. It was a single kebab sort of chicken which actually costs an additional $4++. The only adjectives I can think of are: dry, tough, hard, and tasteless. Not worth it at all. It wasn't marinated well at all, if it was even marinated. I made it through about three-quarters of the meat and I gave up. My teeth were worn out trying to tear the meat down. There were also croutons and small barbecue meat pieces thrown around the salad, and they were equally tough to bite.

You can expect me to still feel hungry at the end of this - I feel like I spent more calories trying to eat this salad up then gaining anything. The only good thing about this is the egg, which was well, chew-able. Let's not talk about the flavours and the intricacies of the dish at all - if I don't feel comfortable eating this, then it's a goner. Not sure if it's a one-off bad performance or not, but either way I'm not coming back to this overrated place... even if the ambience and service is admittedly enjoyable.

*Maybe* other dishes are better. At the very least, you are advised against ordering the PS Caesar Salad.They have flavoured iced water - it was apple iced water that day even though you can't really tell from here.

The first dish that I usually order from any food court or hawker centre is the Hainanese Chicken Rice, one of the hallmarks of Singapore food. The representative from Food Opera is the Sergeant Hainanese Chicken Rice stall, which is pretty much disappointing. Priced at $5, the serving was pathetically small. I haven't touched it when I took this photo - a small amount of chicken, half a measly slice of tomato and four thin slices of cucumber... I think hawker centres do better than this at $3!

Don't get me started on the "soup"... it was MSG-loaded and forgettable. If you were to add-on vegetables, it is another $2, making it $7. At this pricing, I feel like I have transported to a restaurant in a tourist attraction. To give its due credit, the chicken was sufficiently tender albeit not entirely boneless. Other than that... I do not recommend this at all. Your money would be better spent elsewhere.

It was also very difficult to find a seat at peak hours, and you just might have to share a table with many strangers.