I was told by a friend that Wo Peng Restaurant brings you the very best traditional and authentic Hong Kong style Cantonese cusine. Armed with two sets of Groupon coupons (worth SGD$80 each), I bought my family of four to try their lunch on a weekday.The restaurant was crowded even though our appointment was 130pm. The staff were busy handling other customers. Most of the customers were using the Groupon coupons vouchers. It took ten minutes before the waitress was able to take our order. It also took a long time before the dishes were served. We ordered some dishes from the a la carte menu and some dim sum. Perhaps we came too late as most of the dishes stated in the menu were not available. We were rather disappointed.

Soup
We ordered two types of of soup. The menu reads "A Daily Soup, A Healthy Choice", so we selected the healthy version. The double boiled chicken soup with bamboo pith and chinese cabbage is quite reasonable in terms of taste but it is quite pricey at SGD13 per bowl. I didn't enjoy the double boiled cordyceps flower soup with drendrobium and meat reduction. It tasted like Chinese medicine.Dishes

The Stir-fried asparagus and scallops was nice. The scallops were big and fresh. The irony : This was a substituted dish as the original dish which we ordered (traditional smoked and roasted duck with camphor and tea leaf) did not arrive after waiting for fifty minutes. The staff did not realize that the duck was out of stock until we enquired why it took so long to serve the duck). It was obviously a mistakeThe blanch Taiwan cabbage with century egg, salted egg and egg white in superior stock was quite nice. It wasn't too salty and it is comparable to the one served in Diao Xiao Er, which is my all time favourite!Dim Sum
We ordered mostly common and standard dim sum such as Siew Mai, Har Gow (Fresh Shrimp Dumplings) and Steamed Pork Ribs. I would rate the dim sum average and reasonable which you can get similar dim sum in other Cantonese restaurants.Desserts
Out of the seven items advertised in the desserts menu, only three are available. We selected Chilled Mango Puree with Pomelo and Sago and Home-made Osmunthus Jelly. Similarly like the dim sums, I would rate the desserts reasonable and average. I like the sweet Mango Pudding with pomelo (though little) better than the Osmunthus Jelly. The Jelly tasted like agar agar and it costs SGD6 per bowl.Conclusion
To be honest, I was disappointed with the lunch @ Wo Peng Restaurant. It fell short of my expectations on many factors such as quality of food, pricing, customer services, waiting time and food presentation. Sincerely hope they can make improvement to win back the customers in future.

For Christmas, we had Bak Kut Teh for lunch!

B.K.T. by Kong Kee serves their signature dish Malaysian Klang Style Bak Kut Teh with their original secret recipe created in 1965 by their grandparents in Klang. They are proud of their special Bak Kut Teh. How are they different from the rest? Published on a poster which they displayed on the table, they say.

1. They are probably the 1st Bak Kut Teh restaurant in Singapore to serve Klang Style Dry and Soup Bak Kut Teh and Singaporean Teochew Style Bak Kut Teh in one location.

2. They use the finest ingredient like fresh pork for the pork ribs.

3. They serve Kwey Tiao Soup and Shallot Rice.Teochew Style Bak Kut Teh

There are three types of soup bases at B.K.T. by Kong Kee. We opted for the Teochew Style soup base which is usually the normal base. You can drink to your heart’s content as this soup base is refillable. There were generous pork ribs provided in one serving and I like the soup as they did not add too much pepper. The right combination of pepper, garlic and fresh pork ribs makes the soup fragrant and yummy. I love it! The rest of the items were quite standard when you order Bak Kut Teh. We ordered braised eggs, braised beancurd skins and groundnuts. The beancurb skins and groundnuts serving were huge and more than sufficient for two adults!
Bah Kut Teh is a Chinese soup that is always listed as one of top must-try dishes in Singapore and it has always been one of my favourite. If you have craving for Bah Kut Teh, especially on a raining day, I recommend B.K.T. by Kong Kee.

Ps : This is not a sponsored post.

Ricciotti Pizza Pasta Deli was opened at The Riverwalk in 2004 and in 2006, Ricciotti expanded and opened its second restaurant at China Square Central. Ricciotti has always been my choice for authentic and affordable Italian gourmet food in Singapore.

I've earlier tried their "1 for 1 pizza or pasta promotion" at their Star Vista Outlet in October 2014 with delight and it was actually quite value for money. Hence, I invited two friends for a return visit for the same promotion.

We did not make any reservations and we were seated down comfortably upon our arrival. I like the wooden interior decorations. The staff were friendly and introduced us the Italian food available under current promotion and those in the ala carte menu.We ordered two types of pizza and one spaghetti to share among the three of us. The Spaghetti Marinara costs S$23.50. The Spaghetti was served with calamari, clams, sea scallops, prawns, cherry tomatoes in light tomato sauce. If you like seafood spaghetti, you will enjoy Spaghetti Marinara.The Carnivora Pizza costs S$18.00 for the 9 inch size and S$25.50 for the 12 inch size. The Carnivora Pizza was filled with honey baked ham, chicken, spicy salami, minced beef, pomodoro and mozzarella cheese.

Fills with spicy salami, pomodoro and mozzarella

 

The Prosciutto Cotto E Funghi Pizza costs S$15.00 for the 9 inch size and S$21.50 for the 12 inch size. The Prosciutto Pizza was filled with ham, mushrooms, pomodoro and mozzarella cheese.

Fills with ham, mushrooms, pomodoro and mozzarella

 

I like the thick crust for both pizzas. However, among the two types of pizza, I personally preferred the Prosciutto Pizza as I like the ingredients mix (ham and mushrooms).

The "1 for 1 promotion" is limited to either "1 for 1 pasta" or  "1 for 1 pizza". This means that you order one type of pizza, you will get the other pizza for free. You pay for the higher priced pizza. You cannot order one pizza and hope to get a pasta for free and vice versa.

Overall, I enjoyed our lunch at Ricciotti.  I would recommend this place to fans of Italian cuisine. Ricciotti also offers daily weekday special promotion at their Star Vista Branch. For more details of the offer, you can visit their website.

ps : This is not a sponsored post.

I first tried the food at Hot Tomato in Causeway Point a few years back. I was impressed with the pricing and quality of the food. Hence, I brought my colleagues to try their set lunch at their Star Vista branch.

Hot Tomato brands themselves as a place to embrace the happiness that comes with good food. It is a casual western dining place i.e. a place to please your stomach and wallet!For Set Lunch, you can cherry pick the main course from the food menu. Suggest you opt for the "adds on" which is either $2.50 or $3.50 as it is quite worth it.

For Lunch Express, add $2.50++ to any main course to get daily soup + drink (weekdays only from 11am to 3pm) and exclude PH.

For All Day upgrades, add $3.50++ to any main course to get daily soup + drink (weekdays 3pm to 10.30pm) (weekends 11am to 10.30pm).

Recommended Main Course

Usually, I will opt for either one of the below mentioned main course. However, they have a lot of different choices, depending on your personal preference.

Fish & Chips
At S$8.90, you will get Fish & Chips served with french fries, tartare sauce and served with salsa and crispy romaine lecttuce and small cherry tomatoes. The fish portion served was huge (see photo) and fresh! I like the fact that the batter was not too thick and hence you still retain a crunchy bite. The french fries were standard and nothing exceptional but decent. The small cherry tomatoes compliment the dory fish!
Rotisserie Chicken Rosemary (half)
At S$9.90, you will get one-half of a baby chicken, marinated with fresh herbs, lemon and olive oil, served with creamy mash potato and pepper gravy. The portion served was quite generous (even though it was one-half) and the chicken was well marinated and cooked appropriately. You get some thigh and breast meat for half a baby chicken.If you want a quick fix for a value for money meal, you can come to Hot Tomato! Beside the food, the service was alright and you do not have to wait long for the food (weekday).

Mouth Restaurant has been around for more than 20 years and I remembered eating there once many years ago when I was a teenage in the 80s! Recently, after running some errands, I had the chance to try their traditional dim sum with my mum at their Chinatown Point Branch.

My mum, being a Cantonese, loves dim sum. When we arrived (without making any reservation), the place was crowded and filled with diners. We managed to snag a table in the middle of the restaurant as someone has just left. They cleaned the table and prepared the table settings in a quick fashion and we didn't have to wait too long.

I ordered a few dim sum dishes which are my mum's favourite. We ordered century egg & shredded pork porridge, pan fried carrot cake, siew mai, steamed beancurb roll, deep fried beancurb roll and hot and sour sichuan soup. To be honest, I felt their food quality standards have dropped slightly. I wouldn't jump for joy after eating the dim sum but I will say it is decent and reasonable. Among all the dishes ordered, the century egg porridge was the best. I like the texture and generous portions of shredded pork and century egg. Siew mai was nice with reasonable sized prawns fillings. The fried carrot cake's presentation was good as it looked crispy on the outside and tasted okay inside. The steamed beancurb roll was quite standard but I didn't enjoy the deep fried beancurb roll though as it was too overdone. The hot and sour soup tasted as authentic as the one you order in a Sichuan Chinese Restaurant.If you are hankering after dim sum from the 80's, you can visit Mouth Restaurant for a taste of nostalgic dim sum.