For full review and photos, please visit http://thumbsforfood.blogspot.sg/2012/12/pho-hoa-holland-village.html

Pho Hoa has been around for quite sometime and recently it opened a new branch at Suntec. So how did the food fare?

I did not take not of the exact price. For appetizers/starters, it's about $4-$8. For noodles, it ranged from $12-$20plus depending on the choice of your beef (they have loin, flank and other different parts).

We ordered 3 types of starters. Fried Roll, Sugarcane Prawn and Scallop Roll. It's an alternative to the traditional type of Vietnamese Spring Roll if you don't really fancy Basil leaf. I felt that the dishes were pretty average. If you would ask me to pick one, I would probably choose scallop roll as I prefer the kind of crust it has. The highlight of the restaurant would be pho, as suggested by the name. Pho is actually stick noodles in soup and depending on your preference, you can choose beef (of different parts of the beef) or chicken. I would think the beef pho would be a better choice since it's renowned for it.For those not craving for noodles, you can try their rice plates. The rice plate comes with your choice of meat and a side, which is the fried Vietnamese roll. The grilled chicken is quite nice and tender. Other than that, the dish is quite average as well.Overall, I think Pho Hoa serves comfort Vietnamese Pho, but there is nothing too extraordinary about it. The price is a bit steep compared to other Vietnamese places, probably also due to its location.

For full review and photos, please visit http://thumbsforfood.blogspot.sg/2013/04/room-coffee-bar-thumbsforfood.html

Do you know where is ARC (Alexandra Retail Centre)? It is located at Labrador Mrt Station and just along the Pasir Panjang stretch! I guess this place caters mainly to the working adults there as most shops close early. Spinelli there closes at 7pm, if I remember correctly! One fine day, we decided to visit this place and have a food hunt and so we found ROOM. It is a cosy little cafe tucked at a corner of ARC. I really liked the simple decorations of the place.

Oh yes, I need to mention the most important point! There is actually one-for-one for the pastas on weekday nights, from 6 pm onwards. I am not sure how long the promotion would last for, so if you are interested, catch it soon!

Spicy Prawn Linguine $17. Well, they had the description -ask for more chili padi if you dare- and so I was anticipating this dish to be spicy. I guess I was pretty disappointed when it turned out to be not spicy at all. The taste was okay and there were quite a few prawns around! I like the rocket vegetables scattered on top of the pasta!

Prawn Laksa Pesto Spaghetti $14. Well, this is the best of all 4 pastas in my opinion. But, it is really up to individual. It was really savoury and I finished it to the last bit. Really worth a try, especially if you like your food with a little more zest and spice!

All in all, I would say ROOM serves up pretty mediocre pastas but the price is really a bargain, especially if you visit it during its one-for-one promotion. One person only need to pay around $7 bucks! And one more thing, it runs on a self-service concept so do not expect to be served and waited on.

ROOM coffee. bar also serves up brunch on both weekdays and weekends at pretty affordable prices! Eggs benedict is only at $11. I would certainly take time out on a Saturday morning to try the breakfast at ROOM if I am around the vicinity!

For full review and more photos, please visit http://thumbsforfood.blogspot.sg/2012/10/jamaica-blue-cafe-star-vista.html

Having passed by The Star @ Buona Vista many times, we decided to visit the mall to hunt for new food places.

We came across Jamaica Blue Cafe and was attracted by the warm ambience in the cafe. As you can see below, the cafe is rather small and cosy with warm lights and murals that make you feel like you're off for a getaway. It has an outdoor area where you can enjoy the cool night breeze.As the name suggests, it is a coffee chain that prides itself for serving fine and high quality coffee to its patrons. Jamaica Blue originated from Austrailia and has since made its ways to many other countries. I will talk about the type of coffee it serves in greater details below.As we were rather full from dinner, we decided to try the Scones ($5.9). It comes in a pair and served with butter and jam. I feel that the texture of the scones is good. My friend liked it as well. However, it wasn't something out of the ordinary and we felt that for the portion, the price we paid was rather high.Food variety wise, they do serve main courses as well ranging from $11 to $17 such as salad, pasta and feta fritters. They also serve handcrafted sandwiches and a variety of salads (about $12-$16). Besides that, for people who are fanatics of all day breakfast, they serve eggs cooked in whichever ways you like, either poached, scrambled or sunny side-up.

The highlight of the cafe would be its coffee where you can choose the Signature Blend or Blue Mountain Coffee made in different styles (Latte, Flat White, Espresso, e.t.c). Price ranges from $4 to $6 for Signature Blend and $8-$10 for Blue Mountain Coffee. Like us, you might be wondering what's the difference? Basically Signature Blend comes from 5 different areas and each coffee type has their own distinct characteristic while Blue Mountain Coffee comes from only 1 place. For more info, you can visit their website.

We tried their Signature blend White Vienna ($6.1). You can choose the regular or large cup with a difference of $0.60. We took the large cup. The coffee is aromatic and quite strong. I felt that somehow it tasted a little diluted. They recommend on the website that it is best served as an Espresso or Flat White. Maybe you could try that style instead.

Rakuichi is situated in Far East Shopping Centre, which is just a stone's throw from Ion Orchard. The building is quite old and worn and the escalators were not working when we were there. Nevertheless, we managed to locate Rakuichi on the 3rd floor.

Even though it was a Friday night, we were quite surprised that the place was not crowded. In fact, we were one of the three tables there were occupied that night. We ordered the dinner set which came with Tempura, Teapot Soup, Assorted Sashimi of the day, Yakitori Sticks and some Shishamo and Edamame. We thought that the portion was on the small side considering the cost of the meal.

The bowl of assorted Sashimi that came caught us aback! It was presented in a large bowl of ice and out salmon and yellowtail fish sashimi was placed neatly on top. Presentation and effort is worth 10 points! Sadly, they did not have my favorite swordfish sashimi that I was craving for. All of us felt that the temperature of the sashimi could be cooler. It was strange because with the amount of ice, we thought that the sashimi would be much cooler. I could never have enough of Salmon Sahimi!Aburi Sushi! Yes, everyone loves Aburi sushi, which is sushi that is torched lightly. It was our top dish of the day as well. The burst of flavor when you put a piece in your mouth is really too much to describe.We had some Assorted Sushi set as well which came with Teapot Soup, Tempura and Shishamo. Well, I am not a fan of Shishamo actually. The idea of eating a pregnant fish is just too overwhelming. The assorted sushi were alright. Similar to the Sashimi, we would prefer the temperature of the slices to be cooler. The tempura was fried to perfection but, we were a little disappointed that it was not served hot.I guess many patrons of Rakuichi are more familiar to the branches at Oasia Hotel and Dempsey. Of course, if you compare the sets to high end Japanese restaurants Tastsuya, the price that they offer is quite reasonable for sets ranging from $40-80. Well, I would recommend you visiting Rakuichi for lunch as I feel that their lunch sets are quite similar to dinner and more value-for-money.

For full review and more photos, please visit http://thumbsforfood.blogspot.sg/2013/08/rakuichi-japanese-restaurant-far-east.html

For more photos and full review, please visit http://thumbsforfood.blogspot.sg/2014/05/cozy-corner-coffee-everton-park.html
As the name suggests of this cafe, Cozy Corner Coffee is set in a corner of Everton Park and is a cafe that prides itself with good coffee. They serve up a wide range of brewed coffee as well as flavoured ones. There will be surely something for every coffee lover out there.
Walk inside and you will see one side of the wall with black and white graffiti wallpaper. The space is spacious, clean and chic. I particularly like their full length glass doors and windows, making the cafe have an open and welcoming feeling. Cozy Corner has free wifi and we saw several students studying when we were there.
Cozy Corner offers some cakes for those with sweet tooth. Prices are quite reasonably ranged from $5.80 to $6 plus. Besides cakes, they also offer Savoury food for the hungry such as Pasta, Lasagne and Paninis all priced below $10. They do not have an extensive selection of food but I guess, is sufficient to food the hungry.
As we were there for tea, we tried their Salted Caramel Chocolate Cake. I was a tat bit disappointed because there really wasn't much Salted Caramel Taste. Rather, I felt like I was having a chocolate cake. The chocolate layers were nice and rich but, the cream layers lack oomph.
They also have magazines in the cafe for those looking for something to read while having some cake and coffee. What's more to life than an afternoon spent reading while having a slice of cake and a drink? For those who are looking for such a place, Cozy Corner can be on your list.