Teppei Syokudo (Takashimaya)

Went to Teppei Syokudo at Takashimaya which provides only take-aways. I heard a lot of good reviews about it so I brought Ed with me to try.

Kaisendon "Bara Chirashi" ($16)- Big chunks of marinated raw fish with sushi rice. The marinate was not really to my liking as it was too salty. What I did like was the texture of the fish which was firmer than your usual sashimi (most likely cause of the marinate). I was kinda disappointed about it. For me, non marinated raw fish is better or maybe a less salty marinate. 

Rate:
Kaisendon "Bara Chirashi": 6/10 ☺

Hyde & Co

Gf brought me to Hyde & Co for lunch.

The Big Ben ($17 candied turkey bacon/ $21 smoked salmon)- Mushroom duxelle, poached eggs, chipotle, hollandaise, served on a brioche toast. I chose the candied turkey bacon, it taste a lot less smokey then your usual bacon and it was slightly sweet. Duxelle is a paste made with mushrooms, onions, herbs and sauted in butter. It helped give moisture to the toast along with the hollandaise sauce. The egg was disappointing, it was overcooked. The garnish felt quite out of place. Potatao was well cooked.

Ondeh Ondeh French Toast ($12)- Brioche french toast, grated pandan coconut, gula melaka sauce, vanilla bean ice cream. Thick slice of toast with bits of  grated cocnut, chocolate chips, rich gula melaka sauce and creamy cool vanilla ice cream. Felt that the toast was a little too thick so it was quite dry but luckily there was the ice cream that helped give it moisture. This was one filing dessert.

If you're not a bread person like myself I would recommend you to dine during dinner time instead of lunch.

Rate:
The Big Ben: 6/10 ☺
Ondeh Ondeh French Toast: 6/10 ☺

Ice Lab

Ice Lab is opened by a Korean comedian and has offering such as bingsu, toast and churros.

Mango Bingsu ($15.90). Milky shaved ice, banana slices, mango syrup, mango cubes and mango ice cream. I like the ice, it was really milky and fine and went well with the toppings. It's a good dessert to eat in Singapore's weather but it is a little pricy so do share with your friends.

Rate:
Mango Bingsu: 7.5/10 ☺

The Tuckerbox Lunch

Went to The Tuckerbox Lunch for some cheap bara chirashi don (yummmm....)

Premium Bara Chirashi ($12.80)- Sushi rice, salmon, salmon belly, kingfish, swordfish, prawns, avocado,ikura & tobiko. It was good. Besides the sushi rice, they topped it with furikake (a dry Japanese seasoning usually sprinkled on rice) and sweet inari skin which added more flavour the the sushi rice. The sashimi was good for the price that you're paying. The only one I didn't like was the ama ebi which was not fresh. Miso soup and green tea are free, self-service. I forgot the price of the salmon sashimi as ed was the one who ordered it.

Taken from their FB page

Here is their menu although it's super hard to distinguish the words.
They also have 2 other bara chirashi on their menu and if you don't like raw food you can try other options like teriyaki chicken don.

Rate:
Premium Bara Chirashi: 7.5/10 ☺

Overrun

Went to Overrun for their Chendol soft served ice cream!

The day that I went, there was only chendol flavour. Their soft serve are so popular that they only limit 2 cups per customer.

Chendol ($6). Vanilla soft serve with green jelly, desiccated coconut and gula melaka. Super yummy. The rich creamy vanilla goes so well together with the toppings. It's like a luxurious cool chendol. Really good. However, wished that it didn't melt so fast (most likely due to Sg's super hot weather).

Rate:
Chendol: 8.5/10 ☺

Victor's Kitchen (Sunshine Plaza)

Went to Victor's Kitchen with zq for their Golden Egg Yolk Lava Bun. They aim to serve delicious dimsum at an affordable price.

King Prawn Cheong Fun ($4.80). Rice noodles with prawns. There were about 4 prawns in total with 3 rice noodle rolls with a salty tasty sauce. The nice thing about it is that they actually use prawns instead of shrimps but I felt that the noodles were a little thick.

Xiao Long Bao [soup dumpling] ($5.20). So we poke the bao before eating it so that the soup would flow out. Taste wise it was not bad but I still felt that the skin here was a little thicker than what I had tried before elsewhere. Zq also agreed.

Victor's King Prawn Dumplings ($5.20)- Succulent prawns encased in chewy, translucent flour. A must-try. Generously filled with prawns. The har gow is always a favourite for me.

Golden Egg Yolk Lava Bun ($4.80)-Our show-stopper. These fluffy buns pack a decadent punch - a gooey, sumptuous custard and egg yolk paste awaken your taste buds as you bite into them. Consistently voted #1 custard bun in Singapore. Another one of my favourites. It was sweet with some small chunks of salted egg, so yummy. However, the filling inside looked split.

Overall I feel that the items here are a little on the pricey side for their taste. The good thing is that all prices are inclusive of GST.

Rate:
King Prawn Cheong Fun: 6/10 ☺
Xiao Long Bao: 6/10 ☺
Victor's King Prawn Dumplings: 6/10 ☺
Golden Egg Yolk Lava Bun: 7/10 ☺

SWAG

Went to SWAG with gf for a healthier meal. SWAG stand for Salad Wraps And Greens and that is what they offer. It is also customizable if you would like.

Southern Pulled Pork ($10.90)- Lettuce, Cherry Tomatoes, Carrot, Eggs, Pasta, Cucumber, Pulled Pork with Cajun Firecracker Dressing. The pulled pork was  flavourful and helped add taste to the salad. The spicy cajun firecracker dressing helped add omph to the whole salad although it was a little too spicy for me to finish the entire salad. Luckily gf was there to help me. The lettuce had some that were wilted but only a super small amount of around 2 leaves. Overall it was a tasty salad.  

Seafood Galore ($11.90)- Lettuce, Cherry tomatoes, Onions, Tofu, Cashew Nut, Broccoli, Calamari, Cajun Prawns, with Sambalnaise Dressing. No idea what is sambalnaise dressing but it tasted like some Thai sweet chilli sauce. Overall this gave off vibes of a Thai fusion salad.

Rate:
Southern Pulled Pork: 8/10 ☺
Seafood Galore: 7.5/10 ☺

Wimi Ice Cream

Was around the area when I came across Wimi so I and decided to get Coconut ice cream.

Thai Coconut Ice Cream ($5.20). Coconut ice cream with 3 normal toppings cost $4.90 but I had a premium topping red ruby so there was an extra charge for swapping with a normal topping. Normal topping + $0.50, Premium + $0.80. The coconut ice cream seriously tasted like coconut flesh except that it was colder. The ice cream was also mildly sweet so it's okay for old folks as well. The red ruby was crunchy and helped add sweetness. Overall it was like a coconut that was placed in a freezer in a good way.

Rate:
Thai Coconut Ice Cream: 6/10 ☺

Fluffy dessert

Was walking around the area with Gf under the hot sun so we decided to head in to a cool place for some dessert. We found Fluffy so we decided to dine there.

So here is what you'll see when you first step into the shop. Pink and white stripes.

Grass Jelly Sweet Potato & Taro Balls ($3.90)- QQ sweet potato & taro balls with grass jelly is a perfect combination. Since it was hot, I decided to get something cooling like grass jelly along with my favourite QQ balls and pearls. The sweet potato and taro balls were slightly warm on top of a cool grass jelly which was seating on top of a bed of snow ice. The good thing about it was that it wasn't so sweet.

Grass Jelly Mango Pomelo with Sago ($5)- Mango puree with cooling jelly, pomelo bits, sago & topped with fresh mango cubes. Their in house blended mango puree is made using only the freshest sweet honey mango as stated in their menu. Gf say it wasn't cold enough, it was about room temperature of the shop. Taste wise, quite good like what you get else where.

If you're around the area and want to get some Taiwanese dessert like snow ice then maybe you can consider going to Fluffy to fix your craving. They also do have a special promotion of 10% off dessert of your choice on your birthday. Do take note thay only accept cash.

Rate:
Grass Jelly Sweet Potato & Taro Balls: 5.5/10 ☺
Grass Jelly Mango Pomelo with Sago: 5.5/10 ☺

Nene Chicken (Hougang Mall)

Went to eat at Nene Chicken with Kart since it is Halal.

We were quite excited since it was our first time trying it out. We placed our orders and waited for a looooooong time before the buzzer lighted up. Most probably because there was only 1 person in the kitchen.

I had the Swicy Tenders meal($9.90) with Coleslaw, Nenepop(+$1.90) and Mineral Water.

Swicy Tenders- Sweet and Spicy. Best of both worlds! Sadly it wasn't as spicy as what I had expected. More towards the sweet side. Sauce was quite thick as well. Tenders were slightly tough but that was expected.
Coleslaw- Cabbage, capsicums, corn and crabstick tossed to perfection. Kart didn't like it at all. It was so so.
Nenepop- Tasty bite sized chicken drizzled with swicy sauce coupled with your favourite drink. So cheeky. Tender, crispy fried popcorn chicken. Wished there was more sauce. This was the best part of the meal.

Rate:
Swicy Tenders meal: 5.5/10 ☺

Pepper Lunch (Hougang Mall)

Went to PepperLunch for the Student Meal available from 10am - 6pm on weekdays that's inclusive of a drink. There's also the normal Weekday Lunch Special from 10am to 2pm that's inclusive of a side dish and drink.

Cheese Hamburg Steak w/ Brown Sauce ($9.90)- A Japanese Classic featuring tender Australian Steaks smothered with the selection of brown sauce , and complete with a sunny side up egg. I love hearing the sizzle of the hot plate plus the fragrant aroma of the beef. Hamburg and cheese are a good combination. Mashed potatoes was smooth and buttery. Tasted a little like the one at 7-Eleven. Brown sauce was okay. For drinks I had mineral water since they didn't have Iced Lemon Tea.

Rate:
Cheese Hamburg Steak w/ Brown Sauce: 7/10 ☺

The Cup

The Cup focus on simplicity, style and a healthier korean food culture. Came here for lunch with gf.

The interior. White and Green - Clean and Fresh. 

Bibimbap ($9.90)-Classic Korean stir fried Bulgogi with fresh oyster mushroom, assorted seasoned vegetables over infuse premium Korean rice. Garnished with egg yolk. This is a dish you see at most korean places so we deicided to get one. There was an option of either chicken or beef. We got the beef. Onion, carrot, minced beef, beansprout, vegetable, egg yolk, flying fish roe, sesame seed and the usual sauce in bibimbap on a bed of yellow colored, short grain rice. It tasted nutty and sweet. 

The mixing process...

Spicy Seafood Rice ($7.90)- Assorted ocean fresh seafood & fresh vegetables served over infused premium Korean rice. I think they use frozen seafood from the taste of it. Overall taste super spicy but shiok! Their Korean rice is some short grain rice that is yellow in color.

Each of the rice came with a soup. Salty soup with seaweed in it.

Injeolmi Cup Bingsu ($7.90). My favourite bingsu flavor. Korean rice cake with steamed powdered dried beans. The bingsu was well balanced. Sweetness from the red bean, slight nuttiness from the bean powder and milkiness from the milk podwer. However it gets a little to sweet at the bottom cause of the condensed milk(?) at the bottom of the cup. 

Rate:
Bibimbap: 7/10 ☺
Spicy Seafood Rice: 7/10 ☺
Injeolmi Cup Bingsu: 8/10 ☺

Fish & Co. (Tampines)

Went to Fish & Co. for their Student Catch at $10 nett which comprise of a main and a drink. But hey, if you're not a student there's still the normal set lunch available. I went with zq. We got a table for 2 and was given an iPad to place our orders. Wow suddenly Fish & Co. also uses iPad for ordering.

Soup of the Day (+$3.50). The soup of the day was Fish Chowder. Soup was thick and a little gooey. something like the one I had at The Mind Cafe. Tasted good, portion size was good to.

Bombay Fish & Chips- Our all-time favourite Fish & Chips with an Indian herbs-and-spicy twist. Even King Shah Ruk Khan cannot resist! Not my cup of tea. Tasted a little like some Indian fried snack that I've tried before. The fish batter was super crispy and it went well with the lime. Fries were slightly crisp on the outside yet you can taste the potato-y-ness of the fries because of the thickness.

Seafood Lunch Platter- Grilled prawns, white fish, grilled calamari and blue mussels in garlic lemon butter sauce served with mashed potato. Crispy calamari, delicious mashed potato with taste of prawn that made it OH-SO-DELICIOUS. I prefer this more than the Bombay Fish & Chips.

Rate:
Soup of the Day: 5/10 ☺
Bombay Fish & Chips: 5.5/10 ☺
Seafood Lunch Platter: 7/10 ☺

L'eclair by Sarah Michelle

Went to L'eclair by Sarah Michelle with zq somewhere in December. It's started by two female-Sarah and Michelle, hence the name.

Signature Chicken Bacon Pie with a mini salad ($12). The pie was really good. The pastry was perfect- sweet and buttery which went well with the savoury creamy filling where you could taste the smoky bacon. The salad dressed in balsamic with cherry tomatoes, sliced almond, dried cranberries was refreshing. Both of us really like LOVE the pie!

I got the Speculoos ($7.50?)- Speculoos cream, craquelin choux, chocolate snowman. The snowman looks really cute like a plastic toy but in fact it's made out of chocolate. The speculoos cream in the eclair was thick with hints of speculoos. Not my kind of eclair. I prefer those with cream that are more lighter. But I like the slightly sweet, crackly and crunchy top on this eclair which provided some texture.
For drinks, I had Iced Matcha Latte ($6). I think I should have gotten the hot one instead as there were chunks of undissolved matcha powder in the tea which made it hard to drink.

The eclair's filling...

Zq got the Ispahan ($8.50) Light rose cream, cut lychees, fresh raspberries. I like their rose petal decoration with the shiny sparkle on their pink sugar topping that zq noticed. The cream for this was lighter which was good. There were also chunks of lychee.
For drinks she got the Earl Grey Latte ($5.50). It was really nice, warm, milky with the taste of earl grey.

Rate:
Signature Chicken Bacon Pie: 10/10 ☺

Speculoos: 5.5/10 ☺

Iced Matcha Latte: 5/10 ☺
Ispahan: 6/10 ☺
Earl Grey Latte: 7/10 ☺

Les Patisseries

Went to Les Patisseries with Ger and KY.

Truffle Fries w/ Grated Cheese ($8.50). Perfectly fried fries drizzled with truffle oil and topped with cheese. I like that the truffle was not too heavy but yet too too mild that it can't be detected.

Truffle Baked Mushroom Pasta ($9.90) The truffle taste here was stronger then the fries however I think it lacks sauce and seasoning. I like the charred taste on some parts of the cheese.

Salted Caramel Waffle ($9.90). The warm waffles were crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. The cold vanilla ice cream goes well with the warm waffles. The caramel sauce was sweet and slightly salty.

Rate:
Truffle Fries w/ Grated Cheese: 6/10 ☺
Truffle Baked Mushroom Pasta: 5/10 ☺
Salted Caramel Waffle: 6.5 ☺

Kokomama

Went to Kokomama for some more bingsu adventure. At there they sells a variety of cuisines: French- pastries like croissant, Japanese- rice bowls, local- eg kopi and waffle, Asian fusion- eg Tom yum pasta and also Korean- bingsu.

We ordered two bingsu in total. Mango Bingsu ($12.90)- Fine, shaved, slightly milky ice with sweet mango cubes, flavored mochi and a scoop of creamy and sweet mango ice cream. Nice and refreshing. 

Matcha Bingsu ($12.90)- Fine, shaved, slightly milky ice with bitter matcha powder, mochi, nuts, sweet red bean paste and a scoop of matcha ice cream that tasted really really weird. Quite bitter for my taste buds but if you like bitter matcha then it's perfect for you.

Rate:
Mango Bingsu: 6.5/10 ☺
Matcha Bingsu: 5/10 ☺

O'ma Spoon Korean Dessert Cafe (313@somerset)

After having my first bingsu at Bing Go Jung, I want to try more of this yummy dessert. Went to O'ma Spoon with zq, sy and jy.

Injeolmi and Green Tea Petit Bingsu ($4.80 each). The milk shaved ice was melt-in-your-mouth fine and plain. You could see they did some layering of ice and toppings so that it won't be bland as you dig deeper. The bingsu was not bad but since it is in a small cup they don't provide condensed milk.

Rate:
Injeolmi Petit Bingsu: 6.5/10 ☺
Green Tea Petit Bingsu: 6/10 ☺

Go Frost -CLOSED-

Go Frost is actually located in Wednesday Cafe.

At Go Frost they sell fried ice cream roll that is basically made from milk and other desired ingredients on a ice pan. They have 8 different flavors- vanilla oreo, choco-oreo, nutella, milo, strawberry, teh tarik, banella, salted caramel and banana frostroll.

Nutella FrostRoll ($6.50). My first ever fried ice cream roll. It was really milky and slightly less nutella-y. Texture is really different from your regular ice cream. This was somewhat stiffer, like thick paper ice cream. Topped with more nutella goodness.

Rate:
Nutella FrostRoll: 8/10 ☺

Sukho Thai (China Square Central)

Finally got to go out with GF after a suppppeeeeer long time. We were around the area cause we just went to Sia Huat and we were super hungry. We saw this shop, Sukho Thai and decided to eat here.

Red Tom Yum Seafood with Rice/Noodle ($6.90). Like I said we were really hungry so some rice got eaten before I took the photo. We got the red tom yum cause the chef said it was the spiciest one. The soup was quite good, slightly spicy, tangy and sweet with taste of seafood.

Thai Basil Chicken Rice ($5.90). Basil chicken is one of my favorite Thai dish. I was a little disappointed with it as it the sauce tasted very Chinese-like. Other then that it was not bad.

Mango Glutinous Rice ($6.00). We were really lucky. It was the last mango that the shop had available. Hot sticky rice topped with chilled sliced mangoes and drizzled with coconut milk, another one of my favorites. The plain glutinous was really hot (not kidding) and it went well with the sweet coconut milk and the firm, fresh and sweet mango.

Rate:
Red Tom Yum Seafood with Rice: 6.5/10 ☺
Thai Basil Chicken Rice: 6/10 ☺
Mango Glutinous Rice: 8/10 ☺

49 Seats (Bugis+)

Went to 49 Seats with Zq after our visit to the museum.

49 Seats offers Western Fusion food in a casual seating environment. Orders and payments are made at the cashier.

 Ice Lemon Tea ($3) and Coke Zero ($3). I liked that they came in tin cans. Looks unique.

Cream of Mushroom Soup ($5.90). Hot creamy mushroom-y soup with bits of mushroom and a slice of garlic bread at the side. The bread was nice, crisp on the outside and soft on the inside.

Prawn Fritters ($9.90). (Frozen) Prawns in a crispy and tasty batter that are deep fried to perfection. 

Tom Yum Seafood Pasta ($14.90). Creamy, slightly spicy (tom yum- like) sauce with al dente pasta and prawns, mussel and clams. Did not like the taste of the sauce. It had some elements of a tom yum but yet it felt like there were too much seasoning inside, that my tongue could not handle.
Old Fashioned Fish and Chips with Tom Yum Sauce ($16.90) with Garden Salad, Fries and sauce on the side. Plain tasting fish in a crispy batter with fries that are not so salty and a salad with a creamy sweet (maybe thousand island) sauce and two halves of a cherry tomato. The sauce tasted much saltier then the seafood pasta sauce, without the creaminess. In the sauce there were mussel and prawns as well. Both zq and I agree that the fish tasted better without the sauce and could use maybe tartar sauce or maybe salt to help elevate the dish. But dipping the fries with the sauce was not bad.

We also got to see some fireworks after our dinner. Zq took pictures while I took a video of it.

Rate:
Cream of Mushroom Soup: 6.5/10 ☺

Prawn Fritters: 6.5/10 ☺

Tom Yum Seafood Pasta: 5.5/10 ☺

Old Fashioned Fish and Chips with Tom Yum Sauce: 5.5/10 ☺