Canopy

28th July, Tuesday

Ah, Canopy again. But this time my uncle promised that we can order some food which is off the menu, so I was quite looking forward to it.

Disclaimer: As my uncle was there, he ordered the head chef to personally cook for us, so the food was fantastic!

Prawn cocktail

The cold prawns are on the left side, while the deep fried prawns are on the right. The cold prawns were fresh, so they were not bad. But the deep fried prawns were excellent! Reminds me of the wasabi prawns in chinese restaurants, but even better.

V's verdict: 8.5/10


Braised veal cheek


2 pieces of veal, with some thick gravy and on top of mashed potatoes. Excellent! The veal was tender and tasty, and the gravy was delicious!

V's verdict: 8.5/10
K's verdict:


Pan-fried seabass

My mother ordered this. This was also great; the fish skin was slightly crispy and the taste of lime blended quite well with everything.

V's verdict: 7.5/10


Lemon sherbet

Damn, my phone went flat so I couldn't take a photo of this! This was superbly done, presented in half a baby pineapple. The natural pineapple flavour was so strong! A must-try!

V's verdict: 9/10


Profiterole

A profiterole is some kind of cream puff. According to Wikipedia:

"A profiterole or cream puff is a popular choux pastry. Choux paste is baked into small round puffs that are served cold with a sweet filling and sometimes a topping. The term profiterole refers to a filling of ice cream."

This was quite good too, with thick chocolate sauce on top of the pastry. Should try this as well!

V's verdict: 8/10


Strawberry panna cotta

Compared to the strong tasting profiterole, this turned out rather bland. Tasted strongly of pandan leaves. I think this should turn out decent if not for the contrast with the profiterole.

V's verdict: 6.5/10

Golden Shoe Food Centre

28th July, Tuesday

Roasted chicken rice (民记）

Ordered this as takeaway, as this was one of the few stalls without a queue at all. during lunch time Well, Singaporeans love to queue and associate queues with good food, but before declaring that this stall is hopeless, I would like to say that the chicken rice was actually quite decent. The rice was all right, the chicken meat (all breast meat) was quite tender and okay. I wouldn't mind getting this again if every other stall had a long queue.

V's verdict: 6.5/10

Mosque Street Food Court

27th July, Monday

A tiny food court at Mosque Street.

Fried oyster omelette (Thye Hong Fried Hokkien Noodle)

At first bite, this was delicious and crispy! But as we got to the bottom, we could taste the oil oozing out and it was a bit of a turn-off. K ate an especially oily piece and stopped eating immediately. But overall, it was still quite good. $4/$6

V's verdict: 7/10
K's verdict: 5/10


Fried hokkien mee (Thye Hong Fried Hokkien Noodle)

I told the hawker that I didn't want any prawns, so he gave me extra noodles. And he really gave me a lot of noodles! It's really a huge plate and I almost couldn't finish it. And I ordered a small plate. -.-

Taste-wise it was quite good, though I would have preferred more ingredients like pork and sotong. There was sotong, but very little. K said that this was "very very nice". $3.50/$5

V's verdict: 7/10
K's verdict: 8/10

Chen Fu Ji Noodle House

25th July, Saturday

Most well known for their fried rice, though I have never tried it before. RBS was having a 1-for-1 promotion for its noodles, so we took up this offer.

Pork rib noodles

The soup was not bad and had a herbal tinge to it. But the pork ribs had the frozen taste and tasted horrible. $9.80, inclusive of GST

V's verdict: 5.5/10
K's verdict: 6/10


Beef noodles

The soup was quite okay, though there's no trace of the herbal taste inside. The beef was so-so, but at least it didn't have the frozen taste like the pork ribs. $9.80, inclusive of GST

V's verdict: 6/10
K's verdict: 7/10

Xin Wang HK Cafe

26th July, Sunday

Ham & Eggs

The HK version of the Western breakfast? 2 fried eggs topped with some sweet tasting gravy, baked beans, toast, and boiled ham. I prefer the Western style though --- basically, without the sweet sauce and normal ham (instead of boiled). K likes it, though.

V's verdict: 6/10
K's verdict: 7.5/10


Pork chop mee in papaya milk soup

This is a more unique dish due to the soup. The first time I encountered papaya milk was in Taiwan 3 years ago at a steamboat restaurant. Honestly, I would never order papaya milk as the soup base for a steamboat, but I was with a Taiwanese friend and she recommended it. And it turned out surprisingly delicious.

Back in Singapore, when I saw this dish offered in this restaurant I ordered it immediately. It's not as nice as the one I tried in Taiwan, but still it was quite all right and unique.

The pork chop was decent only; nothing special.

V's verdict: 7/10

Stock Pot

24th July, Friday

Had a quick dinner here before the concert at Esplanade. It's probably a rip-off of Soup Spoon, but the soups here were not bad.

Creamy Lobster & Crab Bisque


This was quite good for the price. The taste was quite strong, though not as good as Canopy's. But for $7.90, I am not complaining.

V's verdict: 7.5/10
K's verdict: 7/10


Mushroom Ragout

This wasn't as strong as Soup Spoon's. You could say that it's a lighter version, but I still prefer Soup Spoon's. K thinks that Soup Spoon's is too heavy and filling though and prefers this.

V's verdict: 6.5/10
K's verdict: 8/10

Hong Lim Food Centre

24th July, Friday

Bak chor mee (Tai Wah Pork Noodle)

There were only 5 people in front of me, but I waited almost 15 minutes for my food. It's not that the hawker was slow in cooking; it seemed that he had a lot of things to do. Cook this, add that, etc etc. But this bowl turned out quite good. The taste was unique, very different from the usual bak chor mee, probably due to the vinegar. The ingredients were good too. Worth a try! $3/$4/$5

V's verdict: 8/10

Kowloon HK Cafe

22nd July, Wednesday

Not a pleasant experience here today during lunchtime. For one thing, my dumpling noodles took 20 minutes to arrive. And my friend's fried XO noodles took 35 minutes to come. Totally unacceptable!

Dumpling noodles (soup)

I ordered soup this time, as I had been eating rather unhealthily recently. This was actually not bad. The soup was quite good and the dumplings were quite fresh and tasty too. $6.80

V's verdict: 7/10

Kyo-Nichi

23rd July, Thursday

A ramen shop at China Square Central.

Kyo-Nichi ramen (thick soup)

Their soup had collagen added, or so they claim. It was not bad. The egg was quite good, with the yolk still slightly runny, but it couldn't compare to the ramen I had at Men-Tei Japanese Noodles. $11

V's verdict: 7/10

Hooters

22nd July, Wednesday

Hooters, a place probably more well known for their girls in tight tank tops and tight and short shorts. And their shorts were really short; maybe a quarter of their ass could be seen? Of course, such clothing tends to magnify everything, so some girls with supposedly decent figures also seem... fat. But I digress. Let's look at their food.

Fried pickles


The menu claimed that their fried pickles are addictive. Although pickles don't really sound appetizing, we decided to give it a try (also because it was fried). My friend seemed a bit horrified at their appearance, because at first glance they look like... hum.

It was better than I thought. A bit sour, and deep frying stuff tends to mask some of the other flavours so that they are easy to consume. $8.50

V's verdict: 6.5/10


Curly fries with cheese

These were only average. The potato flavour didn't really come out. $5.50

V's verdict: 6/10


Calamari rings

This was not bad; the calamari was still quite chewy. Overall this was one of the better dishes we had here. $10.90

V's verdict: 7/10


Chicken wings

We ordered 20 chicken wings, but when it came we felt cheated. Because they cut a chicken wing into 2 and count it as 2. Tsk! So the picture above actually shows 5 chicken wings instead of 2½. Bah!

They had 5 sauces to choose from, ranging from Samurai (sweet, not hot) to 9M (the hottest), if I recall correctly. Well, if that's their hottest chicken wings, then I was sorely let down. Because this doesn't even come close to the Level 5 buffalo wings at Sunset Grill & Bar (Seletar Airbase). I think it's only Level 3 at most!

Taste-wise, it was average. $18.90

V's verdict: 6.5/10


Grilled cheese sandwiches

Bigger than how your mother made them, they claimed. And my friend told the waitress, "My mother's sandwiches are this big..." and stretched his hands almost a metre apart. -.-

So this was just normal white bread with cheese, and toasted. That's all. Dry and unappetizing. $7.90

V's verdict: 5.5/10

Pastamania

21st July, Tuesday

I haven't visited Pastamania for ages. Came with 2 of my colleagues today, and all 3 of us ordered the same dish, Al Funghi. A simple cream pasta with mushrooms. Quite all right, though Modesto's is a bit better. Of course, this was much cheaper. $7.90, inclusive of GST

V's verdict: 6.5/10

Equinox

20th July, Monday

Semi buffet style; one main course and buffet.

Char grilled beef onglet

I dunno what an "onglet" is. When I asked the waiter, he said it's a kind of beef cut. Yeah, like that helps. Dictionary.com referred me to hanger steak, and the definition is:

"a cut of beef similar to flank or skirt steak in texture and rib-eye in flavor and from the diaphragm that hangs between the last rib and the loin; also called hanging tender, butcher's steak, [butcher's tenderloin], onglet"

The beef lacked a bit of the natural flavour, so it was only average. It was done just nice; not too cooked and not too raw, so that managed to save it some marks. I didn't mind it being a bit more rare, though.

As for the buffet, they shifted the foie gras into the kitchen, so you have to order from the waiter instead of queuing and asking the chef to fry it. They said it was because of the smell. True enough, the smell of pan fried foie gras is very strong and fills up the whole place.

The foie gras wasn't too good today. It wasn't juicy enough; perhaps it was a tad overdone? But the oysters and crab were excellent! I seldom see such fat and fresh oysters in Singapore. Their parsnip soup was not bad.

Salmon sashimi wasn't as good as before, but still decent. For dessert I mainly had ice cream, so I was pretty contented. $59

V's verdict:
6.5/10 (beef)
7/10 (buffet)

Kovan Food Centre

18th July, Saturday

Fishball noodles (Teochew Fishball Mee)

This stall seems to be quite popular; it's one of the only stalls with a longer queue when I went this morning. The noodles were a bit sticky and clumped together. My mother said it doesn't seem to be the normal kind of noodles; she suspected that it was hand made? I am not sure, but I do know that their noodles will not go well with everyone. I was okay with it, though I would still prefer the normal kind.

Taste-wise it was quite good, and their fishballs were delicious!

V's verdict: 7/10

Modesto's

17th July, Friday

Got a 1-for-1 voucher for their classic pasta or regular sized pizza, so I came here with K and my cousins.

Linguine Alle Vongole

Linguine with fresh clams, dried chilli and garlic in olive oil and white wine sauce. Well this dish strangely dried up in a short while, and the clams were stale. So basically it tasted horrible. K ordered this. After I took one bite, I told her to change the order. They were nice enough to change this dish for a Carbonara and waive the charges for 2 of our desserts! Excellent service, even though this dish sucked.

V's verdict: 3.5/10
K's verdict: 5/10


Calzone

Pronounced as cal-zo-nee. It's actually a "half-moon" shaped pizza filled with cheese, pork ham, mushrooms and antichokes, topped with fresh tomato sauce. But if you ask me, it looks like an oversized curry puff!

I tried this but found it decent only. It's like a pizza folded into half.

V's verdict: 5.5/10


Stravaganza al Cioccolato con Gelato alla Vaniglia

Home-made Italian chocolate brownie topped with vanilla ice cream. It was average, nothing special.

V's verdict: 6/10
K's verdict: 7/10

tcc (Samsung Hub)

16th July, Thursday

The outlet at Samsung Hub. Taste and presentation-wise I feel that generally they are better than Coffee Club, but they are more expensive and the portions are smaller.

They were having a 1-for-1 main course/pasta promotion for tcc members, which was a pretty good deal.

Edenic Salmon


A new dish on the menu. A slab of salmon on some pumpkin mash. The salmon was quite fresh and the pumpkin was quite sweet, so this was overall not bad. $22

V's verdict: 7/10


Chicken & Turkey Bacon Lasagne

Another new dish. The cheese biscuit used as a wrapper for the vegetables was excellent! But I couldn't really taste the bacon inside. Not sure whether is it because turkey bacon doesn't taste as strong as pork bacon? But I do know that turkey bacon is much more expensive. $16.50

V's verdict: 6.5/10

Tanjong Pagar Food Centre

14th July, Tuesday

Lor mee (Soon Heng Food Delights)

This was supposedly quite well known, so I decided to give it a try.

I was quite disappointed. The gravy wasn't tasty; it tasted a bit like tasteless goo. And there were lots of ingredients, but they weren't very good either. Give me Golden Shoe's Lor Mee (Wei Nan Wang Hock Kian Lor Mee) anytime over this!

K doesn't like lor mee, so a lousy lor mee only managed to earn 3 marks from her. $3

V's verdict: 5.5/10
K's verdict: 3/10


Fried kway teow (Tanjong Pagar Fried Kway Teow)

The unique thing about this is that they use thinner kway teow. It also tastes a bit sweeter than other fried kway teow, but it suited my taste buds! I tend to prefer thinner noodles (e.g. mee kia compared to mee poh) as I feel that the taste can be spread more uniformly.

They were quite generous with their ingredients too; I think there were 5 prawns in this plate. Or maybe they gave me more because I told them I didn't want hum... $3

V's verdict: 7/10
K's verdict: 6/10


Yong Tau Foo (Rong Xing Cooked Food)

They actually have clothes pegs to use as queue numbers, but none were in use when I was there. I found it okay, not as good as what the reviews say. Their ingredients didn't really taste that special; I think I prefer the ones my mother cook (which she usually buys from Serangoon Garden Market). And their soup was not bad, but once again it can't beat my mother's soup. Maybe I should have ordered their noodles to eat with their sauce? K likes it though! This bowl cost me $2.40 (soup only)

V's verdict: 6.5/10
K's verdict: 8/10

Pow Sing Chicken Rice

11th July, Saturday

A restaurant at Serangoon Garden which I have been patronizing since I was a small kid.

Steamed chicken

Ah, the steamed chicken that I grew up eating! Today's chicken was a bit tough, but I shall still rate them as per normal since I have eaten here countless times. Usually the flesh is very smooth, and coupled with their delicious gravy, it makes this a wonderful dish.

V's verdict: 8/10
K's verdict: 7.5/10


Fried beansprouts with salted fish

I ordered a medium portion, and it was really quite huge. (Anyway, beansprouts are dirt cheap!) This was not bad; the salted fish was crispy and good, but I found the whole dish too oily. And the taste of the salted fish didn't seem to have seeped into the beansprouts.

V's verdict: 6/10
K's verdict: 5/10

Food Junction (Junction 8)

9th July, Thursday

Sorry for the lousy pictures... the lighting at the food court was poor.

Curry beef pepper rice (Pepper Lunch Express)

The only difference between this and their normal beef pepper rice is the curry powder on top. Not bad, but I still think the normal version is nicer.

V's verdict: 6.5/10
K's verdict: 8/10


Chicken chop (Western Food)

The mushroom soup they gave was horrible. It tasted like... tasteless cream? The garlic bread and coleslaw were decent. The chicken was so-so only. But I must admit, their service was good. Now, if only they can improve on their food...

V's verdict: 5.5/10
K's verdict: 5.5/10

Thye Hong Cafe, Gourmet Corner

13th July, Monday

Wanted to have the sliced fish bee hoon at Thye Hong Cafe, but at 12pm the whole frigging place was full. And there were around 20 people queueing for the sliced fish bee hoon already. -.-

So my colleagues and I decided to da bao instead. Bought sliced fish bee hoon and some roasted meats from the well known stall beside the cafe (Gourmet Corner).


Sliced fish bee hoon (旺盛)

This was not bad, but not as good as the tom yam sliced fish bee hoon I had last time. I am definitely eating the tom yam next time instead. $3.50 + $0.20

V's verdict: 7/10


Roasted meats (Gourmet Corner)

There's also always a long queue at this stall, but they are very efficient (there's 8 people manning the stall!). But it's damn expensive! I told the person "roast duck and roast pork for 3 people" and the cost came up to $25. Goodness!

Interestingly, they only served breast meat for the duck. I think if you want the drumstick, you need to order it specifically. I am sure it will cost a bomb.

The roast duck breast was excellent, I must admit. It was tender; probably the most tender I have ever eaten before. The roast pork was not bad, but not as good as the roast duck.

V's verdict:
8/10 (roast duck)
7/10 (roast pork)

Crystal Jade Kitchen (Junction 8)

12th July, Sunday

Compared to Din Tai Fung, their business isn't really good. At 8pm, there were more than 20 people queueing outside Din Tai Fung, while we got a table immediately at Crystal Jade Kitchen.

Mixed mushrooms with fried beancurd

This was quite good. The fried beancurd was delicious!

V's verdict: 7/10


Vegetables with salted egg and century egg

This was not bad, though I thought the taste of the salted egg didn't really seep into the vegetables and gravy.

V's verdict: 7/10


Minced pork with prawn and salted fish

This was quite all right too. A bit salty of course, so make sure you eat it with something else.

V's verdict: 7/10

The Marmalade Pantry

10th July, Friday

The Marmalade Pantry has 3 outlets in Singapore; at Raffles Place (Hitachi Tower), Orchard Road (Palais Renaissance), and Robinson Road (Capital Tower). My boss treated our department to the outlet at Hitachi Tower.

The restaurant used to stink, and every time after a meal our clothes will all smell of smoke (like Arcade). It's also a problem of poor ventilation, and they even had to leave their main door open to let out some of the smell. But ever since they stopped serving french fries, the smell seemed to be mostly gone.

Their menu can be found here.

Ribeye steak sandwich with grilled onions avocado and wasabi & mayonnaise

FYI, the burger is actually bigger than it looks. It looks deceptively small because my hands are too big. -.-

The dish comes with salad and tapioca/sweet potato/yam chips. Personally, I would prefer their fries, but the price to pay for that is stinky clothes, so....

This was quite good. The ribeye steak was not bad, although I ordered medium rare and it came out nearer to medium well. The wasabi mayonnaise was nice too, but I would prefer more wasabi; it wasn't hot enough. Overall, it's worth a try. $24

V's verdict: 7/10

Fei Siong (肥雄), Shihlin Taiwan Street Snacks

8th July, Wednesday

Fishball noodles (Fei Siong)

I ordered mee kia, dry, takeaway. But they added so much sauces and soup that it seemed almost like fishball noodles soup! I was even doubting myself whether I ordered correctly or not.

But when I reached home and opened it, the noodles had absorbed all the soup. And it was surprisingly good, though the noodles were a bit too soggy. They added some vinegar too, and it did contribute to the overall taste. $3 + $0.20

V's verdict: 7/10


Handmade Oyster Mee Sua (Shihlin Taiwan Street Snacks)

The last time I tried it, their shredded chicken tasted so horrible (defrosted taste) that I threw all of it away. This time it was all right, and the mee sua seemed to taste better than the last time I had it! Hmm... let's just give them the benefit of doubt. The oysters were quite good too. Quite expensive though, for just a small bowl. $3.50

V's verdict: 7.5/10

Food Junction (Junction 8)

7th July, Tuesday

Beef noodle (soup)

I ordered this as takeaway, so I didn't bother taking a picture. Anyway it's quite lousy. The beef is tough, the soup is bland and doesn't have the taste of beef. Not gonna try this again. $4 + $0.20

V's verdict: 4/10

Canopy

1st July, Wednesday

Seafood tomato soup

Ah, this was fabulous! The blended taste of seafood and tomatoes was done just nice, and it was really, really good. By the way, this isn't on the menu yet; I think it will be on the new menu which is coming out this month.

V's verdict: 9/10


Baked brown rice with mushrooms

A vegetarian dish which is actually from the Greenroom. The vegetables on top seemed to clash with the baked rice, and the cheese and rice weren't very good too. I know it's a vegetarian dish, but it's still too bland.

V's verdict: 5.5/10


Smoked duck salad

This is also not on the menu yet. The vegetables were okay, but the smoked duck was absolutely delicious!

V's verdict: 8/10


Sticky red dates with ice cream

I have never been particularly fond of red dates, so...

V's verdict: 5/10


Apple crumble with ice cream

The apple crumble wasn't very good. The one at Lao Pa Sat was much better (and costs only $2!). So far the desserts at Canopy haven't been really attention-grabbing.

V's verdict: 5.5/10

Serangoon Garden Market

5th July, Sunday

Carrot cake (Hock Kee Fried Oyster)

Finally got to try their white carrot cake. In my opinion, this wasn't as good as their black carrot cake; the taste just wasn't there.

V's verdict: 6/10

Town Restaurant

3rd July, Friday

Had a business lunch here, so I didn't have to pay a single cent. It serves buffet, but as it was a business lunch, I didn't get to eat as much as I wanted. So everytime we left the table, I made sure my plate was full.

For one thing, they didn't serve soup and sashimi. I was surprised; which buffet restaurants don't serve these now? But their oysters and mussels were fresh, and their salads were quite good. The roast beef and lamb were decent.

For desserts, I tried their oreo chocolate cake, cheese cake, mango pudding, and some other weird dessert in a small glass. All were decent; nothing special.

V's verdict: 6/10

Tanjong Pagar Food Centre

1st July, Wednesday

Fried kway teow [ Katong (Peter) Fried Kway Teow ]

This was not bad! Not too oily too. Worth a try.

V's verdict: 7/10
K's verdict: 7.5/10


Fried carrot cake (利兴菜头粿 Fried Carrot Cake)

This looked promising, but didn't taste that good. I thought that it wasn't tasty enough.

V's verdict: 6/10
K's verdict: 6.5/10


Chicken claypot rice (Kim Kee Cooked Food)

One of K's favourite foods. But I didn't like it; the rice wasn't tasty enough. It seemed as if the whole dish wasn't cooked long enough for the taste from the meat and mushrooms to seep into the rice.

V's verdict: 5.5/10
K's verdict: 6/10