Sushi Tei (China Square Central)

31st August, Monday

Oyako Don

Well, I must say that I expected more from Sushi Tei, a supposedly Japanese sushi restaurant which is of better standards than Sakae Sushi, Ichiban Boshi etc. The rice and egg were okay, but the chicken was dry and tasted a bit stale. It didn't have the defrosted taste, but there was practically no chicken flavour at all. $9

V's verdict: 5.5/10

Din Tai Fung

26th August, Wednesday

The outlet at Junction 8, forever with people queuing outside. Reached there at 7pm and had to wait half an hour for a seat.

Steamed pork dumplings (小笼包)

Din Tai Fung's famous trademark dish. This is also the only dish that is consistently good across all its outlets. As usual, it was good; the skin was of the right thickness, the pork was tasty, and the soup inside was sweet.

V's verdict: 8/10


Stir-fried spinach with garlic (蒜炒菠菜)

A simple dish. A bit bland though.

V's verdict: 6.5/10


Fried rice with pork strips and egg

The outlet at Wisma was better. This was not bad, but not as good.

V's verdict: 7/10


Steamed chicken soup with noodles

Disappointing. The noodles was average, the soup was not bad, but the chicken had the defrosted taste! And the weird thing was that only some pieces had that taste. Bah!

V's verdict: 5/10


Soup with vegetable dumplings

The soup tasted strongly of vegetables - the filling inside the dumplings. A bit bland, but otherwise quite okay.

V's verdict: 6.5/10


Noodles with minced pork in bean sauce (炸酱面）

Another of their well known dishes. I found this average only, though.

V's verdict: 6/10


My conclusion? It wasn't worth the 30 minutes wait for a seat. Perhaps it's the image they project? By utilising a queue system and having people hang around outside the restaurant to wait, they give onlookers the impression that their food was fantastic. Well, the food was only okay. I wouldn't mind going again, but not if I have to queue for another half an hour.

Togi Korean Restaurant

25th August, Tuesday

A Korean restaurant located at Mosque Street. Not a very good location, and yet it was full during lunchtime today.

Bi Bim Bab (pork)

Mixed rice with vegetables, mushrooms, and a choice of beef, pork, or chicken. I took the pork.

When the waiter brought it over, he also mixed some chilli paste into it and stirred it uniformly. It was good! And the portion was generous. If I was full after eating this bowl, I am quite sure everyone else would. $11

V's verdict: 7.5/10


Korean appetizers

This came with any main course ordered. There were beansprouts, ikan bilis, kimchi, potatoes, and other assorted vegetables. It was not bad. I especially liked the kimchi and ikan bilis.

V's verdict: 7/10

Plaza Market Cafe

24th August, Monday

Apparently they just changed their buffet spread... along with their prices. The price was reduced, but the discount from the Feed at Raffles card was also reduced to 25% for 2 people. My guess is that too many people have the Feed at Raffles card, so they are now trying to balance and find a compromise between normal customers and AMEX customers.

The salmon sashimi was still okay. The other more commendable dishes were their laksa, sambal kang kong, durian pengat, and ice cream (especially yam). The following were average - stir fried pork, stir fried beef, crab meat soup, winter melon soup, and long beans with lemak.

And the remaining dishes sucked - fried hokkien mee and fish & meat ball soup. The latter was so bland that my first thought was, "did he give me the water used to cook the noodles as soup?" It's basically hot water! They had 2 hot desserts which were not hot at all, and were all stuck together.

Disappointed. Even with the 25% discount (around $51 for 2 pax) it was still totally not worth it. Heck, it's still not worth it even with 50% discount.

V's verdict: 5/10

Kovan Food Centre

23rd August, Sunday

Wanton noodles (Pontian Wanton Noodles)

I must give credit to their signboard. Out of all the stalls, their signboard was the most prominent and most attractive. Pontian is actually a district in southwest Johor, so this stalls claims to sell Pontian-style wanton noodles, with 60 years of experience blah blah. The bowl sthey used to serve the noodles adds to the authenticity. It looks more original and traditional (and arguably more delicious).

They offer a variety of sauces for the noodles - black sauce, chilli sauce, black sauce & chilli sauce, and tomato sauce. The standard sauce is the black sauce, and the hawker will ask if you want chilli sauce to go with it.

Ingredients were quite plentiful - char siew, deep fried wanton, boiled wanton (that goes with the soup), and vegetables. Let's begin with the noodles.

The noodles had a good texture; smooth and goes down easily. It was also well mixed with the sauce as the hawker will help you mix it before serving. The sauce had a slight sweet tinge to it. Which was all right, but I thought it could be a bit saltier.

The char siew was decent at most. A bit dry too. The boiled wanton was not bad, but the deep fried wanton was good! Crispy and succulent.

Overall, this was quite good and I wouldn't mind trying it again. The portion was a bit small, though. $2.80

V's verdict: 7.5/10

Okinawan Diner Nirai-Kanai

22nd August, Saturday

A Japanese restaurant which is quite well known for their pork belly. They shifted to Liang Court, from Tanglin Shopping Centre. Had a class gathering here, so we had a really huge group of 20+ people.

Raw squid

I must say the presentation of this dish sucks. If I had to give their presentation a score, it would probably get 3/10 at most. Look at the picture. Doesn't it look icky?

It looked raw and unappetizing, and the squid had a greenish tinge to it as well. But I still gave it a try. A consolation was that it didn't taste as bad as it looks. They seasoned it with some wasabi, so it was still okay. But I wouldn't order this again.

V's verdict: 5.5/10


Jumbo pork belly noodles

The pork belly was quite good. It was tender and fell apart once I prodded it with my chopsticks. Normally I don't eat the fats, but this time I just ate everything up. Other than the pork, the egg was done very well too. The egg yolk was still semi liquid, and the egg white was tasty too.

But this aside, nothing else was special. The soup was arguably decent. But the noodles weren't good; a bit hard and my first impression was "did they use the wrong noodles for this dish?" $13.80

V's verdict: 6.5/10

Beng Thin Hoon Kee

21st August, Friday

My second trip to Beng Thin within a week, as one of our business partners insisted on treating our clients (different ones from Tuesday) to this place again. Once again, no pictures.

Fried oyster omelette

This was different from the usual oyster omelette we eat at hawker centres. For one thing, it had much more flour. I prefer more egg actually, but at least it was crispy and delicious. The oysters were also big, fresh and sweet. But quite filling because it's oily.

V's verdict: 8/10


Kong Ba Pau

Beng Thin is supposedly well known for this as well. I found it not bad but not as good as I expected. Their pork tasted a bit sweet, which didn't really agree with my taste buds. But when I brought some back to my colleagues, they LOVED it.

V's verdict: 7/10


Fried vegetables (豆苗)

Simple but delicious. It's just fried with garlic, I think.

V's verdict: 8/10

O'Briens Sandwich Irish Bar

21st August, Friday

Had a concert to watch at 730pm, so we grabbed a quick dinner at O'Briens (Citylink Mall outlet).

O'Briens Triple Decker

As shown in the picture, it comes with chips. Fillings include the usual tomatoes and lettuce, and chicken and bacon. This was quite good, actually. The proportions was done just nice, and the sauce was also added in the right amount, such that the sandwich wasn't too wet or too dry.

The only drawback was that the counter staff took forever to prepare this sandwich. $10.90

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

Beng Thin Hoon Kee (茗珍奋记)

18th August, Tuesday

A traditional Hokkien restaurant, Beng Thin has been around for many years. I even recall visiting it several times when I was small (>20 years ago).

No pictures taken as I was having a business lunch with some of my clients.


Beng Thin Duck Salad (鸭丝冷盘)

This was a good opening dish, which was very appetizing. A nice mixture of cucumber slices, chilli, roast duck, and rock melon topped with gravy. Unique and excellent!

V's verdict: 8/10


Crabmeat fishmaw soup (蟹肉鱼鳔羹)

This was also good. Thick soup with fish maw and crab meat. Add a bit of pepper and vinegar, and the dish is perfect.

V's verdict: 8/10


Crispy roast chicken (脆皮烧鸡）

The skin was crispy, the meat was slightly juicy. The breast meat wasn't too dry too. Nice!

V's verdict: 8/10


Venison with mushrooms

The venison was decent; nothing special. I must say the attractive part of this dish was the mushrooms. They were sliced thinly; me and my colleague even mistook them for ginger slices or onion slices. The mushrooms were slightly juicy and sweet.

V's verdict: 7/10


Fujian style ngo hiang

There were 3 types of ngo hiang served here - the traditional one, spring roll, and another oddly shaped one which I don't know how to describe. The traditional one tasted good, but the rest were average only.

V's verdict: 6/10


Fried hokkien mee (福建炒面)

Beng Thin is famous for their fried hokkien mee. It's the dark kind, with thick and rich gravy. This was quite fantastic!

V's verdict: 8/10


Sweet yam with pumpkin slices and gingko nuts (金瓜芋泥)

Well I am not really into orr nee, but this was still quite good. Not too heavy and not too light. Smooth and the sweet flavour of the pumpkin blended in quite well with the whole dish.

V's verdict: 7/10

Overall, I found this place to be quite good. They may not have any dishes that scored more than 8.5 from me, but they had a lot of dishes which were already very good (score 8). Will bring my parents here one day.

Lee Fun Nam Kee

17th August, Monday

Okay, I am not sure whether I got the name right. On their plastic bag it says "Lee Nam Kee", but below that it says LFNK and "李范“. And a search online yielded "Lee Fun Nam Kee". Oh well. It's located at Block 94 Toa Payoh Lorong 4, #01-04.

Soy chicken

Excellent soy chicken! One of the very few chicken dishes my mother truely enjoys and craves for once in a while. The chicken is tender and smooth. The thick sauce was a bit too sweet; I would prefer the normal juices that comes with the chicken. The sauce can be used with their noodles, however.

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

Serangoon Garden Market

17th August, Monday

Braised duck rice (Ah Seng Braised Duck Rice)

I haven't eaten here in years, and I regret not having visited this stall earlier. Their duck was so good! The duck breast was sliced thinly, and it was tender and succulent. Excellent!

V's verdict: 8.5/10

Princess Terrace Cafe

16th August, Sunday

Well known for their Penang hawker fare, this cafe is located at Copthorne King's Hotel, at Havelock Road.

I must say I haven't had such a great buffet in ages. People may think that "hawker fare" is cheap stuff and not worth the $38++, but I have to say that their food is really fantastic! The stuff that really caught my attention was their prawn mee (the soup was so strong and delicious; K said that this is the real Penang prawn mee), herbal duck thigh soup, deep fried crab, and fried kway teow. Other good dishes include their otak otak, braised pork, and pig stomach soup.

Penang laksa was something I have disliked for years. K tried their Penang laksa and said it was good, only a bit below Penang's standards. I tried a sip and actually found it quite... edible!

There was BBQ stingray too, which K liked but I found it a bit too sweet and not hot enough. For desserts, the only thing that caught my attention was ice kachang, since they don't serve ice cream. But ice kachang was a welcome change, so I was all right with it.

I thought that the days of stuffing myself with food beyond a certain level of comfort were over (around 7 years ago?). But I found myself trying to eat more even though I was full, because the food was simply too delicious. I forced myself to down one last bowl of prawn mee so that I won't regret it later. And I am glad I did.

V's verdict: 9/10
K's verdict: 8.5/10

Chomp Chomp

12th August, Wednesday

Fried hokkien mee (车间炒福建虾面)

Tried the fried hokkien mee from a different stall, since the famous Ah Hock was closed today. This turned out quite okay. $3/$4/$5

V's verdict: 6.5/10
K's verdict: 7/10


Century egg and pork porridge (Chong Chong Pork Porridge & Macaroni)

This used to be my favourite porridge, until I tried the porridge at Maxwell Market's Zhen Zhen Porridge. Still, it's a good bowl of porridge, thick and tasty but not as thick as Zhen Zhen's, which some people think is too heavy for them. Comes with pork, century egg, pig liver, and egg. The egg costs $0.50 (!!!) and takeaway another $0.20.

$3.50 + $0.50 + $0.20

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


BBQ chicken wings (Xin Shi Dai)

Located at the back, right side. It's a relatively newer stall compared to Daily Fresh, but I found this to be slightly better. $1 per wing

V's verdict: 6.5/10
K's verdict: 7.5/10


Wanton noodles (Swee Heng Wanton Noodle)

I ordered this several years ago and loved it since. I always order their green noodles; it seems to taste better than their yellow noodles. Just moist enough, with wanton and small dumplings. The ingredients were average, but the chilli and seasoning mixed with the noodles makes this a great dish. $3/$4

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

Mango Tau Huay (Dinghao Sugarcane Juice)

I have never tried mango flavoured tau huay before. This was mixed with normal tau huay. The mango tau huay wasn't strong enough on its own, so you have to eat it with the chopped mango. Unique and interesting. $2.50

V's verdict: 7/10
K's verdict: 9/10

Kim San Leng Food Court

12th August, Wednesday

Bought these as takeaway, and used my own bowls and plates to hold them.

Pig organs (You Kee Duck Rice . Porridge . Kway Chiap)


I dunno about their eggs and fishcake, since I told them I didn't want those. But the tau pok was on the verge of spoiling, since it had a sour taste. I threw away almost all of it. The pork and pig skin were still all right. Intestines were decent. But the sauce was a bit too sticky and not to my liking.

V's verdict: 5/10


Fishball noodles (Million Fish Ball Noodles)

I wonder if this had any relation to the fishball noodle stall at Mei Xuan Food Court? Because their chinese names were almost the same. This one is called 隆兴百万鱼圆面 while Mei Xuan's is called 隆兴百万鱼圆. Just a difference of one word. Hmm...

From the picture, it looks quite moist. But I don't know why it was so dry after I have stirred it. Probably only one side was moist; the bottom was totally dry. So once I mixed it, it was generally still dry. It's a pity, since the taste was quite all right. And their fishballs were not bad too. If it weren't so dry I would have given it a higher score.

V's verdict: 6/10

Serangoon Garden Market

10th August, Monday

Half boiled eggs (Hwa Kee Cafe)

Ack, from the picture you can tell that their half boiled eggs are not good. The egg yolk is intact and not overcooked, but the egg white was still too liquid and transparent.

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


Kaya toast (Hwa Kee Cafe)

Simple kaya toast on normal bread. K sacrificed one slice to the dirty table, though. -.-

K's verdict: 7/10

Posin Hainanese Chicken Rice

11th August, Tuesday

Bought this as takeaway from Serangoon Garden. Despite having a different 'english' name as Pow Sing, their chinese equivalent is the same - 报喜. Pow Sing serves steamed chicken whereas Posin serves roast chicken. And they are owned by the same boss.

I have been eating their roast chicken since I was young. The skin is delicious, and their chilli is especially good! The breast meat can be a bit dry sometimes, but that can be cured with chilli.

$11 for half-chicken

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

Xin Wang HK Cafe

9th August, Sunday

Luncheon meat & egg sandwich

Well in the picture this sandwich looked exactly the same as the cheese & ham sandwich. I thought that the bread was a bit too thick and dry, and it was difficult to cut properly. There was a sweet taste to it too, which K claimed to be from condensed milk.

V's verdict: 6/10


Cheese & ham sandwich

K ordered this. Basically it's the same as mine, except that it had cheese and ham instead of luncheon meat and egg. K loved this, though I found it decent only (just like my sandwich).

V's verdict: 6/10
K's verdict: 9/10


Half boiled eggs

Not as good as Ya Kun's, but then again, I haven't tasted any half-boiled eggs that can surpass Ya Kun's. The egg white was a bit too watery, and one of the egg yolks burst when I cracked the egg open. Their dark sauce was a bit too sweet and not salty enough.

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

Carrot cake

This was the best dish I had here today, in my opinion. The carrot cake is those HK dim sum types, not the usual fried carrot cake in hawker centres. It was not oily, and the taste was light and yet succulent.

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

Kowloon HK Cafe

7th August, Friday

Had lunch here with my team. Fortunately the waiting time wasn't as bad as last time!


Pork chop baked rice

I didn't like this dish. For one thing, the rice wasn't normal rice but yellow rice - I found that it clashed with the cheese. It was too sweet, though that could be due to the tomato sauce my colleague chose. But still, it didn't suit my taste buds.

The pork chops were not bad though. Tender and not dry. They were the main saving points of this dish.

V's verdict: 5.5/10


Crispy spare rib noodles

Plain noodles, with some baked pork ribs garnished with garlic. The noodles were normal, nothing special. The pork ribs were quite juicy and tender, with some soft bones which made it taste better. But it was a bit bland.

V's verdict: 6/10

The Global Kitchen

5th August, Wednesday

A buffet restaurant at the 3rd floor of Pan Pacific Hotel.

The food there was not bad, especially their meats. Their roast chicken and duck were quite good for a buffet restaurant, and their sausages were fantastic!

They had a Japanese corner, but a pity they didn't serve sashimi. There was sushi and tempura (prawn, lady's finger, mushroom) and some other stuff, which were decent. Oh, the teriyaki beef was good!

Desserts lacked variety, but there's ice cream so it's enough for me.

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

Guo Fu (国府)

4th August, Tuesday

A steamboat restaurant which serves North China food. It's located at China Square Central. 3 years ago, I tried this place before and thought that it cannot make it. 3 years later, today, I tried it again with my colleagues and the conclusion is still the same - it still cannot make it.

I don't understand why it has survived so long; everyday it is quite empty. Even during lunchtime they are like, only 1/4 full (at most)? At night, I think they only had 4 tables.


Looks nice, but it's far from nice. The sliced beef had a weird taste; I don't even know how to describe it. The sliced pork was tough, and the pig liver didn't seem fresh. Only the chicken and fish slices were all right. The sausages too, but come on, it's sausages. They had their own weird concoction of sauces which tasted quite good at first, but after a while it wears off.

I am never coming here again. $18.90

V's verdict: 4/10

Toa Payoh Lorong 4 Food Centre

19th July, Sunday

Oops, forgot to update this entry until I suddenly remembered it today. *sheepish* Everything here is from one stall - Gen Shu Mei Shi She Jia. (Can't remember the chinese name; this was taken from ieatishootipost)


Yam cake

I am not a fan of yam cake, but I still thought that this was good! Tasty with the right texture. One of the best yam cakes I have ever tasted.

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


Century egg porridge

This was thick and quite good, until I munched on some pork slices. To my dismay, it had the frozen taste which I detest! Very disappointed that they served such food.

V's verdict: 5.5/10
K's verdict: 7/10


Chee cheong fun

Chee cheong fun isn't really one my favourite dishes. I won't say I dislike it, but I definitely wouldn't order it by myself. But this one was not bad. The texture was good; neither too hard nor too soft, and it was quite flavoursome too.

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

Cafe 2000

31st July, Friday

Goose Liver Pasta

My favourite foie gras! Well, this dish is simply pasta with goose liver. That's all. The pasta was a bit too oily and too bland, so I had to add some salt. The foie gras was cut into cubes. It was normal, nothing really special for foie gras. $28

V's verdict: 6/10

Kopi Tiam

30th July, Thursday

No, this is not a normal kopi tiam along the street. It's the Kopi Tiam at Swissotel The Stamford.

Curry chicken
The scoring point of this was that there was very little oil on top of it. The curry was thick and tasty, but not hot enough for me. The chicken was quite good, but the potatoes were a bit dry. $16.50

V's verdict: 7.5/10