Coffee Club

11th September, Friday

Had to decide on a venue for a birthday dinner at the last minute, so I suggested the Coffee Club at Raffles Place. Most other places should already be fully packed on a Friday evening, so Raffles Place was a good choice - there's definitely empty seats. Besides, it was just 10 steps away from my office.

Smoked salmon garlic cream linguini

I ordered this because I was very hungry. This is another ultra creamy dish which guarantees that you are full, because it's just so thick. Comes with 3 generous chunks of smoked salmon arranged in the shape of roses, and the cream was garlic flavoured.

V's verdict: 7/10


Muddy mudpie

Coffee Club's most well known dish! Everytime I come here, I will order this to share. Fantastic! 9 of us shared 3 mudpies.

V'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.

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

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

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

Modesto's

21st June, Sunday

Treated my family and some relatives here (Elizabeth Hotel outlet) for Father's Day, and they allowed me to use a 30% coupon I cut out from TODAY newspaper. The menu can be found here.

Pane Al Burro D'Aglio

Garlic bread. Simple and delicious! They added black olives too, and the bread was charcoal grilled. It tasted so much better than normal garlic bread! My mother loved it. $7.50

V's verdict: 8/10

Potato Wedges

I don't know what kind of potato they used, but this was fantastic. Thick, slightly crispy, and the potato flavour was still intact. Again, my mother was very impressed with this and claims that she has never eaten such delicious potato wedges before. $8.50

V's verdict: 8/10


Capricciosa pizza

Ingredients were tomato, cheese, cooked pork ham, mushrooms, and artichokes. I thought there wasn't anything special with this, though most of the rest seemed to like it. $22.50

V's verdict: 6.5/10


Spaghetti alla Carbonara

One look and you can tell how creamy it is. My cousin took one bite and said that "it feels like the cream is solidifying inside my stomach!"

This dish is for the cream lovers. It's a must-avoid if you don't like creamy stuff, because this is ridiculously creamy. It's guaranteed to fill your stomach even if you are a big eater! Overall I thought it was okay, though I would still prefer Prego's. $20

V's verdict: 6.5/10


Penne Alfredo con Funghi

Penne is the short tube pasta. A cream based pasta too with shiitake and button mushrooms. The mushrooms were very good! This was creamy too but not as creamy as the Carbonara. $21

V's verdict: 7/10


Cannelloni agli Spinaci

Pasta filled with spinach and cheese, and oven-baked with a tomato and cream sauce. This was good too, especially if you like spinach. And this wasn't as heavy as the previous cream pastas. $21

V's verdict: 7.5/10


Crepes alle Fragole

Strawberry ice cream wrapped in crepes, served with fresh strawberries and light orange sauce. Strawberries and ice cream together = best combi. Nice! $13

V's verdict: 7.5/10


Tiramisu Modesto's


This wasn't as strong as I liked, but it was still okay. $12

V's verdict: 6.5/10


Cassata di Ciliege con salsa Cioccolato

Translation: Home-made Italian cherry cassata served with chocolate sauce. If you were to take away the cream, cherry, and chocolate sauce, I think it wouldn't even look like a dessert. Nothing special about this, if you ask me. $11

V's verdict: 6/10

Bishamon, Ah Chew Desserts

12th June, Friday

Bishamon:

Located at the basement of Bugis Junction.

Oyako Don



From the picture, you probably can't tell how big it is. Well, it is tiny. It definitely wasn't enough for me!

Taste-wise, it was still all right. The chicken was average, and at least it didn't have the defrosted taste like the Oyako Don I had at Waraku (Central). $7.30

Something interesting --- do you know what does Oyako mean? It means 亲子 (parent and child). Why this special term? Because this dish consists mainly of chicken and egg --- the parent and the child!

V's verdict: 6.5/10


Ah Chew Desserts:

Outside Bugis Junction, along Liang Seah Street. The exact address is 1 Liang Seah Street, #01-11, Liang Seah Place.



Ah, the cold desserts granted me a brief respite from the sweltering heat. This had large pieces of honey dew inside, and topped up with a scoop of ice cream. Overall it was quite all right and wasn't too sweet even after taking the ice cream into consideration. $3 + $0.80 for ice cream

V's verdict: 7/10

Canopy, Greenroom

10th May, Sunday

Canopy (again)! Saw their Mother's Day set menu yesterday, so we decided to try it today. We ordered 2 sets from Canopy and 1 set from Greenroom, a neighbour vegetarian restaurant which was also run by the same management.

Rare Tuna Salad



This came with cucumber tagliatelle and soya mirin dressing. The tuna was done just nice, seared on the outside but still raw inside. The dressing was light and complemented the tuna instead of overpowering it.

V's verdict: 7.5/10


Spinach Salad



This was served with roasted pumpkin and feta cheese, sprinkled with almonds. The feta cheese was excellent, but there wasn't enough of it. Overall, not bad.

V's verdict: 6.5/10


Wild Mushroom Potatoes Gnocchi



My father ordered this. It came with sugar pea, brown butter and lemon. I tried it and didn't like it; it was too bland and light for me. Maybe it's because it's a vegetarian meal?

V's verdict: 5/10


Braised Pork Cheeks



My main course. The description said it came with "crispy croutons", but does that piece of toast on top count as crispy croutons (plural)?

The red wine sauce was great; thick and delicious. The pork cheek was also tender, but depending on the direction you bite it, it can be very tough. For such meat portions, you would have to eat it along the "lines", which you can see if you cut it open. Great dish!

V's verdict: 8/10


Crab Meat Linguine



A light pasta dish, sauteed with spring onion and chilli coriander. The crab was fresh and good too.

V's verdict: 7.5/10


Pandan Panna Cotta



Served with brandy snap. I am not too good at rating desserts, but this dish was quite good; light and not too sweet.

V's verdict: 6.5/10


Dark Chocolate Mousse



The chocolate mousse was very thick, and is definitely not for people who dislike thick chocolatey stuff. I found it quite all right though.

V's verdict: 6.5/10