Ministry of Steak

8th December, Tuesday

A newly opened steak restaurant at Serangoon Garden. It came as a direct competitor to Aston's with its cheap and affordable steaks.

French Onion Soup

This was average. Nothing special, but still acceptable.

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


Wagyu Beef

(I didn't get a picture of this because the waiter asked me to check its done-ness. And without thinking, I sliced the beef... and the picture couldn't be taken anymore. -.-)

MOS was having a promotion on their Wagyu beef, so it cost only $29 instead of the usual $39. And it was Australian Wagyu ribeye! The beef was a bit thin, but it was still totally worth it. I ordered it medium rare, and it actually came a bit closer to rare. But nevertheless it was delicious and juicy.

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

To top things up, there was no service charge or GST. And their service was excellent. Definitely a recommended place!

Borsche Steakhouse

8th December, Tuesday

An extremely old Russian restaurant at Serangoon Garden. And evidently not much renovation was done, since the place looked exactly the same 10 years ago.

Hard boiled egg with caviar

I think I could count how many eggs there were on the egg! The caviar was okay (actually too little to really taste it). The hard boiled egg was hard and seemed to have been cooked too early and left in the fridge.

V's verdict: 5/10


Shrimp cocktail

Urgh, the shrimp they used was those small and stale ones! One bite and I refused to eat anymore of it.

V's verdict: 3/10
K's verdict: 5/10

Cream of mushroom soup

I think a more appropriate name for this would be 'Water of mushroom soup'. It was so diluted and tasted horrible!

V's verdict: 3.5/10
K's verdict: 3/10


Borsch soup

After tasting the real Borsch soup at Russia, this one doesn't come close. But still, if you ignore the fact that this isn't original, it still tasted decent.

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


Sirloin steak
K ordered this. It came on a sizzling hot plate. The seasoning and taste was quite good, but I found the beef a bit lacking in natural flavour. The beef was no doubt from New Zealand. But K found it quite good.

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


Mixed grill

This was my main course. Mixed grill = Beef, pork, lamb, chicken. The beef was a small piece only, but it was a tenderloin so relatively it was better. The pork was a bit dry but still decent, and the lamb was ultra tough. I felt as if I was chewing a piece of rubber. The chicken was not bad though.

V's verdict: 6/10

Despite its ratings, the price was very affordable. K's set (sirloin steak) that comes with the starter, soup and a drink cost only $13.80, while my dinner set (mixed grill) costs $20.80, and it also comes with the same stuff. It's actually quite all right, if you don't mind the quality a bit.

Stock Pot

6th November, Friday

Boston Clam Chowder


This wasn't very good, in my opinion. The clams tasted weird and stale, and the soup just didn't have the natural seafood taste. $7.90 .

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

Botak Jones

1st November, Sunday

The Botak Jones outlet at Toa Payoh North.

Alaskan Pollock Fillet

I didn't know what kind of fish Alaskan Pollock is, and I just ordered it without thinking. Not surprisingly, it was deep fried. There was a choice of 2 sides and I took the cheese potato and spicy fries; both were quite good. The fish, however, wasn't very fresh (which explains why they deep fry it) and tasted average. Anyway, deep fried stuff all taste around the same. $9.50/$17.50

V's verdict: 6/10


Chicken Gumbo

This soup was a tad too oily. Had quite a lot of ingredients inside (chicken, chicken skin, sausages, vegetables) but they tasted rojak instead of blending well together.

The difference between regular and large was so huge that no one should even bother ordering regular. $5/$7

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


Caesar Salad
The vegetables didn't taste fresh, the croutons and bacon bits tasted artificial and stale. K found the dressing a bit too oily. $4/$6.50

V's verdict: 5.5/10
K's verdict: 5/10

Uncle Sam's Claypot

14th October, Wednesday

Located at Afro-Asia Building, along Robinson Road. They seem to have a pro-elderly culture - practically all their waitresses were aunties! But the way our food was served was quite weird. 3 of us ordered the same dish - boneless chicken claypot. Waitress A came with 2 claypots, but only gave us one. While we were scratching our heads, Waitress B came with one more claypot. And the last claypot took another good 5 minutes to arrive.

Boneless chicken claypot

Well, this was not bad. As promised, the chicken was boneless and quite good - not too dry. The chinese sausages were quite good too, but the mushrooms, albeit juicy, were a little sour. The portions were quite generous. $8

V's verdict: 7/10


Herbal chicken soup

I usually scoff at herbal stuff sold outside because they are always too diluted. But this was quite good. The chicken drumstick was fresh and tender too. $5

V's verdict: 7/10


Duck with salted vegetable soup

Not bad, but nothing special.

V's verdict: 6.5/10

Soup Spoon

17th September, Thursday

The outlet at Raffles Xchange.


Tangy Tomato with Basil

One of my favourites from Soup Spoon. But today's didn't seem to taste as good. The soup was a bit too spicy, and the tomato flavour wasn't as strong as before.

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


Boston Clam Chowder

Chock full of potatoes, and quite filling (though not as filling as their mushroom soup!) .But it wasn't really as good as their other soups. For one thing, I don't really taste the clam.

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

Ichiban Sushi

16th September, Wednesday

The outlet at Plaza Singapura.

Curry chicken udon

This was a half-bowl, so it costs only $6.90. Well I am glad I ordered a half-bowl to share - it wasn't very good. The curry was arguably decent, but their chicken couldn't make it. Firstly, there were only a few measly pieces inside. Secondly, each piece was tough and tasteless.

V's verdict: 5.5/10


Tempura soft shelled crab

This was another disappointing dish. One, it wasn't hot enough. Two, it wasn't juicy. Three, I seem to taste more flour than crab. $5.50

V's verdict: 4.5/10


Unagi Tamago Toji

Finally, a dish that I found satisfying. The only thing I was disappointed about was its size - it sure looked a lot bigger in the menu. -.-

Well, this tasted quite good. But then again, to me, eel usually tastes around the same. The combination of scrambled egg with the eel, and their gravy was good. Worth a try.

V's verdict: 7/10


Claypot soup with salmon

Ack, I can't remember the exact name for this dish. And Ichiban Suhi apparently doesn't post their menu online. Anyway, it's some claypot soup (hot and delicious!) with beancurd and chunks of salmon. The salmon was average, but the soup made up for it.

V's verdict: 7/10

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.

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.

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

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

Southbank

11th June, Thursday

A Thai restaurant at Boat Quay. Thai food doesn't really appeal to me, but my colleagues felt like going, so I just went along. We ordered the set lunch for $10.50 each, and top up another $2 for Tom Yam soup. Depending on the number of people, you may actually get a "bonus" side dish --- 3 of us had 4 dishes.

Chilli Fish Fillet



This was quite okay. The chilli didn't taste like chilli at all though, it was absolutely not spicy at all! But the fish was fried until it was just crispy and yet not too dry. And it wasn't too oily too.

V's verdict: 7/10


Thai Green Curry



Is green curry supposed to be spicy? Well, this was once again not spicy at all. The chicken was tough though and didn't taste good.

V's verdict: 6/10


Chilli prawns



All the spicy food in this restaurant don't taste spicy at all! GARR. Other than that, this sauce was not bad and had lots of egg inside, reminding me of chilli crab sauces. The prawns were quite fresh and were not bad.

V's verdict: 7/10


Tom Yam Soup

Not bad, except that the squid was a bit tough.

V's verdict: 6.5/10


Bean sprouts with salted fish

The salted fish didn't taste strong enough, but otherwise it was all right.

V's verdict: 6.5/10

Hiang Ji Roasted Meat & Noodle House

20th May, Wednesday

At Toa Payoh Central. This stall seems to be competing fiercely with Choo Chiang, which is just 2 or 3 units away. Apparently, this one is winning with always more customers than Choo Chiang.

Roast duck noodles



Okay, my judgement was skewed because the roasted duck parts they gave me suck. It's the wing area, where the meat is the driest and toughest. But there was some breast meat which didn't taste good too. Nothing special with the noodles. $3

V's verdict: 5/10


Dumpling soup



Their soup was decent, but the dumplings were okay. $3

V's verdict: 6.5/10

Chiew Kee Noodle House

8th May, Friday

Located at 32 Upper Cross St. Just a few steps away, there's another eatery called Chew Kee Eating House, located at 8 Upper Cross St (Notice the "Chew", without the "i"). There were stories that these 2 eateries were run by a brother and sister, who went separate ways after disputes.

This outlet is the one supposedly run by the brother. Honestly, I only came here today because Chew Kee was closed.

Dumpling soup



(Ah, I was in a hurry taking this picture that I didn't notice the light reflection!)

This was disappointing. The soup was too plain and bland, and tasted strongly of vegetables. In fact, it seems like just a bowl of vegetable soup. There wasn't anything special with the dumplings too, and even their chilli, which can be a big saving factor for lots of food, wasn't good. Give me Chew Kee's soup anytime over this.

V's verdict: 4.5/10
K's verdict: 4/10


Soy chicken



Ok, they managed to redeem themself partially with this. The gravy is dark and goes well with the chicken and rice. The chicken flesh was also quite tender.

I ordered it with some chicken liver, and it was quite good too.

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

Soup Spoon

5th May, Tuesday

Lunch today was at Soup Spoon, the outlet at Raffles Place MRT. Their soup was supposedly prepared beforehand from a central location, so I would assume their standard to be more or less consistent. In fact, a copycat has sprung up, also at Raffles Place MRT, but I can't remember the exact name now.

Beef Goulash



One of my favourites from Soup Spoon. Not too thick and yet full of flavour, mainly from the beef and vegetables inside. Today's soup seemed to have a disproportionate amount of vegetables inside, though. The sore point was the bread --- it didn't seem fresh and was a tad too hard. $8.20 for Grande

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


Caesar's salad



I only started loving Caesar's salad recently. Theirs was quite good, with the right amount of dressing. I ordered this as part of the Souper upgrade --- $3.90 for half salad and a drink. The bacon bits weren't too good though; I think they used artificial bacon. The croutons were crispy but not tasty enough. But everything else was all right.

V's verdict: 7.5/10
K's verdict: 9.5/10

Canopy

26th April, Sunday

Located at Bishan Park. My uncle is actually the one of the owners, and it's one of the few places in Singapore where people can bring their dogs to without worrying whether it is legal or not.

Lobster bisque



Excellent! The soup was thick and full of flavour, with small chunks of lobster inside. $11

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


New Zealand Green Shell Mussels



The mussels itself didn't taste too good, but their sauce --- a tomato cream sauce --- managed to make up for it. In fact, the sauce was so good that I finished up almost all of it. My father didn't really like the sauce, though. $14

V's verdict: 7/10


Australian Beef Ribeye



This was quite all right. I ordered medium rare, but I think it came out as medium. Couldn't verify it by sight as we were sitting outside and it was too dark. Served with mashed potatoes and asparagus and topped with a thick gravy. $28

V's verdict: 7/10


Canopy's Gourmet Beef Burger



My mother ordered this and was quite pleased with it. The beef patty was juicy, the bread was a bit crisp, and the fries were freshly fried and tasted good. My only sore point is that it didn't come with bacon or cheese; an additional $3 was required. $15

V's verdict: 7.5/10

一家村 (Clifford Centre), Banquet (Clifford Centre)

24th April, Friday

一家村:



Lotus soup

One look at today's soup, and I knew it wouldn't be that good. It looked too pale and light, and true enough, it tasted diluted to me. But K seemed to like it and claimed that it tasted better than the one at Mei Xuan. Hmm...

V's verdict: 5.5/10
K's verdict: 8/10

Porridge

Ordered braised pork with tau pok, beansprouts, and 梅菜. Nothing special to me, but K said the pork was quite good. She didn't really like the 梅菜, though.

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


Banquet:

幼面 (Handmade Noodles)



Not bad. I would have da bao-ed this for lunch more frequently if not for the fact that they charge an exorbitant $0.30 for take-away. Soup was tasty, noodles was all right. Pork tasted a bit weird and had too much fat, though.

V's verdict: 6.5/10


Dumpling noodles (Handmade Noodles)



Tried it before but didn't like it, but K seemed to like it a lot (but can't give a reason why she likes it). This is the 3rd time she has eaten this, after all.

V's verdict: 4.5/10
K's verdict: 8/10

Mei Xuan Food Court

22nd April, Wednesday

A food court at Raffles Place, formerly known as Mei Sin.

Lotus soup (一家村）：



Average. The 一家村 at Clifford Centre is better though. $3.50 for a bowl of soup, $0.50 for the rice.

V's verdict: 6.5/10
K's verdict: 6.0/10


Curry chicken noodles (Ah Heng Curry Chicken Bee Hoon):



Average. The soup was decent, but we both found the chicken rather tasteless, without any natural flavours.

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