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.

Brewerkz

14th November, Saturday

Buffalo wings

There was a choice of mild, hot, and suicide. Obviously we took the suicidal path, which, wasn't dangerous at all. The sauce was a tad too salty and sour, and totally lacking in terms of spiciness! The meat was also quite dry. Overall, quite a disappointment. $21.99

V's verdict: 5.5/10


Calamari rings

This was average. Honestly, I haven't tasted any uber-fantastic calamari rings before, and this was no exception. $19.99

V's verdict: 6/10


Volcano burger

This was supposed to be spicy, but the spiciness tasted... Indian! My friend was quite disgusted by it and didn't manage to finish it. I still found it quite bearable, though it wasn't what I had expected. The fries were not bad. $14.99

V's verdict: 6/10

Seah Street Deli

9th October, Friday

Potato Skin

My friend and I were too famished and so ordered this starter... which was a big mistake. For one thing, there was too much potato on the skin, so the skin wasn't as crunchy or crispy as I wished it to be. The cheese they topped it tasted like some cheap and tasteless cheese, and the bacon bits were also quite tasteless.

My impression was that this dish was heated up in the microwave rather than being baked in an oven. $12.65

V's verdict: 4.5/10


BroadWay

A combo of quarter chicken and pork ribs. The ribs were quite all right; the meat was so tender that you could scrap it off the bone with just a spoon. The chicken was good, however. It was baked just right, so that the skin was a bit crispy but the meat was still juicy.

It came with potato wedges which was seasoned with garlic, I think. This was excellent too. $22.55

V's verdict: 8/10


Turkey Burger


It's very easy for turkey to be dry, and this was no exception. The turkey patty was dry, the cheese was the same cheap-tasting cheese, so overall this dish couldn't make it. Fortunately their fries were good.

V's verdict: 5.5/10

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

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

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 (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

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

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

Prego

15th June, Monday

An Italian restaurant at Fairmont Hotel. My AMEX card gives me a 50% discount if I were to dine here with one more person, so it's very worth it.

Vitello tonnato e giadiniera ortolana



This is basically poached veal salad. The ham-like meat at the bottom of the dish is the poached veal, and beneath that is a layer of tuna. Nothing special with the poached veal and tuna. The sauce was a bit too sour for me, so I didn't really enjoy this dish.

V's verdict: 5.5/10


Manzo alla salvia con patate artosto



Roasted ribeye. This didn't look too appetizing, I must admit. But it turned out ok. I asked for it to be medium rare, but was told that since it is roasted, it can only be well done. Oh well.

The meat was a little tough, but still okay for me. Tastewise it was all right too. The potatoes, however, were too dry. Oh, and it wasn't well done, by the way. It was medium well.

V's verdict: 6.5/10