Saturday 29 October 2011

Restaurant Review :- Crystal Jade Shanghai Restaurant, Changi Airport Terminal 3, Singapore

 If you are flying from Changi Airport, Terminal 3, 'Crystal Jade Shanghai Restaurant' is so convenient to enjoy a pleasant meal before the flight.  The only downside is that the restaurant closes quite early - at 10pm.

I ordered 'Braised rice with beef and tomato'. This was positively delicious. The meat was succulent and the tomato - fresh - what a wonderful taste.
My friend ordered 'Wanton Soup with Seasonal Vegetable'. The soup was very tasty and the Dumplings with Seasonal Vegetables were delicious.


 I had already eaten 2 of the  'Pork Dumplings with Hot Chilli Sauce' when this picture was taken.

The Dumplings were nice - not amazing but just nice - I was unfortunately not brave enough to try the 'Hot Chilli Sauce'.




It was a great relaxing experience to visit this restaurant. Thirty Three Dollars was not that cheap but it is extremely convenient if you are waiting for a flight.



Wednesday 26 October 2011

Restaurant Review :- Nanxiang Steamed Bun Restaurant, Plaza Singapura, Singapore

 Nanxiang Steamed Bun Restaurant has recently opened a branch at Plaza Singapura.

The waiting staff were very helpful and friendly - we were seated quickly - the table was lovely and everything looked very new inside.

It was a very pleasant atmosphere there.
I ordered the 'Braised Beef Brisket and Tendon Noodle' dish as I wanted to compare the taste of this Shanghai restaurant with Taiwanese - 'Din Tai Fung' Restaurant.

This dish was far superior to Din Tai Fung's offering in every way. The noodles were nicer than Din Tai Fung and the soup was amazing.

This dish is highly recommended!
 My friend chose the 'Bean Sauce Minced Pork Noodles'.  This was a small portion which was slightly dissapointing but the taste was amazing.

This dish was very tasty - the Bean Sauce added an amazing flavour.

Would definitely have this dish again.
The 'Vegetable and Pork Filling Steamed Bun' was absolutely amazing and far nicer than 'Din Tai Fung'. It was a truly wondrous taste and tremendous experience to eat at this restaurant.
The Bill below was 29 singapore dollars which we believe was very resonable.  We would rate this restaurant 9/10. One of the best places in Singapore for Xiao Long Bao!

 



Tuesday 25 October 2011

Restaurant Review:- Bali Thai, Ion Orchard, Singapore

Bali Thai is conveniently located in Ion Orchard. We went there on a very busy night - as it was Diwali and the start of an official public holiday in Singapore.

We managed to get a comfortable table at the back next to the Kitchen.

It is a colourful, relaxing atmosphere in the restaurant and the waiting staff were very mannerable, helpful and courteous.
My friend ordered 'Vegetables, Glass Noodles and Garlic Pepper Sauce'.

The Garlic Pepper Sauce added a spicy kick to it.

The vegetables were delightful though there were too many onions for my liking. The glass noodles were very filling and enjoyable.




This seemed like a small dish when it was delivered to our table - the portion served should have been larger.

The dish was  'Beef Fillet, Phad Thai and Phad Thai Sauce.'

It was delicious - especially the Phad Thai Noodles and the sauce complemented it perfectly. Shame the serving wasn't larger though!
Twenty three dollars was very very reasonable for Orchard Ion - the food was very nice.


We would give this restaurant 6 out of 10.

The serving staff were very helpful and well mannered.

The only minus point was the size of serving - too small.


On the whole, a nice experience.

Sunday 16 October 2011

Restaurant Review食评:- Secret Recipe, Anchor Point, Alexandra Road, Singapore

Secret Recipe is in Anchor Point just across from Ikea in Alexandra Road.
As usual the Ikea restaurant had a very long queue so we decided to come here.

We were shown to a table of a choice when we arrived.

It was a little annoying that monotonous dance music was playing constantly during our meal - I guess the chef must be a huge fan of Techno!
My friend ordered the 'Secret Recipe fried rice with Satay'. This was very nice. The Satay meat was very nice - not too tough to chew on and the sauce was good.

The rice was also as we would have wished so would give this dish the thumbs up.

It was enough to fill us up too.
Now I was glad I ordered the 'Cod fish with honey mustard sauce'. When it arrived it looked like a work of art. The seasonal vegetables were so colourful.

We appreciated the delicious honey mustard sauce and the fish was just right. It was quite healthy too - apart from the 1000 Island dressing on the salad.

We highly recommend this tasty and healthy dish.
The price was average for a mid cost Singapore Restaurant.

If the Chef could have turned down his monotonous dance and pop music this meal would have been very nice. However this spoiled the ambience of the restaurant.

We would give the 'Cod fish with honey mustard sauce' top marks however due to the noisy music and below average service by the staff - we would give this restaurant - 5 out of 10.

Saturday 15 October 2011

Restaurant Review食评 :- Japanese Gourmet Town日本美食村, Harbourfront海湾, Singapore新加坡

Japanese Gourmet Town at Vivo City is a nice place to spend some time getting rejuvenated.

在怡丰城的日本美食街是一个花点时间恢复活力的好地方,

We were greeted half heartedly by the waiter - who seemed to be in a great hurry to take our order. No time for the niceties in this place.

我们被服务员不太友好地问候,他看上去很渴望我们点菜。没时间服务太好。
When we were inside we realised how many tables there are in this restuarant and the tables are quite spacious and comfortable.

我们进去的时候看到里面有多少桌子,座位宽敞而舒适。
 I decided upon the Seafood Okos Set - which included a mixed mushroom dish.

我决定要海鲜OKOS套餐-包括炒蘑菇。

The Okonomiyaki or Savoury pancake - was absolutely delicious. The sauce and texture and seafood was utterly fantastic. I really recommend this dish.

那个可口的煎饼(- -!)-非常美味。汤汁和纹理以及海鲜简直棒极了。我绝对推荐这个。

The mixed mushroom dish complemented the Okos perfectly and I felt really satisfied after eating this.

炒蘑菇完美搭配了煎饼,吃完这个我感觉非常满意。
The Hotstone Chicken Curry Rice was acceptable but not extraordinary.
It was not too spicy, was presented well and was as was to be expected.

石锅咖喱鸡饭还可以,但是没什么特别,不太辣,摆盘不错,和期待中一样。

The Chicken meat was average.It came with a nice side salad.

鸡肉尝起来一般。佐以不错的一小盘沙拉。

Thirty two dollars was a nice price to pay as we ordered sets so felt we got good value for money.   We would give Japanese Gourmet Town 6 out of 10 overall. The Service is not really very good. If you do go - make sure you order the Okos - Japanese Pancake.

照我们这么吃,32块新币还算价钱不错,感觉还挺划算。我们给这个日本美食街6/10。服务不那么好。如果你去的话,确定你要点那个OKOS-日本煎饼。

Monday 10 October 2011

Restaurant Review :- Yomenya Goemon, Citylink Mall, Singapore

After having visited Yomenya Goemon at Somerset and having been very impressed, I felt the urge to visit the Citylink Mall branch on the way back from work on Monday.

The staff were plentiful and friendly and there were some free seats.

I knew exactly what I wanted so ordered immediately. 
The 'Multi Vitamin Assortment of Veggies, Pork and Mushroom' looked like the best of both worlds - healthy and tasty.

It arrived in about 20 minutes so not extra speedy delivery.

The ingredients were beautifully cooked - especially the broccoli and peppers and the Spaghetti was nice.

The downside it was irritatingly too salty. A chef had been too generous with the sodium chloride!
Be warned before you order if you don't like salt - specify this when you order.

The price tag of 14 Singapore dollars was too expensive.


I would give this branch 4 out of 10 due to the Salt issue.


Recommend you pay a visit to the Somerset branch of Yoemenya Goemon instead!

Sunday 9 October 2011

Restaurant Review 食评:- Din Tai Fung鼎泰丰, Raffles City莱弗士坊, Singapore新加坡

Din Tai Fung in Raffles City MRT(subway) has a reputation that precedes it. It has many branches all over the world now which are far removed from its original base in Taiwan.

鼎泰丰盛名在外,我们去的是莱弗士坊的这家。它来自台湾,如今在全世界有很多分店。
It specialises in steamed pork dumplings or  Xiao Long Bao。

它的特色菜是蒸猪肉饺子- -!或者叫小笼包。

We arrived on a Sunday afternoon and luckily there were some tables available.
我们星期天下午到的,很幸运有不少位子空着。

We ordered quickly after being seated at a comfortable table looking across at the busy glass fronted Kitchen.

我们坐在舒服的座位上很快点了菜,通过对面的玻璃能看到忙碌的厨房。

There was an endless delivery of Taiwanese Treats being delivered from this kitchen.

无穷无尽的台湾菜就是从这个厨房送出来的。
We ordered Dan Dan Noodle. The suace was deliciously spicy and just delightful and the noddles were very nice.

我们点了担担面。酱料很好吃,辣得令人愉快。而且面条很好。
We also ordered the stir fried spinach with garlic. It was a fine accompanying dish to our noodle dishes and we felt great eating it.

我们也点了蒜茸菠菜。这个很好地搭配了我们的面条,吃着感觉很棒。

We felt especially healthy eating this splendid dish of the finest green vegetables.

吃着这个极好的绿色蔬菜,我们感觉特健康。
The next dish that we ordered was 'Special Braised Beef Noodle soup with Beef Brisket'. The meat was so soft yet wonderfully cooked - the Beef was absolutely top quality meat. The Noodles were wonderful too.  I highly recommend this dish!

下一个菜我们点的是"红烧牛肉汤面"肉很软,烹调得非常好。肉质一流,面条也好。墙裂推荐这个!
The steamed Pork dumplings were delicious. This was partly down to the lovely soup which filled these dumplings. They are highly recommended since they are this restaurant's speciality.

小笼包很美味。里面充满鲜汤。墙裂推荐这个,因为是这个饭馆的特色。

We ordered six dumplings and even that was quite filling.

我们点了六个,吃得非常饱。

Thirty eight dollars was pretty reasonable for a very satisfying meal - all dishes were delicious. Now we understand the popularity of this restaurant. We would give this restaurant 9 out of 10 - one of the best in Singapore!

作为让人满意的一顿饭,38块非常合理-所有的菜都好吃。现在我们理解为什么这个饭馆那么热门了。我们给这个饭馆9/10分-新加坡最好的饭馆之一!

Restaurant Review食评 :- La Forketta Italian Restaurant拉佛凯塔意大利饭馆, Nassim Road, Singapore







 La Forketta is in a very expensive part of Singapore near Orchard Road and Tanglin Road. My family  was in Town on Business so we decided to go somewhere near his hotel. The restaurant looked nice from the outside so we decided to give it a try.
拉佛凯塔是一个在新加坡乌节路和唐临路一带很贵的地方。我的家人来市区工作,所以我们决定找个离他酒店近的地方吃饭。这个饭馆从外面看上去不错,我们决定试一试。

Italian food when cooked with finesse and skill surpasses any other western food.
意大利菜的烹饪材料和技法比其他西方菜好很多。We wanted to eat like Romans in Singapore.我们想要在新加坡吃得象个罗马人。


We were looking forward to it. So we entered 'La Forketta' with anticipation.我们很期待。所以我们带着预期步入那个饭馆。The Kitchen, as you see below looked spotless and the Chefs seemed to have everything in hand.厨房,如你所见,一尘不染,厨师有很多工具。
I was a little annoyed though by being asked not to take photos in the restaurant by the waiting staff as  I was focusing on was the food and the general layout of the place to let you guys see it.当被服务生要求不许照相的时候,我有点烦。因为我专注于食物和装饰,想让你们看。

The restaurant did not seem particularly busy - in fact only half of the tables were taken.  I noticed hardly any of the people were Singaporean - as this is a particularly popular venue for people staying in hotels nearby.这个饭馆看上去没那么多人-实际上只有一半桌子坐满了。我注意到,很少是新加坡人- 因为这是酒店的住客吃饭的热门地点。




It was a pleasant environment but nothing particularly special I would say.

Perhaps the relatively quiet feel of the place implied that prices here were too expensive.

很令人愉快的环境,但是我得说没什么特别的。

可能正是这种安静的感觉让这个地方特贵。
I ordered the 'Casarecce with Spinach and Prawns'. This is homemade short pasta with creamy spinach sauce.

To be honest this tasted satisfactory but nothing really as to be expected for such a restaurant for a reputation of haute cusine.

我点了家常菠菜虾意面。这是家常意大利虾面和菠菜浓汤汁。
实话说味道让人满意,可是没什么特别期待的,相对于这种高档饭馆来说。
My relative had a Spaghetti with Fresh Clams. Now this was tastier and the clams were certainly fresh.

This dish was well prepared . The sauce of wine, cherry tomatoes, chilli was exceptional. It really added to the fusion of flavours. It was also very filling.

我亲戚要的是蛤蜊意大利面。好吃点,而且蛤蜊很新鲜。
这个菜准备得很好,酒做汁,樱桃番茄和辣椒很棒。增加了味道,而且满满一盘。
Next course that my relative ordered was the 'Seafood antipasti'. This was such a large selection of seafood you cannot fail to be impressed by it.

We could see and taste the Scallops, prawns, slipper lobster, black mussels and clams.

我亲戚要的下一个菜是海鲜杂烩面。这个有很多海鲜,你会留下深刻印象。

We clearly tasted the lemon and olive oil.
我们清楚地尝到了柠檬和橄榄油的味道。

It was very nice and if you love seafood you will love it too.这个很好,如果你喜欢海鲜的话,你会喜欢这道菜的。

The Bill was a little bit excessive - $124 for 3 dishes - this is too expensive!   Despite this price we cannot fail to praise the Seafood Antipasti with its plentiful supply of fresh seafood. We can certainly recommend this dish.

帐单有点超了-124新币三个菜-太贵了!尽管这个价钱,我们还是欣赏有多种新鲜海鲜的海鲜杂烩面。我们绝对推荐这个菜。






Saturday 8 October 2011

Singapore Mrt Circle Line Fully Opens with dancing celebration - Holland Village

Restaurant Review食评:- Cha Cha Cha Mexican Restaurant"恰恰恰"墨西哥饭馆, Holland Village荷兰村, Singapore新加坡

Cha Cha Cha Restaurant was very busy the day we visited as the circle line station at Holland Village had just opened so it was very busy.
"恰恰恰"饭馆人很繁忙,我们去的那天,荷兰村的环线刚刚开通,所以很多人。

Cha Cha Cha is very colourful inside and seems a very popular spot perhaps due to its location.
"恰恰恰"里面色彩鲜艳,看上去是一个非常热门的地点,因为它位置不错。

We got a table near the edge of the restuarant and could people watch as the crowds went by.
我们在门边找了张桌子,可以看来来往往的人群。

We prefer the tables near the outside which are less claustrophobic, though they are sometimes a little smoky.
我们喜欢靠近外面的桌子,不那么幽闭,虽然有时候有点烟味。

We were greeted quickly by the serving staff and within  8 minutes they had taken our order, eventhough there were many customers there.
服务员问候了我们,8分钟后菜上来了,虽然那儿有很多顾客。
I had the 'Enchiladas de Espinaca y Papa'.
This consisted of a meatless filling of Spinach and Mashed Potato, topped with Melted Cheese and Served with Mexican Rice.
我要的是“菠菜土豆辣酱玉米馅饼”,由没有味道的菠菜和土豆泥组成,浇上溶化的芝士,搭配墨西哥米饭。

I was a bit disappointed with the Size of the Serving which did not fill the whole plate.
菜量让我有点失望,没有摆满一整盘。

The meal was tasty - Spinanch and Cheese was plentiful and cooked just right.The portion size let it down though.
这个菜很好吃 - 菠菜和芝士足量,做得不错。虽然菜量少,让它看着不值。

My friend had the 'Burritos de Champignons y Queso'.
This was fresh mushrooms topped with Melted Cheese in a burrito. Served with refried beans, Mexican Rice, sour cream and guacamole.
我朋友要的是“香菇和芝士卷饼".
蘑菇很新鲜,溶化的芝士在饼上。搭配炒豆泥,墨西哥米饭,酸奶油和鳄梨沙拉酱。

This dish was a very generous portion.
这个菜给得够多。


Everything about it was delicious.The mix was perfect and the Mushrooms succulent.
所有的东西都很美味。完美混合,蘑菇多汁。

This is highly recommended.Thirty two Singapore Dollars was reasonable for the location.
强烈推荐。32块新币在这个地方很合理。

The Burritos de Champignons y Queso was fantastic and tasty.
蘑菇奶酪卷饼很棒很好吃。

The other dish was not worth the money.
别的菜不值得。

We rate this restaurant 7 out of 10.
我们给这个地方7/10分。

Thursday 6 October 2011

Restaurant Review :- Absolute Thai, Marina Bay Link Mall, Singapore

It was Thursday Night  in the Marina Bay Link Mall and as we ambled past 'Absolute Thai' we suddenly got drawn in.

Time after time I had passed by this popular restaurant yet tonight I felt the moment to be bedazzled so gave  it a chance.

Ushered in promptly and shown to a window seat to people watch.

There is a nice open kitchen and a specials board and there were a few tables occupied.


 The Chandelier adds a touch of Magic.

The 'Phad Thai Noodle with Prawn' caught my eye and my friend ordered 'Grilled Chicken served with Thai Chilli Sauce'.

The dishes were filled with fresh ingredients and were presented beautifully.

We marvelled at the constant delivery at what looked like, authentic Thai food.

 The Phad Thai was a lovely concoction.
 A fusion of flavours and the red chilli had a real kick of spice.

The Coriander, lime and beansprouts were a tremendous mix.

Very very nice and I felt satisfied right till the end of this splendour of sustenance.

There could have been more prawns though and they were a little small!
 The Grilled Chicken served with Thai Chilli Sauce was less filling.

What it lacked in portions though - it made up for in taste.

The Chicken was filled with flavour and I swear I detected honey. It tasted fruity too.

I ordered an additional rice to go with it.

It was pretty healthy too.
Our food bill only came to £29 for 2 dishes - pretty cheap for the financial district!!

For food and service and price competitiveness would give this restaurant 8 out of 10.

Worth a visit!!

Monday 3 October 2011

Restaurant Review:- Mirchi - Taste of India, 2 Marina Boulevard, Singapore

 We found ourselves very close to Marina Bay Sands and felt drawn to a chic little Indian Restaurant Called Mirchi.

We entered into a serene restaurant decorated colourfully with welcoming staff.

The service was swift and efficient.

Unfortunately the menu had no pictures so we tried to imagine which would be tasty and quizzed the serving staff too.
 The Jeera Rice (Cumin Tempered Dasmati Rice) complemented our curries perfectly and was cooked just the way we like it.

It was soft and not too dry.
I ordered Rogan Josh - a traditional Kashmiri Lamb dish.

It tasted a little bit salty but the Lamb meat was tasty.  It was not too spicy either.

There could have been more meat though - as the gravy seemed a little too excessive for the met I got served.

This left me a little unsatisfied.
 The Chicken Vindaloo my friend had was charged with spices.

I had one taste and that was enough as my mouth took a long time to lose the spicyness.

The chicken was succulent and fresh and the gravy did not overpower it.

For spice lovers - this is recommended.
The Plain Naan was plentiful but pretty average.

It complemented the curry dishes well.
The Bill was expensive for what we got but it was due to the fact that it is so close to many Bank's offices and Marina Bay Sands.

The price is excessive.

We would give it 5.5/10.

The Chicken Vindaloo was nice but other dishes were not up to standard. The price counts against it too.

There are better Indian Restaurants in Singapore.