It’s a pity that Korean food in the Singapore food scene isn’t as strong as its Japanese counterpart. Most people tend to crave for sushi rather than kimchi. I’m sure you can easily rattle off a list of good Japanese restaurants, but it’s not the same story when it comes to Korean Restaurants in Singapore.

My friends were craving for Korean food, and after hearing so much about Togi Korean Restaurant at Mosque Street, we decided to check it out on a weekday night.

The Ginseng Chicken Soup ($21) was mightily awesome. Even though the soup wasn’t that flavorful, the chicken was really tasty as it absorbed the finesse of all the ingredients.

Everybody loves bibimbap – tell me who doesn’t?

We poured a lot of the spicy-sweet chili into the pipping hot stone pot, stirring and mixing the Bibimbap ($11) into a delightful color of red, yellow and green. It looked good, it tasted even better! With an assortment of vegetables, mushroom, chicken, chili and steamed rice jumbled up — the bibimbap is a dish for all seasons.

We also had the stirred fried Spicy rice cake ($12), a famous street food in Korea. To be fair, I think it’s an acquired taste, and it’s really one of those dishes that you either love or hate.

I looked at the table, and fought the temptation to order the crispy Korean crispy pancakes: “No Brad, there’s too much food left”. Another visit to Togi Korean Restaurant, perhaps?

Judging by the crowd on a weekday dinner, Togi Korean Restaurant is definitely one of the more popular Korean restaurants in Singapore. Prices at both Togi and Kim’s Family Restaurant are in the same range, but the latter serves ten side dishes while the former only has six.

Even though I enjoyed the dinner there, Kim’s Family Restaurant is still my best Singapore Korean Restaurant.

Restaurant Review
Togi Korean Restaurant
11 Mosque Street Singapore
Tel: +65 6221 0830

If you have been hanging around my food blog for some time, you’d know that I don’t usually eat in shopping malls, or restaurant chains for that matter of fact. The reason is not because I have an exquiste taste-bud, but rather I believe in finding unique cafes that serve better food at the same price.

I have been to Cedele Bakery Depot a couple of times before, but only for desserts. Just in case you have never heard of them. there are four Cedele all day dining restaurants, fourteen Cedele cafe and two standalone bakeries in Singapore. To be honest, I was quite skeptical when I first knew that Cedele restaurants serve main courses and pasta.

I was at Raffles City Shopping Mall over the weekends, and as much as I like the place — most of the restaurants there don’t really appeal to me. We finally settled on Cedele restaurant as it was relatively quiet.

After a quick glance, I was sorely tempted to order the eggs from Cedele’s All Day Breakfast menu (YES they served all day breakfast!), but decided to go with the Red Chili Crab Pasta ($16.90) instead.

It was a clever play on the famous Singapore dish. Sitting smugly on top of the pasta, the tiny soft shell crab was crisp and full of bite. But I didn’t really pay much attention to it. I was engrossed with how the linguine entangled itself with the sweet and tangy sauce, tossed with strands of crab meat.

Granted, the risotto (you mean that ugly-looking thing in the photo is a risotto?) won’t win any awards for aesthetic value, but don’t judge it too quickly. I don’t know about you, but whenever someone mentions about seafood pasta; a picture of us sitting by the beach enjoying a luxurious seafood feast always come to mind.

In every way, Cedele’s Red Seafood Risotto ($16.90) was close. It came with a generous spread of mussels, prawn and seared white fish. The risotto was slightly wetter, and it had an intense tomato flavor which I thoroughly enjoyed. Somebody preferred risotto that is drier but this one works fine for me.

* * *

If you are there for dinner, remember to check out Cedele’s carrot cake for dessert.

Restaurant Review
Cedele Bakery Cafe & Restaurant
391 Orchard Road
#B1-37 Takashimaya Shopping Centre
Tel: +65 6235 2380

501 Orchard Road #03-14
Wheelock Place Singapore
Tel: +65 6732 8520

1 Kim Seng Promenade #01-01/02
Great World City Singapore
Tel: +65 6836 1426

252 North Bridge Road #03-28A
Raffles City Shopping Centre Singapore
Tel: +65 6337 8017

Most Singaporeans will have probably heard of Tung Lok group of restaurants, which serve a range of food from vegetarian to seafood. From upmarket Chinese restaurant My Humble House, to the family-friendly Tung Lok Seafood restaurant, Lingzhi Vegetarian restaurant, or the causal dining Zhou’s Kitchen – there are options available for everyone.

For a long time, I was confused by Tung Lok Signatures and Tung Lok Classics. The former is about gathering the signature dishes and putting them together in a menu – it’s like the best of Tung Lok under one roof. On the other hand, Tung Lok Classics offers timeless classic Chinese dishes from Shanghainese, Sichuan, Hubei and Cantonese dishes.

It seems like my memory is starting to fail me. I can’t recall if this is fish, prawn or crab, but I remember that the deep fried cheesy coating was absolutely delicious with the meat beneath retaining its juicy and moist texture.

I was secretly hoping that there’s roasted pork, but we had the Char Siew in the end. Slightly charred on the edges, the char siew was soft, and chewy and sweetly succulent. It was decent, but definitely not the best char siew I had before.

Even though I have been to Tung Lok Seafood restaurant for their dim sum buffet, I never knew that Tung Lok Classics served dim sum too. I was pleasantly surprised when the waitress presented a basket of har gau and siew mai to our table. Evern though the shrimp was fresh and juicy, the steamed prawn dumpling’s translucent skin torn easily. I preferred the steamed pork dumpling which had a good balance of pork-and-shrimp.

Tung Lok Classics is all about the visual impact and the dessert that we had was the best testimonial to that. See that red test tube in the picture? It’s a shot of extremely potent beetroot juice — the perfect ending to the end of a good meal.

Which Tung Lok Restaurants have you been to before, and which is your favorite?

Restaurant Review
Tung Lok Classics
1 Tanglin Road #02-18
Orchard Parade Hotel Singapore
Tel: +65 6834 0660

21 Amber Road #03-01
Chinese Swimming Club Singapore
Tel: +65 6345 0111

Even though Singapore does not have four seasons, I’m perfectly sure that everyone will welcome a bowl of ramen during a  cold rainy day.

I first knew Nantsuttei through several mentions on Twitter, but all I knew was that a) they are a Japanese restaurant, and b) they are very popular. The funny thing was I only knew that they served ramen after walking into the restaurant.

The new Parco Marina Bay at Millenia Walk is almost like a mini Japanese foodie town. Majority of the Parco Marina Bay restaurants on level 3 are very skewed towards the eating cultures and influences of The Land of the Rising Sun. When you are there, go to Saboten for their tonkatsu, Ma Maison for a twist of Japanese-French cuisine, or Keisuke ramen for the shrimp-broth ramen.

In comparison with the other Ramen that I tried in Singapore, Nantsuttei ramen was much greasier as it came with a layer of black ma-yu (roasted garlic oil). It was a shame that the bowl of original Nantsuttei Ramen ($12) came with a single slice of chashu. Immediately, I regretted not going for the Chashu-men ($16) which promises a more generous topping of the specialty simmered pork.

There are other variations that had additional toppings of green onion (Negi Ramen $15), or red pepper (Dragon Ramen $15). I’m not sure if it’s just me, but it seemed a little folly to pay for additional garnishing – I’d rather have more of the delicious chashu!

For a long time, I didn’t get what’s the big fuss about ramen — I think it’s either you love or hate it. Honestly, I don’t feel  that Nantsuttei Ramen is worth queuing up for. My personal favorite is still the tonkatsu ramen from Tampopo. Having tried Santouka ramen at Central recently, I think I am finally ready to take on the ramen world!

Which ramen restaurant in Singapore should I go next?

Restaurant Review
Nantsuttei Ramen Singapore
9 Raffles Boulevard #P3-06
Parco Marina Bay, Millenia Walk Singapore
Tel: +65 6337 7166

“Where’s the best dim sum in Singapore?”

Even though this is the 12469th time that I’m blogging about Yan Ting Restaurant at St Regis Hotel, I get this question from my readers all the time. If you have not heard of Yan Ting before, I’m sorry to say that you are missing out on some of the best things in life.

Most people has the misconception that Yan Ting is expensive since it is located within St Regis Singapore. I usually spend around $20ish per person for a good dim sum lunch, and the prices are similar to other reputable dim sum restaurants like Cherry Garden, Royal China, and Taste Paradise.

Both the Steamed Shrimp Dumpling ($3.80) and the Pork Dumpling ($3.80) were top-notched. I enjoyed the former for its crunchy and fresh shrimp in the semi-translucent skin, and the latter for its right proportion of shrimp and pork.

There simply are not enough superlatives in this world to properly describe Yan Ting’s Char Siew Sou ($4.20). Good? Superb? Fantastic? My dear, go down to Yan Ting and take a bite of the char siew pastry, and you will know what I mean.

Sweet and succulent bits of char siew were carefully hidden within the soft and warm Char Siew Buns ($3.80). They were like fluffy white clouds in the sky, screaming at us: GRAB ME!

From Yan Ting’s dim sum menu, we also ordered the mushy-but-delicious Yam Croquette ($4.20), the fluffy Radish Pastry ($4.20) that was deep-fried but not too oily, and the popular Radish Cake ($3.80) that I had every time.

Accompanied by the mayo sauce, the Deep-Fried Shrimp Dumplings ($4.20 for 3 pcs) were fried to a gorgeous golden brown, with the surrounding crust of the dumpling being incredibly crispy. Beneath, the shrimp filling was fresh and sweet. It’s really difficult not to like this, unless you do not eat prawns.

I will definitely be going back to Yan Ting Restaurant whenever I’m craving for dim sum, but this is probably the last time I will blog about them unless there’s new addition to their dim sum menu. At $98++ per person, Yan Ting’s weekend dim sum brunch buffet is priced out of my league, but do let us know if you have tried it before.

Restaurant Review
Yan Ting Restaurant
29 Tanglin Road
The St Regis Singapore
Tel: +65 6506 6888

Once Upon A Milkshake (OUAM) is now open at Scape Singapore!

I know many of you would have heard of this by now since they have been there for a while already. But for those of you who have not been to Once Upon A Milkshake because of the location – maybe it’s time to check out their milkshake now that they have a new location in town!

My partner and I didn’t have any desserts at Raindrops cafe as we were saving some room for the milkshake. Stepping into an ice cream place is considered the most dangerous thing to me. I’m not sure if it’s dangerous to me or the ice-cream shop, but I  always want to try every single flavor in the shop. Strawberry, vanilla, chocolate – hand over the ice cream and nobody gets hurt.

Having tried their vanilla, peanut butter, chocolate truffle and cookie & cream milkshake flavor before, we went for the Spooky Mocha and the Cerious Maple milkshake ($3.60 for mini). According to the coffee-lover, the former lacked the caffeine flavor while I felt that the taste was actually pretty strong.

The Cerious Maple milkshake is definitely one of my favorite ice cream flavors at Once Upon A Milkshake. Tell me, who doesn’t like maple syrup? It’s awesome! I’m not sure about you, but everything is an excuse for me to have maple syrup. Now, maple syrup milkshake anyone?

Where do you usually go for milkshake? Having tried the Billy Bombers milkshake recently, I have to admit that my impression of them improved. Prive Bakery is also popular for their huge milkshake, and has anyone been to Steeple Deli at Tanglin Shopping centre? I have been wanting to go there since my friend told me that they have the best milkshake in Singapore!

Ice Cream Milkshake
Mini $3.60, Regular $5.70

Ice Cream Scoop/s
Single $2.90, Double $5.10, Triple $7.20, Pint $10.50

Restaurant Review
Once Upon A Milkshake
2 Orchard Link #02-03/04
*Scape Singapore
Tel: +65 9233 1624

The Line Buffet at Shangri La Hotel has always been one of the buffet restaurants in Singapore that I wanted to check out. Even though the buffet isn’t exactly affordable, I know there are many folks who swear that The Line is one of the best buffets in Singapore.

The crowd at The Line was crazy when I went there two weeks back. Now, crazy is probably an understatement when the 400 seater buffet restaurant is almost filled with people on a weekday lunch. Just for your information, most of them are not even hotel guests – with the majority being buffet-loving Singaporeans.

“Can you recommend me a cheap and good buffet in Singapore?”

This is one of the common questions that I get from my readers. Like what I’ve mentioned before: the thing about buffet – if it’s good, it’s not cheap. I know many people are always on the hunt for cheap and good buffet, but lets face it – there isn’t any cheap and good buffet in Singapore. You get what you pay for.

The Line Dessert Buffet

My dear reader, if you have been reading my blog for a while, you will definitely know that I always start a buffet with desserts. I must say The Line Buffet has a pretty impressive array of desserts lined up for sweet-tooth people like me. Besides Western pastries and cakes, they also have some local kuehs available. Not to mention that there’s also the seducing chocolate fondue, and a truckload of ice cream to get you into a sugar-high.

Reason #1: why I shouldn’t go for an international buffet

I hardly looked at the other sections like the local food/western dishes/Indian spread. They just didn’t appeal to me if you get what I mean. It’s probably a shame to pay so much money for a buffet and not try everything. But hey, I’m choosing my battles and concentrating on the key areas.

At The Line buffet, there are also chefs preparing local favorite dishes like Chinese noodles and roti prata ala minute. Given that most of the food in a buffet is prepared beforehand, it’s always refreshing to see the chef preparing some of the items on the spot.

The Line Japanese Buffet

Besides the Seafood buffet spread, the Japanese buffet counter is the next most popular counter in The Line Shangri La. Sushi and sashimi, come on – you know you want it.

The Line Buffet at Shangri La Hotel is an international buffet which has a very wide selection for their buffet lines. From the popular Japanese food, to Chinese dim sum, local favorite dishes, standard western dishes, exotic Indian cuisine, and delicate petite desserts – there’s definitely plenty of options for everyone.

Now it’s your turn, where’s the best buffet in Singapore you have been to?

Restaurant Review
The Line Buffet Shangri La
22 Orange Grove Road
Basement Shangri-la Hotel
Tel: +65 6213 4275

The Line Buffet Prices
// Weekday International Buffet Lunch $47++
Sat International Buffet Lunch $50++
Sun Brunch $78++ (non alochol)
Fri – Mon International Buffet Dinner $68++
Tue Buffet Dinner Oyster Night special $88++
Wed Buffet Dinner BBQ Night Special $78++
Thu Buffet DInner Seafood Night Special $88++

Hidden at the back of the new *Scape Mall beside Cineleisure Orchard, is a small cutesy place called the Raindrops Cafe. The other Scape Mall cafes are Once Upon a Milkshake, Marble Slab Creamery, Red Mango, and Music Cafe.

I like Raindrops Cafe because the place is small and cozy, plus they serve simple comfort food at affordable prices. The interior can probably seat around twenty, with a few additional tables in the al fresco area.

I have been craving for Carbonara since the dinner at Barpazza, and I was elated to see it on the Raindrops Cafe menu. I feel that it’s always a risk when ordering the Carbonara. In the hands of less-skillful chefs, the pasta would taste heavy and overwhelming. There were many instances previously where I couldn’t finish the pasta. Raindrops Cafe’s Mushroom Carbonara ($12) was excellent – it was creamy yet not overpowering. I like it and that’s all I really know.

I was hoping that my partner would get the beef burger, but she went for the Open Face Beef Sandwich ($12) instead. Served on an elongated white plate, the Beef sandwich was mightily delicious: melted cheese with chunks of beef, hearty and satisfying. I just wished there was more of it!

Raindrops Cafe serves simple comfort food. Even though the food may not be fantastic or outstanding in terms of taste, the prices are very reasonable and it’s a good place to chill out. Note that the portions may be a little small, so you probably need to order more items to share. If you are looking for a nice cafe for dinner in Orchard, Raindrops Cafe may just be the right place.

Restaurant Review
Raindrops Cafe
2 Orchard Link #02-38
*Scape Singapore
Tel: +65 6834 4977

Here’s the ultimate question that all bubble tea lovers want to know: is KOI Cafe really the best bubble tea in Singapore, or is Gong Cha Bubble Tea better?

After much persuasion from many of you, I finally made my way down to City Square Mall just for the Gong Cha Bubble Tea.

“Who the hell comes to City Square Mall?” That was the first question on my mind. There are actually quite a few City Square Mall restaurants like Pu Tien, Nanxiang steamed restaurant, Pasta Stylo, Paradise Inn and Sushi Tei.

Since I only tried Koi cafe’s Original pearl milk tea before, it’s only fair to order the same thing from Gong Cha for comparison. I heard that Gong Cha at City Square Mall has very long queues during lunch time. Fortunately, there wasn’t any queue when I was there at 3pm.

To be honest, I couldn’t really taste the difference between Gong Cha and KOI. I’m not sure if it’s just me, but Gong Cha’s black pearls seem to be slightly smaller than KOI bubble tea’s. But if it comes down to the best bubble tea in Singapore, I’d probably choose KOI cafe over Gong Cha Bubble tea.

KOI cafe currently has 6 outlets at Ang Mo Kio, Bishan, Iluma, Chinatown, Marine Parade, and Toa Payoh, while Gong Cha is only located at Novena square and City square mall. Even though KOI has long queues, they have a better queuing system which is more systematic.

What do you think? Is KOI or Gong Cha the best bubble tea in Singapore?

I’m sure many of you know that I have been on a yogurt craze recently. Somebody convinced me of the benefits of having yogurt, and up till now, I still couldn’t believe that I actually came up with a list of yogurt places in Singapore.

Even though I am currently addicted to yogurt, it doesn’t hurt to have ice cream occasionally. When I walked by Galta Gelato Italiano Artigianale – a new gelato/ice cream place at Parco Marina Bay; any resistance was fruitless and I immediately surrendered to two scoops of gelato.

It was a shame that my friend didn’t like vanilla gelato as Galta Gelato had very good vanilla flavor. I went for the Hazelnut ($4.5 for double scoop) and was rewarded with a scoop of smooth and immensely rich hazelnut gelato. If I didn’t remember wrongly, the Imperial Dark was made up of 95% dark chocolate and surprisingly, it wasn’t as bitter as I thought. While it was extremely dark, there’s a subtle hint of the pure chocolate finesse and I actually like it.

I could just stand in front of the ice cream kiosk all day long and try out the different samples. Give me vanilla, give me the pistachio please, and I wouldn’t say no to the unique Stracciatella flavor too!

If you are shopping at the new Parco Marina Bay, why not have a scoop of gelato from Galta Gelato Italiano Artigianale?

Restaurant Review
Galta Gelato Italiano Artigianale
9 Raffles Boulevard #P1-08 Parco Marina Bay
Millenia Walk Singapore

There are times when I am green with envy for those who work in the CBD. Not so for their jobs, of course, but for all the food choices at their vicinity that they are spoilt for. I had blogged about the 1-for-1 dining promotion at Riciotti China Square, and recently, I stumbled upon Barpazza, which is in the same area as the Italian restaurant.

Barpazza is located at Capital Square 3 (diagonally beside China Square and Far East Square). If you are still unsure about the location, I’m sure some of you will know about one of the Capital Square restaurants, Ooster Belgian Brasserie – Barpazza is just a stone’s throw away.

It’s kind of difficult to classify Barpazza. They are not exactly a restaurant, yet they have an impressive selections of pasta and pizza on the menu. Here’s the good news: Barpazza has 1-for-1 pasta/pizza promotion during lunch and dinner for weekdays, and dinner on Saturday. In addition to that, they also have 1-for-1 promotion for selected beers.

Considering that I’ve shared three skinny pizzas for a late lunch before this, it was quite a miracle that I could still wolf down two slices of the Black Pepper Beef ($21.5 for L before 1-for-1 promotion) and The Morning After ($19.5 for L before 1-for-1 promotion).

I’m not a big fan of the black pepper beef, but The Morning After pizza was fine-tuned exactly to my liking. Tomato sauce, mozzarella, and bacon with an soft set egg in the center.

For extra flavor, I added some of the creamy carbonara sauce onto the dough. But there’s really no need for that. The pizza was good on its own, the raw egg swirled around the surface of the thin-crusted pizza – every bite was crisp, moist and delicious! It was such a shame that I only have room for one slice!

The Carbonara ($16.90 before 1-for-1 promotion) was fantastic!

Okay fine, maybe I exaggerated. It wasn’t the mind-boggling, out-of-this-world fantastic, but it was pretty close. Maybe it’s because of the fact that I wasn’t expecting Barpazza to deliver a good pasta. After all, it was more like a watering hole than a proper restaurant, but good Italian pasta in a restaurant bar? I know, I’m such a snob!

Here’s the truth you should know: their carbonara is worth a try, and the 1-for-1 dining promotion just makes it even better!

In contrast with the Carbonara, the Crabmeat Marinara ($17.90 before 1-for-1 promotion) was quite an disappointment. It was subtle, bordering on bland, and the lack of the tomato flavor was a killjoy.

This, my dear reader, is one of the most exotic and ‘unique’ ice cream I’ve ever tried. Well, I had special flavors like teh tarik, gela melaka, ginseng before. But a savory-sweet flavor like the Spicy Bak Kwa ice cream ($6.90) just made all of them pale in comparison. While I love bak kwa during Chinese new year, I don’t really fancy mixing them inside my ice cream. Give me vanilla and chocolate ice cream please!

* * *

With the 1-for-1 dining promotion, each pasta/pizza is probably just around $10. I know it’s not possible to eat at restaurants or cafes everyday, but my reasoning is simple. If you are going to spend around $5-6 in food court anyway, why not just topped up a few dollars and give yourself a treat occasionally? I wouldn’t call this the best lunch in Singapore, but it’s definitely a good deal with the one-for-one promotion.

Bring your colleagues to Barpazza and enjoy the 1-for-1 Dining Promotions! If you are working in the Central Business District, do share with us some of the good lunch places to check out!

Restaurant Review
Barpazza
25 Church Street #01-02
Capital Square
Tel: +65 6536 0572

Did I get your attention with the title – “Best Pizza in Singapore?”

Good. Now that you know what we are dealing with, please grab a chair and some snacks before we continue. Here’s the story: for the longest time, I have been wanting to check out Bella Pizza at Robertson Quay.

“You must go to Bella Pizza, they have really good Italian food — but DO NOT BLOG about it!”

A couple of friends gave me the same warning. Well, Bella Pizza is already an open secret for good Italian food in Singapore, and I want to share about this with everyone. If you can give me a minute, I will like to defend myself why I took so long for this overdue post. You see, the problem with Bella Pizza is the location. It’s at Robertson Quay along the Singapore River, and there are simply too many restaurants at Robertson Quay! Epicurious cafe, Red House Seafood Restaurant, Boomarang bistro and the list goes on and on. Trust me, I’m not kidding when I say there are too many Robertson Quay Restaurants.

Since there wasn’t any salmon pasta on Bella Pizza’s menu, my salmon-crazy friend chose the Pizza Salmone ($21) and was rewards with a very good pizza.

I am not a big fan of thin crust pizzas, but Bella Pizza’s one was thin yet filling, moist but not overly wet. Rolled up like a taco with all the fillings, or simply wolfed it down directly on the thin dough – the Pizza Salmon’s a winner! This is a very good option for breakfast, lunch, or dinner.

Yay for all salmon lovers!

After checking out a few Italian restaurants in Singapore for Squid Ink Pasta, I preferred to have the tomato-based pasta that is infused with squid ink, rather than one that comes with the slimy black squid ink sauce. For one, there isn’t as much stain on the teeth and the lips after dinner, and it is also because I have yet to find a squid ink pasta that’s truly memorable.

The Spaghetti Al Nero Di Seppia ($22) at Bella Pizza was very well-executed. Every slurp of the pasta blended effortlessly with the charcoal black squid ink sauce. Needless to say, we enjoyed the squid ink pasta very much! Bella Pizza’s rendition of the squid ink pasta is definitely one of the best I’ve tried so far.

Tossed with clams, squids, scallops, and a king prawn, the Linguine Al Frutti Di Mare ($22) caught our eyes immediately as we scanned through Bella Pizza’s menu. We wiped the plate clean and the pasta would be perfect if there’s a heavier dose of tomato!

My middle name is sweet.

If you have been reading my food blog for a while now, you’d have noticed that I have an incredible sweet tooth for a guy. Bella Pizza’s dessert menu has some interesting choices like the Panna cotta, Warm Chocolate Lava cake, and the tiramisu. For a minute, I was sorely tempted to order all three!

Since there’s only room for one, the obvious choice was the Tiramisu ($7) which was very reasonably priced. We took up the dessert fork and crowded around the tiramisu; literally like ravening vultures circling around the prey. We gobbled the tiramisu as though there wasn’t a second to spare, as though it would run away if we didn’t eat it fast enough.

* * *

It wouldn’t be fair to say that Bella Pizza has the best pizza in Singapore when we only ordered one pizza from their menu. But I really like the pizza there, and I will definitely come back to try the other pizzas. Bella Pizza is surely among my favorite Robertson Quay Restaurants now.

Have you been to Bella Pizza before? Do you agree that they have one of the best pizza in Singapore?

Restaurant Review
Bella Pizza
30 Robertson Quay #01-14
Riverside View Singapore
Tel: +65 6734 0139

I was pretty excited when The Handburger launched last year. They were among some of the new burger places in Singapore that claimed to serve gourmet burgers. With creations like tandoor chicken, and duck confit burgers – you can’t blame me for being enthusiastic.

Their original location at Raffles City was closed for renovation, and when I walked by their branch at 313 @ Somerset, the huge promotional signboard for their set lunch was screaming at me: “come in and grab a burger – you know you want one!”

The lunch special (available till 4.30pm) of a burger + side + drink is just $8.80. I’m not sure if you are aware, but The Handburger restaurant belongs under the same management as the popular Soup Spoon franchise.

If my memory did not fail me, the burgers used to be priced much higher. But apparently, they have re-adjusted the prices – making it more affordable for the mass market.

The name of “the handburger” was an irony as everyone in the restaurant was using utensils instead of hand to consume their burger. It’s so wrong to eat a burger with fork and knife. The best way to eat a burger is to grab it with both hand and wolf down the sexy devil. Now there, you don’t really need me to write a guide on ‘How to eat a burger‘ do you?

Burger, is meant to be a messy affair.

For the sides, there’s salad or fries to choose from. The former was earthly and clean, nothing sophisticated — just simple fresh greens with crispy bacon streaks and mini tomatoes. On the other hand, the fries were passable and came with a garlic sauce to dip in. Give me my tomato and chili sauce!

There’s the Handburger Original with a grilled 120g of N.Z ribeye beef patty; the Chicken Caesar burger which has a single baked chicken thigh; the fascinating Pulled Pork Burger with slow-cooked fork tender pulled pork filling; and the Battered dory burger that is made up of a single battered pacific dory fish.

We had the Handburger Original and the Pulled Pork Burger. Resting on a seabed of lettuce, the Handburger Original’s beef patty was grilled and topped with a layer of cheddar cheese. I love that they were really generous with the lettuce in the burger – so much so that I’d advise to choose the fries over the salad for your side.

I didn’t really enjoy the beef patty though, it was somewhat flavorless and had a rubbery taste. Go for the Pulled Pork Burger instead. Strips and strips of pork came with handmade barbecue sauce and it was really delicious!  On a side note, The Handburger’s menu stated that the buns were toasted, but it was a little too oily for my liking and tasted more like deep-fried.

* * *

For just $8.8, I felt that The Handburger set lunch is pretty value for money considering that a meal at MacDonald probably costs around $6-7 nowadays. Has anyone tried their duck confit burger? I’m a huge fan of duck confit, and if you ever see me back in The Handburger, I will probably have a duck confit burger in hand!

Restaurant Review
The Handburger
313 Orchard Road #B2-17/18/19
313 @ Somerset Singapore
Tel: +65 6509 6214

252 North Bridge Road #B1-77/78
Raffles City Shopping Centre Singapore
Tel: +65 6334 4577

Food For Thought has always been one of the cafes that I wanted to check out. It’s small, cozy and from what I heard, they also contributes back to the society by donating a certain amount of their profits to various social causes.

I’m not sure if you remember, but I’ve mentioned Food For Thought in my list of 10 Best Singapore Restaurants Website. Besides their original branch at North Bridge road near Purvis Street, Food for Thought has recently opened another new outlet at 8 Queen Street (8Q @ Singapore Art Museum).

Arissa and I customized our own pasta as the existing selections on Food For Thought’s menu didn’t quite appeal to our taste buds. I added chicken to the basic roasted tomato pasta, and the result was a simple and comfortable meal. It would be better if the portion was bigger, but I guess that left plenty of room for desserts.

Having heard about the famous Hummingbird Bakery’s Red Velvet Cupcake, I have always been curious about how it taste like. The thick cream cheese frosting reminded me of Cedele’s Carrot cake, and it immediately won my approval. Then, I realized that there was simply too much frosting and it was unbelievably sweet. The Old Southern Red Velvet Cake ($5.50) is meant to be shared.

You have been warned.

I ate my first Bread and butter pudding a couple of years back. It was horrible. The texture was way too soggy, and it lacked the milky consistency. Since then, I told myself not to touch any bread and butter pudding anymore, until I came across the one served at Hairloom & Caramel Cafe.

Some of my friends mentioned that Food For Thought doesn’t prepare their desserts and most of them are outsourced from suppliers and bakers. I’m not sure how true this is, but I don’t really care after trying their Bread and Butter Pudding ($7.90). It had a generous scoop of ice cream, and the best part was the caramelized sugar around the edges of the pudding.

* * *

Food For Thought cafe is a homely place which serves affordable comfort food, but they really need to work on their air ventilation system at the North Bridge road branch. Our clothes smelt of dinner after stepping out of the cafe, and obviously it wasn’t pleasant. I’d probably head to their new outlet at Queen Street the next time round.

Restaurant Review
Food For Thought
420 North Bridge Road #01-06
North Bridge Centre Singapore
Tel: +65 6338 8724

8 Queen Street Singapore
Tel: +65 6338 9887

It’s quite a shame that the Cafe Culture has not quite caught up with the Singapore food scene yet. While I was in Sydney for holiday, I was fascinated by the Surry Hills area which has all the little chic cafes around each corner. I know many people say that Melbourne has an even stronger Cafe culture, and it will be really great if I can get an air ticket and fly over right now!

Hairloom & Caramel is a Salon and Cafe housed under one roof that adores whimsical furniture and decorations. Oh boy, I have a soft spot for places like this.

Caramel cafe serves very simple and comfort food like pastas, sandwiches, salad and deserts. In addition to that, they also have a Vegetarian menu available.

Ham and cheese are possibly the best combination ever, and the Baked Penne with ham & Cheese in cream sauce ($11.50) was all about that. It was creamy, but not heavy, and the perfect combination of ham and cheese blended in effortlessly.

Honey Shaved ham and cheese sandwich with honey mustard ($8.50)

By and large, I am not a salad guy. Don’t get me wrong, I love vegetables, but having them alone doesn’t appeal to me, and remember about my first date dinner tips? Never just order salad for first dates.

I raised my eyebrows when I saw the heading “Salad as main” on Caramel Cafe’s menu. Well, it’s fine to have salad as an appetizer, but salad as main course? I don’t think so.

Anyway, there’s only two salad to choose from; Smoked salmon salad in pesto sauce or the Chicken breast salad in Japanese yuzu dressing ($8.50). I personally felt that it’s a lot of money considering it’s just a salad – give me a dessert anyday! But if you must have a salad before you start your dinner, the chicken breast salad is a pretty good choice considering it comes with lots of greens and the chicken drenched in Japanese yuzu dressing really helps to cleanse the palate.

Tossed with garlic, tomatoes, fiery red chili, and sliced sausages, Caramel Cafe’s Spaghetti with Bratwurst sausage ($13.50) was exceptionally hot. I’m not sure if it’s because of my low tolerance to spicy food, but the pasta was really spicy and it was somewhat lacking in the tomato flavor.

Among the cupcakes that we tried, the Lemon cupcake was the clear winner with the tangy and moist texture. On the other hand, the Oreo cupcake was too dry and we left half of it untouched.

I’m not sure if my memories are playing a trick on me. But somehow or rather, I felt that the original Bread & Butter Pudding ($5.90) that I’ve at Caramel Cafe a year ago, was much better than their Chocolate rendition. It’s not that Caramel’s Chocolate bread and butter pudding wasn’t good, but all I wanted: an original bread and butter pudding, which wasn’t available that day.

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Caramel Cafe is a great place for all occasions; girlfriends outing, a cute date, birthday parties, or just simply hanging out with a bunch of friends. If you are going there, remember to also drop by Tom’s Palette (for some ice cream), which is also located at Shaw Towers.

Restaurant Review
Hairloom & Caramel Cafe
100 Beach Road #01-50/52
Shaw Towers Singapore
Tel: +65 6295 2188

To be honest, I never like Cafe Chains like TCC (the coffee connoisseur) and Coffee Club. Yes, they are very accessible with so many cafe outlets in Singapore, but that’s exactly the problem. It’s just too convenient and everybody goes there. I was quite skeptical when my friend asked me to try Coffee Club’s Muddy Mudpie, but after seeing it on the table beside us, I reckoned it’s time to stop the fruitless resistance.

I know it’s been said about many things, but my dear reader, this is the dessert that will make you go ‘aww..’

The Muddy Mud Pie ($9.50) may not have the nicest name, nor is it photogenic – but the sheer size of it would simply blow you away. We didn’t know where to start. After a second which felt like an eternity – there was no more fear, no uncertainly.

Lets dig in!

The drizzling chocolate fudge was somewhat like the morning dew; sweet, pure, and blissful. The cappuccino and chocolate ice cream were positioned nicely on top of an oreo base which reminded me of the cheesecake crust.

Together with the chocolate fudge and oreo base, the ice cream melted on the tongue, and evoked a strange yet familiar, tickling sensation. Tiny bottles of happiness were released with each lick of the spoon – it tastes like Christmas.

Fine. Maybe I did exaggerate. But the gigantic mudpie did overwhelmed us initially. For a moment, it was unsure if we could even finish the whole thing. The Muddy Mud Pie is not extraordinary, but it’s definitely better than good.

The Coffee Club’s Mud Pie is a dessert for all occasions – perfect with coffee/yea for an afternoon high tea, a happily-ever-after ending to a fairytale-like dinner, or just something to satisfy the sweet tooth in you.

* * *

To be fair, I have only glimpse through Coffee Club’s menu for their drinks. Coffee and desserts yes, but probably not their savory menu. With 25 locations around Singapore, Coffee Club is probably one of the dessert places in Singapore that most people has been to.

Here’s the question: do you prefer TCC (the coffee connoisseur) or Coffee Club?

Restaurant Review
Coffee Club Singapore
6 Eu Tong Sen Street #03-105/106/107
The Central @ Clarke Quay Singapore
Tel: +65 6534 9080

A couple of weeks ago, the kind folks at Hungrygowhere invited me to join them for a food tasting session, and when I heard that they were going to Summer Palace at The Regent Singapore — I agreed immediately.

Among The Regent Hotel Restaurants, I have always wanted to try the Afternoon high tea at the Tea lounge, Basilico Italian Restaurant, and of course the Cantonese food at Summer Palace Chinese restaurant.

After a quick glance at the menu, we were very excited as there’s a long list of food waiting for us. The Media Degustation menu started us with the Dim Sum platter which included a Baked Chicken Tart with Baby Abalone ($9 per piece), Shrimp dumpling with Bird’s Nest ($8 for 3 pieces), Deep-Fried Yam with Garoupa ($5 for 3 pieces).

Baby abalone and bird’s nest with dim sum? Oh boy, it’s so extravagant!

I’m not sure if it’s just me, but I felt that the baby abalone was rather out of place alongside the baked chicken tart. The savory-savory combination didn’t really work for me, but I like the shrimp dumpling with Bird’s nest. A morsel of the delicate bird’s nest was placed nicely on top the open-shrimp-dumpling, while I couldn’t really taste the fineness of the Chinese delicacy – it’s kind of nice to know that we just had something supposedly good. On the other hand, the Deep-fried yam with garoupa really opened up my mind. While I had Steamed grouper dumpling before, it was my first time having deep-fried yam with garoupa, and to be honest, I’ve never imagined that garoupa could actually be used as the ingredient for deep-fried yam balls.

The Braised Superior Bird’s Nest with Lobster and Gold Leaf at $88 per serving was expensive, but it was really worth every cent. I don’t know about you, but gold foil never fails to portray the luxurious feel to me. We could taste every strand of the bird’s nest with the chunky lobster meat, and together with the (literally) superior stock – this was the highlight of our dinner.

It was a shame that the Wok-fried Wagyu Beef ($68) was prepared in huge blocks. It’d definitely be a lot better if the premium beef was sliced thinner to showcase the marbling of the meat.

I was confused when the waitress read out the name of the dishes at machine-gun-like speed. Hold on a second, which is the scallop and spare ribs? Both of them looked rather similar to me! You know, deep fried food always appear to be the same.

Okay, so there’s the Crispy Scallop with fresh pear ($36 for the normal portion), and the Deep-Fried Spare Ribs with Shrimp Paste ($22 for normal portion). In case you are wondering, we only had a tasting portion of both dishes. By then, we realized that the Chef likes to play with many different contrasting flavor combined into one dish, and the Crispy scallop with fresh pear was the prime example of that. Broken down into three different components, there was ham on top of the meaty scallop with the pear and there was a surprise layer of powdered dried shrimp enveloped between the two.

On paper, the Deep fried spare ribs was like what the name suggested – something shrimp paste. But it was slightly more than that. The Deep fried spare ribs were coated with a layer of shrimp paste, giving it the luscious and fragrance texture. Inside, it was rewarding with the meat being juicy and so succulent.

I used to have crocodile meat when I was a kid, as it can cure asthma. Even thought Summer Palace’s rendition was wok-fried, the finely sliced crocodile meat tasted somewhat more like shabu-shabu. Have you tried crocodile meat before? Go to Summer Palace restaurant for their Wok-fried crocodile meat with spicy sauce ($40).

All of us thoroughly enjoyed the Eight Treasures Fried Rice ($26) that had ingredients like scallop, roasted duck, char siew, olives, brown rice, and dried shrimp.

I know It’s kind of early to have moon-cakes in July when the actual Mid Autumn festival is in September, but the folks at The Regent Hotel gave us a sneak preview of their new moon-cakes for this year. If you are keen to sample some of the mooncakes, they will be available at The Regent Singapore from the 25th August to 22th September.

It was quite hilarious that a few of us actually arranged a date during the dinner, to come back and try their dim sum offerings. We went back for the dim sum last week, most of them was pretty good, but unfortunately my camera was sent for repair and I didn’t manage to get any photos. If you had tried their dim sum before, check out my list of Dim Sum Restaurants in Singapore for other options.

Restaurant Review
Summer Palace Chinese Restaurant
1 Cuscaden Road 3F
The Regent Singapore
Tel: +65 6725 3288

Because you are readers of my food blog — today I’m going to let you into one of the best kept secrets in Singapore.

Chef Daniel’s Kitchen is one of the latest Iluma Bugis Restaurant located at level 7 of the shopping mall’s Sky Garden. For just $10.50, the 3 course set lunch at Chef Daniel’s Kitchen ought to be one of the best value for money lunches in Singapore. Everyone starts a soup of the day with herbed bread, a main course from more than 15 choices to choose from, and a dessert of the day.

The choices for the Chef Daniel’s Kitchen set lunch are rather diversified. For a Japanese fusion meal, go for the tonkatsu don, otherwise there’s the popular grilled beef burger, fish & chips, or spaghetti. If you are looking for something different, there’s always the lamb stewed navarin and beef stew.

Prawn & Crab Meat Burger

Portions are petite, but should be substantial for most. Most of the main courses come with a generous helping of fries and greens. Coupled with the soup and dessert, it should be enough to send you into a food coma until the afternoon high tea time.

Coated with a layer of melted cheese, the Grilled Beef Burger was seemingly small initially, but I found myself struggling to finish the whole meal. I didn’t quite take to he deep fried buns though.

The Grilled Sirloin Steak arrived last, and our friend attacked it immediately. “Mmm, very good.. Mmm, very good..” was all that she could muster. “This is one of the best set lunches in Singapore! We really need to come back again!”

Spaghetti with pan-fried dory fillet

For just $10.50, there’s really nothing you can complain about the 3 course set lunch at Chef Daniel’s Kitchen. With a nice setting in the high ceiling restaurant at the level 7 of Iluma Sky Garden, this is one of the best value for money restaurants in town. So if you are working near the Bugis area, grab your colleagues and go down to Chef Daniel’s Kitchen for a good lunch today! Have a good weekend guys!

Restaurant Review
Chef Daniel’s Kitchen
201 Victoria Street #07-02/03
Iluma @ Bugis Singapore
Tel: +65 6509 9888

Before I go into my raves for desserts, I want you to know that Marmalade Pantry at Ion Orchard serves pretty good desserts. Hint hint, just the perfect place to indulge for afternoon tea in Singapore – if you still don’t get what I mean.

Desserts are pleasure guaranteed, with no further explanations needed or what so ever. We can have desserts for breakfast, like pancakes with ice cream & maple syrup, If not desserts for lunch, dinner or supper, or all three combined. But you know what I really like? I think desserts, are meant for afternoon high tea.

Having come up with a list of Dessert Places in Singapore, I’m sure you can tell that I have a soft spot for sweet stuff. Marmalade Pantry has shifted from Palais Renaissance to their current location, and they are an extremely popular place  for high tea in Singapore, alongside TWG Tea Salon at Ion Orchard.

I’m a very visual guy, and the appearance of Marmalade Pantry’s Sea Salt Caramel Cheesecake ($7.80) didn’t exactly help to give me confidence. But oh boy, we were so wrong. The cheesecake was good, it was so, so good! Marmalade Pantry’s rendition was softly sweet, with a hint of the sea salt caramel induced within the eerily light cheese-cake.

The Old Fashioned Chocolate Fudge Cake ($7.80) on the other hand, was disappointing with the less-than-moist texture. Despite the chocolate-y flavor, the cake was dry and nothing could be done to save it. Maybe a scoop of melty vanilla ice cream would do the trick. Maybe. But we will never know.

I’d definitely order the Chocolate Truffle cake, but it seems that they have pull it off the menu and it is now only available at Toast Cafe Takashimaya.

If you are craving for something chocolate-y, I’d suggest to go for the Nutella Cupcake ($4.20). With a smooth, creamy layer of hazelnut spread on top of the chocolate cake, this is your gateway to heaven. Marmalade Pantry has some of the best cupcakes in Singapore, and the Limonta ($4.20) is the one reason I go back to Marmalade Pantry over and over again.

Marmalade Pantry also has an Afternoon High Tea set at $20 each which is available from 3pm to 5pm daily with a minimum of 2 sets per order. The afternoon tea indulgence includes Gryphon tea, a selection of egg and cress, beef & horseradish and green land shrimp finger sandwiches, buttermilk scones, and a cupcake.

Desserts will save the world.

Restaurant Review
Marmalade Pantry
2 Orchard Turn #03-22
ION Orchard Singapore
Tel: +65 6734 2700

“The Morton’s Steakhouse Burger is really good!” My friend Mike told me solemnly. “It’s possibility the best burger in Singapore.”

When he first raved that the best burger in Singapore was from Morton’s Steakhouse Mandarin Oriental Hotel, I was really excited to check it out for myself.

Many people will agree that Morton’s Steakhouse is one of the best steakhouse in Singapore, and I know what you are thinking, Morton’s Steakhouse — the burger? Are you sure about that? The Morton’s Bar has always been known for their weekday happy hour during 5pm – 7pm where there’s free-flow steak sandwich with every order of martini. Just in case you are confused, the Morton’s Burger is available at the Bar (not inside the Steakhouse), from 8pm – 11pm for $25 (usual price $30).

I am a superficial guy. When it comes to burger, size does matters!

The Morton’s USDA Prime Burger in every aspect, was like the perfect burger. Within the softly toasted bun with freckles of sesame, was a huge beef patty that’s firm and juicy and extremely satisfying. While it didn’t exactly had the melt-in-mouth-effect, the beef patty was pretty close in replicating the religious experience.

The additional cheese and topping completed the making of the perfect burger. I love a good cheesy cheeseburger. You know, a burger just isn’t complete without cheese, and at Morton’s bar, there’s swiss, crumbled blue or cheddar cheese to choose from. Other than the cheese, each burger gets a separate topping in the form of of either crisp bacon, sauteed mushrooms or onions, served with French fries.

I wasn’t sure if I should write about the fries since it’s a very ordinary side found on the plates of almost every western food. But good things are meant to be shared, and you must believe me — the fries were really good!

The Four Petite Filet Mignon Sandwiches ($20) pales in comparison to the Morton’s USDA Prime Burger, but that’s not to say that it wasn’t good. With a generous chunk of beef fillet sandwiched in between the bread, it was a good appetizer to kick-start our palate for the best burger in Singapore.

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Twenty five bucks (before taxes) isn’t cheap for a burger, but considering that there are plenty of mediocre burgers that are going for twenty bucks, I’d gladly pay a little more for this wholesome combination.

My dear friend, this is the best burger in Singapore. To quote mike, it felt like we just swallowed a cinder-block after eating the Morton’s cheeseburger, but we would do it again in a heartbeat.

Restaurant Review
Morton’s The Steakhouse
5 Raffles Avenue 4F
Mandarin Oriental Singapore Singapore
Tel: +65 6339 3740