Popular sandwich shop Park Bench Deli is opening a dedicated Cubano shop, ONDA By Park Bench Deli, at 21 Lorong Telok on 8 July 2021.

Photo credit: ONDA Park Bench Deli

ONDA By Park Bench Deli will be the first in a series of smaller shops which explore the food culture behind some of the most popular sandwiches at Park Bench Deli. It will be serving Cuban-Miami fare from a hole-in-the-wall shop.

Established in 2015, Park Bench Deli is one of the most popular sandwich shops in Singapore and it has reopened at 179 Telok Ayer Street with an all-day menu, including breakfast, dinner, and sandwiches following a hiatus due to renovation works.

The new concept by Park Bench Deli will be a quick service restaurant serving a small and concise men u of Cubano sandwiches, house beef hot dogs and Chicarrone. There will also be an all-natural wine list for drink in or take away, as well as Cuban-style cafecito and cafe con leche.

ONDA By Park Bench Deli will be having a soft launch day—which is open to the public— with 50% off all food on Thursday 8 July 2021.

ONDA By Park Bench Deli
21 Lorong Telok
Singapore 049033

Sandwiches are a common-thread dish that literally every culture and cuisine in the world shares. They may come in different shapes, sizes, fillings and what not, but at the heart of it, a sandwich is basically bread, sauce and meat (sometimes veggies too).

Crafting a great sandwich, let alone a decent one, is not as easy as it sounds. You’ve got to balance textures and flavours, moistness and crunch. Everything, from the type of bread you choose, to the way you decide to prepare your proteins, your pickled elements and your vegetables, they all require careful thought in order to yield satisfying results.

Nestled within Camelia & Co, newly-opened Stack is a Muslim-owned sandwich parlour that serves up tasty, hearty and photo-worthy sandwiches. Creativity and a ballsy attitude are key attributes that have led them to come up with so many of their bestsellers.

THE MAKCIK

Nicely balancing moistness and crunch, we can understand why The Makcik (S$13) is a crowd favourite. Cooked low and slow in a fragrant rendang, the tri-tip develops a lean, fork-tender exterior, as well as a robust, heady aroma—just enough to give the sandwich that fiery punch of flavour without overshadowing the other components.

The rendang was spicy, as it should be, and the pickled onion and slightly chilled greens did well to provide a crunch as well as a brightness to the sandwich, nicely combating the richness.

BAMBOOZLE

Aptly named because the sandwich itself is so full of flavour that you’ll fail to realise the absence of meat, the Bamboozle (S$9) is a sandwich that packs formidable finesse and balance. The garlic aioli was light yet assertive in both aroma and taste and complemented the flavours of the mushrooms nicely.

A show of class in the way each and every individual component is executed, this umami-packed megalodon is something that we’ll likely make several return trips for.

SLEEPY NONNA

Besides savoury sandwiches, Stack offers sweet alternatives as well. The idea of the Sleepy Nonna (S$9) was just too hard to resist. Comprising a ripened banana, Nutella, crushed Oreos and Swiss cheese, all comfortably stacked between two golden slices of French toast, we just knew we were in for one heck of a sinful (but satisfying) experience.

It’s literally everything you could ever want in a bite, provided things like weight-gain and health issues were not a concern—and that’s saying a lot. Was it good? Absolutely. Would we get it again? For the sake of our health, probably not.

STACK
4 Jalan Klapa,
Singapore 199316
Tel: +65 6904 8117
Daily: 10am – 6pm
Nearest Station: Bugis

“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 $30 (usual price $30 $35). *they have recently increased prices.

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.

* *  *

// Edited: They have recently increased the prices to $30 (after 8pm) for the burger. I’m not sure if I will pay $30++ for a burger, but you may want to try it out at least once.

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

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January is like pressing the reset button and we start anew. Whatever sinful indulge that we have last month, the seafood feast the month before last month, or even the slice of rich and good cake three months ago; all these are behind us – we shall eat our way through all over again.

To begin the new year, I will like to start with an awesome Home-made Beef burger ($12); it’s best not to resist, you know you want it. I like burgers, not those from MacDonald, or Burger King. I mean real burgers with a gorgeous beef patty covered by a slightly toasted fluffy bun, throw in some lettuce, add in a slice of cheese, and even better if there’s caramelized onion – there you have it, a good hearty burger.

I can think of all sorts of excuses just to have a bite of this; honey it’s just a ten minute drive from our place; sweetie lets not cook dinner, it’s easier to eat-out; darling shall we go for supper?

Fancy it ain’t, but who cares, because this burger is a keeper. The only problem is not getting addicted to it.

A word of advise: stick to the homemade beef burger, I made the mistake of being too adventurous and went for the Steak sandwich ($12), and it’s not because the sandwich isn’t satisfying, but nothing can beat a big, hearty burger. While I did not like the steak sandwich, my friend enjoyed it thoroughly; steak is after all, steak, and unlike the beef patty that is made of minced meat.

There has been a mad rush of new burger joints; Burger Shack, Freddie’s burger, R Burger, The hamburger, Sunshine @ Carries, Fatboy’s burger bar, even though I have yet to try most of them, Smok’Inn Frogz Kitchen at Bar Bar Black Sheep is still by far one of my favorite place for a good, hearty burger. See you there!

Tell me, where’s the best burger?

Restaurant Review

Smok’Inn Frogz Kitchen
879 Bukit Timah Road
Weekdays: 4pm-11pm
Sat: Noon-11pm
Sun: 9am-11pm
(Near brewerkz)

Smok’Inn Frogz Kitchen is listed as one of ladyironchef’s favorite restaurants in Singapore

Epicurious, located on the banks of Robertson Quay, has been in operations for close to 6 years now. The restaurant is the brainchild of the duo owners, Helena and Sharon. The concept for the restaurant is like a neighbour joint, serving casual food where you can chill out and enjoy a meal without any qualms.

The interior of Epicurious is surprisingly small, from the outside i thought it will be bigger. There are only three tables inside, with most of the seats in the al fresco area.

Unpretentious and comfy, Epicurious is really a place where i can sit down there all day with my friends

The al fresco area offers a view of the river by Robertson Quay, its simple furniture make it seems as though you are having picnic out in the natural.

The food which Epicurious offers are simple and comfort food, like sandwiches, salads, pasta. On weekends from 9am to 1pm, they have the brunch menu which include choices like pancakes, toast, bagel, eggs, ommelette. And i am really tempted by their brunch menu, you’ll be seeing them here in the near future.

At Epicurious, there is the blackboard specials, which is not on the normal menu, and these are changed regularly to allow customers to experience different type of food.

The lunch menu does not have much selection of mains, in fact they only have three to choose from, with mostly sandwiches and pasta otherwise.

For dinner, the menu is a different one all together, with starters like beef carpaccio, smoked salmon tartare, to main course like their signature epicurious burger, and there are also quite a variety of grills to choose from. Price ranges from 10s to 20s.

Turkey Breast Sandwich ($9.50)

Turkey Breast with roasted bell pepper and havarti cheese. The sandwiches are all freshly made with lettuce, tomato, and cucumber, with choices of country-style white or wholemeal sunflower bread.

The turkey breast sandwich is fairly good, served with keropok.

Spaghetti vietnamese chicken bolognaise ($14)

The chicken bolognaise spaghetti is served with cheese flakes, your good old reliable fix of pasta.

Asian Sloppy Joe ($12)

Pork and beef mince with hoisin and lime. The Asian Sloppy Joe is under the blackboard special for sandwich. The unique name caught our attention, and the sandwich does not disappoint.

The pork and beef mince combination creates a rather distinctive taste, slightly sweet and spicy.

Epicurious Burger ($18)

House-made beef patty with sautéed onions, mushrooms and fries. The Epicurious Burger is the signature dish of the restaurant, having heard many good things about the burger, it is inevitable that this is a must-try dish when you visit epicurious.

Although i just had burger at Seah Street Deli the previous day, but i have no qualms tasting the epicurious burger. And indeed, the Epicurious Burger is the star of the show, the beef done medium-rare, is tender and retains the juiciness of the meat.

And you can choose to add cheese, bacon or a fried egg for $2 each, or $4 for all three. But i choose to serve my burger the original way without any toppings.

I like the fries too, which comes with cheese flakes, the overall taste is buttery and cheesy!

Apple crumble with vanilla ice cream ($7)

The Apple crumble with vanilla ice cream is recommended to us by Helena the owner of Epicurious. Now who can finish a meal without having desserts? Definitely not me! The apple crumble is sour-sweet, and the taste of it together with ice cream does it for us.

Bread and butter pudding with custard ($8)

The bread and butter pudding is also another of their more popular desserts, the way to eat it is by dipping the pudding into the custard, but i preferred to taste the bread and butter pudding on its own.

Carrot Cake ($5)

A slice of the Carrot cake is enough for anyone to end their meal on a high, and the cake certainly taste good here. With a layer of cheese on top of the carrot cake, the effect is a melt-in-your-month. The cheese is relatively light and does not overwhelms the carrot cake.

Total bill is $82.48 for 4 mains and 3 desserts. However, Helena kindly has the desserts on the house, so the total bill is $64.90 instead.

The owner Helena is friendly and warm, we had a chat and she explain the concept of Epicurious to us. So if you saw her at the restaurant, do not hesitate to have a chat with her!

The current location however is a tad too small, and cannot serve more customer. But then again this can be a double edge sword, more seats serves more customers, but in the process you might just lose the wonderful ambiance of the place.

And by the way, Helena and Sharon have recently opened another fusion western-local restaurant, Persimmion which is located at the Link Hotel. Do give them a try if you pass by Tiong Bahru area.

Epicurious is one place which i’ll gladly return again to try out their brunch and dinner menu. The reason is simple, Epicurious serves casual food, the price will not hurt your wallet, and the ambiance of the place is relaxing. Despite my usual practice of not repeating visits to a same restaurant, i’ll bend the rule this time, for Epicurious!

Epicurious
60 Robertson Quay
#01-02 The Quayside
Tel: 6734 7720

Epicurious is listed as one of ladyironchef’s favorite restaurants in Singapore

ladyironchef’s Food Event Outing at Ochacha!

A total of 20 people graced the event, with bloggers, readers of LIC’s blog, and their friends joining us for the green tea appreciation at Ochacha.

There was supposed to be more, about 15 more, but they all last minute had something on, anyway 20′s a big number, considering it’s LIC first time organising an event.

Dinner was supposed to start at 730pm, but you know Singaporeans tend to come late, so we actually started the ball rolling at 8pm.

Ochacha’s boss Miss lee arranged her cafe and gave us half the space, so thankful for that.

The menu is as follow :

Drinks: Matcha Rocks, Azuki Freezie, Ochacha Rocks, Ochacha latte or ochacha silk (3 cold and choice of 1 warm)

Soup: Shiitake Mushroom or tomato soup

Sandwiches: Sakura Egg, Wasabi Tuna, Furikake Salmon

Desserts: Matcha Cotton, Matcha Azuki, Financier, Matcha Panna Cotta

Its $17.50 per person to try the wide range of items in this menu. For all the food i’ll be putting the normal price beside it.

Reserved for LIC food event outing!

And apparently our ladies like green tea more than guys, hence the bigger differential in the numbers.

Complimentary chips

The chips were on the house, for our hungry guests before everyone turned up

Salad

The salad was also not included in our original menu. Miss lee thought that it will be better if there are some greens to go along with.

From left to right: Matcha Rocks, Ochacha Rocks, Azuki Freezie

Matcha Rocks ($4.95)

Chilled Matcha with sugar (no milk). I think most people preferred the Matcha Rocks one to Ochacha rocks which has milk

Ochacha Rocks ($4.95)

Chilled Matcha Latte. The Ochacha rocks is the middle one, coming with milk, its a lighter shade of green than the Matcha Rocks

Azuki Freezie ($6.50)

Ice blended matcha with azuki (Jap red beans). I believe the Azuki Freezie won quite a number of fan tonight, it stood out with the matcha taste on ice blend.

Please be reminded that what you are seeing are shooters, not the actual size of the drinks. The prices indicated are for the normal size.

Shiitake Mushroom soup

I think quite a number of people found the shiitake mushroom soup to be a tad too salty for their tastebuds.

Tomato soup

The tomato soup is more on the sweet and soup side. It really depends whether you are a fan of tomato and soup or not. I’m not a soup person though.

Sakura Egg Sandwich ($4.80)

The sakura egg sandwich is still my favourite among the three sandwiches at Ochacha. See here for the picture of the normal size sandwich on my last visit.

Wasabi Tuna Sandwich ($5,90)

Wasabi (spicy!!) tuna mayo fills up the delicious bread. This is my first time trying this, on the previous visit i had only the egg and the salmon ones.

For the wasabi tuna sandwich, i like tuna, but i don’t like wasabi.

Furikake Salmon Sandwich ($5.90)

Smoked salmon with Japanese seaweed. I had the Furikake Salmon sandwich on my previous visit too.

The Japanese seaweed added the salty aspect to flavor the salmon, but i found it to be a tad on the salty side.

Matcha Financier ($2.90)

French cake named after its shape like gold bar. The Matcha Financier did not disappoint, but then again i could be bias as i’m totally a dessert person.

Matcha Azuki ($4.90)

Layered matcha cake with azuki beans & cream. The Matcha Azuki totally rock my world, the usage of azuki red beans gave the matcha cake a sweet twist.

I had this on my second visit too!

Matcha Cotton ($2.90)

Fluffy Japanese souffle cake with fresh cream in the center. The extremly soft sponge matcha cake simply melts in the mouth!

Matcha Panna Cotta ($4.90)

Italian creamy dessert with matcha flavor. This dessert had mixed reviews, some didn’t like it and found it to be too soft for a panna cotta, while others adored it and find the soft texture, coupled with the matcha flavor a delight to have.

Again this shows that taste is subjective, what some might like, others might not like.

Ochacha Latte ($4.80) or Ochacha Silk ($4.80)

Hot matcha latte & soy milk with matcha. We had the choice of either one for our warm green tea.

Total Bill was $350 for 20 people ($17.50 fixed price for each person). For $17.50, i think its definitely a very good price as we got to try out a whole wide range of green tea, sandwiches and desserts.

If you go on your own, i highly doubt that you’ll be able to have so many items unless yours are a big group.

I didn’t have much tonight, mainly because as the host i need to walk around and entertained my guests, and its really stressful organizing an event. But its all right because i had most of the dishes on my previous visits.

Its a real pleasure for me to organize this event, and i sincerely hope that it’s good for all the diners. Do pardon me if any of you guys did not enjoy the dinner. And no refunds please (if any)!

I always believe that food is a very wonderful gift to us, it can bring like-minded people who love food together, people from different ages, background, to come together and enjoyed the good food.

Its an honor to have some of the food bloggers and readers of LIC, their friends, who in turn bring more friends to this event. See you all at the next LIC food outing, it’ll be soon : )

OChaCha
252 North Bridge Road
#B1-44F Raffles City
Tel: 6333 5886

PS: Let me know once you guys make write your reviews on this post, will linked everyone here!

Michelle’s @ Never Trust a Scrawny Foodie
Sihan @ Befuddlement
Jia ying @ Brownbread girl
Zheng Ning @ The Blue Plate
Styke @ Creations Wing

For those who went, got blog, but haven blog about it

Evan @ bossacafez
Jon @ newfoodie
Hisham @ mhisham
Vicki @ My Sweet Niblets
Claudia @ Claud talk

The rest who went but no blog

Christine, Melissa, Andy, Jane, Estelle, Shu qing, fz, Elisa

Thanks to all for coming, without you guys the event will go on smoothly!

Here’s a sneak preview of what to expect for LIC food event @ O Cha Cha next tue!

A friend and I went down to O Cha Cha last week after i got my DSLR, we went to discuss the menu with Ochacha’s boss Miss Lee Yin Siau.

From left anticlockwise, is Mr.Ochacha Mondo, on its right is our friend Miss Matcha Panna Cotta, and followed by Ochacha Rocks, and the top is Gyokuro.

Gyokuro uses the same tea leave made into Matcha, just that the whole tea leave is being use for Gyokuro which is evident inside the tea.

Say hello to Ochacha Rocks! He rocks all righty! There’s also Matcha Azuki at the left background of the picture!

And Miss Matcha Panna Cotta! We will be seeing all of them next tue!

Just in case you do not know what’s going on, LIC is proud to organise a food event outing at Ochacha, raffles city basement next tue 13th May.

The Place: OChaCha

The Date: 13th May Tuesday

The Time: 730pm

The Price: $17.50 per person

The Menu:

Drinks: OChaCha Rocks, Azuki Freezzie, Passion Rocks, OChaCha Latte, Chado

Sandwiches: Sakura Egg, Wasabi Tuna, Furikake Salmon

Soups: Shiitake Mushroom

Desserts: Matcha Cotton, Matcha Azuki, Financier, Matcha Panna Cotta

All the cold drinks will be served in the shooters while the hot latte in individual cups.

Attendance:
1. LadyIronChef
2. Claudia
3. Jiaying
4. Sok Peng (2)
6. Qiu Gui
7. Caleb
8. Hisham (2)
10. Elisa
11. Christine
12. Peter Tan (2)
14. Jasmin (2)
16. Zheng Ni
17. Vicki (3)
20. Andy
21. Michelle (2)
23. Estelle (2)
25. Jon (2)
27. Anonymous (2)

Currently a total of 28 people have signed up for the event, the maximum capacity is 30, so RVSP now! Drop me a sms at 9623 2581 to confirm your place or should you have any enquiries. All are welcome, and feel free to bring along your friends too!

See you all at Ochacha next tue!