Pool Grill @Orchard

24 April 2016

A re-visit to one of my favourite hide-outs in Orchard! Food and service is great as usual.

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29 August 2014

This restaurant's pretty quiet as usual. If you're looking for somewhere quiet and beautiful to spend some intimate moments, this's the place. Although the pool was under renovation, the lights and view of Orchard made up for its unsightly barricades.

The place at night!

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Sushi Kanazawa @Orchard, International Plaza

And yes, we're back again! Because of the loyalty card. You get a stamp for every buffet paid for. Complete 6 stamps and you'll only pay $10 for the 7th buffet. That's nice, isn't it?

Everything is the same as per my previous post, except by this time, the chef knows you better. The sashimi are mostly the same. The quality is the same. Though this time, we requested for lesser rice.

All since all's the same, yes, we'd be back!

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May 6th, 2015

International plaza is a place that we will probably pass by everyday without wondering the purpose of its existence. If my friend haven't told us about this "great sushi place" that he has recently been a regular of, we honestly wouldn't have stepped into this building.

The building isn't too shabby actually. In fact, the toilets are pretty clean and seems quite well-maintained. We found Sushi Kanazawa on the second floor, easily accessible via the escalator. It's Singapore's only free-flow Sushi bar.

We reached around 7.30pm, and there were ample seats, although it's extremely small. There's only a bar and like 10 bar seats plus a little private room. Barely enough walking space. Perhaps they are trying to emulate what'd be like in Japan.

The owner, Henry, who took over the store from his Japanese Sinsei, is an extremely vibrant character. We could see that the people who actually came were regulars, as the other two chefs (total of 3) asked pretty personal questions like, where is your girlfriend? to customers sitting beside us.

Sashimi!

The menu...

Grape Pudding

Apple Pudding

When we were seated, we were given a set of sashimi each, and Edamame. Hot green tea comes together with the buffet. Then a bowl of hot soup to start off our meal. Basically, you don't have to order anything, the chefs go through the whole ritual if you are here for the buffet. Unless you have special orders or cravings, you can tell the chef and he will gladly serve it to you.

Half the time, I didn't know what fish was on top of my rice, but sometimes when I do ask, the chef replies quite cheerily. What we do know is that the freshness is definitely top-notch. Towards the 3rd or 4th piece, I started to get kind of full with the sushi rice. There seemed to be abit too much rice to go with the sashimi... There's quite abit of Iwatani gas-grilling going on too. The grilled Mentaiko sushi melts in your mouth.

Ending the meal, you get to choose pudding or otherwise, jelly. Apple, Lychee, Grape, Mango. They're all good to wash down that raw after-taste.

If you prefer quality, then do come here. However, do note that they may take awhile to serve between each sushi as they are made on the spot, hence your stomach may start to feel full midway through the meal.

If you're the kind who prefers to eat all you can, then I'd suggest you go to Todai, where you could get a better bang for your buck.

If you're here to try, come on a weekday, because the price's more worth it, and the crowd's less, which means you can enjoy your meal more leisurely.

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Verdict:

Food: 4/5

Service: 3/5

Ambiance: 2.5/5

Total Score: 3/5

[1- Never visit again, 2-Won't visit unless there's no other option, 3-Perhaps, 4 & 5- Yes!]

Good for? Couples, Groups 

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About it:

Sushi Kanazawa

Address: 360 Orchard Rd, 238869, Level 2
Price for one Adult Buffet Dinner: $39.90++ from Mon to Fri, $48.90++ from Sat to Sun

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Cafe Mosaic @Bugis, Carlton Hotel

We've always walked past this place and wondered what's with the happy faces of the people inside.
And finally, a card promotion (one-for-one) finally allowed us to have the chance to dive into this buffet without much consideration. At $91 after taxes, it works out to be less than $50 per pax.

 Fruits!

Fresh seafood and salad

Live cooking and carving station

Desserts Station

Which honestly, we'd suggest you skip this place.

They were doing some promotions on bountiful seafood, but honestly, other than oysters, mussels, prawns, endless salmon sashimi, there's not much variety. No crabs, no crayfishes, no Alaskan King Crab legs. Stuff yourself silly with salmon sashimi. And a salad station.

Live stations, there was laksa, which was quite tasty, and LOTS OF SAUTEED vegetables. Kang Kong, cabbage, beansprouts, shitake mushrooms, dou miao. We ate the most dou miao ever in our lives.

Carving station, they only had roast beef. That's it.

Chinese food, they had your usual soy sauce fish slices, rice, etc.

The desserts station consisted of only slices of cakes and puddings, with 3 soupy desserts. One of it Red Ruby, which we jumped for joy, but felt eeky after the first mouth as the chestnut has all become soggy, not crunchy at all. Nothing interesting, no fondues, no ice stations, etc. The ice creams were a low key affair, with coconut being a substitute for vanilla, and the topping stations a few steps away from the ice cream chest. Pretty weird setup.

No Indian food station, no different cuisines. It was the first time we actually had space in our stomachs two servings of ice cream.

The decor is great, but the varieties are just too little. If you're going to visit this place paying full price, I'd recommend you to visit other buffet lines.

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Verdict:
Food: 2/5
Service: 3/5
Ambiance: 3/5
Total Score: 1/5
[1- Never visit again, 2-Won't visit unless there's no other option, 3-Perhaps, 4 & 5- Yes!]

Good for? Couples, Groups, Family

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About it:
Cafe Mosaic
Address: 76 Bras Basah Rd, 189558
Price:
Exclusively for Citibank, DBS/POSB and UOB Cardmembers for a limited time only*

Enjoy 1-for-1 Adult Buffet
Lunch: Mondays to Fridays
Dinner: Daily

Lunch Buffet, 12 noon to 2.30 pm
Mondays to Fridays       $53++ per adult, $26++ per child

Dinner Buffet, 6.30 pm to 10.30 pm
Sundays to Thursdays     $78++ per adult,  $39++ per child
Fridays to Saturdays        $88++ per adult, $44++ per child
Free flow of soft drinks and chilled juices at $9++
Sommelier selected wine at $11++ per glass and $52++ per bottle

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Gyoza-Ya @Orchard, Ion

Gyoza-Ya, the store which has taken over Charlie & Co. for a few months. There is always a steady queue and if you do not really want to wait and do not mind the slight oil and smoke as the kitchen is in close proximity, then sit by the bar. You can see the chefs working in full view, and see how your gyozas made, partially by two big machines.

Apart from quite a few interesting kinds of gyozas, they do not have much selections of starch.

Order via your friendly iPad!

Gyoza

More Gyoza. 

Yea they look like the same...

Mentaiko Gyoza.

Slightly pricey. Must-try.

Add this to make your Jya Jya Men tastier!

Don't forget to ask for your egg from the server when you're finishing! Then mix well!

They use an iPad ordering system, which you can keep ordering if you feel that your meal portion is insufficient.

We ordered the Jya Jya Men as our stomach-filler, and thought it was a pretty 'labour-intensive' dish as the server has to come back and pour hot water and give you an egg as the third step. When there is a lot of people during dinner time, completing this last step can be pretty daunting as you can spend a few minutes trying to get the server to come to you. Well, we thought the last step didn't really add much excitement to the dish, so it's really up to you to skip this step or not.

All of Gyozas we ordered, the Mentaiko is the must-try. Flame-grilled to the right cream texture, they melt in the mouth and taste extremely rich. The little spheres pop in your mouth- flavour burst. Though it's slightly more expensive, it's worth the try.

The other gyozas... I'd say order when the crowd is not that much, or risk getting it too cooked, or undercooked. The chef we saw handling the gyoza station didn't seem very confident with himself, and he actually put some of them back on the grill again. Hmmm. But then again, he would have improved by the time you read this post :)

If you'd ask me, the gyozas are slightly expensive at 5 pieces each only, and there aren't much dishes on the menu that could fill you up apart from the gyozas. For me, gyozas are meant to be side dishes...

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Verdict:
Food: 3/5
Service: 3/5
Ambiance: 3/5
Total Score: 3/5
[1- Never visit again, 2-Won't visit unless there's no other option, 3-Perhaps, 4 & 5- Yes!]

Good for? Couples, Groups, Family

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About it:
Gyoza-Ya
Address: 2 Orchard Turn, #B4-56 ION Orchard, Singapore 238801
Menu: http://www.gyozaya.com.sg/menu/

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K.Cook @Somerset, Orchard Central

I like this place- no frills, and they are good at what they provide.

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KT's Grill @Resorts World Sentosa, USS

Having eaten twice at Mel's Drive Thru at Universal Studios Singapore (USS), we were looking for something special to eat. Not the usual local fare, but we were hoping for a discounted lunch menu... And we did manage to find one at KT's Grill. Reading the not-so-updated reviews on Trip Advisor and Hungry Go Where, we decided to take the plunge.

We read previous reviews that there was quite a queue during lunch hours, but when we went there, it was surprisingly quiet. It should have set off the alarms, but the hungry sides of us went in anyway. It looks quite 'atas' from the outside, but once inside, you could a different vibe, like a bar-setting.

There was actually a 2-course set lunch promotion going on, but the main didn't attract us as much. So we ordered ala-carte instead. We've also read somewhere that bread was served like your usual French Restaurants, but I guess a lot has changed since that review. In fact, there weren't much reviews on this place.

Our glasses of ice water were served quickly, and our food came in a couple of minutes:

2nd level is available for sitting as well.

The place!

The menu!

  

Tender 1/2 Rotisserie Chicken ($18)

Roasted Traditional Half Spring Chicken with Sauteed Potatoes and Vegetables

Bangers and Mash ($18)

Flavoured Sausages, Italian herb, Swiss Cheese, Bratwurst

KT's Shepherd's Pie ($16)

Minced Beef Casserole with Diced Vegetables, topped with Creamy Mashed Potatoes

KT's BBQ Chicken Sandwich ($11)

Tender Chicken drizzled with KT's Special BBQ Sauce, served on Toasted Crusty Bread with Tomatoes and Lettuce. Comes with a side of American Fries

Baked Idaho Potato ($4)

Idaho Potato served with Sour Cream, Bacon Bits and Chives

The Tender 1/2 Rotisserie Chicken ($18), consisting of Roasted Traditional Half Spring Chicken with Sauteed Potatoes and Vegetables, was actually pretty tasty for a theme-park food. The meat is tender and came off the bone easily, and was quite well-marinated. The sides are the usual. After the 25% rebate, it's only $13.50++.

Bangers and Mash ($18) with Flavoured Sausages, Italian herb, Swiss Cheese, Bratwurst is something that wouldn't go wrong. Well, unless they are too tough, burnt, etc... you get what I mean. The mash is good, a classic dish.

KT's Shepherd's Pie ($16)- Minced Beef Casserole with Diced Vegetables, topped with Creamy Mashed Potatoes. This dish is somewhat average, with our mother wondering why wasn't it hot enough. But nonetheless, it is quite filling and the creamy potatoes were up to standards.

Our little nephew had KT's BBQ Chicken Sandwich ($11), which looked so juicy and tasty on the menu, but came out looking.. slightly different. It's not our first time anyway. The meat patty is kind of small, but the Toasted Crusty Bread has quite a crunch to it. The fries kept the boy happy, which we believe it will be for most kids.

The side dish, Baked Idaho Potato ($4) with Sour Cream, Bacon Bits and Chives, is also another classic. A pretty big potato by the way.

All in all, we doubt we'd return again, but it's the only restaurant with such a generous rebate in USS. If you are feeling awkward about visiting this place all sweaty and thirsty in your berms

and slippers, fret not, for it's still ultimately a theme park restaurant, and the decor is just... well, another decor. There isn't a formal dress code. There's a second level which you can visit

as well. If you are hungry, we are sure this place will fill you up.

P.S. We spent a total of $78.86, and we received a rebate of $19.715 with RWS Invites card which meant we only spent around $59 for 4 pax after taxes!

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Verdict:
Food: 3/5
Service: 3/5
Ambiance: 3/5
Total Score: 2/5
[1- Never visit again, 2-Won't visit unless there's no other option, 3-Perhaps, 4 & 5- Yes!]

Good for? Couples, Groups, Family

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About it:
KT's Grill (Resorts World Sentosa)
Address: Universal Studios Singapore, Singapore 098269

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Coca International Singapore @Sentosa, Resorts World Singapore, RWS

Coming out of USS, we were famished and were craving for hot soupy food, but yet eat like... hungry monsters.

We were served by very friendly staff when the crowd was not as much, but as the tables filled up, I could feel that the staff's stamina was slowing thinning out, and food became much slower to arrive. Which can get frustrating as everyone is the momentum to eat, eat, eat...

You can either order ala-carte or go buffet style, which we tried the latter.

There are only 2 kinds of soup, and we chose to take half of each in one pot.
You get a small piece of paper and pencils to indicate what dishes you like, and hand it to any passing server. The food will be served on a separate portable table, apart from your main dining table. There aren't much unique dishes. The usual vegetables, meat. Other than spinanch noodles which was pretty interesting, the dishes probably stood out for their freshness.

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On The Table @Farrer Park

Had a lovely walk on Sunday at Hort Park, and was tired of the same eats at Vivocity.
Chanced upon this two-store cafe while driving past, and decided to drop in upon checking out the postive reviews from Hungry Go Where.
It's a gem in the west, as one of the reviews put. Very different decorations as compared to the shophouses just nearby.
It's also pretty convenient as it is located just opposite of Farrer Park MRT. Although most of the traffic flow seemed to be heading to Pasir Panjang Hawker, this cafe is pretty filled up on a weekend 8+ pm.

The menu was handed to us promptly by a young, smiling girl, and were told to order at the counter. You can grab iced or warm water at the counter.

We ordered:

Duck Leg with Mash ($18)

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Menya Musashi

We've visited this particular ramen chain multiple times, at two different outlets, one in Ion where we were first blown away by the free 4 times noodles. It's really worth the money, like $16.90 and you really get to eat till you're really, really full. The only downside is that you can't top up the soup, so there's just so much noodles you can eat without the soup...

The menu!

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