Wedding: Venue- Hilton Hotel

We went for the wedding fair hosted by Hilton hotel. This is one of the first five star hotel that we visited for a wedding venue and... we should not have expected anything out of the ordinary.

Since it's a pretty established hotel, the rooms have been used by countless people ahead, and so they looked a bit tired, like the carpet, etc.

The rooms weren't what we were looking for.

The Panorama room (top most level) was too long, and the stage had to be at one end, so guests at the back will feel left out. The view's good, but the room's just too narrow.

The Vista room has the same issues, except it's long and narrow like the Panorama room too.

Surprisingly, the prices were pretty reasonable.

1 Jan - 31 Dec 2016
Weekdays: $1,188 (8-course)
Weekends: $1,268 (9-course)

Different wedding themes:

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Wedding: Venue- Shangri-La Sentosa

Outdoor venue!

Solemnisation: 

By the sea, outdoors! 

Banquet: 

Yes, they do outdoors. Round tables, communal tables, they do it. But the nicer one would be the round ones. 

If it rains, you go back to either of the indoor banquet halls. No money refunded. 

It costs $145++/pax, with live grilling stations. You get lights and sound system in the package.

Solemnisation

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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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A Staycation at Grand Park City Hall

Yep, this is our first hotel review! Since we're recording where and what we're eating, why not where we are going as well? :)

This was a very last minute staycation booking- we actually wanted to book Grand Copthorne Waterfront, but we couldn't find it in the Hotel Quickly list at 12pm, so we switched to Grand Park City Hall. Lesson learnt, book it when you see it!

But, this booking turned out to be a blessing in disguise.

 

Screenshot from http://www.parkhotelgroup.com/cityhall/default-en.html

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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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Miam Miam @Bugis Junction

It was quite full on a weekday evening, and we were pretty apprehensive at getting a table. The huge menu has quite a portion dedicated to sweet desserts, and since we were craving for an after-dinner bite, this place's naturally the choice.

It's an open concept cafe, you can see what's everybody eating, comparing what you see on the menu and the real thing ;)

We ordered:

 French Toast ($10.80)

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Float@The Bay: SG's First Luxury Floating Bar

When we were first invited to a private event with a venue stating, "Float@The Bay", we thought, "Hey, it's interesting!" Because, we thought it was at Keppel Bay. (Yeah, we even thought of the Float at Marina Bay) But, The Bay in this case, is actually... where tourists board the Singapore River Cruise. I never knew that dock had such a cool name. I always felt it's where the drunkards hail their cabs back after partying at Clarke Quay.

I was pleasantly surprised when I saw the boat. It's extremely futuristic-looking. Entirely in white, with lots of coloured LED lighted high chairs and tables, well-stocked bar, and boom boom R&B music with bass speakers, this boat has all the tourists sitting at the River Cruise Boats staring at us.

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Bo.lan Essentially Thai ร้านโบ.ลาน อาหารไทย @Bangkok

Bo.lan has been recognised for many years as one of the best Thai restaurants in Bangkok, plus being one of Asia's Best 50 several times. Hence, being the foodie us, we made it a point to visit this place when we were at Bangkok. The lunch set menu is pretty reasonable at THB 980++ (if converted to Singapore dollar, around SGD 50!) as compared to many other similar level establishments that we would have wanted to visit in Bangkok if we had more time.

We were glad it is not too far from a BTS station (Thong Lo), as distance was quite the factor when we decided on the places to visit, as we were trying to do more sight-seeing and shopping this time round.

It's located among many tall clean, modern looking buildings, possibly condos as there were security guards, with quite a few expats strolling around leisurely under the hot sun. We were unsure of how the place looked like, but we made sure they weren't to fussy about dress codes before we decided to go there, for we wanted to visit some night markets later on.

A little sign pointed us to the right way, and a beautiful walkway large enough for a car to drive in slowly came into our view. The walkway obscured what was inside, and you could only just walk in with abated breath on how the exact restaurant would look like.

It was an extremely beautiful place, full of Thai flavours. It was once a house, but now renovated. The pool is defunct with a rusty structure that seemed slightly odd in its place, but there were quite a few other odd decorations which all add to the rustic feel of the place.

We were the first customers for them, and they were still preparing the place. We were greeted very nicely, and were told to take a seat while they got the place ready. We were too in love with the whole serenity of the place and we started taking lots of pictures of the place...

The pool!

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Salt Tapas & Bar @Raffles City Shopping Center

Decided to give this place ago on Restaurant Week, though we would have very much wanted to visit the more upscale sibling, Salt Grill & Sky Bar. Nonetheless, the experience here is quite good to our expectations, considering the fact that we reserved quite last minute on a weekend, and this place is always quite packed whenever we drove past it.

The servers were quite friendly and thoughtful, and even asked about our meal after we have ended. Water was refilled with a glass bottle placed by our table, so you do not have to keep asking for water like a thirsty elephant.

For Singapore Restaurant Week, the menu, at $35++/pax looks like this:

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Stellar at 1-Altitude @Raffles

Made a reservation for a weekday dinner through Restaurant Week for this place. Not sure if it was a right choice... 
There was no trouble in parking as the CBD area has long been vacated at 8pm. There were two queues to the lift entrance, guarded by a few of their staff. We were asked if we had made reservations, and then the lift button was pressed for us. You would feel like a star already.
Level 63 leads to Altitude, Singapore's highest bar with a 360 degrees view of the city. It is also the highest multi-experience lifestyle joint in the world. The restaurant, Stellar, is at Level 62. Dining at the restaurants grants you free entry to the bar.
Dinner at $55++/pax for Singapore Restaurant Week looks like this:
Appetisers Caramelised Foie Gras, Griottes, Bigarade Orange, Toasted Brioche, Yellow Frisee or Bonito Cured Ocean Trout, Sweet Pea Mousse, Wasabi Snow ~ Mains Slow Braised Beef Short Rib, Bone Marrow Crust, Potato Soufflé or Spiced Cod Fillet, Ratatouille Nicoise, Garlic Bon Bon ~ Desserts French Toast Ice Cream, Mixed Berry Compote, Caramel or PBJ (Peanut Butter Jelly) Strawberry Wafer, Jellied Peanut Butter, Biscuit Espuma   Well, of course we'd take one of each :)

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Rabbit Carrot Gun @Katong

Looking for a new place for lunch today, we decided to try this cafe situated at the corner, opposite Katong Plaza. We quite remember its cute name and quirky décor the last time we were in the area, so we just went straight in without thinking much.

We spent an hour in there, and noticed a large number of its visitors were expats or tourists. Perhaps it is due to the fact that it also provides accommodation- really pretty, boutique level decorated kinds (http://www.rabbit-carrot-gun.com/sleep-2/) as the photos show. I wouldn't mind staying a night here ;)

The whole space is no very big, small and cosy. No air-con, but it is surprisingly breezy for a 1 pm afternoon. Prices are mostly below $20.

We ordered:

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The Prime Society @Dempsey

We've always wanted to visit this place, having heard about their steaks. And here we are today. There are quite a few entrances, and we loved the main one, because there's a fridge with all sorts of meat hanging. The whole interior is what I'd call, grandeur. High ceilings, beautiful glass windows, elegant seats and tables, tasteful decorations hanging around. And, well, lots of fans. It could get a tad windy at certain seats.

The menu is simple and straightforward, the mains are around $30-ish, while the steaks range from $65 to $88, and climbs higher for larger cuts. Surprisingly, they serve pretty affordable wines to go with your steaks and there's a long list of such for you to choose from if you request.

The cute, little bun came first. Yes, one cute, little bun for each of us. With salt and butter, they're good to stop your tummy for growling for awhile.

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Jewel Cafe+Bar @Little India, Rangoon Rd

There are a few other outlets in the CBD area, but this one's caught my eye. There've been many other reviews on this place, and hence, we went with quite a bit of expectation. There weren't many people around, quite a few couples and people with their laptops. There's a second storey which we conveniently forgot to explore (ugh) and swore to return to dine there again, because I fell in love with their Foie Gras Risotto ($23). 

The place!

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Oyster Bar & Wine Dining Wharf @Chijmes

Chijmes have changed so much since we've last visited. Or perhaps it's just too long since've last visited. From the outside, it seems really boring, just a few restaurants and that's it, but walking in the courtyard, hey, it is actually a super vibrant dining place.

The Place!

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Starz Restaurant @Resorts World Sentosa

It's Thrifty Tuesday!

Sometimes, Resorts World Sentosa has Thrifty Tuesday promotions. You get to choose either Palio's 4 or 5 courses meal for $55++, which you may read this post for more photos and details, or one-for-one International buffet.

So today, we went for the buffet. Situated at Hard Rock Hotel Singapore, Lobby. It's actually walking distance, if you walk from Coca Restaurant.

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Sopra Cucina & Bar @Orchard,

This quaint place is at Pan Pacific Hotel, previously Hotel Negara, or otherwise known as 10@Claymore. The inside is extremely beautiful, with a full-fledged bar and ample working area for the staff. There's an open kitchen as well. Lots of high tables that are abit rickety, but adds to the charm. The ambiance is just cozy. On the other side, well, it's Orchard Tower. So just request for an inside seat to be immersed in your beautiful environment. 

When we arrived in the late afternoon, there was an engagement party going on, hence we were abit unsure if the whole place has been booked. On seeing our confused faces lingering at the entrance, the staff came out and welcomed us in warmly. 

We were handed the menus and told that there was a happy hour, $10 for beers, and there were happy hour prices for wines as well. So together with a Pilsner, a type of pale lager, we ordered:

 Caprese

Sliced Mozzarella Cheese, Cherry Tomato, Chopped Basil, Oregano and Extra Virgin Olive Oil

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Sprigs @Bugis, Purvis Street

Situated along the stretch of Purvis Street (where the more popular Saveur resides), this restaurant's... slightly too quiet on a weekday. We were slightly hesitant on walking in as we caught some of the staff's hopeful faces peering into ours, somehow willing us to go in... and we did. We liked the elegant decor, and how the menu is being designed- simple and straightforward. Plus, the dinner set is quite wallet-friendly, at only $48.90 for a 3 course set that has quite a lot of the main dishes in.

Sleek Menu

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Original Hock Lam Street Beef Kway Teow @Orchard, Ion

Another affordable eat in town, Teow Chew Beef Noodles!
If you're a beef noodles lover, you will love this place. There's also rice if you are in need of more carbo.

If you prefer dry, the soup is extremely fragrant. If you prefer dry, I am glad to let you know the sauce is very rich. Both of them are very tasty!

No wonder, as the soup is home-made, boiled for 24 hours with herb base. The chillies are good as well. The beef is one of the most tender ones we've tried. It is because they are sliced (not machine cut), and hence even if it was overcooked, if would not be as hard as those in hawker centres.

Soup  

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Ajumma's @The Cathay

Updated: 23/01/2015

Yep, we visit this place again!
The prices have increased since then, and the menu changed. There're more varieties now, and so is the number of people. Their food still taste good! And yes, we will be back!

Fried Dumplings

Pork Bulgogi Set

First Visit: 30/08/2014

I like this place! Not a Korean fan, but I knew what Ajumma meant- Auntie. Okay, rather, a middle-aged madam. Which means, nice home-cooked-ish food.

Certainly, I wasn't disappointed. Look at the side dishes, costing less than $10 in town!

Side dishes

Very fragrant rice!

Pork Skewer Set ($8.50)

Beef Bulgogi Set ($7.50)

They ran out of Chicken Bulgogi, and recommended Pork Yakitori. The meats are marinated well, and the sauces are great accompaniments. I will definitely be back to try their other yummy dishes!

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Verdict:

Food: 4/5

Service: 4/5

Ambiance: 4/5 

Total Score: 5/5

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

Good for? Casual, Fast Food

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About it:

Ajumma's

Address: The Cathay Basement, Dhoby Ghaut

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Kimchi Restaurant @Suntec City

Tired and hungry on a Sunday evening, this place's not one of our must-go list, but having sampled their food by authentic Korean chefs (who looked very much like K-pop stars on their own) at the Korean Food Fair 2014, an event held by the Korean Government held at Ngee Ann City Orchard, plus there is no queue, we thought, hey, why not?

The left of the entrance is actually like a mini-mart that sells vegetables and Korean snacks. Very interesting, but definirely not cheap. The seating area is big, with quite a few tables catered for BBQ. As we wanted to just eat and go, we quickly wrote down our orders and passed the slip to the waiter. 

We waited for quite awhile for the food to arrive. I noticed this on the other table as well. Nonetheless, we tucked into our foods wholeheartedly. We ordered:

 Seafood Pancake

Beef Dolsot Bap

Pork Dolsot Bap

Kimchi Ramen

Overall, the rice portion looks really small, but we learnt to finish the food before we judge. There's alot of meat, hence that amount of rice is actually more than enough. After the bowlful of egg and cabbage soup, it's really filling!

The Beef Dolsot Bap is probably the most fragrant among all the three variants we tried. The Pork Dolsot Bap is too spicy, which led to the poor waiter keep coming over to refill my cup of water, and I couldn't enjoy the pork's taste. I hate situations like this, because I end up having to eat just so that I do not waste. Surprisingly, the Andong Chicken Dolsot Bap, which is one more level spicier than the Pork, seemed to be milder. Oh well, I am not one who can take spicy food well, so maybe I shouldn't have been so adventurous...

Kimchi Ramen... is just Kimchi Ramen. No meat at all. Very plain, not much ingredients. The soup tasted very much like packet instant noodles-like. The noodles are nice though, very chewy and thick. I wouldn't recommend ordering this dish though.

The Seafood Pancake came last. It was enough to feed 3-4 pax, like a piece and a half for each person. It's quite tasty as well. For it's price, it's worth an order.

There's quite a few other intersting dishes that you can try ordering, such as the Black Sesame Chicken Soup, Wagyu Short Rib, or even BBQ-ing premium beef.

Last but not least, go grab a cup of Korean cream coffee at the cashier! Just press the button and the cups drops down from the machine. It's free, so grab a cup before you go. In all, I'd come back to this place if there're no other choices. 

Tip: Return your wet tissues at the cashier. Else, you're gonna be charged $0.50++ for each piece. I am never a fan of paying extra for tissues and water. 

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Verdict:

Food: 2.5/5

Service: 2.5/5

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:

Kimchi Restaurant

Address: 3 Temasek Boulevard #02-387, Singapore 038983
Menu: http://kimchi.com.sg/menu/

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Muddy Murphy's Irish Pub @Somerset, Triple One

Located at the back of Triple One Somerset, this place's pretty secluded. Away from the main shopping area e.g. Cineleisure and Triple One Somerset, this place can easily hold a candle to any of the nice glitzy restaurants in the mall. The entrance is just a prelude to what's inside the pub. The interesting quirky decor on the exterior will provide a little idea of what's inside. Once you step in, you feel like you're being transported to those English wooden cabins in movies. The interior is almost entirely of wood finishings, even the walls, which totally adds to the rustic look and feel. There weren't much people on a weekend, which can be good if you're looking for somewhere for a quiet date, or friendly chatting, instead of blaring music.

We were given a table with a real life-sized rocking chair as a seat! I thought that was pretty cool. They've a wide range of drinks such as beers and wines, and a very proper food menu, although this place seemed like its more for drinks:

Rosti Potatoes ($5)

6 pieces of deep fried rosti potato.

Beef & Guinness Pie ($18)

Potted Prawns ($16)

A 160g serving of fresh prawns sautéed in lemon juice, tomato puree, cream, pepper and garlic, served with home-baked sourdough bread and butter.

What's underneath?

Potted Prawns ($16)

Tadang!

La Trappe Witte Trappist Beer ($10 nett)
The world’s first and only Trappist white ale that continues to ferment slightly after bottling. Brewed using only water, wheat, and hops. As usual, beer to go along our meals.

Beef & Guinness Pie ($18)
It's got a huge pastry hat, which means the pie fillings underneath must be equally huge. And yep, we're not disappointed. There're bacon bits on top of delicious, fragrant mash potatoes and carrots on the side. Note, this whole dish can be pretty filling. The pastry hat is quite crisp, and dipping it with the saucy pie gravy is extremely satisfying.

Potted Prawns ($16)
A 160g serving of fresh prawns sautéed in lemon juice, tomato puree, cream, pepper and garlic, served with home-baked sourdough bread and butter.

I thought I had ordered the wrong item, as it looked more like a soup dish. It came with sourdough sliced bread on the side with Anchor butter. When I first tried the soup (or gravy) it was quite thick. Then, I tried dipping the toasts into the soup, and hey, it tasted good. Finding the butter a waste and but found it weird to go with such soups, I spread a bit of it on the toast, and tried dipping it again. Hey, it tasted much better. Eating the prawns on the side, the taste of this dish is really rich! I counted at least 8 very chewy fresh and certainly decently-sized prawns.

Oh no, these 6 pieces of deep fried Rosti Potatoes ($5) looked like Pizza Hut's potato bites. And they tasted like it, (they're made of the same ingredients anyway). There's nothing interesting about this dish....

I love the looks of this place! Plus the warm friendly service, and best of all, all prices nett, no extra GST or service taxes! I'd be back again.

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Verdict:

Food: 3.5/5

Service: 3.5/5

Ambiance: 4/5

Total Score: 4/5

[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:

Muddy Murphy's Irish Pub

Address: 111 Somerset Road, #01-02 TripleOne Somerset, Singapore, 238164
Menu: http://muddymurphys.com/menu_cat/salads

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Ollie Cafe @Somerset, Orchard Gateway

Wondering what to early eat in town one day, we suddenly remembered this oddly-located cafe. It is oddly located, because it is surrounded by restaurants and this is the only one that has a totally different décor. That's not the only thing that caught our attention. In fact, we have walked past this cafe several times, and were debating whether the truffle aroma came from this cafe, or Saizeriya just beside. But we do not remember Saizeriya serving Truffle-related dishes, hence we deduced this place, and made a mental note to come here, (but definitely not top of the list...) The cafe has quite brand new equipment and are definitely not cheap, so we hoped the food is just as good! They serve all-day brunch, salads and burgers. There's quite a well-stocked coffee work-station, and we even spied some exotic coffee tins.

The waitress was really friendly and helpful, serving us iced waters the first thing we arrived. The water comes from the most interesting jug ever. Inside the jug, there are lots of mint leaves, lemon slices and ice. The end result of the water? It could pass off as a diluted Mojito. In the end, we had three glasses of that water each.

Not really hungry, we ordered an Ollie Signature Salad ($11.90) and a Pied-a-piper Burger ($17.90).

Ollie Signature Salad ($11.90)

When the Ollie Signature Salad ($11.90) came, we were impressed-- with the portion and the presentation. It's pretty colourful and vibrant. Like the presentation, the flavour is also an interesting mix- there's sweet juicy beetroot chips (looking much like Dorito's wavy chips), very fresh crispy varieties of greens, a tad sourish sun dried tomatoes, and plus tender bites of grilled chicken breast chunks. And nope, I'm not yet done. Atop this wonderful mix, there is a layer of fresh blended creamy avocados, plus a half-jiggly 63 degree egg (all that hype!), and finally, rounded off (literally) with triangles of toasted Pullman sliced loaves. I suppose you had to spread the avocado on top the toasts, and maybe the egg, and then pile it with the greens and reds (tomatoes, beetroot) and take a big bite. But there just wasn't enough toasts to go around for the entire bowl. So we had to finish the rest with our fork and spoons. It's perfect for a girl's dinner, but definitely not for those who are looking for a light meal. It's very filling! Not only that, you will feel very healthy. And probably the best thing is the price. For $11.90++, the quality is quite above average. We didn't catch any withered leaves among that garden!

Pied-a-piper Burger ($17.90)
Choice of beef or chicken patty. Upgrade to Wagyu for an additional $8.

Well, the Pied-a-piper Burger ($17.90) is a slightly different story, having picky taste buds for good beef burgers. It took abit of time to arrive, but when it did, we were once again, impressed with the presentation and portion for a cafe. First thing, it's huge. The cheddar flowing down from the middle of the burger made it looked like some spewing yellow volcano. The fries were slightly over fried and excessively crunchy, perhaps due to the way it was fried- with an air-fryer. Like the salad, the greens, Portobello mushrooms, onions and even the toasted buns were really generous. If you are not picky about beef and are a cheese lover, then this dish will suit you. If you're those who love, say Triple O's Burgers, you will know what I am talking about. The beef patty is tough and rubbery. Yep, you have the choice of having the patty chicken or beef, or have the beef upgraded to Wagyu beef for an additional $8. But that's a total of $25.90, which is something I can possibly eat at &made. Well, probably not the burgers here.

As the kitchen adopts an open concept (not that there's any crazy fires or smokes), the truffle oil could get overpowering. Sitting too close to the kitchen will possibly cause the smell to stick to your hair. Nope, not the Truffle smell, but the oily kind of smell. Opt to sit slightly further away, and have a better view of what's happening over the interesting coffee and kitchen stations. If you're looking for chill-out cafes in the bustling heart of town, this's the place to be.


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Verdict:

Food: 2.5/5

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:

Ollie Cafe

Address: #B2-10, Orchard Gateway, 277 Orchard Rd

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