Togi (22 Apr)

Korean food at Chinatown area (11 Mosque St, Tel: 6221 0830) recommended by my good neighbour Mavis Goh and so we went together with Uncle Derek who wanted to eat too.

Don't expect lavish decoration nor 5-star hotel service. It's not a very big restaurant, furniture is rather simple too. But there's something we couldn't stand - the sharp and loud screeching sound from dragging the chairs! The place was noisy enough with conversation from diners! Something surprised us further; the staff actually dragged out their big rubbish bin all the way from inside the kitchen to out of the restaurant right through the narrow pathway while customers were still dining.. wah liao.. cannot make it hahah!!

Free flow of side dishes.

Saba - crispy! A must order if you go!

Cuttlefish, which I think might have been overcooked cos they were so tough! Keep chewing to slim down your jaw line if you like hahah!

Beef I think. Quite juicy.. not too bad lah..

Seafood pancake which I love it too! Another must-order item! Uncle Derek finished all while I only had 2 pcs haha!

Ginseng chicken soup - so-so to me.. soup can be replenished FOC, not chicken of course!

Ju Shin Jung Korean Charcoal BBQ Restaurant, East Coast Park (6 Feb)

Went cycling @ East Coast Park and then dinner at this Korean restaurant.

The food was quite good but they didn't come cheap loh... In case you are wondering, they do have buffet but only available from Mon-Thu. So, you can only order ala carte dishes on weekends.

Spacious restaurant with huge seats which can take up to 8 pax per table.



Here comes the appetisers/ side dishes..



More side-dishes; includes green vege, kimchi cabbage, tofu and kimchi carrot/cucumber/squid. All side-dishes re-fillable, FOC.. hehe! They will serve a cold soup (which my friends said tasted like vinegar) and a bowl of onion to each customer as well. I love the raw onions in its sauce. Tasted so delicious when eaten with the meaty stuff!

On the bottom is the Ginseng Chicken Soup - S$20. On the top is Bulgogi (beef with clear glass noodles) which cost S$49!! They will cook the beef for customers.

These were also cooked by the staff at your table and they will help cut the pork belly. Mushrooms at S$10, and 3 slices of pork belly at S$24! I think each of us only ate 2 pcs of mushroom and 2 (cut) pcs of pork belly. My friend said we will not order the beef next time but ask for more pork and chicken.

Another complimentary dish - steamed egg which was quite good!

Generally, the quality of the food is good. Our bill came to $164 for 6 persons. I will return, but perhaps for buffet during weekdays. The ala carte prices are not worth it haha!

Ambush (5 Feb)

Ambush is one of the new restaurants that has opened at Jurong Point. They are located at the old Jurong Point wing; just next to Courts on the 2nd floor. They serve European cuisine including paella, mussels, german sausages etc. I realised there is another restaurant of similar name called Ambush Pasta Bar @ Ngee Ann City which I think they are affiliated.

Anyway, we just had to try if they were authentic haha! Well, it turned out that they were not, compared to others we've tried, for eg. Don Quihote

http://tiramisho.blogspot.com/2009/03/don-quihote-27-mar.html.

From top left (anti-clockwise):
Trio meat (chicken, sausage and fish) paella - S$12.80 (single portion)
Fries which accompanied the mussells (small pot) cooked in white wine - $12

I think the prices are pretty decent. The sausages in the paella tasted quite good. The rice didn't stick to the pot so I think they had cooked it with another pan before it was transferred over. My honest opinion - I wouldn't return unless I have nothing else to eat! ;p

自然海鲜 (opp Redhill MRT)

My first time at this place. We didn't know what to eat and upon strong recommendation by the lady boss (I think), we took this $48.80 set meal - 6 dishes including a dessert. Overall, I find the food just above average. The presentation is something they could improve on haha!! But I love the double-boiled soup - quite generous with the amount of sharks' fins ;p

铺田 (Jurong Point)

The boss of 铺田 must be laughing his/her way to the bank! Within very short period of time, there were many branches which sprouted across the island! And most of the times, they are well-filled with curious and hungry customers! I, for one, decided to try the food cos I like the 兴化米粉 I've once tried at one of those "铺田s" at Lavender. There are so many around. Which is the authentic one? Does anyone know?

I think this is spinach and 皮蛋

兴化米粉
Duck wrapped with yam, deep fried. A little oily, I think but the duck meat was quite tender!

Sweet & sour pork with lychee. This is one of their signature dishes. Actually, this was like any sweet & sour pork, except they had 2 lychees on it haha! No lychee taste in the dish, otherwise. But the pork was quite tasty and not like most sweet & sour pork where you'd be eating the fats more than the meat, the amount of meat used was quite substantial.

Overall, the food was quite good! After the meal, we waited to test if much MSG was added. Indeed, it was! Haha!! Then again, I went back one day to "tabao" the 兴化米粉红 ;p

锅贴 (40A Commonwealth Ave)

The stall (forgot name lah..) at a corner on the 2nd floor is better known for its 锅贴 (though they are actually fried), other than its 酸辣汤 and noodles. I've been there a few times and still love its food! But it seems that the quality of its fried dumpling has dropped. The dumplings used to be real crispy! Anyway, I'd highly recommend this place for anyone who has not tried eating at this place ;)

酸辣汤 I think it's $3 for this portion. Good for 2!

Fried dumplings - $4 for 8pcs (I think ;p)

I don't remember the name of this noodle. But it was really good! Think it's also $3 for this big plate enough for 2 too! They also have 炒年糕 which I'd try the next time ;)

If you want a drink to get rid of the oiliness, just pay $0.10 for free flow of chinese tea!

Pioneer Seafood Restaurant, Jurong Point (10 Aug)

New restaurant at the new wing Jurong Point called Pioneer Seafood Restaurant (ground floor of the new wing). It has a branch at Mount Faber (if it's still there) which we've tried but I don't remember if the food was fantastic. Since it didn't register very well, I take it that it wasn't memorably great hahaha!!

We had tim sum brunch and also ordered its Sri Lanka crab on promotion - $33 per kg (medium size), which we thought we could try as it was priced cheaper than what is served at one of the coffeeshops in Jurong West/ Nanyang.

皮蛋瘦肉粥 - bad! tasteless!
小笼包 - err.. think it's skin was quite thick and the soup/ meat wasn't very tasty either

虾角 - forget it!
烧卖 - not nice too.. no "tim sum" taste
Blackbeans steam 排骨 - totally cannot make it. tasteless.. and we wonder what happened to the black beans??

Broccoli with minced meat fried with its famed XO sauce - I believe I can make my any dish good with the sauce too what... so no big deal... hahaha!! the restaurant sells its sauce - each bottle costs $9+ I think. Nope, I didn't buy...

锅貼 - not impressive too..

Black pepper crab - also cannot make it haha!

We were very disappointed with the quality of food served at this restaurant. All the dishes were not tasty.. it wasn't saltish which is fine by me since I'm not a fan of salt haha but I felt the chef didn't bring out the distinctive flavour of each dish, be they the tim-sum or the crab!! We ordered the black pepper crab which taste "sweet" and definitely short of peppery taste. Most of all, the crab wasn't flavourful at all and didn't have the "wok taste" (or "wok hei" as the cantonese calls it). The crab taste like plain jane crab meat while the black pepper sauce was on its own outside on the shell.. But, I must admit the meat was not too bad, quite "springy" and I suspect the meat at the end of the pincer wasn't cooked well.

In essence, we still love our Nanyang coffee shop (it's beside the Nanyang Community Club) crabs - they cost $44 per kg but they are huge and tasty! The chef cooked it very well!

Irodori Japanese Restaurant (21 Jul)

This meal was to celebrate our wedding anniversary, 7th year, if you are curious ;p I think we are (or perhaps just me) suckers for japanese food cos we've been dining in japanese restaurants quite frequently. After reading good reviews of this place, we decided to go ahead - S$33++ per pax for buffet dinner, at Riverview Hotel. http://irodorijapaneserestaurant.com/. It was a weekday that we went so it was crowded.

Generally, the quality was quite good, and we were happy to receive a few complimentary dishes hehe... Service was fine since there weren't too many customers. Go in a big group so you could try the huge variety. There was only so much 2 persons could eat ;)

Menu which has lots of items

Udon (very small one-person portion). The noodle is not the usual fat and round type but rather, it's flat, so it doesn't taste as "springy" as any udon should be, I feel.

Grilled pregnant fishes - very yummy actually

Teriyaki mushrooms. The sauce was too salty.

Kimchi with errmm... can't remember if it's chicken or pork strips.. good starter!

Inside of restaurant

Tempura prawns - crispy!

Teriyaki chicken, I think ;p

Unagi handroll on the left and spider handroll on the right. I like the spider one ;)

Fried chicken.. what do you call it?

金针菇 wrapped with pork slice, I think.

Soup in a pot - sorry forgot its name hahaha!

We love this best! Grilled chicken wings!

This was served complimentary as appetiser, but frankly I don't remember what it was. Think it's fried salmon ball.

Grilled fish - forgot what fish hahaha!

Variety of sashimi - yellowtail, salmon and swordfish. There are others but we chose these.

These were complimentary starters too! Grilled king prawns with mayonnaise and fish roe. Think anything grilled with mayonnaise taste good hhaha!

Were these complimentary too?? Hahaha!! Don't remember what roll they are ;p

Ok, this was complimentary - the first dish that came when we sat down. Think the green piece thinggi is tofu.. topped with fish roe and condiments