$18 for this??

Went to Kado Man Japanese Restaurant at Circular Road - Not a pleasant experience.
First the food. I ordered the Saba fish set. I must say that although the fish is passable, the one at Chowon Garden is even better and it's at a fraction of the cost! And there is no consistency in the restaurant. The waitress that took our order told me that my meal was a set meal which comes with a tofu and salad. But when I asked the waitress that served my fish about my toufu and salad, she said that the saba dish doesn't come in a set. OH well... maybe I misheard the waitress earlier? But when I finished my meal, the waitress sheepishly pushed a plate of toufu and salad onto my table and said - oh, got promotion. So I had to eat my toufu and salad on on its own. Boo...

But what really was not worth the money was the $18++ curry rice pork chop set! Seriously, $18??? White rice, some curry sauce (that tasted like it came out of a premix packet) a thin piece of pork chop and some pickles for $18++??

Then when it came to paying the bill which was about $65, we took out our credit card. The waitress said: oh credit card, you pay full amount, cash you pay $60. huh? It's usually credit cards that gives discounts not cash! oh well, I don't think I am visiting the place again.

Fried Dumpling Noodles

Dropped by Market St food court to eat lunch the other day and I noticed that at every other table, there was someone eating this dish! Must be good. So I searched for the stall at the food court. Ahhh... now I know why everyone went there.

The stall was efficient in churning out their noodles. My queue moved very quickly. But they didn't compromise on quality. Kway Teow was perfectly cooked, vegetables were plenty and the dumplings, oh, the dumplings... crispy on the outside, nice and juicy on the inside. Yum!

Observations at Church

Churches used to be the place where people dress up to go to. I mean that was how the term 'dressed in your Sunday's best' came about. While people might not dress their best to go to church these days, my church is still the place where I see some of the more exciting things:

Like this gentleman above. Love is bow tie on short sleeve shirts. I wished I could pull it off but I think it'll look costumey on me. Look closely and you can also see a key chain clipped to his belt hoop. It's the details that count in men's dressing and he nailed it!
And then there are the quirky: like this radio bag, complete with knobs that actually turn!

Then runs in my god daughter with her sparkling shoes - gotta be seen in video!

Oh, and my godson who turns 1! Nothing really special about what he's wearing but he's soo cute and I want to put his picture here.

it's just bigger there.

On the left is an avocado from China.

On the right is one from Kenya.

While the Kenyan avocado was enough to make 3 avocado shakes, it wasn't as tasty as those from China. But it was really interesting so see such a huge and red avocado!

Ying Yang

I think I am beginning to appreciate Oriental Desserts and I have discovered a new range of desserts! Paste.

The latest find is the Yin Yang paste. Which is a combination of Almond and Black Sesame pastes. Here the almond and black sesame perfectly complements each other. And the viscosity (not too sure if viscosity is a food word haha) is just perfect. Not too watery or thick.

Mee Siam

In The Arcade at Raffles Place are many small stalls that sell food for the busy busy Raffles Place crowd. Stalls are cramped and people usually ta bao food away or grab a seat, eat then run off. No one sits to chat.

One of the stalls is a Malay stall with a certificate on some best food award for their Mee Siam. My verdict? Not worth the time & effort squeezing and finding a place and eating the Mee Siam. Noodles were already hard from being left on the display counter for too long and the Mee Siam sauce lacked the spicy, sour, slightly nutty punch. And at $3.50 a plate, I thought it was quite expensive. That lump at the side is a potato ball. Not fantastic either.

young at heart

I was minding my own business on the train home, checking my messages on my phone when from the corner of my eye, I saw a red shirt tucked into red checkered bermudas which were held up with a white belt! On closer inspection, the belt has perforated to show a guitar. Very rock & roll.

So I checked out who was wearing this and it was a man, in the September years of his life. It's quite rare & cool to see older gentlemen who still bother to spice up their dressing. But I wished he hadn't worn that cap. Does not go with his outfit.

Isshin at Republic Plaza

At Isshin, $14 buys you a set lunch which consists of Black Pepper Beef, Chawanmushi, soup, rice and green tea. It would have been a passable meal if not for the fact of the timing of the arrival of our food! Mine came a good 15 minutes before my dining partner's food. By the time I started on my meal, it was already cold.

But the food was not impressive. Beef was over peppery and the Chawanmushi was flat and watery. In fact, is black pepper beef a Japanese dish? hmmm....

Twas a great lunch!

One of the things I look forward to everyday at work is to eat lunch.

And last Friday, I had the best lunch ever!

Starting with the fabulous $9.80++ Saba Fish Set Lunch at Chowon Garden Korean Restaurant.

And ended with a thick & delicious Chocolate Truffle Milkshake at Once Upon A Milkshake!

It was a great end to the work week!

Oh... and the best thing, my friend dropped me back at my office on a cab. Saving me a 15 min walk!

in the hot 12:30pm sun

Walking to meet my friend for lunch, I saw a long snaking queue of people in the hot 12:30pm sun, obediently queuing up. I have absolutely no idea for what and most definitely I wasn't going to join the queue to find out!

Italian Cai Peng - again!

Went back to Italian Cai Peng: I think I've come to a conclusion about that place. It's not somewhere where I will specially seek out and go out of my way to go to. But if the opportunity presents itself, I will have it for lunch.

Second time round:

Grilled pumpkin: Yum! Sweet & crunchy.

Sausages: I've had better

Egg thingy: not consistent, the previous outing tasted better

Mashed potato: strange, coz it tasted sour. What did they add?

Zucchini: Yummy.

late night calories

Once in awhile, it's quite shiok to eat a nice and oily supper and the You Tiao Da Wang at Geylang provides just that!

best beef noodles!

While I like my beef in a good juicy burger. I also love the local beef noodles way of preparing beef. And I must say no one does it better than Hock Lam Beef Noodles.

At $7.50, this bowl of noodles may be a little expensive but it is well worth every cent. The savoury broth is is heavenly! According to them, it's been cooking for several hours with something like 20 different spices and herbs. Noodles are a nice smooth texture and perfect to slurp with the soup. And the beef - the beef. Hand sliced and cooked to perfection. Not overdone, still a little pinky in colour, and oh so tender!

Worst Vegetarian

A few weeks ago I went to the best vegetarian cai peng stall ever. Then last week, I went to the worst vegetarian restaurant.

First impression: BAD. The air was filled with oil that stays on your clothes long after you left the restaurant. Sitting there, waiting for the food, it almost feels difficult to breathe in the oily air.

BAD hot plate toufu. Nothing special about this dish. Just toufu, a lot of oil and some sweet sauce. So definitely not worth $12.

House Special Claypot rice didn't fare better either. $17 down the drain.

Perhaps the saving grace was the pineapple rice? $5.
But what really killed the mood was the way the restaurant preached to the diners about being vegetarian. Everywhere you turn in the restaurant is some quote about killing animals or that vegetarians live longer or how the world will be a better place when people stop eating meat. Hey, I want to enjoy a good meal, not be preached. Tone it down guys.