Substantial Portions

We nickname this place "Substantial Portions" coz the portions are really huge. But that's all the good that can be said of the place.

One day, my colleague and I, for reasons beyond my comprehension coz I wasn't particularly hungry and he was saving up for a big ticket item, ordered a set meal for 2. Results were kinda disappointing.

Prawn rolls were oily and I really couldn't taste the prawns!

The paper wrapped chicken looked and tasted like it was bought pre-cooked and frozen from the supermarket.

The vegetables were also kinda salty and oily and really fibrous.

The kong bar was a tad tough...

In all it was $20 per head. Not worth the money....

$3.50 bowl of goodness!

Golden Shoe is THE go to place for cheap food. Notice only I say cheap coz I realised that the quality of food for most stalls is questionable.

So I was pleasantly surprised when I discovered this Wonton Mee stall. The portions I received certainly wasn't what was like in the picture on the sign board. It was a lot more - usually the picture shows more food than what you get.

Quality wise, it was pretty good! Love the fat wontons and generous helpings of sweet & tender char siew. Yum!

Rehearsals

He's done it twice before but when mommy asked if he needed a rehearsal, he said: Yes.
Now that is a perfectionist. Certainly something for us to learn!

Oh... he didn't wear the purple Hello Kitty crocs that day.

Modesto's at Orchard Parade

When I was younger, I thought Modesto's at Orchard Parade Hotel was a fantastic restaurant! On the wall hangs certificate after certificate of Best Restaurant from various food magazines. These certificates still hung on its walls when I visited it a few days back. But I noticed that they were dated many many years ago.

So what happened? Has the restaurant seen its hay days? I think so. The food was horrible. The appetizer was an uninspiring mix of 'Italian' appetizers served American style (that is a bit of everything sampler). Food wasn't fresh or good quality.

Then was the pizza. This was quite acceptable. Wood fired, nicely charred at the side. But I thought it lacked something...

But the worst dish of the night was their seafood pasta. It was TERRIBLE! Seafood wasn't fresh. The pasta was undercooked. The sauce was watery and thin. Totally not worth it!

I don't know whether my taste buds have grown more sophisticated over the years or it's a case of the restaurant dropping in standards after winning all their awards. But I don't think I will visit there again.

At Tai Chong

The old people in my church tells me that in their youth, Tai Chong was THE happening place to be. There was a mall, cinema, open space to see and be seen and a food center buzzing with life.

Today, the food center is a little run down. I think it'll be a matter of time before it's refurbished. But in this run down food center, there are a few gems like this Claypot Rice stall. There is only a few items in the menu: claypot rice and a few soups and vegetables. But what they do they do it very well.

The claypot rice was really good. The portions of rice and ingredients are very generous. The chicken was chunky, chinese sausages was plenty and vegetables were fresh and crunchy. I also liked the bits of salted fish thrown in. It gave the dish a nice kick!

I had the Pig Stomach and Ribs soup. POWER! The soup was really good! Full bodied and extremely flavourful, it's everything a Chinese soup should be!

Vegetables were pretty good too!

Also ordered fried dumpling from another stall. Not the best I've tasted. The skin was a little too think and floury. Plus the minced pork fillings was a little flat.

Galbiati Gourmet Deli

I LOVE this restaurant. Good quality Italian at pretty reasonable prices. And it's super near my home!

Their grilled vegetables never fails. Neat slices of eggplant, peppers, asparagus grilled to perfection and drenched in olive oil. Yum.

Tried their Stuffed Eggplant. I think it's just eggplant scooped out, mixed with tomatoes and cheeses then reassembled into the shell and baked. Super delicious vegetarian option - although I wished that the skin of the eggplant was a little less tough.

Next up was a simple dish of pasta tossed with sauteed mushrooms and herbs. The key to this dish is the quality of ingredients. Everything has to be fresh and of the best quality and I am happy to say it passed with flying colours here.

And the last and my most favourite dish for that dinner was the Squid Ink Pasta with Crabmeat, tomatoes and cream sauce. It was heavenly!!! The sauce with its sweet sour and slightly heavy texture was delicious. The crabmeat was as light as air and very fresh. The squid ink pasta was al dente-ed to perfection! I am still salivating while thinking about it.

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