The Manhattan Fish Market

Bought Groupon's deal and gave my family a treat at The Manhattan Fish Market, J8. Not impressed by the food probably will be our first and last visit. 

Seafood Platter - A very generous portion enough to serve 4 for the small eaters.   

The Vines Seafood and Steak Restaurant

[Closed]

The Vines located at Novena Ville is a hidden gem! The cosy and dim lighting family style restaurant serves a wide variety of value for money western food specialised in steak, seafood and grills. Their concept is rather similar to Jack's Place. The food was a mixture of hits and misses. Most of the items we tried were quite nicely done except for the pork belly, lobster soup and calamari were misses!

Escargot Gastronome (1/2 doz) - $8.50++

Our all times favourite! Snails cooked under salamander with garlic butter & served sizzling in shells.

Jack's Place @ Nex

I had a lunch date with Aunt on the eve of Mother's day. My aunt who is more close to me than my mum and always treat me likes her own daughter. On this special day, I like to specially thank her for taking care of me all these years. Why I chose Jack's Place because she always mentions that she likes the lobster bisque there. Though was just a meal at Jack's Place, I know she appreciates my thought.     

Here we were, enjoying our first course of the meal - Lobster Bisque served with garlic bread. Rich and full of flavour! I like this soup too and will always top up the value for this if I order the set meal.

Swensen's @ Thomson Plaza

Bosses not around, means a longer lunch break (self declared) ...lol! Hope my bosses are not reading it! With a few of my colleagues, we sneaked out to Swensen's at Thomson Plaza (very near to my new office) for lunch. Swensen's a causal dining family restuarants which have outlets in Singapore island wide. Trying to use up the Groupon which was expiring in September 2011. I been buying lots of groupon deals recently, just gave me more excuses to dine out and buying the deals can be quite addictive. Do you agree with me? Anyway we had a very heavy lunch that afternoon! Quality of food is at expected standard, no surprise with some hits and misses but again was a very good deal!       

Groupon Deals:
$20 for $40 Worth of Food, Drinks and Desserts at Swensen's Island-Wide

Calamari Rings

Fried till crispy and golden calamari served with tartar sauce.  

With A Pinch Of Salt

[Closed]
A cafe situated in a cosy corner of Gourmet Paradise @ HDB Hub serving value for money simple western fares. For less than $10, you get a soup, main course and a drink. The food is pretty average and more of food court standard.    

Cream of mushroom

Light and starchy. Can give this a miss anytime...

Kraze Burgers

[Closed]
Want to try some healthy style burgers & sandwiches? You can find it at Kraze Burgers, a Korean chain restaurants serving premium burgers. I really enjoy the burger, soft and fluffy buns with lots of vegetables & lean meat patty!   

  

The Matiz Burger - $13++

They serve the burger with corn salad instead fries.

Swensen's @ Toa Payoh

[Closed]
6th Jun 2011

Swensen's is a family friendly restaurant not only specialised in ice cream dessert but also serve American and local dishes. Saw a good deal at Groupon in June's promotion that valid for Toa Payoh outlet so bought a couple of vouchers. Finished off the vouchers with Aunt on one of her no cooking day.

BBQ Chicken - $15.20++

A simple grill chicken glazed with BBQ sauce served with roasted potatoes and lotus root. Chicken was tender but the sauce was not that fantastic.

Garden Grill @ SGCC

11 Apr 2011

A department lunch with the my FD at Serangoon Gardens Country Club. Garden Grill is one of the dining outlets in SGCC serving western cuisine. The restaurant ambiance is great, quiet and cosy with attentive service. They offer very good value for money set meal for the members. A 4 course (soup or appetiser, main course, dessert and coffee/tea) set lunch at S$14.80+ only with certain courses with *$4/**$8 surcharge. Great value... too bad is for members only! We enjoyed the set lunch pretty much.

Bread rolls basket

Started off with some warm and nicely toasted bread rolls.

Barcelos @ Nex

[Closed]
17th Dec 2010

A gathering with ex-colleagues at Barcelos @ Nex, I experience my first taste of Portugese peri peri chicken. Wonderfully flame grilled chickens that are tender with nice smokey flavour are what you can expect at Barcelos. Besides that there are a wide varieties of side dishes to choose to go with the main course. We indeed enjoyed our dinner very much and it will be perfect if they served dessert too. Perhaps they should at least consider to include some ice cream in their menu. Good food plus good company equal perfect dining experience! So Barcelos and Nando's, which one serve better peri peri chickens? I have yet to try the latter.

Four Original Barcelos Peri Peri Sauces

From the non spicy Tangy lemon to different level of spicy peri sauces - mild/very/supa! We started off with mild peri as some of us can't take spicy food but I like the supa peri sauce. I dipped all my chicken in it. Shiok! For family platter, we were given all 4 types of sauces.


Family Platter - S$59.95++
Two 1/4 chickens, 4 skewers, 4 wings and 4 choices of sides

We chose the family platter set which was enough to serve 4 - 5 persons. All were perfectly grilled and well seasoned. The 1/4 chicken was very flavourful and tender! Chicken wing was nice and juicy too. Even the skewer was executed well though breast meat was used but was still tender and juicy.


Side dishes

Our choice of sides - Chicken soup, spicy wedges, grilled corn on the cob & sauteed mushrooms & potato. Chicken soup was very rustic & herby and we all liked the spicy wedges and corn. Other side dishes include fries, spicy rice, plain rice, coleslaw, plain bread roll, garlic roll, side salad & green bean & sprout.


Barcelos Chicken Salad - S$7.95++

Portion was big! Fresh grilled chicken with garden green, croutons, pineapple and Barcelos very own dressing.


Created by Photoshake

Barcelos
Nex
23 Serangoon Central
#B2-50/51
Singapore 556083
Opening hour: 10.30am to 10.30pm



Nex @ Serangoon CentralCreated by Photoshake

One of the biggest and newest shopping mall in Singapore's Northeast neighbourhood area. I been there few times because it's so near home. I like the place because it has a 24hour Fairprice Extra and most of the shops close at 10.30pm. And there are plenty of restaurants, cafe and dessert shops that will spoil you with choices. Nice mall to go after work to grab some groceries and meet up with friends but just avoid to go on weekends.

The Hand Burger

Set Meal Promotion @ $8.80++
Available only during Tea Time Special 2.30pm to 5.30pm
(1 Burger + 1 Side + Drink)
4 types of burgers available for this set meal promotion:
The Handburger Original / Chicken Caesar Burger / Pull Pork Burger / Battered Dory Burger
2 choices of sides: Chunky Fries / Caesar Salad
Drinks: Ice Lemon Tea / Hot Green Tea


Slow-cooked fork tender pulled pork slathered wirh handmade barbecue sauce topped with crunchy mayoless slaw on a bed of coral lettuce, tomato on a toasted rustic bun.

Very generous serving of the pork but I find it a tad too salty for my liking and the sauce too overwhelming. Love the bun though.


Crisp romaine lettuce leaves with crispy bacon, hardboiled egg, croutons with homemade cesar salad dressing served on the side.

I enjoyed the salad very much!


Definitely value for money! The set only cost around $10 with taxes and service charge!


Created by Photoshake

The Hand Burger
Raffles City
252 North Bridge Road
#B1-65/66
Singapore 179103
Tel: 6334 4577
Opening hours:
Sun to Thu - 11.30am to 10.00pm
Fri to Sat - 11.30am to 10.30pm

Tims Restaurant & Cafe

28 Jan 2010

By looking at the photos, some may think that I had dinner at Jack's Place. Will you be surprised that these were from an non aircon cafe, located under a HDB block. Yes there's such a cafe in Toa Payoh Lor 4 which I recently discovered through HGW. Tim Restaurant & Cafe serves steak, seafood and Nepalese cuisine and has been around for 4 years. The menu offers an amazing varieties of main course and value set meals to choose from. Another plus is that they don't charge GST & service charge. If you are on budget and not particular about the ambience, this is definitely a place to dine in for quality food at affordable prices.

Chicken & Berries Salad - S$9.50

Romaine lettuce, strawberries, cranberry, chicken & cashew nuts top with pamersan & cheddar cheese served with strawberry yogurt dressing. This is really refreshing. So simple but they compliment each other very well. I'm going to replicate it at home.


Crispy Calamari - S$6.00

Not bad. Simple version of calamari that used bread crumb instead of batter to coat.


Aus. YG Grain Fed Tenderloin - S$23.80

Their signature dish and was very well executed to the correct doneness. The quality of the beef was really good and the homemade black pepper sauce was nice too. The portion was quite big and came with baked potatoes and vegetables. Almost similar to the way Jack's Place serve their steak. Super value for money


Braised Lamb Shank - S$16.50

This was another very well executed main course where is only available on weekends. The sauce was so flavourful and rich tasting. The lamb shank was very tender too.


Lobster with Chicken - S$17.50

Local lobster combo with boneless chicken leg spice with marjoram herbs grilled to perfection topped with mushroom sauce. The chicken was nicely done but the lobster was a bit overcooked.


Mozzarella Chicken - S$10.80

Tender boneless chicken leg topped with caramelize onion mozzarella cheese oven broil to perfection with pepper cream sauce. This was quite unique and cheese lover will love it.


Grilled Chicken - S$6.00

Boneless chicken leg spice with marjoram herbs grilled to perfection topped with mushroom sauce. Simple and satisfying.

Add S$3.00 with any main course for a set meal which includes Soup of the day, Dessert & drinks (coffee/tea/milo)

Very diluted mushroom soup which was forgetable and pretty ordinary complimentary garlic toast.

Orange cheese butter cake. Surprisingly good as it was very buttery and moist.

We had a very pleasant dining experience without much damage to our wallet. Will definitely be going back often. They have special promotion set meals for Christmas and New Year. I'm planning to pay a visit on New Year Day with my family.




Tims Restaurant & Cafe
Blk 95 Toa Payoh Lor 4
#01-52
Singapore 310095
Tel: 62505246
Opening hour: 11.30am to 10.30pm

Marche Restaurant

8th Nov 2010

Another birthday dinner treat from my colleagues at Marche, a Swiss market style restaurant managed by Movenpick. We went to the one at 313 @ Somerset. Have not visited Marche for years. The last time was years ago when they just opened at Vivocity. The one at 313 @ Somerset is about the same as Vivocity outlet in terms of interior and food quality. The interiors are country style concept which give a warm and cosy feel. Food is still the same as I remember it to be. Now at 313 @ Somerset, they have a bakery at Level one.

There's a wide variety of food to choose, starting from Beverages, Cold and warm salad, Soup & bread, Crepes & wraps, Pizza, Pasta, Paella, Grilled Meat, Seafood, Rosti & Desserts counter. All the food are arranged nicely to whet one's appetites and it just make you feel like ordering everything to try. Great place for group gathering and birthday celebration. Almost like a self created mini buffet as we shared all our food. The food may not look pricey individually but we tend to overorder using the card given to everyone upon entering the restaurant. From my past experiences, we usually quite surprised at the bill total when we checked out at the cashier. The bill can easily come up to $40 - $50 per pax. That evening we ate a lot and we enjoyed most of the items we ordered except for the calamari was too oily and my favourites were the savoury crepes and pork knuckles. Simply delicious! Total bill came up to about $220 for the 5 of us including a Chocolate Fudge Birthday cake. Thank you so much to FL, ST, SS & MY!

Garlic toast & Fresh Mushroom

Quite nice, thick and rich with lots of fresh mushroom if only it was warmer. The toast was good.


Chicken Cesar Salad

I liked the dressing, not too heavy and balanced flavour.


Mixed Cooked Salad

Not bad. We took a medium bowl and tried to pile as much as possible...lol! Greedy!


Fried Calamari & Silver Fish

Very oily! Oil temperature was not right when frying.


Crispy Pork Knuckle (half)

The signature pork knuckle, still as good! The skin was crackling crispy and the meat was juicy and tender! Thumb up!


Roast Chicken with Mashed Potatoes

Very ordinary and a bit dry if without the sauce.


Savoury Crepe with Smoked Salmon & Creamy Mushroom Sauce

I love this to bits. Very satisfying and they are very generous with the fillings. Went very well with the creamy mushroom sauce. A must try.


Rosti with Grill Sausage & Sour Cream

Another signature dish and our all time favourites!


Parma Ham Pizza

The hand toss dough was pretty good, chewy and well baked. Though a bit on the dry side but the parma ham and shave cheese was delicious!


Marche Sweet Crepe with Strawberry & Movenpick Swiss Chocolate Ice Cream

Crepe with mascaphone cheese spread and fruits, topped with the heavenly Movenpick Swiss chocolate ice cream. Such a lovely combination! How can it be not nice! A must have!


Bread & Custard Pudding

A warm and comforting dessert. Nice without being too sweet!


Lime with Sour Plum Juice & Fresh Orange Juice

The juices were all freshly squeezed.

Marche Restaurant
313 Orchard Road
#01-39/46
313 @ Somerset
Singapore
Tel: 6834 4041
Daily: 11am – 11pm

Lawry's The Prime Rib - Festive Dinner

6th Nov 2010

Festive Dinner - S$95 per pax

Famous Original Spinning Bowl Salad

One of my friend, H tried the Festive set (7-courses) which I think is avaliable up till New Year Day. The set comes with bread & the signature salad too.


Classic Mexican Shrimp Ceviche

Prawn served with salsa and taco.


Turkey & Pumpkin Soup

Rich and well flavour without being too creamy.


Lobster & Alantic Scallop

2 main course to choose from, either the Prime cut rib or the seafood and H chose the latter. The Lobster & scallop were seared to perfection served with lobster leek sauce, mashed sweet potatoes & brussels sprouts. H enjoyed it very much.


Chocolate Pecan Pie

The ice cream complimented the chewy pecan pie very well.


Italian Coffee or Gryphon Tea

Serve with Praline Chocolate

Once again, thank you my dear friends for giving me such a sumptuous birthday dinner treat. Memorable and enjoyable!

Lawry's The Prime Rib
333A Orchard Road
#04-01/31 Mandarin Gallery
Meritus Mandarin Hotel
Singapore 238897
Tel: 6836 3333 Fax: 6235 0300
Reservations: reservations@lawrys.com.sg

Operating Hours
Sun – Thu: 11.30am – 10.00pm
Fri - Sat/Eve & PH: 11.30am – 11.30pm
(Last Order at 10.30pm)