Love Oishi

Shin Kushiya Japanese Charcoal Grill (Pre-bday version)

2012-02-26T01:21:00.000+08:00

Out with friends for my pre-bday celebration and I'm at Shin Kushiya again! Really miss my Yakitori! There were hits and misses but overall it was still as good as my last visit. Thanks to a friend who has treated us on this meal. We actually ordered too much and end up being the last customer in the shop when they are already preparing to close! Haha..

My favourite Yakitori! They are the 'must-order' items when you visit Shin Kushiya.

One more shot. The one on the left is beef tongue, hmm so far this is the only one I don't really know how to appreciate it. :P

*Scream* Grilled Foie gras! Love the taste and melt in your mouth effect. *thumbs up*

Deep fried whole soft shell crab, crispy and tasty. Nom the whole crab! :D

Assorted seafood and vegetable tempura - taste normal but the size of the prawn is big :D

Soft shell crab with fish roe Temaki (actually I don't quite remember the name)

I didn't taste this but my friend felt it was very delicious.

Chawanmushi - I'm not into steam egg so I didn't taste it, however I'm more interested in the prawn instead. :P

Soba - I like Soba to accompany food with strong taste as it gives me the smooth refreshing feel.

Chicken skin Yakitori - I personally find the garlic taste too strong making the combination a little weird. The one at Tori-Q seems better. :P

Unfortunately, this is the worst dish of the day - Unagi rice. I placed so much hope on the attractive looking Unagi and yet it turns out to be not fresh. The meat was very tough and elastic, it gave a very strong frozen smell. Only the rice is edible. The eel was wasted. We didn't make a fuss to prevent spoiling our mood. :(

Yaki Onigiri (grilled rice ball)

Shin Kushiya Japanese Charcoal Grill (Vivocity)

1 Harbourfront Walk, #02-120-122 VivoCity

Tel: +65 6275 8766
Opening Hours:
Mon–Thu: 11.30am – 10.30pm
Fri–Sun: 11.30am – 11.30pm
http://www.shinkushiya.com/

Yayoiken Japanese Restaurant

2012-02-20T22:26:00.000+08:00

This Japanese restaurant is newly open in Singapore for less than 3 months yet it already attracted big crowds to patronize.

Yayoiken is known to have created menu with nutritious balance, having 3 dishes 1 soup tradition. 1 of the dishes is normally referring to rice. I like their set menu which consists of miso soup, salad, tofu/marinated vegetables, main course and rice. They also have some ala carte dishes if you are not into sets.

Like the Japanese culture, the staffs are polite and will bow to you every time they took your order or serve you stuff. They have also attracted many Japanese customers too.

Gyoza - Very normal dumpling, I find the fillings kind of bland.

Sliced pork and vegetables set - I love the sliced pork! It's very flavourful and tender. Goes well with rice. - $9.90

Beef steak set - It was good but I still prefer the sliced pork, even though I'm a beef lover. This was much more expensive. - $22.90

My all time favourite drink when dining in Japanese restaurant - hot green tea :P

Yayoiken Japanese Restaurant

Meidi-ya Supermarket, 177 River Valley Road,
#B1-50 Liang Court Shopping Centre
Opening Hours: 10:00AM ‒ 10:00PM

Smiths Authentic British Fish and Chips

2012-02-12T20:19:00.002+08:00

For fish and chips lovers, you will probably love this shop located along Tanjong Katong Road. There are 2 more outlets as well. This is probably well known but I didn't notice until someone (who is so into good food) told me. We ordered Cod and Chips - $18, and given a number which they will call out when it's ready. Our cod and chips are wrapped in paper as all their cutlery are disposable. Just simply throw everything away without having to wash them, how convenient hahaha! :P

I love their fried Cod fish! It was nicely battered, crispy and tasty. The fish has no fishy smell, it was very fresh, moist, flaky and tender. Remember to apply the salt and vinegar given on the table. The combination is superb. Chips are a little soggy but I think that's the style of it. I guess this is the first time I grow to like fish and chips so much. :D

Interior of the shop with cozy setting.

Preview of the menu

Fish and chips wrapped in paper.

Tada~ My Cod and Chips! I'm starting to miss it now...

Exterior of the shop at Tanjong Katong Road

SMITHS Authentic British Fish and Chips
230 Tanjong Katong Road
Tel: 6345 9855
Opening hours: 12pm to 11pm (Daily)
Website: http://www.smithsfishandchips.com/
2 other branches located at Balmoral Plaza & Boat Quay.

Xin Yuan Ji (新源记)

2012-02-09T15:38:00.000+08:00

It's girls' night out last Fri! Initially we wanted to eat steamboat but some of us had too much of it during CNY so we dropped the idea and go for Chinese cuisine instead located at Tan Quee Lan street (Bugis area). It called 新源记 (Xin Yuan Ji) which offers fish head steamboat and Zi Char dishes. You can only make reservation if you wish to order their fish head steamboat otherwise it will be walk-in and there's always a queue. :P

Stir-fry Kai Lan with garlic - taste was mediocre, quite bland.

Salted Pepper Fried Chicken - quite fragrant however the dish was a bit dry.

One of my favourites - Fried baby squids, I can simply eat this non-stop. So crispy!

I supposed this dish was the best of all - Fried Yam with Salted egg. Right in the middle are ingredients like onions, prawns, chicken etc. Love how the yam blend with the salted egg sauce, very flavourful. How I wish they could give more sauce, it was too little!

Decent dinner. We spent about $60 in total. I will be back one day to try their fish head steamboat. :)

Xin Yuan Ji (新源记)
31 Tan Quee Lan St, #01-01
Tel: +65 6334 4086

Opening Hours

Daily: 11am – 1am

Din Tai Fung (鼎泰丰) @ NEX mall

2012-02-02T22:18:00.000+08:00

Din Tai Fung is well known for their Xiao Long Bao (soup bun/dumpling) and Tang Bao(bigger size soup bun). Despite the long queue, we took a number and thankfully it wasn't a long wait, after 15min, we were led to our table. While waiting outside we already decided on what to eat and wrote on the given menu list. This really saved time.

Too bad their Tang Bao was sold out hence we had the xiao long bao, the meat filling was still as juicy, but it wasn't very warm, otherwise it could better.

We also had other dishes (other than dim sum), most of them are recommended for health-conscious diner as the dishes are quite bland. Overall the meal is a satisfied one. I will definitely come back for its dim sum only.

These were the normal xiao long bao, we also ordered the one with crab roe. Yummy!

This isn't tang bao, it's the soup from xiao long bao oozing out.

Hot and sour soup. The taste isn't very strong and appetizing. I have tasted better.

Prawn in fried beancurd skin - Crispy, fragrant and savoury. One of my favourites.

Fried Pork Rib - Tasty and quite tender inside.

Fried beancurd skins and delicious wrapped pork filling soup with vermicelli. A little bland but still quite nice (thanks to the pork filling). A pretty healthy dish.

Special braised beef brisket noodles - soup base is quite bland, the beef has very strong taste which not everyone can accept. I personally feel the vermicelli soup above tastes better than this.

Mixture of pork and spicy crab meat buns - this sounds delicious but when 2 of the best mixed together, it just clashes. The taste becomes weird. The original pork bun seems to taste better hehe.

The filling inside. Looks nice though.

Din Tai Fung (鼎泰丰)

23 Serangoon Central, #B1-10/12 NEX Mall

Tel: +65 6634 7787

Opening Hours
Mon–Fri: 11am – 9.30pm
Sat–Sun: 10.30am – 9.30pm

Old Hong Kong Legend

2012-01-22T23:53:00.000+08:00

It's Chinese New Year Eve! By tradition, almost everyone will have their reunion dinner and gathering with close ones. My granny used to cook during CNY eve every year. This year is different, we are dining out. Although I missed her cooking but it's alright, we can still enjoy our meal together! :D

One of my aunts had recommend this restaurant located in Raffles City Shopping Centre - Old Hong Kong Legend offering Cantonese cuisine. The whole restaurant is fully seated and very vibrant with CNY reunion spirit. I like one of their dishes - prawns and scallops with celery, the prawn is so huge and fresh, very crunchy too. The staffs were polite and humble, food were promptly served, overall the taste is satisfactory.

'Lou Hei'!

Sharkfin with crab meat

Cod fish with special marinated sauce

Prawns and Scallops with Celery

Dried scallop with Vege

Fish maw and chicken wrapped with bean curd skin

Glutinous rice

'Nian Gao' which is known as Chinese new year cake

Sweet red bean soup with black sesame glutinous rice ball

Old Hong Kong Legend

252 North Bridge Road,

#02-18 Raffles City Shopping Centre

Tel: +65 6336 3038
Opening Hours
Daily: 10.30am – 10.30pm

(More branches available)

Bar & Billard Room

2012-01-19T16:20:00.002+08:00

It's a Monday blue and I'm pondering where to go for our department CNY lunch. Unlike our usual past dining at a Chinese restaurant with 'Lou hei' etc., we are going to have buffet at Bar and Billard Room at Raffles Hotel!

As you enter the restaurant, you can see two original billard tables and cupboards showcasing some cigars. They have high ceiling, dark wooden furniture, very colonial style of setting, cozy dining place. Staffs were friendly and polite and every time when you left your table for your buffet rounds, all plates will be cleared, cups will be refilled and the table setting and napkins will be placed nicely again, awaiting for your return.

The lunch buffet spread were pretty decent, especially the seafood section you will see things like oysters, tiger prawns and smoked salmons. They were all fresh and succulent. The salad section has a huge spread with all kind of vegetables you can find, accompanied with stuff like seared tuna/salmon or chicken. There are plenty of cooked food such as cod fish, roast beef, potato gratin, lamb chop, prawns etc. The dessert section is one of my favourite, each of them looks so nice and I can't help taking one of each to try. They has this soursop ice cream which is definitely the best dessert after a hearty meal! Overall, this meal has been a very relaxing and satisfying experience. The lunch buffet costs around 60++ per pax.

Succulent Oysters

Smoked Salmon

Tiger Prawns

Cold cuts and salads

Some cooked dishes

Roast beef

Dessert spread starts!

Gotta bring my bloated tummy back to office... *yawn*

Bar & Billard Room

1 Beach Road, Raffles Hotel

Tel: +65 6412 1816

Opening Hours
Lunch: 11.30am – 2pm (Mon – Sat)
Brunch: 11.30am – 2.30pm (Sun)
Dinner: 7pm – 10pm (Mon – Sat)
High Tea: 3.30pm – 5.00pm (Mon – Sat), 4.00pm – 5.30pm (Sun)
Cocktail : 11.30am – 12.30am

Xi Men Ding @ VivoCity

2012-01-15T21:14:00.004+08:00

After doing some CNY shopping at Vivocity, it's time to fill up our empty tummy for dinner! Came across this Taiwan cuisine restaurant - Xi Men Ding. There wasn't a queue unlike usual days hence we finally settled our mind and gave it a try. They have quite a number of signature dishes, below were what we have ordered.

Chrysanthemum Tea - $4.00
Very bland.

Pan-fried Pork Liver - $8.90
Cooked till half-done, tender and tasty.

Buddha Jump Over the Wall - $12.90
Portion is small, ingredients were just some bits of mushroom, pork dice, yam and fish maw. Taste was just average.

Deep-fried Oysters - $13.90
Crispy from the outside and the inside is soft. Oyster taste was quite strong. Overall it was good.

'San Bei' King Oyster Mushroom - $15.90
San Bei normally involves soy sauce, rice wine and sesame oil mixed into the sauce to go with the dish. I like the crunchiness of the mushroom but the taste was nothing near to impressive.

Overall the dishes were decent but I feel they were more pricey than it's worth to be. Probably there's better dishes which I did not try however I'm not too sure if I will return again.

Xi Men Ding @ VivoCity

1 HarbourFront Walk, #01-51A VivoCity
Tel: +65 6376 8018
Opening Hours
Daily: 12pm – 10pm

Another outlet is @ Raffles City Shopping Centre, #B1-44C.

Nando's @ Plaza Singapura

2012-01-07T21:20:00.001+08:00

By now I'm sure many of you should have tried Nando's which is famous for their Peri-Peri Portuguese style chicken. Their chickens are known to have marinated for 24 hours in their secret sauce. To satisfy my craving of the hearsay, Nando's shall be my dinner for TGIF. :D

I ordered their promo set which includes two 1/4 chickens, Caesar salad, Peri wedges with creamy perinaise, 1/2 litre Citrus drink and 3 different side dishes @ $38.80+ (for 2 pax).

Refreshing Citrus drinks served. This can really boost my appetite.

Caesar Salad - Lettuce and croutons dressed with Parmesan cheese. Very big portion. :D

Peri-sprinkled Potato Wedges with Creamy Perinaise. Yummy!

Limelight of the meal - Nando's marinated flame-grilled chicken. You can choose your level of Peri Peri(chilli)range from beginner, mild, hot and extra hot. I chose mild just in case. It was just nice and tasty.

3 of the side dishes chosen - Peri chips, Peri 3 bean salad and Peri corn.

Nando's
Available at 5 locations: Bugis Junction, Tanglin mall, Plaza Singapura, Tampines mall and Katong mall.

Addresses can be found here: Nando's

Sushi Express (Citylink Mall)

2012-01-04T22:02:00.000+08:00

Situated at Citylink Mall, a Taiwan established Japanese restaurant - Sushi Express selling each plate of their food items at $1.50 each only! Heard that it was initially $1.80 until they finally lowered the price. :D

If you happen to go at peak hour, you are advised to finish your meal within 50min as a goodwill to shorten the waiting time for new customers.

All food items are placed at the conveyor belt, and their Wasabi is packed individually in small packets like those for takeaway. I noticed their teabags are placed outside at each tables, not enclosed or sealed.

Overall, the food were pretty decent. Some of their must-try dishes are the Seared Salmon Belly sushi, Royal sized Scallop and Abalone in mayonnaise. The sea urchin sushi tastes a little bitter, miso soup is quite bland, salmon sashimi is considered quite fresh. At such a price, the meal is considered worthwhile and reasonable. 21 plates costs me around $37 (including gst & service charge).

Sushi Express

1 Raffles Link, #B1-23, Citylink Mall

Tel: +65 6238 981

Opening Hours:
Daily: 11am – 9.30pm

Senki Japanese Restaurant

2011-12-27T14:46:00.002+08:00

Ho ho ho, festive season is here and pre-Xmas dinner is one of the best time to gather with family/friends, eat-chat-laugh and not to forget, gifts exchange.

Just beside Comcentre, along the shophouses is where Senki Japanese Restaurant located at. It has 2 storey and the 2nd level is much more spacious. They offer both ala-carte and buffet. Their buffet menu can be found here: A, B.

Service and food were prompt and good on that day. One of the must-try dish is their Enoki Maki (golden mushroom rolled with sliced pork). I love it. :)
The Sashimi were fresh and they have this Chawanmushi with cheese which is quite unique. This buffet costs around $45 per pax.

Senki Japanese Restaurant

109 Killiney Road

Tel: 67345565

Mondays - Sundays:

10:30am - 2:30pm (Lunch)
6pm - 10:30pm (Dinner)

CoCo ICHIBANYA

2011-12-17T16:18:00.003+08:00

For those who are into Japanese Curry, you can try out this newly open curry house at 313 Somerset. You are able to customize your own level of spiciness, rice portion, toppings and curry sauces which consist of original, hashed beef and mild sauce.

Vegetable Salad with Sesame sauce

Omelette with Hashed beef - sweet and thicker style of curry sauce, rice is wrapped inside the omelette, tasty beef. Good combination.

Pork Cutlet Curry rice with Cheese - fragrant original curry sauce combined with cheese. *thumbs up*

You can customize the spiciness level. So far I only tasted till level 1 haha. Wonder how level 5 tastes like... who wanna try?

CoCo ICHIBANYA

313 @ Somerset
313 Orchard Road, #B3-25/27
Singapore 238895
Tel: +65 6636 7280

Angus Steak House

2011-12-11T01:53:00.003+08:00

Xmas is approaching hence it's time for pre-Xmas gathering with friends. Craving for steak, we decided to try out Angus Steak House which seem to have quite good reviews on net.

They offer charcoal grilled and Fusion cuisine (mixture of American and Japanese style) in fine dining kind of atmosphere. The interior was pretty classy and comfortable. The waitresses are dressed in French maiden style while waiters have bow-tie.

With an addition of $10 you can get to enjoy their 6-course meal including starter, bread, soup, salad, main course and dessert.

The starter - Fresh prawns with chip and minced broccoli

Crispy Bun served with butter. I like the taste and fluffiness inside but had a hard time peeling bit by bit. :P

Carrot soup, moderately sweet and nice.

This is additional side dish we ordered beside our course. Our beloved Foie Gras! Texture is a little different from those I have eaten, hmm not totally melt in your mouth kind, taste wise still not bad. They do look like little Otah from the pic isn't it? :P

Salad - nothing special, they added light soy sauce which smells kinda strong.

Grilled Salmon - tender and tasty

Tenderloin steak (200g) - thick and succulent looking, pretty tender, but taste doesn't really impress me. The seasoning don't seem to go too well with the steak. My friends shared the same thoughts as me, however it's probably the difference in taste preference.

We had our steaks done medium. Just nice.

I quite like their Tiramisu dessert. The coffee taste is just nice.

Interior of the restaurant.

We were busily chatting till we forgot to take a pic of their entrance decor and signage. :(

Nevermind, you can find their address below.

Angus Steak House

391 Orchard Road, #04-25, Ngee Ann City

Tel: 6735 6015

Opening Hours:
Mon–Fri: 11.45am–2.30pm, 6pm–10pm
Sat–Sun: 11.45am–3pm, 6pm–10pm

Buffet Town @ Raffles City

2011-11-27T22:47:00.000+08:00

It's time for buffet feast again. This time round we are going to Buffet Town located at Raffles City shopping centre, replacing the previous restaurant - Shokudo.

It was known that they have over 300 items and 29 categories to choose upon. Varies from seafood, sashimi, Italian pizza, grill meats, teppanyaki to local delights and desserts etc.

Since we went on a Friday night, we spent at around $47 per pax.

Desserts corner

Nice presentation but the Sashimi was probably left there for quite some time which sort of lower the freshness level.

Thankfully the chilled prawns and crayfish were pretty fresh and succulent.

Oysters freshness varies, will only taste better with lemon and Tabasco sauce.

Pork Ribs, fry beef and spicy sotong

Shishamo, pork belly, shitake mushroom

Pork cutlets, potatoes and pizza

Teppanyaki oyster mushroom and spinach - one of my favourite there

Local delight - Satay and fried carrot cake

Local delight - Chicken rice, sorry I didn't take picture of the rice. It was quite good actually.

Local delight - Laksa, thick soup base, quite delicious.

Winter melon soup

Local delight - Rojak, hate to say this but it sort of tastes weird and turns me off after one bite.

Melon with sago dessert - love the refreshing taste

Some of their desserts

Judging from the varieties and taste, $47 is a little overrated. We can easily taste better hotel quality buffet elsewhere with this price. However, it was still worthwhile if you aren't too particular about the food and need a place for big group gathering. :)

Buffet Town

Raffles City, #B1-44E
252 North Bridge Road,
Tel: (+65) 6837 3793

Operating Hour:
11.30am to 3pm daily (Last order at 2.30pm)
6pm to 10.30pm daily (Last order at 9.30pm)

Genki Sushi

2011-11-14T01:35:00.000+08:00

Came across a review on this Japanese restaurant which serves food using their 'bullet train' tray system. Out of curiosity again, I decided to pop by on a TGIF evening. They only accept walk in, reservation not available.

Luckily for us, there were available seats despite looking full house.

Noticed that there aren't any food on the conveyor belt?

Tada~ they provide ipad2 for us to place order. We can order up to 4 items each time, the kitchen will receive and start preparing.

Look, it's their bullet train tray delivering our food...

It will stop right beside our table.

After retrieving our food, we will need to press the yellow face button to send the train back to the kitchen. Cute isn't it? :)

When we order hot green tea, we can refill the powder ourselves from the bottle provided. Very convenience.

Alright below are all the food we have ordered. Simply love every single of them.

Ohtoro (fattest cut of tuna) - most expensive sashimi there, so delicious and we love its texture.

Our favourite as usual, fresh salmon.

Another favorurite! Ikura sushi, looks as if it gonna overflow. Love the feeling when the eggs pop in the mouth.

Soft shell crab - tasty!

Fried chicken which looks abit like popcorn chicken haha.. crispy :)

Fried fish skins, I love the taste and crispiness of this one with mayo, can eat as snacks :D

Shishamo the pregnant fish, never ever will get sick of this, so much of delicious eggs. :D

Fresh Mini Octopus

Salmon Aburi with Pollack Roe

Saba fish :D

Agedashi Tofu

Chawanmushi

Tamago Sushi

Soft shell crab Temaki

Tempura Don

Corn sushi covering the cute hello kitty face hahaa..

I love this place so much for its food, environment, service and the train technology. Although the damage came up to around $145 for 3 pax it's still worth it somehow. We will definitely be back. :)

Genki Sushi

181 Orchard Road, #03-32 Orchard Central

Tel: +65 6238 0900
Opening Hours:
Sun–Thu: 11.30am – 9.30pm
Fri–Sat & PH: 11.30am – 10pm

Hippopotamus Restaurant Grill

2011-11-07T14:31:00.002+08:00

Busy busy busy, finally have the time to update my blog. Ok this was way back at just before our celebration for Halloween night, we decided to have our fill at this particular restaurant - Hippopotamus Restaurant Grill located in Marina Square. Well, please don't be mistaken, they do not serve hippo meat, it's just their mascot name haha.

I wouldn't further comment much on their food as overall it's pretty average and more room for improvement especially their beef steak and desserts. For side dishes, probably they should add more varieties since they need us to choose up to 3.

Starter - Shrimp Potato Twists

Classic Ribeye steak

Mixed grill with lamb, beef and chicken

Hanger steak - we don't like the texture of this steak at all. No fats, quite tough.

Barramundi Fillet

Hippo Cheese Burger

Soufflé with vanilla custard, almonds and caramel sauce

Roasted Pineapples with Ice cream

2 scoops of Ben and Jerry ice cream. The mango tastes weird so we only finish the dark chocolate flavour.

Fruit bowl.

Hippopotamus Restaurant Grill

6 Raffles Boulevard, #01-204/205 Marina Square

Tel: +65 6338 5352

Opening Hours: 11am – 10pm (Daily)

Nakhon Kitchen

2011-10-22T23:01:00.001+08:00

If you are into Thai food, there's this hidden gem located in Hougang where they serve authentic Thai cuisine that you can ever find.

The restaurant isn't big and it's not air-conditioned. However, many people are still willing to queue. Every time I passed by, there's always long queue. It's like never ending and this really increase my curiosity to try it. With some determination and since the weather is cooling, I finally decided to give it a try.

The staff will take your order first from the queue. As we were finally given a seat, our first dish was being served within a min or two, fast! If you noticed, the staffs were all fast paced and efficient. They are probably trained and they can clear piles of plates and cups high up which makes you sweat, afraid that they might topple haha.

You are in the right place when you see this signboard.

Our first dish - Seafood Tomyam soup (light version). There's another thick version which I'm going to try next time. This one is very refreshing and hot! However it's so nice that you can't stop drinking and at the same time consume water haha...

I like their pineapple fried rice. The taste is just nice and I enjoy chewing the mixture of rice, raisins, pineapple, and floss. *Thumbs up*

Kang Kong with Belachan - This one goes so well with white rice! Crunchy and tasty.

Fried chicken - I find this just alright, nothing special. I should have ordered their Pandan chicken which is recommended.

Everytime I eat thai food, I will definitely order this dessert - Mango with sticky rice. The combination with the coconut milk is good. The mango isn't very sweet but I still like it.

Look at their Sprite bottle, special isn't it? :)

I will definitely be back to try other dishes one day!

Nakhon Kitchen

212 Hougang Street 21, #01-341

Tel: +65 6286 8785

Opening Hours: 12pm–3pm, 5.30pm–10pm (Daily)

Shin Kushiya Japanese Charcoal Grill

2011-10-15T23:48:00.001+08:00

After a comedy show, my energy was almost used up for laughing and my tummy is making so much noise. It was already 9 plus and some restaurants at Vivocity close at 10pm. We came across this modern contemporary setting Japanese restaurant(#02-120) which close at 11pm so at least we got more time to enjoy our dinner. Afterall, I love Kushiyakis!

Charcoal grilled Foie Gras. Marvellous and sinful. :D

We ordered 5 more Kushiyakis which consist of Hotate Maki (Scallop wrapped with pork), Enoki Maki (Golden mushroom wrapped with pork), Buta Bara (Pork Belly), Chizu Maki (Pork with Melted Cheese) and Gyu Enoki Maki (Golden mushroom wrapped with beef). Love all of them so much!

Kani Karaage - Deep fried Soft Shell Crab

Ika Sugatayaki - Grilled Squid

If you are not so into charcoal grilled stuff, they also have those typical Japanese cuisine like Sashimi, sushi, ramen, don etc which I have yet to try. Well, I'm satisfied with both their food and service. Although their pricing is more to the steep side, I will definitely be back again. :)

Shin Kushiya Japanese Charcoal Grill

http://www.shinkushiya.com/

Branches address and tel no. can be found under their contact menu.

Sun with Moon Japanese Dining and Cafe @ Wheelock

2011-09-30T23:54:00.001+08:00

TGIF! Time for a gathering session with my sweet buddies after work @ Sun with Moon Japanese dining and cafe. This is my 2nd time here, previously it was during lunch. The dinner varieties were more attractive, we target our all time favourites - Beef, Sashimi, Foie Gras and many more! Most of the dishes really satisfied me except for the pancake.

Ebi Mango Roll

Soft Shell Crab

Beef Tongue, I personally think that it tastes like pork belly haha.

Salmon Belly and Scallops - fresh!

Wagyu Beef, this was one of my favourites! Juicy and tasty, it will be better if you order it in medium rare state.

Foie Gras with Crisp Bread - Totally love it! I personally love to eat it separately, however you can eat with the bread, pretty good too. :)

Could get enough of beef steak and foie gras, this is another dish where you can have both of them together. :)

Baked Oysters, you can still taste the juiciness and freshness of the oyster.

This pancake didn't really interest me, I didn't finish my share. Taste like tako balls.

Gyoza

I definitely will come back again. :D

Sun with Moon Japanese Dining and Cafe

501 Orchard Road #03-15
Wheelock Place

Tel: 6733 6636

Putien Restaurant @ NEX

2011-09-24T23:40:00.001+08:00

Mum's birthday is coming! Wow time really flies, it seems the celebration for her last year at The Line was still fresh in my mind hehe. This time round to avoid the crowd near the F1 race area, we decided to have it at Putien @ NEX. Well, they only allow reservation at 6pm or 8pm as 7pm is when the walk in queue starts.

Appetizer, unlike the usual peanuts we see. These were much bigger and you can deep with their self made chilli.

Starter - Drunken Cockles. I didn't know this was a cold dish at first. It looks so different from the one in menu haha. Well, if you are into shell type of seafood and like a little raw taste in it with mouthful of garlic as companion, do give it a try. :P

Hot and Sour Squid Soup - Out of all their available soups, I think this should be the best, otherwise the alternative fish soup. The rest are just not so appetizing to me. :X

Steamed Prawn with Minced Garlic - I like this dish best so far, fresh steamed prawns with garlic and light soy sauce gravy. Simple and nice.

Deep fried Squirrel Fish with Gravy - Actually I preferred steamed fish especially those fresh one with light soy sauce. However this one looks interesting so I ordered to try. Hmm not really fascinating, probably lack of sweetness in the fish itself even though there's gravy.

Fry Asparagus with Scallops - This wasn't in the menu, the waitress told us it was only available today (tactic? :P) Yes it was the most ex dish due to the scallops (wasn't that big), the asparagus is more to hard than crunchy. Didn't really meet my expectation as I have tasted better one elsewhere.

Deep Fried Duck with Yam - The yam wasn't as fragrant as I thought and the duck meat was kind of tough. Kinda dry.

Fried Egg Plants with Pork Floss - This was alright but I should have ordered small portion instead as medium portion really looks alot. I still prefer stewed egg plant which is more tasty and juicy. Fried one feels rather cloy after 2 or 3 pieces.

Sweet & Sour Pork with Lychees - Like any normal sweet and sour pork, you probably can't feel any lychee taste in the meat unless you eat the lychee itself haha. :X

Pumpkin cream with Ice cream - This dessert was recommended by them, quite refreshing, not very sweet but goes well with the ice cream.

Putien Restaurant

23 Serangoon Central
#02-18/19, NEX Mall

Tel: 66347833

More outlets at their website: http://www.putien.com

Minoriya Japanese Restaurant

2011-09-03T23:53:00.004+08:00

Thanks to a friend who helped to buy the online deal vouchers, from an originally $39.40 per pax we get to enjoy the ala carte buffet at $17 each. Located along Tanjong Katong road, you will see this Zen style Japanese restaurant, with cozy seating area inside.

The staffs were helpful and polite, attend to you when needed. Food wise were satisfactory but each serving was very little even though we asked for the amount to suit all of us. It's like one mouthful each? You just have to keep ordering. Well, probably this can minimize their losses and at the same time prevent wastage of food.

The images below may appear to be "big" portion. It's just closeup trick. :P

Assorted Sashimi

Grilled Shiitake Mushroom - my fav!

Tako Yaki - Soft Octopus Ball

Bean curd with Bonito sauce

Assorted Tempura

Grilled Chicken Wings

Saba Teriyaki - Mackerel with sweet soy sauce

Different types of Sushi

Egg plant with Miso

Shishamo - Pregnant Capelin fish

Beef with Special sauce

Chicken boiled with egg and special sauce

Pork Belly with garlic seasoning - tasty!

Seafood salad

Kimchi with Pork

Soft shell crab handroll

Salmon with special sauce

Griddle fried mix vegetables

Peach fresh salad

Chocolate ice cream

Exterior of the shop

Minoriya Japanese Restaurant

309/311 Tanjong Katong Road

Tel: 63466686

Opening hours:

Daily Lunch: 12:00pm - 3:00pm
Daily Dinner: 6:00pm - 10:30pm
Lunch : Last Order for buffet 2.00pm.
Dinner : Last Order for buffet 9.30pm

*Close on Monday

Ippudo Ramen

2011-08-26T23:00:00.003+08:00

I'm so happy that I have found another top choice Ramen again ever since Nansuttei Ramen has my vote for so long. Let's welcome Ippudo Ramen haha.

I always like those strong flavour Ramen where the soup base is thick and savoury instead of those light ones. That is why previously I'm into Nansuttei's black roast garlic oil style of soup base. Not to general liking by all but I love it.

However, although Ippudo's miso paste + garlic oil soup base is not as strong but it's still very tasty and captivating. The noodles, chashu and the soup seem to blend so well together and this is the first time I finished my Ramen clean and still craving for more. I'm gonna go back again!

Akamaru Chashu - Blended miso paste and fragrant garlic oil soup with thin noodles, tasty pork belly and spring onion.

Tender pork belly *thumbs up*

I love this type of noodles, thin and chewy, and goes so well with the soup.

Exterior of the shop at Mandarin Gallery

Ippudo @ Mandarin Gallery
333A Orchard Road
#04-02/03/04
Tel: 6235-2797

Opening hours:
Mondays to Saturdays
11am-11pm
Last order at 10pm
Sundays
11am-10pm
(Last order at 9pm )

Another branch is at UE Square
More info: http://www.ippudo.com.sg/contact-us/

Paradise Inn Restaurant 2

2011-08-20T17:50:00.000+08:00

The craving for prawns with salted egg yolk made me reminisce the taste at Paradise Inn. Despite how long the queue, we still plan to dine in there on a Sat evening. We are unable to make reservation as they need a minimum of 10pax for booking, otherwise all is required to walk in. As expected, we queued for around 45min.

Crisp-fried seafood with Wasabi - tastes ok but I'm not quite used to fried food with wasabi, still prefer them with raw food though :P

Jelly fish with vinaigrette - Nice appetizer as the sour taste stimulates your appetite.

Venison with ginger and spring onion - strong venison taste, goes well with a bowl of white rice.

Stewed Egg Plant - I love eggplants! Soft and chewy, another tasty dish for recommendation.

Scallop with asparagus - This is one of my favourite too. Fresh scallops with crunchy asparagus.

There! This is what I came for but somehow, I didn't feel satisfied like the first time I tried. Probably the thickness and taste of the salted egg yolk is not as strong as before.

The herbal soup is here. Chinese cabbage and mushroom chicken soup - Healthy and nourishing, tastes like chicken essence.

My share! :D

Lastly, sweet Taro paste and Mango Sago desserts! Taro paste is what we normally call 'Or Ni' a sweet Teochew yam paste dessert with pumpkin bits. Texture is just nice, very delicious, I love it. :D

Paradise Inn Restaurant

23 Serangoon Central

#03-20/21/22, NEX

Tel: 66344228

(And lots of other branches)

Olio Cafe

2011-08-06T13:30:00.002+08:00

Situated in Sengkang, Compass Point shopping mall, you will find this casual and cozy ambiance cafe which serves coffee, contemporary food and pastries, suitable for relaxation after a day's work.

It was dinner time and this cafe caught my attention. After looking at the menu outside we decided to give a try. We were welcomed by a friendly staff who is attentive to our needs and will pop by to recommend dishes which are more popular and nice. At last we ordered 2 main courses and the soup of the day - my favourite Minestrone soup.

Minestrone Soup - very strong tomato taste :)

Ribeye beef steak with creme style duck liver and 2 side dishes, mashed potato and vegetables.

Beef Steak with Crayfish combo and 2 side dishes, mashed potato and vegetables.

Pretty decent dinner yet may seem quite costly for those who are on budget. However, those with Citibank or UOB cards can enjoy discounts off your total bill.

Olio café

Compass Point Shopping Mall

1 Sengkang Square

#01-14/15

Tel: 6388 9381

For more branches, please visit their website at:

http://www.olio.sg

Han Sik Korean Restaurant

2011-07-17T18:33:00.005+08:00

Located along Upper Serangoon Road, Kovan area - Heartland Mall has a newly opened Korean restaurant which replaced the previous BBQ Chicken shop. The interior was nicely renovated and cozy looking. It seems to be competing with a budget looking Korean cuisine shop next door which I boycotted. :P

Moreover, all the staffs seem to be Korean. They communicate with one another in their own language and were pretty friendly towards their customers. They will chat with you on their culture of eating to make the food taste even better. Their varieties of food range from ala carte noodles/rice set, hotpots to hotplate BBQ.

Genmai tea

Kimchi Stew - Like its sourness level, quite appetizing.

Salmon salad - refreshing dish

Spicy rice cake - hmm not spicy at all, I will call it the sweet rice cake instead :P

We ordered the BBQ hence here are the vegetables they included. Couldn't get enough of the mushrooms!

Tada~ the limelight of the dinner - Wagyu briskets and boneless Beef ribs ready for BBQ! :D

Pssssss..... love the sizzling sound. The waiter helped us to BBQ and we were sitting there looking forward with sparkling eyes hahaha...

The spread. Some food were not here yet and the table is already full hahaha. That's the style of Korean cuisine, so many bowls of food. ^_^

Oh these were actually the desserts - Rice Punch and Cinnamon Punch. I'm not so used to the taste so I didn't finish mine. Luckily my friend still can accept it. She can have both then hehe. :)

Quite a pleasant dining experience. Total damage is around $48 per pax.

Han Sik Korean Restaurant

205 Hougang Street 21

#02-00 Heartland Kovan Mall

Tel: +65 6288 2448

Opening Hours: 11am – 10pm (Daily)

Jang Shou Korean BBQ Buffet

2011-07-09T23:38:00.002+08:00

It has been some time since I had Korean food. Craving for some BBQ stuff so we ended up going to a Korean BBQ buffet place at Katong Village area. Initially I nearly mistook another Korean BBQ place for the one I planning to go. They were just opposite of each other haha. This particular restaurant is located at 2nd floor.

The staffs were pretty friendly and some were originally Korean. They seem to be very well trained. Not only are they very attentive, but also helpful and patient in assisting us with the right style of cooking our food. The place is clean, spacious and comfortable. Ideal place for gathering.

For the buffet, it's basically the normal typical Korean spread with the usual meat such as beef, pork, chicken and seafood such as squid etc. You can choose between marinated or non-marinated type. Each meat is differentiated into different body parts and style. Pretty neat. Taste wise I wouldn't say it's superb but at least I find it decent and it was an enjoyable dining experience.

Price per pax is $33.80++ which amount to about $40 each it may seem a little steep for the spread but it's worth at least a try as everyone have different aspects of view in food appreciation.

Entrance of the restaurant, located at 2nd floor

Meats - Beef, Pork, Chicken...

Fruits and Salad

Some cooked food

Stove as clean as new one. They are very protective over their stove. At the start they will come over once in awhile to clean it even when you are cooking halfway haha. Remember not to scratch the stove with the scissor, the Korean auntie is very particular about it. Must take the meat up and cut. :P

Sauces to go with the meat

Different types of beef... *beady eyes*

Time to cook the meat!

Some assorted Kimchi which will whet up your appetite with its sourness and spiciness.

Part of its interior

Jang Shou Korean BBQ Buffet

86 East Coast Road,

#02-11/20, Blk B Katong Village

Tel: +65 6344 8880

Opening Hour: 6pm – 12am (Daily)

Honjin Japanese Restaurant

2011-07-04T21:54:00.003+08:00

Came across a value-for-money Japanese restaurant located along the Robinson Road CBD area. Very authentic looking from the outside as well as the seating area inside. You get to sit in rooms of Japanese style, very cozy and great for gathering. However, it's recommended to make reservation beforehand. Currently they have 1 for 1 ($40) with Citibank card.

Sashimi lover! You are in for a feast!

Unagi

Salmon fish head

Cold Soba

Shiitake Mushroom

Chicken Wings

Salmon Maki

Soft shell crab and Tempura

If you want meat like beef, pork, chicken and vegetables, you can add $8 each person for their shabu shabu. However I think it's not that worth it.

Their desserts consist of fruits and green tea ice cream

Till date, I have already went back the 2nd time for the sake of the Sashimi. ^_^

Honjin Japanese Restaurant

Chow House, 140 Robinson Road

Tel: 6222 2243

Soup Restaurant

2011-06-11T23:53:00.002+08:00

After shopping for Zhuzhufat's present, we stroll around Vivocity looking for something nice to eat, there's queue everywhere and nothing really caught our attention until we came by this Soup Restaurant. There was a queue but we felt like eating Chinese cuisine so we joined in. I would say the staffs are pretty efficient and polite. When you are queuing they will give you the menu and a small paper to note down the food you want. They will collect from you after that and send to the kitchen for processing. By the time you are seated, the food can be served promptly. I was very impressed in every single dishes and that night was a really pleasant dining experience.

Hot Chrysanthemum tea with peanuts appetizer

Dried Scallop Black Chicken Soup - very flavourful and I wish the bowl could be bigger :(

SamSui Ginger Chicken with the garlic sauce in the saucer. I love to dip my chicken with a lot of garlic and I'm all good for a face to face chat. :D

This lettuce is used to wrap the above SamSui chicken. We gave up after the first time as it was too troublesome. I just want to eat the chicken alone.

Claypot Tofu - Very tender and the skin tastes fragrant!

Ah Por Ginger Fried Rice - this is one I gonna recommend. The image may look like normal fried rice but the taste with the ginger mixed in it is simply heavenly. The amount of ginger input is according to your preference as you order.

Ah Kon Fan Shu Leaves - we chose the spicy version. This one goes best with rice. Very tasty and I enjoy chewing this kind of vegetables.

Very oriental looking restaurant. Nice ambience and we are actually seated by the window and could see the firework across from the USS.

Soup Restaurant

1 HarbourFront Walk #02-141, VivoCity

Tel: 6376 9969

(Lunch: 11.30 am – 2.30 pm)
(Dinner: 5.30 pm – 10 pm)
(Sat,Sun,PH : 11.30 am – 10 pm)

More branches can be found here

LENAS @ Nex

2011-06-05T23:22:00.001+08:00

It has been sometime since I last updated. Had been so busy and tired so when I have some time to rest, I just got lazy. I like to hang around Nex and my target is to try out all the food in that building. This time round, I came by LENAS, just beside MOF. They are related and MOF launched this Italian-American restaurant, very different from its original Japanese style cuisine. Pricing wise seems quite reasonable at first glance.

Cheese Baked Rice - pretty good and cheesy. Not overly salty.

Grilled Prime Ribeye - The steak texture and taste were normal, the baked potato was just tasteless and very dry. The wedges taste the nicest. :P

Chocolate Peanut Butter Ice cream (contains a little alcohol)
- kinda sinful, the peanut butter taste is pretty flavourful. :)

If you are looking for casual dining place and not carrying high expectations, no harm giving it a try, especially the desserts.

LENAS @ Nex

23 Serangoon Central, Nex Mall

#02-01/02/03

Tel: +65 6634 4610

Sun–Thu: 11.30am – 10pm
Fri–Sat: 11.30am – 11pm

Nanbantei Japanese Restaurant

2011-05-29T23:26:00.008+08:00

Hidden gem found inside Far East Plaza! If you are into Yakitori, you must give Nanbantei(南蛮亭) Japanese Restaurant a try. My dining experience was a smooth and pleasant one. The staffs were friendly, the interior of the restaurant is very small yet cozy. It resembles the authentic atmosphere of a Japanese restaurant.

We ordered set B which is inclusive of assorted Sashimi, 8 sticks of Yakitori (selected by them), miso soup, rice and dessert. Vegetable sticks were served as appetizer with Miso paste, we didn't eat that. We also ordered a separate ala-carte dish - Nanbanyaki (Wagyu beef) to satisfy my craving for beef.

That's the vege sticks I was talking about. We felt like hamsters haha.

Assorted Sashimi - Fresh and satisfying, too little!

8 Different types of Yakitori - very tasty and goes well with rice. A person like me who usually unable to finish my rice actually gobbled it clean. :X

My favourite! Nanbanyaki (Wagyu beef) in bean paste. Yummy!

Chef in action

Genmai Tea

Red bean with glutinous ball - this dessert is just normal, nothing special.

Nanbantei Japanese Restaurant

14 Scotts Road, #05-132

Far East Plaza

Tel: +65 6733 5666

Todai Marina Bay Sands Buffet Restaurant

2011-05-28T23:35:00.001+08:00

This buffet restaurant has a unique name which can be easily remembered, the correct pronunciation is, To-Da-i (not today). So bear in mind, when you are about to ask for direction at the inquiry counter, try not to say 'I want to go Todai....', it may sounds kind of amusing hahaha.

As we approach the entrance, there were many staffs there to greet and assist you. Yes they were humble and nice. The place was big and the moment we walked though, the wide varieties of food and aroma make us go wow... each of them was pretty attractive and delicious looking.

We were settled down at a round cozy sofa seat. Oh yes, it was Dad's birthday and I've made reservation so we get to have a better seating arrangement. They were also kind enough to provide complementary birthday cake as a bonus.

The entrance

The seafood section, they were so fresh and good. The oysters were opened on the spot and each person can only take 2 each time.

I love these long legs crab! Sweet, fresh and succulent. I didn't count how much I ate haha. Thanks to Daddy for helping me to cut them up.

You will be amazed by their long wide varieties of sushi. I didn't each much of these as the rice makes me full easily hehe.

Most of their cooked food are well-cooked and tasty. *Thumbs up*

So many things. O_O

Here's the Korean section with all the kimchi and fried pancakes etc.

Kimchi!

Meat BBQ section - Beef, Mutton, Pork, Chicken.. you name it, they have it.

May I have a Ribeye please?

Unlimited steak... woohoo

Ta-da~ Their steak. Thinly sliced and it was really tasty! My brother went for another plate immediately after. Lol.

You have to order the Sashimi and the chef will cut for you. In this way they will remain fresh and good. :D

Love every single meat that comes in shells! Hahaha...

Fat succulent crab meat. Yummy!

Meats from the BBQ section.

Even their fried rice tastes good. Fried prawns, Shishamo, squids etc.

Miso Soup and Mushroom Soup(thick and savoury)

Some fried food.

Some dim sim.

These crayfish are fresh and delicious, you can easily pry the meat out. However there's always a long queue and demand seems to always exceed the demand. We can only take 2 at a time. :(

Abalone porridge

All their desserts are worth trying. They are cut into small cube pieces for easy consumption. I love their Tiramisu, Mango mousse cake and chocolates which taste a little like Royce's.

The complementary cake by them. So sweet and they came in group with party hats, sang my Dad a birthday song and help us to take pics with their Polaroid.

The experience was all good except a little problem with their selective plates clearing. We pile unwanted cups at the side for their convenience to clear but they only took away certain used plates and the pile still stood there until we made signal several times. Maybe they need to improve on their consistency too. Haha nvm, other than that, it was an enjoyable dinner. ^_^

Damage per pax was $58 (excluding service charge and gst).

Todai Marina Bay Sand Buffet Restaurant

The Shoppes at Marina Bay Sands

2 Bayfront Avenue, #B2-001

Singapore 018972

Tel: 6688 7771

Freshness Burger

2011-05-27T23:06:00.001+08:00

Freshness burger originates in Japan, Tokyo which targets on the freshest ingredients served hot to their customer as top priority. This restaurant looks like any burger fast food outlets from outside, however the interior was quite spacious and cozy. The lighting was quite dimmed, we settled at a corner sofa seats, there was a pamphlet menu for us to look at.

There weren't any set menu to choose but you can individually choose their ala-carte whereby 1 burger + 1 side dish + 1 drink gets a discount of $2. Their burgers range from $1.90 Hamburger to $10.90 Classic WW Burger.

Salsa Burger - filled with fresh lettuce, chopped onion, salsa sauce and beef patty which is pretty delicious.

Bacon Omelette Burger - I don't know how it tastes but my friend likes it. :P

We ordered some side dishes such as onion rings and chicken nuggets. I miss the rings now. :(

Crispy fried chicken, smells good.

Vegetable Soup, full of ingredients inside, but taste was ok, just a little bland.

From the left - the Kiwi Mix Protector (rich in kiwi inside! haha), middle - Caffe Latte, right - Lime Soda

Nice interior setting isn't it?

Freshness Burger

23 Serangoon Central #B2-48/49, nex

Opening hours: 10am - 10pm (Mon-Fri)

10am - 10.30pm (Sat-Sun)

Email: contact@freshnessburger.com.sg

2 other outlets @ The Central and Century Square

Brewbaker's Kitchen & Bar

2011-05-14T23:18:00.003+08:00

Located at Anchorvale CC lies a place which is ideal for relaxing, gathering and dining. With the riverside park beside, you can enjoy the serenity and comfort ambience at the alfresco dining area. A big screen LCD TV is placed there for soccer match viewing too. If you prefer air-conditioned, you could sit indoor. They have lounge area too. Brewbaker's Kitchen & Bar is of the same group holding as Jack's Place hence there are similarities in their menu. However, Brewbaker tends to be more value for money.

Soup of the day - Seafood Soup, rich and flavourful. I wish the bowl could be bigger haha.

Lobster and Crab stuffed Mushrooms topped with Cheese. Juicy and nice, not overly cheesy at all. A recommended appetizer.

Chicken with Pepper Brown Sauce - Deep fried boneless chicken leg, crispy and tasty. Goes well with the sauce.

Pan-seared Dory Fillet Topped with Enoki Mushroom - Fresh and tender. I like pan-seared dishes hence no doubt I enjoyed this. The side dish - potato cubes with cheese toppings added more points to this dish too.

The dessert of the day didn't impress me much. It was a cream puff with custard and chocolate sauce. I didn't really enjoy it so I didn't finish mine.

You could select coffee or tea if you top up $4.80 for their set to include soup, hot drinks and dessert.

Brewbaker's Kitchen & Bar

59 Anchorvale Road
#01-06 Anchorvale Community Club
Tel: (65) 6886 1811

Opening Hour:
Mon to Thu
Lunch 11.30am - 3pm
Dinner 5.30pm - 11pm
Fri & Eve of Public Holiday 11.30am until 1am
Sat 11.30am - 2am
Sun 11.30am - 11pm

The Mussel Guys @ Vivocity

2011-05-13T23:59:00.002+08:00

When I first heard the name of this restaurant, I couldn't help chuckling. The Mussel Guys really sound like The 'Muscle' Guys. Well no, you won't see any muscular guys around, it's just a seafood and steak based restaurant.

Normally during a Friday night at Vivocity, you will probably see queues at most eateries or restaurants but it was empty outside for this. We hesitated awhile but still decided on giving it a try. There were quite a number of customers inside, so we felt a little ease.

The service were not exactly terrible but it was kind of slow and inattentive. We have to make several reminders and even fetching a bottle of chilli sauce can take them 15min. They seem to also forgotten to serve our desserts. However attitude wise, they are still pretty humble.

These oysters cost $3.50 each, it was quite big however, we can taste that it's not really fresh even though the lemon and Tabasco sauce was added.

We weren't exactly sure what soup is this, it was the soup of the day and they just serve and poof. It tastes like chicken chowder soup. *Shrug*

Crispy Sampler Platter - Kind of disappointing as I don't really like how they fried the mussels. Too dry and hard, tasteless too. The wings were quite dry too. The rest were still ok, calamari rings were not bad.

Pan-seared Foie Gras - It doesn't impress me, not only the look but also the depth of its taste, since I've tried better ones. I'm not too sure if this is from a goose or duck. :P

Chicken with Chipolata Sausages Combo - My friends had this and they think the chicken tastes pretty good. The sausages were just normal.

Sirloin Steak and Prawn Combo - Steak was cooked medium rare although I wanted medium, texture average, taste not impressive. Have trouble removing the prawn from its shell, taste wise still alright, totally covered by the cheese taste.

I was pretty sure this wasn't medium. Lighting of this photo may differ.

They almost forgotten to serve us dessert. However, our dessert of the day seem to be different from other tables previously. Well nevermind. This is just some Agar Agar which contains some fruits cubes such as dragonfruit, watermelon and pineapple. Nothing special.

Overall, we just filled our tummy but didn't really enjoy the food. It's kind of overpriced. We probably won't return again.

Mad Jack Cafe - Yes we are quite Mad

2011-04-21T23:59:00.004+08:00

I'm not sure if it was just pure unluckiness, this particular interesting name restaurant which I been looking forward to try, sort of disappointed me one after another. I wonder is it because they emphasized ' No Service Charge' on their back of the shirt to make customers understand they can just screw up your mood during your meal with lies and inattentiveness without being blamed? Well, I'm not too sure but certainly, we just simply want to enjoy our meal that's all, however they didn't fulfill our simple wishes. :(

Disappointment 1: We written our orders clearly on a sheet given and paid it at counter. Trusted them 100% with the order placed. One of the order is tenderloin steak, but when the order came, the waiter said very loudly, Ribeye steak. Well yes, at once glance you can very well see it's Ribeye steak and we ask why were we served Ribeye (very much cheaper cost) when we ordered Tenderloin steak. He went to check and later came back saying, yes that's Tenderloin. We knew he was lying but in order not to make difficult for him, we just let it be. Partial $ cheated.

Disappointment 2: As we cut the steak, it turns out to be very raw. We ordered medium and it supposed to be pinkish but why is it purple red in color? In order not to upset our tummy we call the waitress over to explain the situation. Well, she came over, listen and look at our steak. Know what she said? "Oh that's how our medium steak are!" Hahaha, I don't know whether to laugh or cry, from our experience of steak tasting after so long, I could very well differentiate the differences between a raw steak and a medium one. Are they going to shut us off with lies again and continue to do their own business like what happen before that? Well, we insist of changing it and they got no choice but to re-cook it. Yes it turns out very well done of course.

Disappointment 3: We are done with our meal and pretty remember that we ordered desserts. Called out to them to serve it, they came over, took our receipt, look at it for very long, we felt puzzled. What is going on again? Yes! Problem again! The cashier didn't key in our desserts. Haha great, very well, we suddenly felt so full, full of disappointment. We decided to leave without having the desserts. Are we unlucky or what, I don't know, we were supposed to enjoy our meal but they fail to let us experience it. Sad.

Their food tastes quite ok but if you are going for the high end course such as steak, you had better forget about it. Alot of other choices to choose, take fried stuffs, safer. At least it won't be raw.

I think out of all, I only like this cheese fries. :P

Fried mushroom, so so only. Too much flour used.

Yes this is the "Tenderloin" steak I'm talking about. Oh ya, mini tenderloin.

Yes we were quite mad after that. :(

Lai Lai Casual Dining Restaurant

2011-04-14T23:59:00.001+08:00

Being a beef lover, the logo of this shop sort of caught my attention. 來來紅燒牛肉面 - Braised beef noodles. I decided to give it a try. The shop does not consist of only beef noodles but quite a varieties of Taiwan dishes at a reasonable cost, especially their sets.

Their cute menu. Did someone just hit the cow on the head?

Red and Green Bubble Milk Tea with pearls

Beef noodles - I quite like their broth, not overly rich, savoury taste of beef shin, tendon and rib with a little rice wine and a little spiciness. The texture of the beef is quite tender and chewy, nice, taste a little familiar (if you have eaten canned food before haha). Noodles is springy too.

Salt Pepper Fried Chicken - I like the crunchiness of this and the combination of the seasoning in it.

Flower Squid - Fresh, crunchy, goes well with the sauce given.

Egg Beancurd with Red Bean and Jelly Pearl - Initially I thought it was just normal beancurd until I notice their indifferent texture, instead of fragile and easily cut, it gives a QQ (springy) feel in each scoop and bite. Together with the red beans and pearls, I think this is quite a recommended dessert.

Lai Lai Casual Dining Restaurant

23 Serangoon Central,

#B1-30/31 NEX Mall

Tel: +65 6634 4808

(More branches at Jurong Point and Liang Seah)

Mad for Garlic Italian Wine Bistro

2011-04-08T23:57:00.010+08:00

Are you a garlic lover? If you are, you will definitely love the Garlic theme bistro located at Suntec City Mall, opposite Harry's Bar. I regret for not making reservation and end up queuing for around 30min. Some customers even give up and walk away haha. The whole restaurant's lighting was very dimmed but cozy. After placing order, we still need to wait for some time as I supposed good things need patience, however we were so hungry! Hahaha...

Our patience really paid off! The first dish simply got me crazy over it.

Garlic Hug Steak - Tenderloin Steak stuffed with Garlic on Creamy Cheese Sauce. The combination of Garlic and the Cream is heavenly. Initially I thought having so much cream may make me feel cloy but no! We were craving more more and even dip other steak into this sauce haha.

The steak is in very tender state and stuffed with Garlic. Yummy!

Garlic Foryou Steak - Tenderloin Steak with Garlic Preserved in Special Mad for Garlic Sauce. The taste is very unique, it is sweet, has a little herb taste, probably some special spice used.

Very tender and look like medium rare although we asked for medium.

Garlic Steak - Special Rib-eye Steak topped with various kinds of Garlic on hotplate. Look how generous the garlic toppings are, strong fragrant garlic spell as the hotplate approached. Tasty and suits extreme garlic lovers.

I supposed its because of constantly cooking in hotplate that leads to medium state becoming well done state. But still chewy and nice although it's a little tougher than the rest.

Each bite is covered with so much garlic!

Yes really mad for garlic

It's really a nice place to chill out with friends and enjoy the fragrance of each dishes. We were thinking if we will be covered with garlic smell after that but thankfully no, not that strong, we were still able to chat in front of each other faces and go 'Harrrrr.....". :P

Mad for Garlic Italian Wine Bistro

3 Temasek Boulevard, #01-039
Suntec City Mall. Singapore 038983
Tel: (65) 6333 1507
Fax: (65) 6333 0507
Opening Hours: Sun - Thu (11:30am - 10:00pm)
Fri - Sat (11:30am - 11:00pm)

Little Fish Shop

2011-04-02T23:55:00.002+08:00

We came across this comfy looking place named Little Fish Shop located at Nex. Sounds cute isn't it. They serve mainly fish and seafood which looks kind of similar to Fish & Co and Manhattan Fish Market, but they also have steak and pasta, well raw Sashimi too! The menu has so many varieties that if you first look at it probably will get kind of confusing. With some help from the waitress, we ordered one 2 set course, one ala carte premium main course and 4 oysters as side dish.

Their cute shop logo

This onion soup tastes good, it comes with the 2 course set. If you don't want soup, you can alternatively choose salad instead.

Pan seared Barramundi fish - It was placed under fresh fish category in the menu. Well yes, it's fresh and I like it. It comes with mix salad and mashed potato too.

Pan seared Alaskan Wild Sockeye Salmon - ok this is good. It falls under premium section and cannot order with the 2 course set. I personally think pan searing this fish tastes best. The brinjals besides have unique herb taste too.

2 x NZ half moon bay oysters and 2 x Giant large beach USA oysters (4"-5") - So huge and fresh. *Slurp*

In our next visit, I'm gonna try their Cold Seafood Platter. Heard that their lobster tastes good.

Little Fish Shop

NEX @ 23 Serangoon Central #04-15/16
Tel: 6634 7941
Fax: 6634 7943

Email: fishshop_nex@yahoo.com.sg

Shin-Sapporo Ramen @ Suntec

2011-03-29T22:29:00.005+08:00

It has been sometime since I had Ramen. Not exactly craving for one but feel like trying something new. Came across this small Ramen place situated at Suntec. It looks rather quiet on the outside and same for the inside, only one table was occupied. We wanted to order sets but they were only available for lunch so we had individual Ramen instead.

Hakata Tonkotsu Ramen (Spicy) - Slow simmered of the white pork bones makes it quite savoury. They use thin and firm style of noodles similar to thicker version of meesua. The Cha shu is also quite tender. Spiciness level is low, so we added some chilli powder.

Shin-Sapporo Miso Ramen (Spicy) - 4 kind of miso pastes were added into the white pork bone broth, refreshing and light, not very salty. Thick curly noodles are used, a little crunchy however I still prefer the thin kind.

Yummy Tamago!

Shin-Sapporo Ramen

3 Temasek Boulevard

#01-223 Suntec City Mall, Tower 4

Tel: 6836 3538

Opening hours:

Monday to Friday - 11.30am to 3pm (Last order at 2.30pm)
5.30pm to 10.00pm (last order at 9.30pm)

Saturday, Sunday and Public Holidays - 12pm to 10.00pm (last order at 9.30pm)

Marche Restaurant @ 313

2011-03-13T17:44:00.001+08:00

I kinda like the Marche Restaurant located at 313, where their ambience is those Swiss style with cute wooden furniture and deco, very special kind of feeling dining in there. We were each given a guest card which is used to swipe at counters where you order your food, and later pay the accumulation at the end (don't lose it!). There are many stations with different varieties mostly Western and European cuisines.

The exterior of the restaurant looks attractive isn't it.

We each ordered a Root beer @ $4.58 each.

Swiss Rosti (Shredded Potato) with Sour Cream and Chicken Cheese Sausage added. - This is one of my favourite! Very filling and satisfied. Rosti @ $5.98 and Sausage @ $7.29. Hmm I would say the sausage is kinda overrated.

Sirloin steak - it was a little tough although I requested for Medium. $17.94 for this.

Ribeye steak, this tastes much better, more tender and juicy than the previous one, of course more ex @ $21.68

1/2 Pork Knuckle - Wow this is yummy. I love the crispiness of the skins that goes 'krunch krunch' in my mouth haha The meat is tender too. Savoury and nice. Costs $20.09.

Carrot soup - it was very sweet and we didn't really finish it. Should have ordered mushroom soup instead haha. Costs $5.79

Movenpick double scoop ice cream - Swiss Chocolate and Strawberry flavours. I love their strong chocolate taste, with crunchiness of their Maracaibo Cocoa, so fragrant and sinful. The strawberry one was ok but quite sour though. Costs $9.25

Portion of their dining deco, cute and comfy isn't it.

Yea this is the card I was talking about. It acts like a credit card haha. Better not lose it, the penalty cost is $100.

Marche Restaurant @ 313

313 @ Somerset, 313 Orchard Road

Provisional Unit no. #B1-39-46

http://www.marche-restaurants.com/

Jack's Place @ NEX

2011-03-13T16:45:00.003+08:00

Has been sometime since I update this blog, was so busy plus a little laziness so I drag till a lazy Sunday afternoon to post some images taken from my dear brother's birthday at Jack's place last Sat. I remembered there was a crowd outside and luckily I've made reservation. No need to wait haha.

We didn't upgrade to set so no soup, only garlic bread was presented.

Shitake Mushrooms with Slipper Lobster and Crabmeat - I didn't really taste any lobster or crabmeat in there, probably too little of them or it was too cheesy with some juiciness from the mushrooms.

All of us ordered the half lobster and Steak Combo. They gave Striploin for this. I would say Jack's place are better off with just dealing with steak. Do not place too high hope on the seafood. Well I do miss their Jack's place special steak, should have just order that rather than being curious on their harvest of the sea promo hehe.

My favourite medium state.

Ta-da~ we ordered this Mango mousse birthday cake from them out of convenience hahaha. Well not bad, we managed to finish everything clean. :P

Nihon Mura 日本村 Buffet

2011-03-02T22:49:00.003+08:00

A friend came across a promo where 4th pax dine free at Nihon Mura, only available at Downtown East and Chua Chu Kang branch. Both were not so accessible but we chose Pasir Ris area since it's nearer in comparison. Well, it has ended on 28 Feb by the way. We had it last Sat haha..

Quite good selection of varieties, just that they had nearly mix up our orders but was rectified later. Taste wise I would say, average but still value for money. We paid around $22 per pax.

Nihon Mura 日本村

Visit their website for more information and branches address

http://www.sukigroup.com.sg/suki/nihonmura.htm

E Food and Wine

2011-02-25T23:50:00.000+08:00

Had company lunch again! Weee... this time round we went to E Food and Wine located at Dempsey Road. The place is more accessible by car. The place is surrounded by lush greenery and their interior of tropical furnishing gives me a feeling of refreshing and peace.

Chicken Cordon Bleu - stuff boneless chicken breast meat with cheese. Served with bacon cream sauce.

Tuna steak - Seared Tuna with Wasabi sesame seed crust.

Rib-eye Steak - Well, I wanted my steak cook in medium form but ended up with a super well-done form. Not even a single sight of pink.. :x

E Food and Wine

6C Dempsey Road

Tel: 6475 8806

Email: info@efoodandwine.com.sg

Tung Lok Seafood @ Orchard Central

2011-02-20T15:50:00.000+08:00

It's the day where I have to face the music of being 1 year older again hahaha! Throw that aside first, I'm gonna enjoy the dinner feast with my family and get bloated! We went to Tung Lok Seafood yesterday located at the 11th floor of Orchard Central. We had Ala Carte buffet, the menu looks quite decent but if you want more choices, you will have to eat their non-buffet Ala Carte.

Their service was ok but definitely still have rooms for improvements. E.g. Improve on speed of serving, improve on not forgetting our orders again, and improve on... don't make customers repeat reminders can? :P

Food wise, there are plus and minus but overall is still satisfactory.

Crispy Fish Skin with Salted Egg Yolk - This is good, crispy and fragrant.

Salmon Sashimi - we wanted 3 plates, waitress told us will give us bigger portion end up still look the same as 1 serving. -_-"

Pan-fried Shrimp and Pork Dumplings

Salmon Salad Maki

Mini Octopus

Jellyfish with Spicy Sauce

Crisp-fried Shishamo

Steamed Half-shell Scallops with Minced Garlic and Vermicelli (only allows 2 pieces per pax)

Braised Shark’s Fin with Fish Maw

Crispy Soft Shell Crab with Salted Pepper

Deep-fried Marble Goby with Chef’s Special Sauce

Poached Baby Kai Lan served with Chinchalok

Drunken Prawns served with Herbal Soup

Crispy Prawns with Butter and Cereal

Steamed Red Tilapia with Bean Crumbs

Sliced Stewed Beef Brisket with Turnip

TungLok Chilli Crab

Golden deep fried buns that comes with the chilli crab

Chilled Almond Beancurd with Longan

Glutinous Rice Balls with Sesame Filling

Sesame filling oozing out

Ice-cream Puff with Vanilla filling

Tung Lok Seafood

Orchard Central #11-05
181 Orchard Road
Tel : +65 6834 4888
Fax : +65 6834 4266

Opening Hours :

Mon- Sat
Lunch : 11:30 - 3:00PM
Dinner : 6:30 - 10:30PM

Sun & PH
Lunch : 10:00 - 3:00PM
Dinner : 6:00 - 10:30PM

Chef Daniel's Kitchen @ Iluma

2011-02-20T14:33:00.001+08:00

Located at the rooftop of Iluma stationed an east-meets-west combination of cuisine by Chef Daniel's Kitchen. Unless you know about this place, I supposed it's quite hard for shoppers to come across as it wasn't that obvious. However, the surrounding was pretty peaceful and comfy on a Thursday evening.

Frankly saying, the taste of the food didn't really impress me much, very ordinary. The place was quite empty yet our order of Foie gras can be forgotten. There wasn't any ala carte menu, we are left with only one set meal.

Corn soup with bread

Boiled Beef Fillet in black pepper sauce with green beans, tomato and sambal dried shrimp - Taste of steak is alright but not as juicy as I thought.

Medium state

Rose-Wine Lamb Shank with roasted vegetable and potato - Taste of lamb wasn't strong, meat quite tender, sauce tastes quite ordinary, resemble the sweet sauce used for pig trotters. :P

Sakura Chicken with potato and coconut flake - I don't really like this dish, it gives a weird taste (don't wish to describe further) :P

This is the dish that was being forgotten to serve in our order, Five spices Foie Gras. 2 tiny piece of creme Foie Gras on some glutinous style rice, with the weird tasting honeydew. I would say it's definitely not worth the cost.

Mango cake with cherry. Texture of the cake on the side was not soft and fluffy enough. The only commendable is the mango creme in between.

Chef Daniel’s Kitchen

201 Victoria Street, Iluma, #07-04/05/06

Opening hours: 11.30am to 10.30pm (Mon-Sun)

OChre Italian Restaurant | Bar

2011-02-20T01:42:00.001+08:00

Have not been blogging as it was a really busy week but happy! Able to dine with different batch of friends for dinner as my birthday is here again, yes again. Nevermind, I'm forever 18 by the way hahaha. My birthday has just ended so I can finally lie back and write about what I've eaten so far.

On Tuesday, we headed to Ochre, an Italian restaurant located in Orchard Central, 11th floor. It was pretty pleasant and cozy on a weekday. The place seems like a fine dining place but it has no special rules so we can dine in comfortably.

They had 2 different type of set menu - Uomo and Donna, Uomo in Italian is Man while Donna is Woman. Uomo presents a robust flavours while Donna's a subtle essence. Interesting isn't it? We end up ordering these 2 sets.

My ultimate favourite - Foie Gras! This is being pan-fried to the perfect 'melt in the mouth' effect. So fragrant and delicious.

I cut it and took a shot on the inside. :P

Uomo's Appetizer: Mackerel & Eggplant Terrine Smoked Paprika & Red Capsicum Coulis. This don't really impress me much, the mackerel is cold and it reminds me of my tuna with bread. :P

Donna's Appetizer: Mortadella Ham with Gorganzola Cheese Mousse Semi-Dried Cherry Tomato. This dish looks very artistic where all the items were small and far apart from each other. I had to put them together to take a better shot. :P

Sweet Corn Soup with small piece of Foie Gras on top and some Vanilla oil.

Beef and Mushroom Tomato Pasta - I pretty like the combination of this dish. The sauce they used to cook the beef and mushroom is flavourful.

Have you heard of Risotto? It's actually an Italian dishes of rice cooked in broth to a creamy consistency. This was mixed with burdock and smoked king salmon. I quite like it too.

Grilled French duck breast - I was pretty amazed how tender duck meat can be when I tried this. I can say it's sort of resemble my favourite moo moo meat. Oops.

Hokkaido Scallop and Escolar Fish with squid ink sauce - I wish that fish could be bigger. It was so fresh and tasty! Scallop is just as nice, crunchy!

Lemon Granite - Like blended ice with Lemon essence?

Green Tea Tiramisu - not very sweet, just nice.

Earl Gray pudding, sauteed banana, pear and passion fruit granite, what a fruitful dessert ^^

These frozen drinks (Strawberry and Blood Orange) took so long to be served and I don't know why! Is it so hard to make? :P

OChre Italian Restaurant | Bar
Orchard Central
181 Orchard Road, #11-03

Tel: 6634 0423
Fax: 6634 0420
Email: ochre@kitchenlanguage.com.sg

Opening Hours (Monday – Sunday)
11:30am – 2:30pm
6:30pm – 10:30pm

Paradise Inn Restaurant

2011-02-12T23:35:00.008+08:00

I noticed there's always a queue outside this particular restaurant - Paradise Inn located at Nex. It's part of the Paradise Group and other associates are of different names but easily recognized with the word 'Paradise' in it.

Paradise Inn is a 3-in-1 casual dining concept which offers classic Cantonese and local cuisine. To find out what's so special about this place, I've decided to settle my dinner there.

The staffs were pretty attentive and polite, advising which of the menu items are not available at the moment. Most of the soups were sold out, hence we were left with the only option - Double-boiled Black Chicken with Spare Ribs and Ginseng which turns out to be pretty savoury afterall.

Most of their dishes come in S, M, L sizes and although their food were of good quality and taste, the price of bigger portion may be a little steeper than some other Chinese restaurants out there. However, it's still good to try out the culinary experience here to judge for yourself. I definitely will come back again.

Double-boiled Black Chicken with Spare Ribs and Ginseng - $16.80 per pot, just nice for 2 person. Savoury and nutritious.

The waiter will assist you to scoop into smaller bowl for consumption.

Sauteed Scallops and Asparagus with Spicy Homemade Sauce - $18.00 (S), I simply love how they cook the asparagus to just nice, crunchy but not too hard. Fresh scallops with the special sauce taste great too.

Crisp-fried Crystal Prawns with Salted Egg Yolk - $16.00 (S), one of my favourites, must try this! They are generous with the salted egg yolk which blends so well with the fresh prawns. Simply delicious and sinful haha!

Sauteed Baby Kai Lan with Oyster Sauce - $8.00 (S), tastes good but nothing really special and the price is a little overrated for simple vegetables.

Supreme Seafood Fried Rice - $12.00 (S), Not bad, you get to see lots of bits and pieces of prawns, tiny fish roes and spring onions on the golden looking fried rice. Probably I was half full so I din really finish it. It was quite a lot ok. :P

Every single of their cutlery set have their name printed on it. :P

Paradise Inn Restaurant

23 Serangoon Central

#03-20/21/22, NEX

Tel: 66344228

(And lots of other branches)

Reunion Dinner @ Granny House

2011-02-02T22:39:00.002+08:00

Yipee! It's Chinese New Eve and I'm gonna enjoy a scrumptious dinner at Granny house. Totally love Granny's cooking.

So many dishes, cooked by Granny alone. Amazing isn't it.

Big juicy prawns

Flavourful Cabbage soup with Abalone topping

Pan-fried fish

Delicious Pork ribs and belly with special sauce

Famous Hakka dish - Yam abacus except that it's much bigger piece version

Roast duck with self marinated sauce

Time to lou hei again!

Another special lou hei dish - Jellyfish with honeydew and cucumber

There are more dishes which I didn't take close shot. They went into my tummy instead. :P

Loy Sum Juen Restaurant

2011-02-01T15:21:00.002+08:00

Chinese New Year is approaching and once again, our big boss is going to give us a lunch treat for CNY celebration. Destination chosen is Loy Sum Juen Restaurant. We did Lou Hei and made a mess but it was fun haha. Luckily we kept all our handphones first. :P

Lou Hei with Raw fish

Fresh Prawns with celery and mushrooms

Sharkfin Soup

Steamed Red Grouper with Herbal sauce

Roasted Chicken

Abalone with Spinach and 'Fa Cai'

Fried rice with sausage

Mochi ice cream

Loy Sum Juen Restaurant

28, Murray Terrace
Lobby B #01-01
Singapore (079532)
Telephone: 6221 2257
Fax :6221 2273

Owen Seafood Restaurant

2011-01-29T23:59:00.002+08:00

It was a friend's birthday and the celebration was held at Owen Seafood Restaurant located at Turf City. The weather was pretty bad, heavy downpour and the place was rather deserted so it will be more accessible by own transport. We were seated outdoor but of course with roof over our head, it's just as cooling. Their seafood is pretty fresh, sauce used is just nice, not too salty. The pricing wise is a slightly more expensive than normal Zi Char stall.

Lou Hei with Salmon

Steamed Seabass with Soya Sauce

Prawns with Cereal

Lobster meat seafood beancurd soup

Clams with Chilli

Stir fry Spinach with wolfberries

Pan-fried Pork rib with honey sauce

Crabs with Sauteed chilli sauce

Owen Seafood Restaurant

200 Turf Club Road, #03-03

Main Grandstand, Turf City

Tel: 6875 1895

Opening hours: Daily 11:30am - 10:30pm

Hogs Breath Cafe @ Chijmes

2011-01-21T23:59:00.000+08:00

Located at the heart of Chijmes, Hogs Breath Cafe which specializes Prime Rib Steak in Australia, emphasized the juicy, mouthwatering and tender steak you can ever find. True enough, I do love their steak! They also have standard and Aussie size as choices. I will of course take the bigger one. :P

Finger Food Combo which consists of potato skins, buffalo wings, crumbed chicken tenders, salt and pepper dusted calamari with lime sweet chilli sauce and Hogs Breath honey mustard. They appeared to be quite oily, for taste wise I only like their wings and calamari.

Garlic Mushroom Prime Rib Steak - Juicy, Tender, grilled to what I want(medium rare), big portion. What can I ask for? :)

Cream Mushroom Soup - not the usual thick soup I had elsewhere, abit diluted but the taste is good. I personally like it alot.

I noticed their cafe ambiance has those country-side deco style, relax and comfortable. The staffs are friendly and polite too.

Hogs Breath Cafe
Chijmes, 30 Victoria Street, Block A, #01-26/27, Singapore 187996
Tel: (65) 6338 1387
Fax: (65) 6338 6216
Email: hbchijmes@hogsbreath.com.sg

Opening Hours:
Open Daily 11.30am - 1am (last order 10.30pm)
Bar Snacks and appetisers available till closing time