Food Tripling: August 2015

Yam Mee Teochew Fishball Mee, Singapore

Address:
#01-35, Kovan Hougang Market and Food Centre, 209 Hougang Street 21, Singapore 530209

Opening times:
Everyday from 7am to 3pm

Website: -

Our honest opinions:
It is probably a 5 minutes or less walk from Kovan MRT. During peak hours, especially on weekends mornings, it will be pretty hard to find a seat in this hawker centre. Queue may be pretty long, however it is good to know that they have 2 persons working simultaneously to move the queue pretty fast.

Meepok noodles BCM

BCM noodles with Teo Chew dumplings

The noodles have really good bounce to it. Its texture is cook to perfection. The vingar taste, which is a must-have in Teochew noodles, is there without being overpowering though you can hardly see the sauce. Their special vegetarian fishball was were really really juicy and soft. Probably the best I had so far. The mushrooms were sliced thickly and braised so well. It was soft, tender and really juicy. The mushrooms were really awesome, the best! The minced meat could have been softer, but it is overly chewy. The fishballs and meatballs were rather average. It was really spicy despite asking for little chilli, but it was still good.

We also ordered a side bowl of Teochew dumplings which were just average and had some glass noodles in them too.

Price: $3.50 per bowl of noodles and $4 for the bowl of Teochew dumplings. Rather decent pricing considering how Singapore is going through inflation over the past few years.

Tanuki Raw Bar, Singapore

Address:
Orchard Central, 181 Orchard Road, #02-03, Singapore 238996

Opening timing:
Everyday from 11.30am to 10.30pm
Happy hours everyday from 5pm to 8pm

Website: http://tanukibar.com/

Our honest review:
Location in the city is never a big deal. Almost everyone can get to it, be it with or without a motor vehicle. I tend to confuse Orchard Central with 313@Somerset, often getting myself lost along this stretch. Closest MRT should be Somerset.

We decided to go for their 5pm to 8pm happy hours as we are big fans of fresh oysters. The catch here is you are entitled but limited to half a dozen of their oysters at $2 each for every glass of cocktail. I think most people go for their $2 oysters and their $7 salmon sashimi (5 pieces) as they limit them. We went at 5.15pm and half the bar has already been filled. We were also given a high table outside that oversees the cars driving along Orchard road. The entire bar itself was rather small and could hardly accommodate groups bigger than 4. There were a lot of tables for 2. When we left around 7.15pm, there was a long queue waiting outside.

Lychee martini

The lychee martini was decently priced at $10 during happy hours. I was just shocked by the fact that it looked rather bare when it first came to us. It lacked its appeal for a cocktail. I could not taste any martini at all but more a lychee drink. I'm assuming that they are trying to skim on the alcohol itself though it came with a really nice fruity lychee taste. Considering that they call themselves a bar, I feel that they ought to up their game on their cocktails.

Left side are France's Fine De Claire oysters ($2/each) and on the right are Australia's oysters ($4/each)

$2 fresh oysters are really cheap and we definitely wanted the maximum that we could get. The waiter then also offered another type of oysters costing $4 which were apparently the premium from Australia. I couldn't really remember what breed they were, or maybe he did not even mention it. The oysters were indeed really fresh. My mum, who is an expert in oysters, felt that the Fine De Claire had a sweeter and stronger taster than to the Australian's oysters, however lacking in meatiness and size.

Chirashi Don

The Chirashidon consisted of 6 types of sashimi (two each) together with Ikura, Ebiko and Tamago. I thought it was a rather generous variety and amount of sashimi and that the slices were pretty thick too. What I absolutely enjoyed about this bowl was their sashimi. It was really fresh, juicy and sweet. From that you know the quality of its fishes is really good. Maybe not so much on the scallops and the Ikura, but definitely the rest. Their tamago was really sweet and had a smooth texture to it too. I am not sure if they actually made it themselves as it was kind of too perfect. It was also over a bed of rice infused with furikake which was a plus point to it. Though, I felt the rice was really really dry and really doubt the rice they used was Japanese rice.

Salmon and scallop roll

The salmon and scallop roll had really minimal and tiny pieces of salmon and scallop. The roll itself was not big and I felt this entire dish was really weird. They really are not good for their rolls.

Truffle yakiniku

The meat was rather tender and chewy, but was seriously lacking the seasoning to it. Salt and pepper it, maybe? Yakiniku means grilled meat, but I could barely taste any grill or charred to it. And I tasted zero truffle in it. I feel like they added the word truffle so as to jack up the price. Though, the onsen egg was done perfectly as seen.

Price: A total of about $85. Lychee martini ($10), a dozen of oysters ($2-4/each), Chirashidon ($20) Truffle yakiniku ($18) and Salmon&Scallop roll (~$15). I felt the pricing of it was rather decent except for their truffle yakinnuku and rolls. Everything else was pretty worth the money.

I have a major problem with this place because the rice they used is obviously not Japanese rice. And I find it hard to swallow knowing that it is a Japanese restaurant/bar and does not use Japanese rice. I would most definitely come back for their Chirashidon for their sashimi and more oysters, but hesitant to try on their rolls ever again.

Hint: Their lunch menu is the same, however it is about $4-5 cheaper than the alacarte menu! I was really shocked because I remembered seeing their Chirashidon being about $17 when looking on the site. Little did I know it was for lunch time.

Milk No Sugar, Brighton, UK

Address:

68 Trafalger Street, Brighton, East Sussex, United Kingdom, BN1 4EB

Opening times:

Monday - Friday: 7.30am to 6.30pm (?)

Saturday: 9am to 6.30pm

Sunday: 10am to 5pm

Website: http://www.cafemilknosugar.com/

Our honest review:

This cafe is located about 3 to 5 minutes walk from Brighton train station. Rather convenient to get to. We had not planned to eat here, but were passing by on-route to the train station. Initially we thought it was just another cafe, until the reading, saying it serves Pho (Vietnamese traditional noodle soup), caught our attention. I was surprised to see the opening times from their website, as I clearly remembered we were there at about 8pm and there were still 2 group of people in the cafe.

The cafe could approximately seat 40 to 50 people, and they have outside seatings as well. They serve both Vietnamese and Western food (e.g. paninis, salads)

Cafe from the outside

Interior of the cafe

Part of their Vietnamese food menu

Pork Bun (medium)

Beef Pho (small)

Pork Bun (medium) and Beef Pho (small)

The pork was probably what Chinese (not necessarily from China) would call - char siew. Although both meats (pork and beef) tasted alright, the quantity of it was miserably little. There were about 5 pieces of beef in the beef bowl, and about 7 pieces of pork in the other. When both bowls of noodles were served, we initially thought that both noodles are of the same type. However, when we tried each other's bowls, the texture is completely different and unique to its own. Bun noodles was more rounded and chewy, whereas Pho noodles were flatter noodles. The soup was very tasty, especially with the addition of lime (served in self-served bottles). We licked our bowls clean by the end of dinner! We felt that the only missing ingredient in the bowl was sliced onions, and it would have been perfect.

Price: Depending on the size of the bowl, price ranges from £4.50 to £5.50. The medium size bowl had a pretty decent portion of noodles. For the price we paid, it was definitely worth eating it.

Highly recommend as the taste was on point! The shop owners were extremely nice as well. I am still confused with their opening times.

Hill Street Tai Hwa Pork Noodles, Singapore

Address:
Block 466, Crawford Lane, #01-12, Singapore 190466

Opening times:
Everyday from 9.30am to 9pm
Closed on every 1st and 3rd Mondays of the month

Website: -

Our honest review:
It is definitely not an easy place to get to without a car. Parking there is horrendous. We happened to be around the neighbourhood so we chanced to try it out. We reached around 10am on a Sunday morning and I guess we were pretty lucky to get a parking lot instantaneously. There was already a queue piling up and I would say it was about 10-15 people ahead of me. The coffee shop itself is pretty empty. Finding a table was therefore easy as ABC.

But the waiting game began .. 30 minutes.. 1 hour.. 1.5 hours.. Before it got to my turn. Honestly, it isn't because there was many people ahead of me, or that there were many orders ahead of me. It is definitely the pace the store owner was going at. The boss really wants to do everything, from cooking the noodles, cutting ingredients to collecting money. It was such an inefficient way and if so, why does he even bother hiring workers?!

3 bowls of $5 noodles and 1 bowl of $5 meatballs

The noodles indeed had a decently semi-cooked springy texture to it. The minced meat itself was soft as could and the pork chunks were chewy in a nice way. The meatballs though, it wasn't very fantastic. Thought it was pretty soft in a really weird way and that the taste of the meat was not even that strong. They also had this extra piece of wanton which wasn't too bad. Teochew noodles are famous for their liver and I thought they were pretty authentic when they added the dried fish (tipou). More importantly was the vinegar base, it was pretty good but just felt that the noodles were basically drowning in them. It was kind of hard trying to save the noodles and my taste bud.

Price: Starting bowl price from $5, up to $10. I realised most customers order a $6 bowl, and maybe it is because it is the price most worth for the portion and ingredients? I felt $5 for a bowl of noodles is indeed way too expensive, taking into consideration that the portion sizes were fairly small too.

After having my meal, I realise why it will never be a problem to find a table to eat. Because people eat the noodles way faster than his efficiency level.

Were the noodles good? Yes. Was it the best? Definitely not. Will I come back here again? Definitely no. Nothing is ever worth when the queue is more than 45 minutes long, unless it is free. Weighing both the price, wait and quality, I would never recommend this place to anyone. Unless you have time to kill off, and if you do, maybe you take some idle time to reflect on life too.

O'ma spoon Korean Dessert Cafe, Singapore

Address:

313 @ Somerset, 313 Orchard Road, #04-20/32, Singapore 238895

Marina Square, 6 Raffles Boulevard, #04-102, Singapore 039594

Opening times:

Everyday from 11.30am to 10pm

Website: http://www.omaspoon.com/

Our honest review:

Location is never a problem when it comes to huge shopping malls in the city area. They are MRTs within close proximity, providing easy access. I went to the one at 313@Somerset around 7/8pm-ish and it took us about 5-10 minutes to get a table. It wasn't long, and probably because it has not reached its peak hour yet. The queue obviously piled up about an hour later. The seating area is pretty small at 313@Somerset and could probably fit about 35-40 people.

Their table

Green tea bingsu

Apparently Singaporeans suddenly have this craze over bingsu and from my understanding it tastes nicer than a local ice kachang so much so that people are willing to pay 5 times more the price for it. I told myself that it better be good.

We ordered a green tea bingsu, which we probably waited for around 10-15 minutes. I still could not really grasp the idea of waiting that long for shaved iced. Ice kachang probably took 5 minutes tops. But nevertheless, it was a pretty large bowl and we shared it amongst 3 people.

I felt that there was minimal or no taste to it at all. I thought there was suppose to be some milk over the shaved iced, but there was none. Everything underneath the 0.2 cm worth of low quality matcha powder was basically white as snow. The only redeeming factor was the azuki beans and some almond flakes.

Price: I felt I have paid $14 for a bowl of iced water. I honestly cannot comprehend this hype at all. Yes you get a large size bowl and a tall tower of bingsu, but do not forget that it is just a tower of ice. My conclusion - gross overhyped!

Lesson of this feast? Do not ever judge a book by its cover. Or in this case, do not ever judge a meal solely by its presentation.

Sunday Folks, Singapore

Address:

44 Jalan Merah Saga, Chip Bee Gardens #01-52, Singapore 278116

Opening times:

Closed on Mondays

Tuesday to Fridays from 1pm to 10pm

Saturday & Sunday from 12noon to 10pm

Website: http://sundayfolks.com/

Our honest review:

Accessibility to cafe by public transport or motor vehicle is good. It takes about a 5 to 7 minutes walk from the nearest MRT(Holland Village). If you drive, there is a public car park just behind the café or you could also parallel park along the road fronting the café. Despite that I went around 3pm on a Thursday, I still had to queue to get a seating. I am indeed surprised that the cafe is full house on a weekday office/school hour. There were 3 groups in front of me so luckily the wait was not too long!
The "waiting for a seat" only took a return trip from Sunday Folks to Da Paolo Gastronomia to buy a scone, so that should be about 10 minutes top?

Interior of the cafe

Upon entering the café, you are immediately welcomed with a very strong waffle smell in the café. To me, that is a good thing when a café smells of good food, especially the smell of freshly cooked waffles. The café was quite big and spacious, probably able to fit 70-80 people, if my approximation is right. A really friendly staff, having known that it was my first time here, waited on me and took pain to slowly explain to me what is their specialty here, types of waffles, and how to go about ordering them. I have to say that that their service was impeccable despite the café was packed full of customers. Even though the place was packed full with customers, I only waited for approximately 15-20 minutes to have my waffles served to me.

Double-stacked waffles topped with roasted pistachio soft serve with roasted pistachio toppings

Obviously, as always, the waffles gave great aesthetic pleasure to the eye due to the colours of the strawberries, blueberries, maple syrup and hazelnut sauce. I ordered the roasted pistachio soft serve with roasted pistachios on top. They were very generous with the amount of soft serve they gave, as all I can see is spiral and spirals of soft serve on top of my waffles. I also liked the idea that they did not put the soft serve directly on top of the waffles but on a round biscuit which is perfectly hidden by the soft serve. This means that the waffles do not get soften from the soft serve.

I really enjoyed the soft serve a lot and felt it was one of the better pistachio flavoured soft serve/ice cream I’ve ever tried. The nutty taste was so strong, but yet having the smoothness and creaminess of the soft serve. In addition, the roasted pistachio toppings added a stronger pistachio taste and crunchy texture to the soft serve. Only one thing was that the soft serve melted too quickly. Not sure if Singapore was too warm or it is just that the soft serve reaches its melting point really quickly. I did not exceptionally like the waffles and I felt that they could be about 30 seconds longer in the waffle machine so that it will have the outer crispiness while still having a soft interior.

Price: I’ve ordered a double-stacked waffle topped with roasted pistachio soft serve and roasted pistachio toppings that cost me $12.90. The price is inclusive of GST and there is no service charge. If I’m not wrong, they have raised the price from $11+ previously. Overall, my willing-to-pay-for-waffles line is $10 and thus I would find this slightly pricey. However, for the amount of soft serve they gave, and that it was quite delicious, I would come back here to patronise if I ever feel that I had spare cash and wanted to spend on a good dessert place. Next time, I would probably just order the soft serve in a cone rather than on the waffles.

Pompoko, Brighton, UK

Address:
110 Church Street, Brighton, East Sussex, United Kingdom, BN1 1UD

Opening times:
Monday - Thursday: 11:30 - 22:00
Friday - Saturday: 11:30 - 23:00
Sunday: 11:30 - 21:00

Website: http://www.pompoko.co.uk/

Our honest review:
Restaurant is situated near the Royal Pavilion, rather central in the city. This place is known for their cheap Japanese food. We went during lunch time, hit smack right into the lunch-time crowd, and therefore had to share tables with others. There were only 2 of us, so they slotted us in between 2 groups of people. The restaurant has an upstairs seating as well, but I didn't managed to check it out due to the lunch time crowd. People who didn't manage to get a table, had theirs to take away.

Restaurant from outside.

Each bowl cost £4.90

Pork Nanban Don

Katsu Don

Paddy Hills, Singapore

Address:

38 South Buona Vista Road, Singapore 118164

Opening times:

Weekday 10.30am - 5pm
Weekend 9am - 5pm
Dinner 6 - 9.30pm daily

Website: https://www.facebook.com/paddyhills.sg

Our honest review:

Really inaccessible place if you do not own a car. Even with cars, parking will be next problem because there are very limited parking spaces there. I was given to understand that people tend to park at the close-by private estates. Thank goodness I do not have a parking problem during my visit as I went at an odd timing (3 pm). Public transport is no better as there are no MRT station within close proximity and the only bus there is bus 200 (I saw it at the bus stop while driving). I remember the café spot used to be my favourite duck rice, and thus I was already a little sad that the duck rice has closed down and taken over by the café.

I immediately felt the spaciousness of the cafe upon entering. I especially like their concept of having the barista counter in the middle of the café where patrons could see how the barista makes their coffees and other drinks. Another plus point is the variety of table sizes, ranging from counter tables to tables big enough to cater a group of 12. Their famous exterior Wall of Graffiti has attracted many patrons, but sadly, it did not appeal to me. As I went at an odd timing, there were many tables available; the waiting time from ordering to the food on my table was approximately 10mins only.

Left to Right: Kimchi Fried Rice, Berry Ricotta Hotcakes & Milkshake (PB choc banana)

Berry Ricotta Hotcakes

I have to give due credits to them for having such a beautiful plating of colourful berries and flower petals on the hotcakes. Other than that, I have to say that I am utterly disappointed in the hotcakes. It was difficult for me to cut or eat the hotcakes as the plate has high sides. The hotcakes did not have the buttery and sweet taste but was dry and crumbly which was so hard to eat. I wonder where’s the maple syrup in this dish. I could not taste the ricotta cheese at all. The creamy taste of the ricotta to the hotcakes was totally absent. Honestly, the hotcakes just tasted like an over-baked vanilla pound cake on a round plate with berries on top. This whole dish was a total disappointment .I would never recommend it to anyone unless they just want to take some pretty shots for $19.

Kimchi Fried Rice

When I first sat down, I looked over to the next table and saw that the ladies had really big bowls of kimchi fried rice which led me to expect that the portion would be huge. But when ours came, it was just a pathetic small portion of fried rice in a really big bowl. I have to give credits to them for frying the rice really fragrantly. There was very strong ‘wok hei’ (the intense hot wok during stir-frying) taste. The fried rice was really flavourful, however, it lacked one very important thing – the kimchi; so much so that I could not know that I’ve ordered kimchi fried rice. Since it was kimchi fried rice, you would have thought that there would be kimchi-flavoured cabbages in the fried rice, but they were practically non-existent. It should not be called kimchi fried rice because it was just regular fried rice. The next thought on my mind when I first saw the dish was that the steak was overdone. From the photo itself, you could already see how the steak was so overdone. It was not only dry but it also lacked seasoning that made me feel so sorry for the steak for being so poorly cooked. I thought that the only saving grace was the perfect rounded egg, but this proved to be even more disappointing. The egg yolk was not runny as it was overcooked too. I really suspect if they really used a sous vide to cook the egg, because a sous vide would never cause an egg overcooked in that manner unless you do not know how to use a sous vide. Overall, the dish was a total disappointment in taste and portion.

Peanut Butter, Chocolate, Banana Milkshake

The peanut butter, chocolate, banana milkshake came in a really huge cup. It was really thick and I could taste all 3 flavours of peanut butter, chocolate and banana. However, I felt that it was slightly too thick that by the time I swallowed down 4 mouthful of milkshake, I just could not drink anymore. My boyfriend and I struggled to even finish half of the huge cup. Doing portion control to half the volume of the milkshake at half the price would obviously avoid wastage and I would be alright with it then.

Overall, my experience in Paddy Hills has been a big disappointment. I am not sure if this is just a one-time miss on the food, showing such inconsistency of the cooking, or it has been overrated by Singaporeans as really good. If my first impression counts, they really need to buck up buckets on their cooking skills.

Price: The bill came up to $52 - Berry Ricotta Hotcakes ($19), Kimchi Fried Rice ($20) and Peanut butter, Chocolate, Banana milkshake ($11). For some unknown reasons, my bill was $52 while arithmetically it added up to $50 only. It was probably my own fault for not checking the receipt right. Would appreciate if anyone care to enlighten me why I was charged $2 more. I will not recommend anyone coming here for the quality and price of the food. This would be my first and last patronage unless their consistency or quality of food, including portion control, improves by leaps and bounds.

Simon Road Hokkien Mee, Singapore

Address:
Block 210, Hougang Street 21, Singapore 530210

Opening times:
Everyday from 11am to 10pm

Website: http://simonroadhokkienmee.com/

Our honest review:
It used to be located at the corner coffee shop along Simon Road, but has since moved to Block 210 Hougang Street 21's coffee shop. Current location isn't too far off from the old one and it is about a 5-10 minutes walk from Kovan MRT.

Hokkien mee is a dish in many countries like Malaysia and China. The same dish varies significantly between countries but I still prefer Singapore's hokkien mee. I have been patronizing this stall since I was a little girl When they were at Simon Road, the waiting time were usually 30 minutes or more. The current waiting time has reduced to about 10-15 minutes because he has implemented call-in to pre-order and customers come to pick up almost immediately.

Simon Road's Hokkien Mee

Siimon Road's Hokkien Mee

Having eaten a lot of hokkien mee around Singapore, I find Simon Road's hokkien mee is one of the best in Singapore. The broth they used to cook their noodles is really good and rich. The noodles fully absorbed all the broth, making it so flavorful. The yellow noodles and the white beehoon are never dried-out or soggy but always fried just right, with a chewy and smooth texture and a taste which I absolutely love. The picture tells a thousand words, serving as the best judgement.

This stall uses the thinner white beehoon unlike many others who use the thick ones. I really hate the overly thick ones. I feel that the thinner ones have a better texture, springy to the bite and yet fully absorbing the flavor of the broth. The whole dish is then charred to perfection together with a full load of egg, bean sprouts, prawns and squids and then garnished with freshly-cut limes and of course their special prepared chilli.

Their special prepared chilli is really good. They now serve 2 types of chilli (as you can see in the picture). Their original chilli is the sambal type. The other.. I'm not too sure myself. They have always been famous for their fragrant sambal chilli which has a good tinge of spiciness together with a good blend of dried shrimps. The other chilli, in the lighter/brighter red, is new. I heard from the grapevine that his "disciple" opened a stall at the old location (i.e. Simon Road's corner coffee shop). but neither taste nor business is as good. His "disciple" created this new chilli; hence they had to do likewise to be one up over him.

Price: Starting cost for each plate is $4 and it increases up to $10. It used to be around $3 per plate, but I guess inflation has taken its toll like everywhere else. It isn't the cheapest plate of hokkien mee around, but I can guarantee you it is really good and worth every dollar you paid.

Just a little hint - The old man who cooks this hokkien mee is honestly way better than his son. I usually think twice when I see the son cooking.

HarriAnns Nonya Table Cafe, Singapore

Address:
230 Victoria Street, #01-01A Bugis Junction Towers, Singapore 188024

Opening times:

Everyday from 8am to 9pm

Website: http://www.harrianns.com/

Our honest review:

The café is located right at the exit of Bugis MRT station (up the escalator) and thus it is really accessible to get to by public transport. As I drove to bugis, it was a slight distance from the carpark to the café. I couldn’t find the café in the main Bugis Mall and only soon realised that it is located right outside BHG. The café doesn’t feel like an actual café and have about 10 seats which are indoor, while the outdoor can cater to approximately 20-30 people. I felt it was a pretty small café with regards to the high volume of people around Bugis all 7 days of the week. The concept felt more like a kopitiam where you had to find your own seats and order the food separately. Even though the queue for ordering was quite long, it moved pretty quickly and there was a high turnover rate for seats availability and thus I did not find it a problem to get seats. The waiting time from ordering to having the food on the table was pretty fast of 5-10mins maximum.

6 assorted mini kueh and kueh dardar

Left to right: Glutinous rice, ondeh ondeh, 6 assorted mini kuehs, kueh dardar, meesiam and laksa

I haven’t tried enough glutinous rice to actually know what to point out, but when I was talking to the two ladies sharing table with us, they told me that it was good; as good as those that they ate at Cambridge Road and Chinatown when they were young. I really liked the chilli at the side though. It was very fragrant and had a very strong shrimp taste to it, enhancing the flavour of the glutinous rice, but yet not overpowering it. The glutinous rice comes with generous serving of fried shallots and peanuts.

Both the meesiam and laksa had good portions of ingredients in them. Best thing of all is that the gravy for both bowls were thick! I really liked the gravy of the meesiam which had piquantly spicy and sweet flavor together with a sourish end taste. As for the laksa, the gravy had balanced coconut milk and shrimp taste. However, I felt that it is still not as fragrant and strong a taste as 328 Katong Laksa. With that being said, it is still one of the better ones I’ve eaten thus far.

I’ve always like kueh in bite size. I was therefore thrilled to see that they sell an assortment of 6 different mini tasting kuehs in a box. I was disappointed to see two repeats in my plate of 6 mini kuehs, allowing me to try only 4 types instead of the 6 available types. I feed-backed to the lady boss after my meal. She apologised profusely and without hesitation, offered me to patronise their cafe again; this time making sure that I would be able to try all 6 variety of kuehs. The kuehs that I’ve tried were the rainbow lapis, redbean kueh, kueh talam and kueh salat. I’ve also ordered an additional kueh dar dar. Overall, the kuehs did not disappoint, the textures for the kuehs were really smooth and yet not too sticky that it get stuck at the back of your throat. My favourite one was the redbean kueh where it reminded me of my childhood potong ice cream, and the best thing is that there are bits of red bean at the bottom of the kueh which were sweet. I felt that the pandan flavour for all the kuehs (kueh dardar, kueh salat and kueh talam) could be slightly more fragrant and stronger! It can be compared to Bengawan Solo's, but still lacking slightly on its fragrance. Nevertheless, these are one of the better ones I’ve eaten so far.

The ondeh ondehs were slightly small but easy to pop the entire ball of goodness into your mouth. When my mum took her first bite, her instant reaction was to grin widely. Because of her reaction, I was very curious and quickly pop one into my mouth. I had the exact same reaction. The texture of the ondeh ondeh was amazing, the kueh ‘skin’ was not very thick and the ratio of the kueh to gula melaka inside was just right. The sudden burst of sweetness in my mouth with the nice chewy texture of the kueh was just mindblowing. My mum, boyfriend and I unanimously agree that this is one of the best ondeh ondeh we’ve eaten.

Price:The total bill came up to $21.90 which I felt was not too expensive for the amount of food the 3 of us have eaten especially that it is in a CBD area. We ordered a total of 3 sets which came with drinks! Set 1 – Coffee, Glutinous rice and 3 ondeh ondeh ($4.60), Set 2 – Meesiam and lime juice ($6.50), Set 3 – Laksa and milo ($6.90), 6 assorted kuehs ($2.70) and kueh dardar ($1.20). I’ve heard that the curry chicken is really famous here, but I did not get to try because it sold out (and I went at 1pm)! For the price and the quality of food, I would definitely recommend people to patron this café! Definitely try the assorted kuehs and ondeh ondeh!

Hatter Street Bakehouse & Cafe, Singapore

Address:
Block 212, Hougang Street 21, #01-333, Singapore 530212

Opening times:
Everyday from 1pm to 10pm
Dinner break from 6.15pm to 7.15pm

Website: http://www.hatterstreet.com/

Our honest review:
Accessibility is a piece of cake for me (never fails to think about food ... hahaha) considering that I reside close-by. Nearest MRT would be Kovan and it is probably about a 5-10 minutes walk. The entire store has a pretty cute and interesting theme of Alice in Wonderland: theme-related pictures artistically splashed across all walls and curio displays too. Store itself probably could only seat 20 people inside and about 5-10 people outside. The ambience is nice except their air-conditioning was really bad. It is same difference (just as hot) seated inside as seated outside.

We had about a 20 minutes wait before getting the waffles which I guess wasn't too bad considering we went on the late Sunday's afternoon. The cafe only serves waffles and desserts such as tarts and cakes. We ordered only 2 waffles out of the 3 that was offered on the menu. The girl at the counter was egging us on getting their rainbow cake, which she claimed was really good and limited as they do not make it everyday. However, I personally felt that the colouring was way too intense and probably very amateurish looking. It does not look any bit appetizing. I could even see the layers of the sponge were really dense. I chose my own visual judgement than to waste my calories on it.

Chocolate ice cream waffle with chocolate sauce

Pandan ice cream waffles with gula melaka sauce

Waffles here are slightly different from other cafes. These waffles are called Liege waffles. They are indeed way smaller in size than to the normal circular waffles that, I think, most cafes offer. We were first served the chocolate ice cream waffles. The chocolate ice cream itself was really bad. It lacked chocolate-y taste to it to the point I think it is having a real identity issue. The waffle were overdone and that it just turned out crispy only but could hardly even taste the waffle itself. The ice cream was so bad that we had to shove it aside because it could not justify the calories.

Then the pandan ice cream waffles with gula melaka sauce came. It was much better than the first one. I must say the pandan ice cream was really unique with a real strong flavored taste to it. You would not be able to smell its fragrance, but the taste probably took it all. This time the waffles were crispy on the outside and much softer in the inside, with buttery taste that complimented really well with the pandan ice cream. The gula melaka sauce was really the cherry on the top. It was sufficiently sweet to hold hands with the pandan ice cream perfectly.

Price: Both waffles cost SGD $8.90 each and I thought it was really decent pricing considering how I have worked in a cafe which sold waffles at >$10. But do consider that the waffles here are smaller than regular circular waffles.

Having both waffles coming 5 minutes one after another and having a completely difference in both waffles shows how inconsistent their waffles could be. Maybe I am unlucky, maybe it is them, I don't know. But for sure, I will never order their chocolate ice cream ever again. I'm not too sure if the chocolate ice cream were handmade by them as chocolate is a very common flavor all around the world. But if it is, they ought to taste it and buck up. I'll definitely recommend the pandan ice cream waffles with gula melaka. But only that.

Boufe Boutique Cafe, Singapore

Address:
308 Tanglin Road, Phoenix Park, #01-01, Singapore 247974

Opening times:
Closed on Mondays
Tuesday to Fridays from 8am to 10pm
Saturday & Sunday from 10am to 10pm (All day brunch)

Website: http://www.boufesg.com/

Our honest review:

Boufe Boutique Cafe is rather inconvenient to get to. Their location isn't the best to get to without a motor vehicle as the nearest bus stop and MRT is pretty far off. And I'm not a big fan of inaccessible place.

The interior

The interior - counter table top

They have a minimalist concept implemented which draws the crowd, considering how many Singapore are trying to be a "hipster". A simple white background could also mean better photography of the food and themselves. Upkeep of the restaurant to maintain such white pristine condition of the walls and etc is gonna be challenging. The restaurant has to have this clean white background for it to be attractive or else it would just look like a warehouse.

The cafe itself isn't big at all. Probably could hold, in my own approximation, about 30-35 seated people. But they do have an extended alfresco area behind which is open for dining and events too. Various events, such as solemnization and birthday parties, were shown in various media platforms as having been held there. These do look pretty.

2 sets of Triple B and a set of their brioche french toast

Triple B - Boufe's Big Breakfast

Brioche french toasts

The big breakfast was really good. Scrambled eggs are always easy to make, but making a good one is hard. I have came across very few good scrambled eggs, especially in Asian countries, but I must say Boufe has done it right. The creamy texture to it is on point, though personally I felt it could use a pinch of salt. The mushrooms were seasoned and sauteed perfectly. Together with its juiciness, the flavours do burst in the mouth. My mum and I can't help but to nod in sync in agreement. Both the sausages were meaty enough, but a tad too oily for my liking as I have a phobia for oil. My mum preferred the shorter sausage. Croissant weren't the best as it lost its crispiness to it. It was rather mediocre.

The brioche bread itself though, was the fluffiest and probably one of the best brioche breads I have ever tasted. I got so overwhelmed with the brioche bread itself, I think I might have forgotten the taste of eggs in them, or maybe there weren't even any to begin with.

What I am truly amazed is their generous and hearty portions. I would have never expect to have a portion this big in an Asian country.

Citron tart

Can never end a meal without a simple dessert and citron tarts are one of my all-time favourites. Their citron tart has a good balance of both sour and sweet unlike many others with their superbly sour or having a ridiculously thick sweet meringue on top of it. As you can see from the amateur picture taken, there is a good thin consistency of a layered meringue. The only downside was the base of the tart was rather thick and I think I can say it is slightly under by the look and taste from it.

In addition, my sister and I took a mini-shopping trip to Ohvola's shop in Boufe cafe itself and got ourselves a really nice outer coat. Ohvola is a online shopping site, a favourite of many youngsters nowadays. It is good finally having to see and feel the material of the apparels and even being able to try them on there.

Price: The big breakfast and french toast cost us SGD$21 and SGD$19 respectively and their citron tart costing SGD$5.50. I don't cafe hop that often and have never felt the need to feel "hipster" enough to do so like everyone else, and therefore feel that it is obviously very pricey in comparison to hawker food that cost only SGD $3-5. There is definitely a huge discrepancy that most of the times I find it hard to swallow, especially in Singapore. I do not deny that it is expensive, but if you were to compare to other cafes in Singapore, it might just be average. But if I were to must have food at a cafe, Boufe would definitely be one of my top choices and recommendation.

Both the quality of food and atmosphere are truly amazing. And as said before, their portions are very generous. This is, well I think you can call it as, my first cafe-hopping experience and I feel Boufe would have set a standard that is hard to beat by other cafes.

Introduction to Honest Reviews

Amateur food bloggers who tries to best describe the abstract senses of our palates through the substantial vocabularies of the dictionary but limited through our knowledge of it. We, however, would vouch the authenticity of our honest and impartial opinions. We do not seek anyone's approval as we fully understand to each his own (palate).

We create this with only one humble objective of translating our sense of taste into words, if we have the time. Just like writing a personal diary but open to an audience or probably otherwise - not like we care. We do not claim to be supertasters and do not aim and intend ever to become professional food bloggers, therefore quality of photos are only as good as it could, coming from the widely used camera from Apple's iPhone.

Currently based throughout the world, from Singapore to United Kingdom to Europe, due to our commitment and passion to our very first priority (after family, of course) of studies.

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