Places to eat in Singapore

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Although I am not a big fan of ramen (I just do not get why some people like it so much), I do get a ramen fix every now and then, and I love nothing more than an eatery that stays true to its roots. Noodles House Ken is one such place, and everything in this Japanese noodles house is painstakingly prepared by a true blue Japanese chef.

There is actually 2 parts to Ken Noodles House. One is facing the road (all open-air and all), while the other annex (which is thankfully air-conditioned) is located slightly further in. As I am one who is afraid of heat and humidity (yes, despite me being a Singaporean), I always go to their annex. Although their interiors are nothing to shout about, they are very reminiscent of a real Japanese eatery.

Service is quite good and they immediately serve you ice water once you have chosen a table. It may seem like a small thing, but many eateries these days only serve it upon request and a few (2 notable ones in Raffles City....) do not even care to serve ice water anymore. So for taking their own intiative, that is a big plus for me.

Being authentically Japanese, this place is obviously very popular with the Japanese expatriates in Singapore. Even their opening hours seemed to be catered to the traditional Japanese salaryman:

Weekdays: 12pm to 2pm, 6pm to 2am
Saturday: 12pm to 2am
Sunday: 12pm to 10pm
Closed: 3rd Sunday every month

Isn't it great that there is another place to eat after 10pm in Singapore?

Noodles House Ken does not levy GST, but it does levy a 1% CESS and another 10% service charge.

Favorite Dish: The entire hot food menu only span 1 page and so, there is not really much to order from. You have a few options of ramen, which vary in their soup base and ingredients. There are also some rice dishes such as Japanese Curry Rice, and a selection of only 5 side orders (Gyoza, Fried Chicken, Char Siew, Fried Pork, Kimuchi).

My favourite dish is the Gyoza (S$5++ for 5), but that is because as mentioned before, I am not a big fan of ramen. No matter how great the ramen is, it will never really excite me. Some of my friends are crazy over the ramen served by Noodles House Ken though.

That being said, the Tamago Ramen I had was nice (I loved stewed boiled eggs, any style), although I do find that the stock I had chosen, Shoyu (Soy Sauce), a little too salty. The Miso soup base for the Miso Ramen was delicious though.

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Fish & Co. at The Glass House is the flagship outlet for the Fish & Co. chain of restaurants. It is difficult to classify the food at Fish & Co. because it is not your typical Western or Seafood restaurant. Its fare seem to stem from a eclectic influence of Asian, Western and Mediterranean cusines, but nevertheless the end result of having a meal at Fish & Co., is always a very pleasant one.

If there is anything to complain, it would be that sometimes their fares are a little too oily for my liking. But I do not plan to eat there too often and so that is fine.

I love the ambience and decor of Fish & Co., at The Glass House. It has deliberately been done up with warm lighting and and items that make you feel that you are at a fishermen's dock. It sounds tacky, but it's really much nicer than it seems. Because of the good food and interesting and cosy ambience, the place is always very crowded.

Sadly, the newer Fish & Co. restaurants at places like Suntec and Wheelock have decided to forgo this higher maintenance decor (just think of cleaning around the nooks and cranies!) for a simpler bright off while decor with really bright lights. I hate bright lights in a restaurant and in my opinion, their sole purpose is to make the place less cosy so that diners can leave in a shorter period of time and increase the turnover of the restaurant. Good for business, but terrible for ambience.

As with most restaurants in Singapore, the food prices shown on the menu are subjected to a 10% service charge followed by another 5% GST.

Favorite Dish: My favourite dish at the restaurant is their Seafood Platter. It is so good that it has actually won awards. There is no difference between the Seafood Platter for One (S$18.90++) and Two (S$34.90++), just that the latter is twice the servings of the latter and comes with additional mussels. You may wish to "complete your meal" by adding S$5.50++ to the main course for their soup of the day and a choice of their signature drink.

During my visit, the soup of the day was a nice and thick cream of mushroom soup that was loaded with bits of mushrooms of different varieties ranging from your standard buttons to Japanese ***akes. Their signature drink is a sugar ladden Kola Tonic or Passion Fruit soda, which I am not a fan of at all though.

Breaking down the Seafood Platter, a lot of the items are actually very good on their own. I especially love their buttered rice and and garlic baked prawns. The platter is served with various condiments, which include lightly fried chopped garlic, a chilli salsa, and of course, tartar sauce. Their chips while nice, seem to taste different on different days. Some days, it was kind of bland, but on other days, the rich scattering of peri peri makes it a very formidable side dish.

They also have other interesting items such as Sweet & Sour Fish (S$14.90++), Black Pepper Stingray (S$14.90++) and Teriyaki Salmon (S$16.90++). While they are still nice, they are nowhere as satisfying as their signature Seafood Platter. Try them after you have gotten really sick of their Seafood Platter.

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Ayam Penyet is simply smashed fried chicken and anything associated with fried chicken is usually a hit in Singapore. Thus, it is no wonder that restaurants and eateries serving Ayam Penyet have sprung up all over Singapore this year. Many of these eateries, while having differ owners in Singapore, are possibly franchised from the same Indonesian franchise which made this dish famous.

Within Lucky Plaza, there are 2 restaurants specializing in Ayam Penyet. Ayam Penyet Ria is the pioneering one, and 1 level above it, is Resto Surabaya. This review will only focus on Ayam Penyet Ria.

All the Ayam Penyet restaurants I have been to have very simple decor and Ayam Penyet Ria is of no exception to this rule.

The fares are all very affordable and in a simple eatery like Ayam Penyet Ria, all prices shown are nett. You simple choose your order from an order form, pay up at the cashier, and the items will be served to your table shortly.

Favorite Dish: Is it wrong if my favourite dish from Ayam Penyet Ria is actually its Kerupuk (prawn crackers)? The reason is because I find that it is actually the tastiest dish in the restaurant, and at S$1 per serving in a small wicker basket, it is superb value for money! Of course, this is just a snack and so you will definitely need to order something else if you need to fill your stomach.

The Soto Ayam (S$4.50 and served with rice) I ordered tasted like an oil slick, and that made me kind of sick of it in a short while. Both the signature dish, Ayam Penyet (S$5.50), and Lele Penyet (S$6.00), esentially a fried smashed catfish dish (whole fish though), had been so overly deep fried that they were kind of tasteless. Even the Iced Kopi-O (iced black coffee) I ordered was tasteless.

The food was certainly edible. But unfortunately in the end, I think for Ayam Penyet Ria, their food is simply overhyped.

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River City Restaurant is part of the Starling Group of Restaurants that also include Dragon Gate Restaurant at HarbourFront Centre, Orient Ocean Restaurant at Miramar Hotel, and 88 Restaurant at HarbourFront Tower Two. What made it stand out among its sister restaurants is that it serves great value Dim Sum Buffet for lunch and Super Value A-la-Carte Buffet for both lunch and dinner.

Just how good a value is it. The food is really quite delicious, served in a comfortable (but standard Chinese restaurant looking interior), and the cost is as follow:

Dim Sum A-la-Carte Lunch Buffet:
Adult: S$13.80+++ (Saturday, Sunday, Eve of Public Holidays and Public Holidays), S$10.80+++ (All Other Days)
Child: S$6.90+++ (Saturday, Sunday, Eve of Public Holidays and Public Holidays), S$5.40+++ (All Other Days)

Super Value A-la-Carte Buffet Lunch:
Adult: S$20.80+++ (Saturday, Sunday, Eve of Public Holidays and Public Holidays), S$18.80+++ (All Other Days)
Child: S$10.40+++ (Saturday, Sunday, Eve of Public Holidays and Public Holidays), S$9.40+++ (All Other Days)

Super Value A-la-Carte Buffet Dinner:
Adult: S$21.80+++ (Saturday, Sunday, Eve of Public Holidays and Public Holidays), S$19.80+++ (All Other Days)
Child: S$10.90+++ (Saturday, Sunday, Eve of Public Holidays and Public Holidays), S$9.90+++ (All Other Days)

A child is defined by anybody with age between 3-11 years old inclusive. There must also be a minimum of 2 diners.

All prices are subject to a 10% service charge, 1% CESS, and another 5% GST. Since this is a Chinese Restaurant, please note that there will always been some charges for compulsory items like plain water (S$1 per person), Chinese Tea (S$1 per person) and Pickle (S$2 per serving). Diners paying by credit cards issued by OCBC bank can get a 10% discount when they pay with the said credit card. Do not waste the food though because unfinished leftovers will be charged to discourage wastage.

Favorite Dish: Most Chinese Restaurants serving A-la-Carte Buffet are generally quite stingy with their prawn dishes and dictate that they can only be served once. But not at River City. I loved their Boiled Fresh Prawns (unshelled) and Fried Shrimps with Thousand Island Sauce (shelled). They are of very generous servings and tasted fresh.

The Deep Fried Crispy Chicken Wings were also good as they were both marinated and coated in a kind of shrimp paste sauce which compliment the taste of the chicken well.

Most of the dishes are actually of reasonable quality. If not for the buffet, a meal consisting of the exact same dishes will definitely cost much more at other similar class Chinese restaurants.

Avoid the Steamed Red Tilapia with Bean Sauce though as although it does not taste fishy, it has this "muddy" taste characteristic of some fresh water fishes.

The Super Value A-la-Carte Buffet is inclusive of 1 (and only 1) serving of Shark's Fin Soup per diner. There are some people who will probably not like Shark's Fin Soup for various reasons, but for those who take it, the ones served here are the real deal and not the fake jellied variety found in many of the other Chinese Restaurants serving similar buffets.

The Dim Sum A-la-Carte Buffet is inclusive of 1 (and only 1) serving of Chinese Herbal Jelly per diner. All buffets are inclusive of 1 (and only 1) serving of Mango Pudding per diner.

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Update: Another casualty of the difficult eatery scene in Singapore. As of June 2007, Shokudo has closed it outlet at Cathay....

At the basement of The Cathay are a number of eateries. But due to the lack of promotion on Cathay's part, not many know that they exist; which is really a pity, because they are all quite good.

Shokudo is one such eatery. It is a small Japanese restaurant (Shokudo actually means Cafeteria) that serves very reasonably priced Japanese food that has been somewhat tuned to the average Singaporean's palate, with their focus on bite sized (especially deep fried) dishes. This could very well turn out to be a greasy disaster, but luckily, this is not so. The meals I had there so far were all enjoyable ones.

The rather tiny eatery (seats less than 30) has a simple, but nice interior. Nothing flashy, but the environment is certainly more than cosy enough to have a pleasant meal in.

The best part is the price. You can have a good and filling meal, with a free flow of healthy Ocha (Japanese green tea - S$1++) for less than S$20 quite easily.

Take note that the prices on the menus are subjected to a 10% service charge, and a further 5% GST.

Favorite Dish: Because their finger food are so good, I always skip their run-of-the-mill Bento sets. Instead, I usually order a combination of finger food and side dishes to share with my friend, and complete the meal with a rice set (S$3++) for each of us. This way, we get maximum variety.

The rice set consist of a bowl of Japanese Rice (pearl grain rice), as well a bowl of delicious Miso Soup. I think it is amazing that despite the very low price they are charging, their miso soup actually have a number of interesting ingredients like mushrooms in it. Most other similar price eateries just offer plain Miso Soup with absolutely no other ingredients except for maybe a few slices of seaweed.

My favourite dish is probably the Tebasaki (S$5++), actually fried mid-joint wings. They are very well-marinated and after deep frying, are sprinkled with sesame seeds for that extra flavour. The tempura-like Kakiage (S$4++) was a delight as well as the Butterfly Prawns (S$5++).

If there is anything to complain about their food, it will be that sometimes, they are a little overly generous with their use of salt. The Miso Soup and Tebasaki would be definitely taste even better if they are just a little less salty.

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Triple 3 is definitely one of the better buffet restaurants I had been to in Singapore, and I had been to lots of them. Despite the slightly higher price tag of S$45+++ for lunch, and S$55+++ for dinner, this is fully justified by the very wide variety of food available and the inclusion of some premium items such as lobster (usually available only during dinner) and fresh oysters.

Located within Meritus Mandarin on level 5, right beside its swimming pool, the restaurant's decor is a little dated. The main food hall where the food stations were, was quite nice, being spacious, and brightly litted. The food stations themselves were well presented, in an interesting and color (literal meaning) manner.

But the somewhat gloomy main dining area is a different story. The tables were placed quite closed together and there was insufficient lighting with little surrounding decorations, lending a kind of staff-canteen like atmosphere, far from anything romantic or glamorous. However, this was kind of expected, since the hotel itself is quite old despite undergoing a S$35M renovation in 1990, and another S$52M renovation in 2003 in which upgrading works were probably more or less limited to its guest rooms and lobby.

Looking beyond the decor, a meal at Triple 3 is definitely a wonderfully satisfying experience. Although I do not take oysters, its fresh oysters was reputed to be one of its top draws, and this was confirmed by the thumbs up from my dining companions who loved oysters. Its spread was international and featured other items such as soft shell crab, nonya curry, sashimi, roast beef, freshly cooked pasta, etc..., and a very well-stocked Dessert Station which featured items such as smooth pralines and liquered jellies. It is also one of the first buffet restaurants in Singapore to feature a decadent Chocolate Fondue Station!

UOB credit card holders, please remember to bring your card along, as it will entitle you to a 15% discount.

Favorite Dish: My favourite dish from the restaurant is the Sauteed Crab, which is actually soft-shell crab deep fried, and then stir-fried in a tasty savoury sauce. The sweet tasting sauce enhanced the flavour of the crab and served to make it feel less oily as well.

The appetizers were also all very good, especially the scallop item (there was no name for it), which was both succulent and fresh, and really whipped up your appetite for the other food items.

I also love the fact that they use better quality ice-creams from Swenson's, instead of those from unknown tasteless variety.

I seldom find chocolate pralines served in a buffet and even more surprising, were the fact that the ones served here were good quality ones.

I am not a big fan of the Chocolate Fondue Station though. But this is more because of me. As I personally prefer bitter-sweet chocolate, I find the chocolate used here too sweet and too creamy. But those with a sweet tooth should find it just fine.

In overall, it is a very good place to go to, if you are looking to pamper yourself gastronomically, and do not mind to throwing caution to the wind any diet plans which you may have.

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Although I had been to Din Tai Fung quite a few times since it opened in late 2003 at The Paragon, I had never really bothered to post a review of it. The main reason is because despite its worldwide fame and pedigree, I consider their food to be over-hyped, over-rated, and was severely lacking in variety. For me, a restaurant menu constituting of mainly "Steamed Pork Dumplings" type dishes shows a severe lack of talents on the part of its chef.

Fast forward to 3 years later, and with strong competition posed by the likes of Crystal Jade Group and Imperial Treasures Group, Din Tai Fung has finally wise up to the formidable competition available in Singapore, and have thankfully expanded their menu drastically to include appetizer, rice, noodles, as well as other savoury dishes.

The Taiwanese Din Tai Fung is world famous for its Steamed Pork Dumplings, and the franchise in Singapore is owned by Taster Food, a subsidiary of the BreadTalk group in Singapore. Being so, you can be assured that the interior of the restaurant will never be a let down. Raffles City's Din Tai Fung is brightly lit, casually chic and have a "chatty" kind of atmosphere to it.

I am also very impressed by their prompt and efficient service. When I made known to them that one of my dining companions will be coming with her baby, special arrangements were immediately made at our table so as to accomodate the baby pram.

Do note that all items sold in Din Tai Fung, as with most other restaurants in Singapore, are subjected to a 10% service charge, 1% government tax (CESS) and 5% GST.

Favorite Dish: Truth be told, I find the food at Din Tai Fung to be quite ordinary. Nothing tasted bad, but nothing was outstanding either. While its famous Steamed Pork Dumplings ($8.50 for 10) is succulent and certainly delicious when warm, but when it cools down, its skin (all 18 folds of it) becomes somewhat hard and dough-like (even Playdo-like). I find this weird because no other Steamed Pork Dumplings I ate at other restaurants exhibit this funny quirk. So the thing is that eat it while its still warm.

I like Steamed Crabmeat & Pork Dumplings better (S$13.00 for 10), but find the increment in price quite hard to justify considering the very small amount of crabmeat in them.

Appetizers like Braised Sichuan Sliced Beef (S$5.80) and Deep Fried Shrimp & Pork Wanton (S$6.50 for 6) are good as well, but again, nothing was really outstanding.

If you need something more filling, rice dishes such as Fried Rice with Pork Chop (S$8.50) and noodle dishes such as Noodles with Minced Pork & Bean Sauce (S$7.00) are available as well, and they are all quite good. Other dishes available include vegetarian items such as the very tasty Stir Fried Spinach (S$8.00) and soup items such the light Steamed Chicken Soup (S$8.50).

Do avoid ordering their Minced Pork & Glutinous Rice Shao-Mai (S$12.00 for 10). It tasted absolutely horrible (texture is too hard) and the ingredients are not that compatible to start off with. Also, avoid the Ume Tea (S$2.80), it has so much salt in it that I thought it was seawater! I had to mix 2 an additional 2 parts of water before it tasted like something that is suitable for human consumption.

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Modesto's chain of Italian restaurant are really trying to make their presence felt in Singapore. Besides their 2 already well-established outlets in #01-09/10 Orchard Parade Hotel and #01-05 The Elizabeth Hotel, they have opened their latest outlet in the mother of all shopping malls, VivoCity.

The ambience of Modesto is really very much like other well-established mid-price Italian eateries in Singapore - open, but cosily lit. A very nice touch was its use of table linens, which always lends a touch of class. But what truly stands out was its prompt, efficient and very friendly service of its service staff.

Like most restaurants in Singapore, the prices quoted are subject to a 10% service charge, 1% government tax (CESS), and then another 5% GST.

UOB is currently running a promotion, in which there is a 1-for-1 pasta / pizza deal if you pay by an UOB issued credit or debit card. Truly a value-for-money deal, but do order something additional or at least a drink because I don't think the restaurant can make any money just base on 1-for-1 orders and I hope they stay around for a while longer. ;-)

Favorite Dish: My favourite dish in the restaurant was the Spaghetti Alla Carbonara (S$18.00) . I am not a bit fan of Italian fares, but the Carbonara to me just have the right consistency of cream and egg yolk, and more importantly, the spaghetti was cooked just right (I hate mushy overcooked pastas).

The Pizza Prosciutto Crudo I ordered ($21.00 for regular) was interesting, primarily because prosciutto (thinly sliced Italian parma ham - think wet bacon) is not something I see a lot of in Singapore. The wood oven baked pizza crust was crispy, but a little too sweet for my liking. I also wish that the pizza was cut better because I got a mess of tangled prosciutto on top of my pizza instead.

The Pane Al Burro D'Aglio (actually, just garlic bread) was a little dissapointing. The garlic butter tasted "dirty" and overly greasy. Luckily, the Chamomile Tea I ordered (S$5 for a pot) served well to washed down the rather bad taste left by the bread. The Antipasto Italiano (S$22.50) was much more interesting and tasty with its good selection of traditional Italian appetizers such as bruschetta and grilled greens among other items.