Steamboat ala carte or buffet?!

 Argh... How to choose between eating more or eat better?

It's difficult! 

• If ”Ala Carte“, I get to choose what I want to eat, and how much I set aside. But typically, I will spend more than buffet. Because I go for what I want to eat, without giving myself a strict restrain on the pricing.

• If "Buffet", I will tend to overeat. Because I will want to try everything in small portions. Once I am done with a round of food tasting, I will go for more on those which I really enjoyed. Which I will ended up overeating because I just can't stop myself from going for more. Especially since it's buffet and in order not to have food wastage, I will make sure to clear up all the food.

So conclusion is... NO CONCLUSION！

Most of the time, I will go for steamboat buffet because of the cost (fixed price) and wide selection (I can try all sort in small portion). As compared to ala carte, I normally will end up with a billed amount that's slightly above my original estimation.

HIGH TEA AT HOME

Had a piece of brownie at home. Had a block of viennetta ice cream (Chocolate flavor) at home. I took both together and what a nice combination! A nice brownie ice cream. Tasted superb! (Reminded me of mudpie!)

I paired it off with a cup of hot Lavender Earl Grey tea. The chocolate somehow brought out the aroma of the Earl Grey while there was still the lingering fragrance of the Lavender. It was such a great match.

What a nice high tea time within the comfort of my home!

Review of The Buffet @ Level 2 M Hotel

Wasn't open till 12pm exact. A couple was earlier than us. Not sure how long they waited, but they were clearly upset that the restaurant had no staff at the counter minutes before 12pm.

At least the food was all ready when they opened the doors.

Compared to other hotel buffets, the dishes available is lesser than expected but my friend commented that it had more interesting dishes. (He is one who had been to many buffets.. well...compared to me)

The service is good though. The staffs were friendly and prompted in helping to clear the plates.

Complimentary cold/warm water and hot teh tarik were provided. 

Service: 4.5 out of 5. Despite they didn't have any staff waiting outside the counter before 12pm, once it was 12pm, service received was great.

Location: Walkable distance from Tanjong Pagar MRT but a bus ride and alight at the opposite of M Hotel is even close than the distance from MRT station.

Food: 4 out of 5. The buffet has a lot more desserts to choose from. Cake, ice creams, cut fruits and chocolate fondue.

Cost: $29.50++ per pax for weekday lunch (price per pax is after 50% discount using Eatigo App)

Foodie Times: McDonald New Salted Egg Yolk Chicken Burger with Salt & Pepper Crab flavored Twister Fries and Banana Pie

Cost: $9 

- Salted Egg Yolk Chicken Burger 

- Salt & Pepper Crab flavored Twister Fries 

- Banana Pie 

- Coke 

Salted Egg Yolk Chicken Burger

Salted Egg Yolk Chicken Burger (Burger Bread View)

Salted Egg Yolk Chicken Burger (Salted Egg Yolk View)

By the time I get to eat it, the salted egg yolk was a bit dried up. The taste of the salted egg yolk was still surprisingly obvious (as I had the Manhattan Salted Egg Yolk Dory Fish and the salted egg yolk paste was quite flat). Chicken was crispy, plenty of vegetable, bread was bread. After the first few bites, I found it a bit too plain and I added in the MacDonald's Garlic Chilli Sauce. Although it tasted better but the salted egg yolk was covered up by the chilli. For those who prefer salted egg yolk, don't add in other sauce.

Salt & Pepper Crab flavoured Twister Fries 

Sorry, no photo as I was too focus on the burger and the banana pie. 

The twister fries always make my day (unless I got a packet of real cold or soggy fries)  I always give this a thumbsup. Just the lady who packed my meal forgot to give me the shaker bag so I can only dip the Fries with Salt & Pepper Crab powder instead of 'coating them'.  With the powder, the twister fries original taste was further enhanced. 

Banana Pie

For those who thought the banana pie is something towards our local snack, fried banana pisang goreng, please DON'T!

When I took the first bite, the crust, just like the apple pie, was crispy but the filling... Pardon my limited taste for banana but I thought it doesn't seemed like the pisang goreng banana taste. It's is nice fragrant and with small chunks of banana, BUT it is not what I have expected. 

I would choose to have the apple pie instead.

Go for the burger and the twister fries!!

Foodie Times: Yong Tau Foo (Food to try in Singapore)

One of the food to recommend and commonly found in almost every food court/hawker centre would be Yong Tau Foo.

Have it for a heavy breakfast or lunch or dinner, it's a "any time can eat" choice. There is a wide variety of ingredients from fried to non fried, vegetables, beancurd stuffed with fish/seafood fillings, ngoh hiang, fishball, tofu, hotdog, etc etc

Basically the stall will have the food laid nicely at their front counter/rack. With a bowl and a tong, just grab the ingredients (usually I stopped at their minimum number of pieces needed to ordered). I always ordered it with yellow noodle without any soup or gravy and add on a lot of sweet sauce. But at times when I craved for hot and spicy, I will go for curry/laksa base. 

Previously, the stalls I visited would scald the ingredients in hot water. The fried items turned soggy after that. But nowadays, the fried items are separated from the non-fried ones. And some stalls actually re-fried those fried items. 

"Select your own" style, with sweet sauce and yellow noodle 

"Select your own" style, with sweet sauce and yellow noodle 

Koo Kee Yong Tow Foo Mee 高記釀豆腐面

A pre-selected set which comes with kangkong

How to order: 

1. Pick the ingredients you want from their display counter into the bowl. There is a minimum number of item for a certain price. After the minimum number of item is met, additional pricing will be added (based each additional item)

2. Choose base:
-> Spicy Gravy (curry/laksa dependent on the stall),
-> (Non-spicy) Hakka Gravy (only selected stall offer this),
-> Clear Soup based or
-> Plain (they either fried the ingredients or scald it with hot water)

3. Choose noodle/rice (dependent on the stall also):
-> Huang Mian (Yellow noodle)
-> You Mian (Thin Yellow noodle)
-> Guo Tiao (flat rice noodles)
-> Mi Fen/Bee Hoon (Rice vermicelli - thin)
-> Cu Mi Fen (Rice vermicell - thick)
-> Plain white rice
-> Plain (without any noodle)

Condiments to go along:

1. Sweet Sauce - I always go for this. Don't be mistaken, this is NOT ketchup. Although it is sweet, it is totally different taste (apart from being sweet) from ketchup.

2. Chili Sauce - This is for the majority of the people I know... But there are some who actually liked to mix both sauces together (a scoop of sweet sauce and a scoop of chili sauce)

3. Sesame oil/seeds - Make it smell nicer with a tablespoon amount of sesame oil or go for a less oily version with sesame seeds.

For Koo Kee Yong Tow Foo Mee 高記釀豆腐面, just select a set from their menu. The dish's ingredients is pre-fixed. For the condiments to go along, it would be the same as normal stalls.

Foodie Times: Non Entrée Desserts

Taste: 5 out of 5. 

- Chocolate Avalanche: Presentation was so beautiful and cute. When I cut a portion of the cake, a smooth running chocolate started to ooze into the glass ball below. Quickly took a snapshot, I pushed the cake and biscuit down into the glass ball to eat it together with the ice cream. The chocolate was warm and concentrated with a well-balance sweetness and goes very well with the orange tangy ice cream. The biscuit that remained crispy even when soaked in the chocolate and ice cream. The only thing I need to complain is... It's NOT ENOUGH for me! It's just so nice to eat.

Service: -  Friendly and fast. Didn't take long for the dessert to be served. Waitress was very detail. For every dessert, she personally gave the instructions from how we can get a better photo to the steps for eating the dessert.

Location: Located at the Rangoon road, it is still a distance from Farrer Park MRT. Look up for the buses which can bring you to nearest bus stop with approx. 2 minutes walk to the shop. Here's the link to their Facebook.

Price: $13.90++ for the Chocolate Avalanche.

Foodie Times: Snacking!! Churros Churros Churros

Started with my craving for churros.. It was difficult to find in the past and I could only find them at selected cinema popcorn store. It seems to be in trend now! So here I come...

Churros 101 

(The 2 images on the right side from the top of the picture)

- Cream Cheese Churro

- Dark Chocolate Churro

Taste: 4.5 out of 5. 

- Cinnamon Churros: Realized there was a difference in length (it was longer than the churros with fillings). Better to have a drink to go along for this. It made me felt thirsty because of the sweetness and the oil/heat. Texture is a bit overcooked (quite dark color)

- Dark Chocolate Churro & Cream Cheese Churros: My last purchase for the Dark Chocolate Churros was a disappointing less than 20cm in length. Not sure if it's supposed to be that length or I was shortchanged. The first time I tried the same thing, it was way LONGER. Anyway, I still recommend to go for the churros with fillings. Better in taste and keep you going for more. I prefer the cream cheese than the dark chocolate.

Service: -  Order over their counter. (Just some nagging : The first time I was there, we were misled by the collection queue for the ordering queue. The collection point sign was blocked by the people where half of those in the collection queue are customers thinking it was the ordering queue. The ordering point/queue was blocked by their congratulation flower stands. But now that the area is unblock, no one will be mislead)

Location: Located at the 3rd floor of Bugis+, walkable from Bugis Junction (linked to Bugis MRT)

Price: $3+~ $6+/churros (depending on the type of churro ordered)

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Back Alley Bites

(The last images at the bottom right corner of the picture)

- Cinnamon Churros with Chocolate Dip

Taste: 4 out of 5. Served with chocolate sauce (can be changed from a few selection), it must be due to me still recovering from a bad cold and cough, the churros felt too "heaty" and not well cooked inside. I poured the entire chocolate sauce in to try to finish it. I read from their facebook and it was all good reviews. I should just revisit but till then, this will be my verdict for now. 

Service:  -  Order over their counter. (I remembered that day the store was almost running out of everything. And although it was a simple order, make and collect, the male cashier seemed to be a bit impatient with few customers.)

Location: The one I had was at Bukit Batok Pasar Malam.

Cost: Approx $4+

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Jimmy's Seaside Fries 

(The 2 images on the left side of the picture)

- Churros with Chocolate Dip

Taste: 3.5 out of 5. Had to pay for the chocolate dip and I regretted getting a dip. It was too sweet for me and the churros was too oily. With every bite, I could feel the oil on my lips and also, there seemed to be an extra flavor...of chicken or something savory...just not churros only. Wonder if the oil was shared with their other fried items.

Service: - Order over the kiosk counter 

Location: Located at the 1st floor of IMM, walkable from Jurong East MRT station.

Price: Approx $5 

Foodie Times @ TOBY'S The Dessert Asylum

spicy hot wings

 chicken cordon bleu

 German bratwurst and cheese sausage

 Seek asylum

D'Lover

Taste: 5 out of 5
-> Spicy hot wings (served with garden salad): 6 pcs in total, served with salad. Can choose to have the sauce on the side for your own dipping and we opted for it. Don't worry if you are not a spicy stuff lover because it ain't that spicy. The sauce felt like assam + tomato (Pardon me if it's not assam). But have it plain without any sauce, the freshly cooked/fried wings is good enough as the wings were served hot and crispy but not too oily. With the sauce, it is a new kind of taste which doesn't burnt the tongue or stomach and still give you plenty of space for your mains.

-> German bratwurst and cheese sausage (served with garden salad and choice of fries/rice or potato salad): It's hard to go wrong with this dish and their accompanying sauce brings the German bratwurst to a better level of taste. I can't really describe it. Got to eat it personally to find out.

-> Chicken cordon bleu (served with garden salad and choice of fries/rice or potato salad) - The outer crust is a bit thick but I am guessing because of the sauce, it would be better to be thick than thin or it will be too soggy as time goes by.

-> Seek asylum - Must try this! As much as I liked their sides and main, the dessert made me go WOW! Keep me going for more!! I had tried similar dessert of this but this is the first one that make you feel comfortable on the sweetness. Must be the Baileys Irish Cream (In the picture, I have not poured them so it's not visible)

-> D'Lover: Chanced upon a post in their Facebook about this durian with chocolate dessert and being a durian lover... I made sure I ordered it. This is not on their table menu but at their cake counter. This dessert would be great IF i didn't ordered the "Seek Asylum". Not advisable if you are already feeling very full from the main course because durian + chocolate combi can be very filling for some.

Service: Service is great. We were greeted even before we stepped in. The waiter explained to us on their their ongoing promotions and was very detailed in our orders. One thing to note would be their ipad has the pictures of the dishes. Would be great if we could see those pictures on the table menu. 

Anyway, despite the busy/dinner hours, they took notice of our empty cups and refilled them without us having to request them to. Will love to revisit. Keep up with the good service and good food! 

Location: It's situated in between the location of Jurong East MRT and Clementi MRT. A bus from either MRT station will get you there. 

Cost: $60+ for 2 pax. The dessert is almost the cost of a main but it's worth trying... Better bring a partner along to share cost! :D

Foodie Review: Tea Time @ TWG Tea Salon & Boutique - The Shoppes at Marina Bay Sands

Taste: 5 out of 5.
-> Tea: I had the usual Earl Grey while my partner went for the 1837 Black Tea. Both tea fragrance smelled great. The tea was smooth and served at the perfect temperature that doesn't burn our tongue.

-> Muffins: I am not a muffin lover but we went for the muffins. The chocolate muffin was towards a brownie texture where the chocolate melts in my mouth. The sweetness is well-balanced. I liked it a lot!! The muffins are served with a small servings of their tea jelly and a whipped cream. I finished off the butter/vanilla muffin with the tea jelly. I would HIGHLY recommend their tea jelly! I liked it so much that I immediately purchased a bottle after my high tea. But it is indeed a pricey item (SGD $19 for a bottle)

Service: 4.5 out of 5. There is only one person who does the ushering. When seated, the waiters were very efficient.

Location: Take the Circle Line and alight at Promenade and head to the basement 2 of The Shoppes at Marina Bay Sands.

Cost: $36+ for 2 person. Note for tea time, it is required that each diner must order at least 1 pot of tea/drink. We went for the tea time set (1 pot of tea + 2 muffins/scones) @ $19 and top up with another pot of tea.

Foodie Times: Sushi Tei @ JEM Jurong East

Sushi Tei

Tamagoyaki (Can't remember the exact name to it)

Taste: 5 out of 5.
Tamagoyaki - This is one of the basic Japanese dish that SHOULD NEVER go wrong AND it didn't go wrong so yeah. This is nice!
Potato Coquette - This is one of the basic Japanese snacks which can hardly go wrong (unless served cold).
Chicken Don: The sweet sauce quantity was proportional to the rice and ingredients. Meat is soft and quantity is enough to cover the bowl.. (but the bowl is not very big). Tasted even better with Shichimi (7 flavor chili pepper)
Tempura Don: This was during the period where I was SOOOoo into tempura don. The portion is decent but not recommended for the big eater unless with side dishes. The sweet sauce quantity was proportional to the rice and tempura. The tempura items was enough to go with the rice. The tempura was crispy on the outside, and the thickness/meat still retain it's fragrance and of the right texture.

Service: 5 out of 5. So far, Sushi Tei had always gave a good impression for service.

Location: At the 3rd level of the shopping mall @ JEM, beside Jurong East MRT
Price: $40 for the above (for 2 person)

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Just some blabbing..
Most of my food reviews:-

Taste grading are often given 4~5 out of 5 because of 1 main point. I can't cook better than the chef. Unless it was really awfully, below expectation, simply inedible, else the reviews will not be given anything lower than 3.5.

Service grading between 3~5 is for the average to excellent service. Anything lower than 3, it would be due to bad attitude, physical abuse (well I did got splash with a glass of watermelon juice because the waiter was a new staff who couldn't manage his tray of 5 glasses), etc etc

Foodie Times Hong Guo @ Chinatown Point

Cross Bridge Vermicelli 

Szechuan Chilli Chicken Cube

Pumpkin with salted egg york

Taste: 4.5 out of 5.
-> Cross Bridge Vermicelli: There were different sets to choose from. We opted for the one with vegetable and meat. The noodle seemed like the thick rice noodle while I was expecting the thin version. The bowl was huge and the soup was hot, but not piping hot... (I want it to be piping hot). 
It was bland with a lot of vegetables. Didn't add any condiment since our side dishes was spicy.
->Szechuan Fried Chicken Cube: Lived up to it's name. It is spicy. Compliments well with the vermicelli.
-> Pumpkin with salted egg york: It was a bit soggy when served. Not sure if it's meant to be. Can taste the pumpkin and a bit of salted egg. Portion seemed a bit too little (for me since I am a big eater)

Service: 5 out of 5. The waitress was very detail in the orders. She checked with us if we wanted the vermicelli set to be served with everything in the bowl or served as shown in the menu where we pour in the ingredients on our own.

Location: Accessible via Circle Line @ Chinatown and proceed to Chinatown Point @ Level 2.

Cost: Can't remember the exact cost but should be around $40 for the above side dishes + 2 sets of the vermicelli (around $20 per person)

Foodie Times: Korean Dessert Bingsu Bingsu Bingsu

Location: Refer to the description below the pictures

 

Mango Bingu - Chicken Up @ Jurong East MRT

Taste: 5 out of 5. Served with whipped cream, it doesn't look like what is shown in their picture. BUT, the finely shaved ice is great. Melts in the mouth and no lumpy ice. A pity it was mango with whipped cream, mango chunks and mango syrup. But for the price, what's more can I ask for.

Service: 4.5 out of 5. For this Bingsu, it was fast unlike my subsequent visit at Chicken Up. 

Location: Located at the 1st floor of Jurong East MRT station.

Cost: $3.50 @ Qoo10 discount

 

Mango Bingu - JIJIM @ Westgate Basement

Taste: 4 out of 5. Wanted to impress someone with the fine shaved ice. Had my expectation up since I tried the bingsu @ Chicken Up. However, it wasn't as good. There were still small lumps of ice and it was a bit too sweet. Apart from the shaved ice, there were a scoop of mango ice cream and a lot of mango chunks.

Service:3.5 out of 5. Preparation was quick a long wait. Not sure what went wrong on that day of my purchase but could see the lady going around many times making this. 

Location: Located at the basement of Westgate, beside Jurong East MRT

Cost: $7.90 per serving. 

Coffee Bingsu (Size = Double) - Caffebene @ Vivocity

Finally get to try this. Been to the place once but it was full house and almost gave up waiting for seats again. There are seats outdoor but it was a hot weather so we didn't want to melt ourselves (and the bingsu) with the weather. To enjoy, push in the ice cream and mixed well. Then... just dig in!

Taste: 4.5 out of 5. This is the bigger size version since there were 3 of us sharing. I found it sweet when I was almost finishing it. It reminded me of the ice-blend mocha from McCafe. I guess I am really more of a tea person than coffee. But the nuts, cereal and chocolate/coffee beans ingredients keep me going as there gave a plenty of those.

Service: 4.5 out of 5. Since there were other orders ahead of ours, so we did wait for a short while.

Location:  Level 2 of Vivocity. (We got lost even though we had been there before).

Cost: $19.90 for the Double Size

Foodie Times Tim Ho Wan @ Westgate

Location: Tim Ho Wan @ Westgate

What I ordered

Signature Char Siew Pork Bun

Braised Beancurd

Every month special: Salt and Pepper Dory Fish Fillet 

Osmanthus with Wolfberries Jelly 

Taste: 5 out of 5  (Excellent). Everything served are hot (except the dessert which is supposed to be cold). Taste just right. Serving is good for me since my dining partner is a small eater.

Service: 4.5 out of 5. The staffs are fast and their dish serving is quick. 

Location: Alight at Jurong East Mrt and proceed to the 1st level of Westgate.

Cost: Around SGD $30+ for the above.

Must know: 

1. There are many outlets apart from Westgate. Find them here.
2. They have a special menu which featured seasonal dishes which changes every month. 
3. When it first open in Singapore, the queue is terribly long. So.. Order takeaways! But the price is different from the dine in menu and not all items at the dine in menu are available for takeaways.

Foodie Times Tonkatsu Ma Maison

Went to try Tonkatsu Ma Maison @ Westgate by chance and after that, I just can't stopped craving for more. After my visit to the outlet at Westgate, I went on to try the outlets @ Chijmes and Mandarin Gallery.

What I ordered

Tonakatsu - Ma Maison @ Westgate - Jurong East (Highly recommended)

Taste: 5 out of 5  (Excellent). Soup served is hot and taste great. Multigrain rice or white rice to choose from (I recommend to opt for multigrain rice). Tonkatsu served is crispy on the outside with not too thick or thin meat.

Service: 5 out of 5  (Excellent). The number of staffs seemed limited but they maintained their efficiency in providing service. When my rice/soup/cabbage/tea is almost finished, they quickly came to ask if refill is needed.

Location: Alight at Jurong East Mrt and proceed to the 5th level of Westgate, it is just next to the Kids playground.

Cost: Around SGD $27 for a tonkatsu (pork loin) 160grams.

Must know: 

1. The set comes with refillable soup, rice and cabbage. 
2. If patronize during lunch time, there is lunch time special price.
3. Flexibility in ordering the portions. Choose the weight of the meat from 120grams, 160grams or 250grams. 

Foodie Times Tsujiri @ Tanjong Pagar 100AM

Continued my eating spree in the lunch hours.

The hot weather forced us to seek shelter in the airconditioned shopping mall @ 100AM.

Came to this store Tsujiri which take prides in bringing the best quality green tea (matccha).

Majority of their items are beverages but the roll cake caught my attention. 

Hojicha Roll Cake

Ever since I tried Hojicha, everything related to Hojicha will immediately get my attention. If I remembered correctly, there was a label saying this roll cake is a limited quantity item. I bought it almost immediately. 

A plus factor for the roll cake, it came with (I assumed) matccha whip cream and red bean. It helped to "up" the roll cake's value. Cake texture is compact. The red bean added sweetness to it. The whip cream is light on taste but it turned watery. The presence of Hojicha is minimal.  

Cost: Approx. $5+ (Can't remember the exact cost)

Quantity: Good

Visual: Good 

Location: Around 10 minutes walk from Tanjong Pagar MRT

Foodie Times Tendon Ginza Itsuki@ Tanjong Pagar

Went to Tendon Ginza Itsuki on a weekday and joined the queue at 11.20am.

Afternoon operation starts at 11.30am till 2.30pm.

The staff/chef came out to take order at around 11.25am. Had to decide on the spot between the 2 set as they need to prepare. With a price difference of $1, I opted for the Special set which had prawn, chicken on top of the pumpkin, baby corn, etc etc which I remembered from the internet menu it was priced at $13.90.

We were given a seat at the corner table and ordered green tea. With no menu found anywhere, I just assumed green tea would be the least pricey drink. 

This bowl of cabbage was the free flow side served in Tendon Ginza Itsuki. Seemed pretty similar to normal cabbage, not spicy or sour just mild sweet and crunchy at room temperature or slightly cold and mixed with other vegetables. I had a small serving of this and stopped to save space for the main dish later.

After waiting for roughly 10-15 mins, our food came...

The Chawanmushi has a soft and silky texture covered with a layer of thick broth which reminded me of sharkfin. The seaweed complements the egg perfectly with naruto, mushroom etc within. 

Here is the main course

Highlight of all would be the baby corn.
I am not a corn lover, but this baby corn is crunchy and has a fresh corn smell/taste which is just right for my taste bud.

The least recommended ingredient would be the chicken.
I am a meat lover and I didn't like how the chicken doesn't taste like chicken. Even the taste of chicken wasn't present! It is recommended to "bath" the chicken with the sweet sauce to compensate for the bland taste.

Although the portion seemed small, but I was bloated in the end. Maybe it's the tea although I had a cup only.

Settled the bill but... Surprised!Surprised!

Cost: Approx. $22 each person. (The green tea was $3.80 and not yet inclusive of the additional charges!)

Quantity: Just nice! 

Visual: Excellent (The mushroom came later and was served separately. The staff offered to help place it nicely)

Location: Just 10 minutes walk from Tanjong Pagar MRT