The roasted duck meat was not at all tough or dry but was tender and succulent. The meat was well flavoured and the duck skin retained a little crispiness. I was very impressed by the roasted pork especially its crunchy skin. The roasted pork skin layer had been roasted to a nice crispy perfection- a quality that is so elusive in many other roasted meat joints. There was definitely a satisfying crunch with every bite! The pork meat indeed had a lingering salty taste from its seasoning but the meat itself was not dry. The char siew was also really good- it was incredibly well marinated and juicy. The sides of each char siew slice were slightly charred which gave the char siew a nice subtle smokey taste.I had the meats without any additional chili sauce or condiments and I really feel the meats taste so good on their own that adding any condiments might mar their taste. This probably just shows how good, well marinated and flavourful the roast meats are!
If I had to pick a bad point, I just wished they could be more generous with the cucumber slices. Other than that I was really highly satisfied with my plate of roast meat rice!
Kim Heng Roasted Meat, Blk 214, #01-88 Serangoon Ave 4, Serangoon, Singapore 550214. It's located opposite the Serangoon Swimming Complex/Serangoon Stadium.
Yes, it's Sheng Jian Bao (生煎包), this really delicious distant cousin of xiaolongbao. It is essentially a dumpling containing pork filling and fragrant soup broth just like xiao long bao, but it's encased in a thicker dough and is pan-fried, so the bottom becomes crispy golden brown. My first taste of 生煎包 is in Shanghai from one of those roadside food vendors who actually pan-fry these wonderful dumplings on the spot in a shallow pan. Unfortunately, Crystal Jade's take on this bun is not as good as what I had in Shanghai. The soup inside the bun had been absorbed by the bun dough and as a result, it was a little soggy. The dough was also too dense for my liking. Do you have any recommended places for Sheng Jian Bao?
This is the Roasted Meat Platter ($17), which comes with soya sauce chicken breast, roasted duck and char siew. The chicken and roasted duck were surprising not tough and an absolute delight to eat. The char siew slices were too thick for my liking but still very well marinated and flavourful.
Also part of the special anniversary meal is this Sauteed Clam dish ($17). This is just a small portion of the dish, the server took the initiative to split the dish for each person. The slightly salty brown gravy went really well with the fresh clam meat, but we realized the clam meat served was rather small and it was a hassle to pry open some clam shells that remain stubbornly tight shut. Perhaps your $17 can be better spent on another dish?
Stewed Vermicelli with King Prawn and seafood ($17) is a really tasty *premium* seafood beehoon dish. It is fried with generous scallop and clam bits and sitting on top of the vermicelli is this really huge sized, fresh succulent king prawn. The vermicelli is freshly fried on the spot, as it is evident from the piping hot steam emanating from the dish when it arrived and the vermicelli isn't too dry at all.
The Fried Radish Cake ($5.20) didn't look appealing at first, but take one bite and you will be wowed by how perfectly golden crispy its outer skin is. The fragrant radish encased inside was really soft and smooth and it serves as a nice contrast against the crunchy outer layer.
And another staple in dim sum menus- Liu Sha Bao or Custard Bun ($12 for 6 pieces). Man Fu Yuan serves out a unique Deep fried version of custard bao, which has nice golden brown outer layer. The fillings for both steamed and deep fried versions are similar- rich, molten yellow blots of salted egg and custard that ooze out as you puncture your buns. I personally prefer the deep fried version- it's a bit like eating man tou with custard filling, but both versions are really tasty. The rich, generous custard flowy fillings really make this bun worth trying. Do remember to ask for the deep fried version, because it is not stated explicitly in the menu and our unhelpful waiter did not mention about it until asked.
I was quite impressed by this; the outer layers were flaky and crisp, while the insides were soft and buttery. It was not dense at all and every rich buttery bite was an absolute delight. While the croissant can be savoured plain, you can also help yourself to butter and jam provided by the bakery. Do note they have a counter dispensing butter, strawberry jam and marmalade inside the shop. Just walk to the back and help yourself! The fluffy insides of the croissant definitely went very well with the additional condiments.
If you find plain croissants boring, the bakery also serves out a really superb Chocolate Almond Croissant ($3.50), which has the same croissant shell stuffed with generous amounts of sliced almonds and chocolate filling. The pastry is surprisingly not over cloyingly sweet and I enjoyed munching on soft, fluffy dough with crunchy almonds.
They also have an extensive selection of cakes and I regret not getting any during my visit. I was impressed by the croissants and judging by the overcrowded cafe on a weekday afternoon, many people appreciate their quality bread and desserts. Will definitely come back for more in my next visit!
The texture is almost similar to Lao Ban's- semi solid silky smooth pudding that bursts into soya milk in your mouth. Lao Ban wins taste wise- nothing beats their fresh soya bean taste and they have a certain nice fragrant, malty taste to it. This recipe produces soya beancurd that is perhaps more similar to what 51 Soya Bean serves.
Sushi Tei is one of my favourite Japanese food restaurants; I somehow find their bowl of katsu-don very comforting and hunger busting. While they strive to produce fresh quality Japanese food, I always find myself intrigued by their ongoing special menus.
I had a bowl of Chasyu Don ($9) from the special menu. Tender roast pork slices, served atop rice are slathered in a nice sweet dark sauce. The egg served in this dish is really good, the egg yolk is molten- literally in a semi solid-liquid form that brings me such joy to savour.
Sushi Tei also has another set of promotional menu that changes with the seasons. This Lobster Salad Roll ($8.80) can be found in its current "Early Summer Promotion" menu. I really enjoyed chomping on the fresh lobster bits and crunchy roe topping with the sushi rolls.
For dessert, we got Matcha and Yuzu Sorbet ice cream ($3.40 per scoop) from the regular menu. Following the advice of 
They serve a variety of barbecued meat sets, rice, noodle and soup sets. This restaurant operates in a typical Amerian school cafeteria style- First, grab a tray, then join the queue. As you move up the queue, grab drinks and/or appetizers to go. (BTW they have quite a few interesting Korean can drinks available). Place your orders with the waiter and wait for your food order to arrive then pay. I realised the waitress at the counter was Korean only after attempting to order my set in Chinese and she didn't really understand me. (Me so embarrassed!) So just order your desired meal set number in English.
I had a Fish (mackerel) and Chicken BBQ meat combo set for $6.20 (after NUS student discount). I really thought it was worth it, especially since the portions of meat were really big. The combo also came with a bowl of rice, soup and two korean condiments (kim chi and seaweed). Taste-wise, the meat combo was really decent, somewhat above your ordinary food court stall standard. The mackerel was really fresh and the outer skin was grilled to crispy perfection, whereas the flesh inside remained soft and juicy. The chicken was tender, well marinated and as a result, flavourful. The sauce is a typical Korean marinade sauce- a combination of sweet and spicy which tingles your tongue, definitely a delight with white rice.
The turnover rate here is quite high, and queues only form when the stall runs out of carrot sticks and the uncle is still in the midst of frying a new batch. When I visited on a Saturday afternoon, there was a small queue in front of me but quickly dissipated once a new batch of freshly fried carrot sticks arrived. It so happened that the uncle was frying his last batch of carrot sticks, so I was fortunate enough to get hold of a bag of 16 sticks before they sold out!
Each fried carrot stick is fried to a nice perfect golden brown.
The texture is amazing. Each stick is coated with a nice crispy deep fried layer, but the insides are still soft and chewy, just like your normal carrot cake. Each stick also has a light fried flavour and you definitely will not stop at one. It's best to eat it on the spot while it's warm- if the carrot sticks are left out for too long, it becomes a little cold and soggy, definitely not as enjoyable.
For 70 cents, you get a medium cup of coffee that offers Ya kun quality coffee, for almost half the price of a cup at Ya Kun! The coffee here really very similar to that of Ya Kun and it also shares a similar characteristic strong aroma and flavour intensity. Coffee lovers would be happy to know that for just another mere 10 cents, (80 cents) you can get a large cup of coffee (served in a glass cup found at coffee shops). Coffee is really affordable here, even coffee shops outside charge an average of a dollar for coffee. They are also very generous with the amount of sugar and condensed milk poured into each cup, so for people who prefer their coffee to be less sweet, remember to order Kopi siew dai!
The Ellenborough Market Cafe is located inside the Swisshotel Merchant Court Hotel, just walking distance from Clarke Quay MRT (take exit B!) The restaurant has a nice colonial style decor- very nice and homely. There are two buffet stations- one near the entrance serves fresh, raw seafood, desserts and the other main station inside the restaurant offers the rest of the spread. Here are some highlights:
Japanese/ Korean food counter- There's free flow sashimi, freshly cut slices of salmon and tuna that are perpetually swept off the serving plates by eager sashimi lovers. Be prepared to face hoardes of hostile uncle and aunties bent on removing every single sashimi slice from the place. A sushi chef also furiously prepares various sushi pieces which are also constantly swept off the plates. I don't envy the sushi chef's job; if he is not cutting up sashimi, he's rolling up sushi, or being stared down by impatient uncles and aunties. There was also some korean salad served with hints of kim chi which was rather meh.
Cold seafood counter- There are raw oysters, mussels and steamed prawns to choose from. I was suffering from a severe oyster craving, hence the pile of oysters on my plate. Oysters were quite fresh- didn't have any stomach upset the next day hehe. Prawns were big, juicy and succulent.
Nonya food counter- A wide variety of authentic nonya dishes like Ayam Buah Keluk, Chap Chye, fish, Nonya otah. There is also a Kong Ba Pau counter where the chef will prepare the soft steamed buns with braised pork on the spot. There is also a Nonya dessert counter which serves out an assortment of mini bite size kuehs kuehs placed in erm, bird cages.
Hot food counter- The two must try dishes are Butter Fish with Broadbean Sauce and Stir Fried Slipper Lobster in Black Bean Sauce (above). The fish is an excellent dish with great texture and flavour, and its quality is comparable to those served out in expensive chinese restaurants. No wonder the fish meat is quickly polished off the plate once it touches the table. The slipper lobster is also another dish that is not exempt from diners' relentless stomachs. The lobster meat is very fresh, retains QQ texture and goes really well with the black bean sauce that is not overly salty. Do examine the lobster shells carefully; you would want to pick the piece with the meatiest section (like the one shown above) and not some random shell part with no meat. This uncle in front of me actually took his time digging into the catering dish to locate the fattest, juiciest lobster meat (like digging gold in black sauce) and ended up hogging the queue. (He obviously didn't care what people behind him thought). And if you can't do without your greens, do grab some Stir fried seasonal vegetables in abalone sauce, also available here.
Durian Pengat- The famous, MUST TRY durian dessert served here. It is essentially thick, luscious durian cream, pureed from high quality durian flesh. Each mouthful is bursting with fragrant, bittersweet taste of durians pulp and cream. Durian lovers would TRULYMADLYDEEPLYABSOLUTELY adore this. I was somewhat tempted to haul the whole vat of durian pengat back to the table, but I managed to restrain myself.
Dessert counter- Sorry, I was too lazy to arrange the items nicely on the plate, but you get the idea- this place serves an assortment of cakes and pastries. I was too full to stomach everything by then, but there were also local desserts and ice cream available!
Sarang is located on the 7th floor of Orchard Central (the sprawling shopping complex designed like a rat maze). It has a small indoor seating area which is usually filled up. There are also outdoor seats and seats at the bar, where diners can barbecue their own food or get the chef to do it. We were assigned bar seats since most places were already booked up (business is booming on weekends). The outdoor restaurant is really airy but be prepared to walk out smelling faintly of korean bbq. Kpop fans will enjoying the booming Kpop music videos projected on a large screen behind the bar. It's a really nice place to chill out and I discovered they serve decent cocktails!
This place serves Makgeolli- a korean rice wine with alcohol content of about 5%. It has a characteristic milky, off-white colour and is sweet. The bar serves out several Makgeolli cocktails and we had their Makgeolli Mojito (above, $10) and Makgeolli Orange ($10, background). The mojito was fantastic! I really liked the refreshing hints of citrus and mint, but the drink itself is still sweet (mainly from Makgeolli and sugar). The orange concoction was a bit like orange sparkling juice, but I guess citrus lovers will enjoy the fresh squeezed orange pulp bits inside the drink.
My friend was craving for Korean BBQ, so we ordered the DIY BBQ Platter ($38.80) where you get to select any 3 meat items from the ala carte menu, which was more worth it since each meat item costs between $16.80-19.80. We got ourselves Jeyuk Bakeum (marinated pork slices), Dak Galbi (marinated chicken) and Galbi Sal (marinated boneless beef ribs).
You also get to choose whether you want to cook the items yourself or get the chef to cook it for you. We opted for the former, so we were given this mini grill pan which came with some semi cooked mushrooms, kim chi, bean sprout and lettuce condiments to go with the meats. The waitresses are quite attentive, one even advised us to lower the fire to prevent the meats from overcooking. So BBQ noobs don't be afraid, you won't get burnt. The waitress also assured us that the oil from the grill will not splatter, but the pan got oily after a while and there were some oil splatter around the area. You can request for a change of grill pan, it somewhat helped reduce oil splatters. The meats were quite thinly sliced, so they cooked quickly. They were quite tender and well marinated, and I quite enjoyed the meal!
(Picture taken from Starbucks SG FB page)
It looks big from the outside but FFT@8QSAM is actually really small inside, so reserve your tables early if you intend to pop by over weekends, or head over to their bigger outlet at the Botanic Gardens. Part of the profits generated by the restaurant goes to several selected goodwill missions and charities, so it lives up to its motto of "Good Food for a Good Cause" (see 
Perhaps the centrepiece of this outlet, is its extensive light installation made out of food jars hanging from the ceiling. White tiles adorn the walls of the place- their signature look. Even the table we set on was covered with small tiles- giving off a very utilitarian kitchen vibe.
I had their Garlic Prawn & Red Capsicum Linguine ($16). It's pipping hot al-dente linguine- not too oily but a little dry for me. The garlic prawns served were huge and succulent, and the dish was garnished with bits of red capsicum and coriander leaves. The pasta dish was tasty, though I thought the portions were a little small (or I was probably hungry).
My friend had Mussels in Creamy Laksa Broth ($18), a dish that is part of their May menu promotion. You have a choice of linguine or french fries, in a fantastic laksa broth sauteed with roasted capsicum, thickened with fresh cream and garnished with laksa leaves. I am a huge laksa fan and the cream broth really captured the authentic laksa taste which went surprisingly well with mussels. I did think the laksa sauce could be thicker but after some thought that may not be as enjoyable. Thick creamy laksa sauce+pasta+mussels would definitely make a deadly jerlek combo.
FFT also serves out all day breakfast set. Here is their House Works ($12) with generous portions of scrambled eggs, fried bacon, toasted brioche, hash brown and thyme tomato salad.
And finally for dessert, we had Dark Chocolate & Stewed Cherries Pancake ($12). (BTW, pancakes are not on the dessert menu, they have a separate section, but anything with chocolate, sugar and flour makes the cut hurhur). So they serve out two freshly cooked warm pancakes (they even have a slight raw flour taste to it) generously topped with dark chocolate curvatures, cherries, fresh cream, drizzled in gula meleka syrup. How decadent can it get? The chocolate bits actually melt on the warm pancake, so the dark chocolate sauce spreads nicely throughout the pancake. The pancakes were thick and fluffy and definitely went well with the toppings. I wasn't able to detect much gula meleka from the syrup, it tasted like normal syrup to me, but nonetheless I thoroughly enjoyed this! (Too bad the others were too full to eat anymore so I had the entire thing to myself muhaha).
I particularly like their Seafood Aglio Olio Pasta ($20.50++). It's perfect al dente spaghetti tossed in olive oil, chili flakes and garlic. The spaghetti is firm, has bite and goes very well with the huge pan seared scallop pieces and fresh prawns served in this dish. Garlic lovers will like the generous sprinkling of garlic over this dish.
tcc has also expanded its food menu and I tried this new item- Baby Crayfish Spaghetti ($20++) which is spaghetti tossed in luscious tomato cream sauce with generous servings of sauteed baby crayfish, topped with green wasabi fish roe. I felt the tomato cream sauce was actually a good combination of tomato and cream flavours; it is slightly watery and not too overly creamy thick. I quite enjoyed slurping the firm spaghetti strands drenched in the sauce. The baby crayfish served here were fresh and they were really generous with the portions. The wasabi fish roe added a nice crunchy, sharp peppery wasabi flavour to the entire mix which complemented the dish.