Yomenya Goemon (Changi City Point)

Basic info: Yomenya Goemon's main highlights are their Japanese-style spaghetti.. and they serve Japanese-style pizza too.. I find their website (http://www.n-rs.com.sg/) very helpful.. the menu on the website shows the pictures (close to the real deal) of the food items and prices.. i'd recommend anyone who is interested to browse through their website before going in clueless..



each lunch set comes with soup, a soft drink and (DIY) salad~~~
i ordered regular lunch set because i read that their portions are big..




salad is DIY at the salad bar.. i'm super picky when it comes to vegetables.. though it's not colorful and attractive.. i'm posting the picture of my salad anyway.. for those who are interested to know, i had lettuce, tofu, cucumber, pineapple and lychee.. heehee..



hmmm.. is the soup tofu soup? i only had one sip.. i think my taste buds had been pampered too much.. i thought that the soup was rather bland.. (-.-) nvm.. i was too full from drinking my ginger ale anyway..



Avocado & Shrimp with Cheese Cream Sauce: the avocado did not blend into the dish and also did not bring out the taste i thought it would be.. the spaghetti and sauce did not have a tinge of avocado taste.. on another hand.. the avocado's taste was masked by the creamy sauce.. it's a "not-here-nor-there" spaghetti..



Mozzarella & Pork Sausage with Napolitean Sauce: it was average.. nothing to inspire me to write more..

Verdict: maybe because i cook spaghetti too so i have high expectations when i visit restaurants, especially those that recommend or sell spaghetti only.. Yomenya Goemon did not surprise me.. but i'm willing to try it again because of the DIY salad bar and big big portion of spaghetti and the wide variety of spaghetti choices.. that being said.. maybe i made poor choices of spaghetti.. i will try others next time!

Service: pleasant but they could walk around more often and look around to see if there are customers in distress.. wahahahaaa~

Ambience: comfortably bright.. not too dim.. seats were quite close to your neighbours.. so u'll be practically sharing your neighbours' woes and gossips..

FYI: only one serving from the salad bar is allowed.. it would be so much better if it's salad bar buffet~~ keke..
Yomenya Goemon (Changi City Point)
Address: 5 Changi Business Park Central 1, #01-28 Changi City Point, Singapore
Tel: 66364816
Website: http://www.n-rs.com.sg/

Bay Sushi (Marina Bay Sands)

Bay Sushi has, thus far, very positive reviews.. I had high hopes and expectations since Bay Sushi is under Todai.. Let me review my food experience at this cosmopolitan sushi outlet that claims to satisfy cravings for adventurous treats in style..

All set lunches include Miso Soup, Avocado Salad, Agedashi Tofu, Chawanmushi, and Cheese Cake.



Miso soup was pretty average. It was served in a very small cup.. with a tea spoon at the side.. at the first glance across your neighbour's table, you might mistaken it as a cup of tea.. hahahahaa..



The Avocado Salad was above average.. the dressing has a tinge of citrus taste to it.. coupled with the creamy avocado and fresh crunchy vegetables made it as good as it can be.. unlike some salad in certain restaurants where u hoped that the chef could be more generous with the dressing.. rest assured that at Bay Sushi, the dressing is more than enough for u to savour and enjoy ur salad..



This Agedashi Tofu is not quite the Agedashi Tofu i had been eating.. u may call me conservative, typical, unconventional.. but this is NOT Agedashi Tofu... nothing was right about this dish.. hahahahaaa.. but still can eat lah.. it's not awful but not fantastic either..



The Chawanmushi was a big disappointment.. Judging from the branding (under Todai), location (MBS), price (each set lunch priced $50++), guess what is in this cup of Chawanmushi.. there's of course egg, fish cake (as u can see), a shrimp (as u can see) and. . . . . no more.. that's it.. srsly! my disappointment increases as i keep eating to the last scoop of steam egg with that tea spoon which was served with the Miso Soup.. pathetic to the max! i taste no chicken broth in that chawanmushi.. maybe there is but it was just too bland.. where's my crabstick? maybe a cube of chicken was lost somewhere? the fact that the restaurant is non-typical, i'll agree in this case..



putting the disappointment and grievances i have for the appetizers and soup aside, the main dish - Sashimi & Sushi was the highlight! the assorted sushi u see lined up on the front were ALL very yummilicious! (except the prawn sushi that was quite normal) no complaints.. none at all.. initially i thought it wouldn't be filling coz as you can see.. it's just a few slices of fish and mouthfuls of rice.. but i take back my words.. because the sashimi was cut super thick!!! each slice is about 0.7cm.. see pic below!



it was more than satisfying.. salmon, swordfish and tuna.. there were two slices for each of these sashimi.. one slice is equivalent to about two slices of what most other restaurants serve. can u imagine how ONE THICK slice of salmon sashimi melts in your mouth.. *drools*



Orange Chicken is such a pleasant surprise!!!! the thick tangy sauce was very rich and flavourful.. although the chicken cubes were heavily covered with the sauce, the skin was still crispy and the chicken were still juicy and tender! the cubes were cut big to satisfy each mouthful i take.. the portion was very big.. recommend for big-eaters.. :)



The Cheese cake was average.. it gave me the feeling of "nothing more, nothing less".. but i was really surprised that the cake was small.. normally i can finish in three mouthfuls.. but being polite, i finished in 5 mouthfuls.. kekeke..

Ambience: not bad wor.. it's not people-staring kind of envrt and seats were quite spaced out.. they even have private rooms.. but their seating is quite limited..

Service: most staff are very pleasant.. but not very attentive.. generally normal singapore service lor.. dun expect the kind of service u get in Japan lah..

but there's one particular MALE floor manager who pissed me off.. he's tall, bespectacled, not bad looking guy.. he got the "look people down" kinda attitude.. omg.. i was surprised to see him with that aura walking ard the restaurant..

Verdict: hmmmm.. I'd recommend all Japanese food-lovers to try!! but i wouldn't go for a second visit.. unless there's promo.. (^0^)

there's certainly room for improvement..

1) the menu looked really worn off, pages were crumpled, stains on the sides.. most imptly, the menu looked like a secondary home econs work..

2) staff training - after being ushered to the table, handed a menu, the staff just walked away without a word! never ask what drink i want, never explain anything, such as "we are having this set lunches.. pls feel free to ask for assistance..".. we didn't feel welcomed at all..

3) staff - are they not happy working there? why aren’t they smiling? staff's smile would make customers feel happy.. and psychologically enjoy the food more.. -.- 笑ってください～
Bay Sushi (Marina Bay Sands)
Address: 10 Bayfront Avenue, #B2 - 01B The Shoppes at Marina Bay Sands, Singapore
Tel: 668877070
Website: http://www.baysushi.com.sg/

Plaza Brasserie

less than 10 minutes walk from Bugis MRT Station, i arrived at PARKROYAL!
location: unless u drive, it's kinda out of the way.. but able to navigate with my BFF who is good with maps and directions..

Buffet Dinner - CRAB Fiesta~ for August 2012!
Crabbies available on my visit: Chilli Crab, Black Pepper Crab, Cold Crab, Salted Egg Yolk Crab, Soft Shell Crab and Thai Green Curry Mud Crab..





Best: Salted Egg Yolk Crab (finger-lickin' - literally)
Most Fragrant: Black Pepper Crab (Spicy but shiok!)
Could be better: Chilli Crab (Zi char can do better)
Pleasant Surprise: Thai Green Curry Mud Crab (tastes like curry chicken!)
Hit and miss: Soft Shell Crab (too flour-ful)
Give it a miss: Cold Crab (bland and bland)

besides free flow CRABS.. the international buffet spread offers a wide range of sumptuous dishes which is more than u can eat.. (note that the list is not exhaustive).. such as Sashimi, sushi, tempura, roasted chicken, teryaki chicken, oyster omelette, spicy squid, butter prawns, cold seafood, salad bar, cakes, ice-cream, ice kachang and etc..





verdict: quite worth it if u're a seafood lover.. especially if u are a skilled eater when it comes to crabs.. besides their crabs, the buffet spread is quite up to standard.. frankly, it was above my expectation.. the thick and generous freshly cut salmon sashimi.. the endless supply of prawns and oysters.. and the cakes were OMG.. waaah~~ *drools*

oh! their hot beverages - espresso, hot chocolate, teh tarik, cappuccino, various tea of your choice, are all free flow!

enjoy 15% off with many credit cards such as DBS, UOB, Standard Chartered and more.. Try before August 2012 ends~~

Mondays to Thursdays: Adult S$52++, Child S$31++
Fridays to Sundays: Adult S$55++, Child S$33++

Plaza Brasserie
PARKROYAL on Beach Road
7500 Beach Road, Singapore 199591
Restaurant tel: 65055710
Hotel tel: 65055666

Xin Wang Hong Kong Cafe (Anchorpoint)

New item!
Deep fried Mango with Prawn Roll: very nice! too bad i had to share.. u can order one plate for yourself!
small flaw: they could be more generous with the mango.. tsk..



Chicken Chop Cream Sauce Spaghetti: omg the CREAM sauce was really bad.. reminds me of my school canteen those kind.. chicken chop is xin wang's usual standard..



Seafood Hor Fun: first look - waaaaaaaaah~~ so big plate.. when u dig in.. most of the place was made up of the gravy.. disappointed.. what brightens me up was that - there were 9 prawns.. wow!
Xin Wang Hong Kong Cafe (Anchorpoint)
370 Alexandra Road
#01-13/14 Anchorpoint Shopping Centre
Tel: 64744498

Rise (Marina Bay Sands Hotel)

LOVE THE SALMON SASHIMI!!! the salmon is really fresh and thumbs up for the smoked salmon (top center of the above pic) at the salad bar section. the rest on the first plate was pretty normal except for the octopus salad (right bottom of the pic). first bite: surprisingly creamy seafood taste. second bite: sweet and pleasant. third bite: ... okay next dish pls.



LOVE THE BLACK PEPPER BEEF CUBES!!! it was so good that i filled my plate quarter full of beef cubes in my second round.. (^O^) i didnt really like the beef cheek (top left of the pic, slightly darker than beef cubes).. it was tooooo soft.. *personal taste* the lamb rack was over-cooked but passable, it could be more seasoned and flavourful.. next to lamb is roasted chicken.. hmmm.. missing a pinch of salt maybe? skipping the turkey ham.. i mean its just processed meat.. steamed slice fish.. disappointed.. i think it was over-steamed.. wahahahaa.. last on the plate (left bottom of the pic) is spinach salmon.. the spinach neutralised the salmon taste and vice versa.. in the end.. no taste.. grrrrrrrr...



yummy!! i had two bowls of this - pork ribs lotus roots soup.. the sweetness of both pork ribs and lotus roots is so addictive.. anyway i had no choice but to have this soup.. there were other two - curry soup and green pea cream soup (something close).. hahaah.. i dun take spicy food and i hate green peas!!



i enjoyed their dessert variety to the max! see that choc tart there? it's chocolate caramel.. waaaaaah.. the creamy fudge just spreads and fills my mouth.. so rich.. so thick.. it was the best!



there were four ice cream choices.. sorbet - passion fruit and strawberry (pic above).. have a few spoonful would keep u going for another few more rounds.. refreshing! i enjoyed praline and skipped raspberry..

Verdict: hmmmm.. overpriced ($48++ daily) for lunch buffet with this spread.. but consider that it's at MBS.. well.. nonetheless, for the same price category, i would consider having a lunch buffet at certain hotels in town which would provide a better spread..

Note: i skipped spicy dishes such as Chicken Curry, Fish Curry, Chilli Crab etc..

FAIL: no prawns! there were nooooooooo prawns, crayfish, baby lobster, crab at cold seafood section! only mussels, scallop, clams.. saddened..

Rise (Marina Bay Sands Hotel)
10 Bayfront Avenue
Tower 2, Lobby Level Marina Bay Sands Hotel
Tel: 66885525

PAUL Bakery Restaurant

Image: Courtesy of Dining Now Asia

every weekend that i passed by this european style bakery - Paul, it is always populated with queues and hungry customers of both locals and ang mohs.. having read several bloggers' neutral and pro-negative reviews, i decided to verify the good and bad of this bakery myself..


Image: Courtesy of InSing.com

i'm very very into the ambience and decor of the bakery.. simple european furnishing with comfortable yellow lightings.. the only flaw was the noisy crowd.. i mean we're living in an overcrowding singapore now.. so just have to bear with that..

i waited about 10 mins to get seated.. fast ya.. hahahaha.. there was a queue but here's the tip: the bakery closes a section near the counter in order to control the crowd with the number of staff they have.. however, they open that section at about 1130 to 1145 hours.. so i was able to get seated that quickly despite the long queue.. heehee~



pls turn to Paul's menu to main dishes.. the Chicken Leg is very soft, tender and juicy.. not a tiny bit of the chicken stench that u might find in most chicken dishes.. the sweet fragrant chicken meat was so moist that i understand why gravy or sauce was not needed at all.. tiny flaw: if u're an unskilled cutter like me, u might need a little help from ur partner to debone the chicken leg for u..

potatoes and simple tossed salad by the side.. pretty average.. but the chicken leg was satisfying enough..



medium well-done.. my fav way of having my Sirloin Steak (found on the page of main dishes).. it was really up to my standard! the pinkish soft beef with almost no blood water oozing out when i cut it.. (O_O) the juice had been tightly locked in the meat!! it was when i started chewing.. oh my gosh.. the delicious juice filled my mouth with the tender steak melting inside.. thumbs up!! tiny flaw: the steak was a thinner cut compared to what u see on the menu.. saddens..



hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm... i "hmmmmm" for 2 seconds.. that's long u know.. try hmmm-ing.. it's very sweet and i like it! sorry but i forgot what this is called.. wahahaha.. anyway.. its super chocolaty and rich.. there were different layers of crust and choc.. each layer just fuses and works so well together.. verrrrry good! tiny flaw: they didnt provide a small dessert fork.. hmmmm.. i wonder why.. saving gaia intention? save water hur?

Verdict: Good but pricey food.. second visit? yes for the nice food.. :D

FAIL: i waited for about 30 minutes for my steak.. did they went to hunt down a cow? nopez.. i was informed that the kitchen did not get my order.. hur hur hur.. the waitress who took my order didnt even have the courtesy to come and apologise to me..
Paul
391 Orchard Road
#03-16/16A/17 Ngee Ann City
Tel: 68365932

Triple Three

i had buffet lunch (weekday) at Triple Three (Mandarin Orchard Hotel).. let's start the food journey bah~~

Sweet Corn Soup



dun be deceived by the normal appearance of the above labelled "Sweet Corn Soup"! it was cooked and filled with crab meat! not just only bits and pieces of real crab meat.. there were chunks and chunks of sweet tasty crab meat in that big silver pot.. u'll just have to be skilful and tactful when it comes to digging the good stuff~~

I FORGOT TO SNAP MY Pumpkin Soup!!! tsk! it was reaaaaaaaally creamy and thick - the way i like it to be.. nonetheless.. another pinch of salt could have added extra flavour and bring out the sweetness of the pumpkin..

Sushi + Sashimi



folks, you can totally skip the maki because of two reasons - ingredients are not exquisite enough to take up that limited space of your stomach, and it can be quite filling.. HOWEVER! please please try their sushi! they were prepared so professionally.. FIY: i picked up the sushi with my lousy chopsticks technique and turned the sushi upside down.. guess what! the prawn and salmon were firmly knitted to the rice.. OMG! yet the rice was still soft and separates when u put them in your mouth.. ~ so touching ~ next, the sashimi.. only two words - - - FRESH! Good! *salivating*

Tempura



if u are hoping for ebi tempura.. be ready for disappointment.. coz they only have Sweet Potato (as seen in photo above) and Swordfish Tempura (which i forgot to snap).. both are on unlimited supply coz the chef at that counter kept frying and frying.. so people who enjoys tempura can knock yourselves out..

Prawns



all buffet-goers know one golden rule - to make your deal worth, attack the seafood counter! hmmmm.. i saw prawns, oysters, errrr... more.. prawns and oysters. . . . . WHERE'S MY CRAB? LOBSTERS? OR MAYBE BABY LOBSTERS? EVEN CRAYFISH????? *angry face* why??? really.. srsly! why? though the plus-sized juicy cold prawns did comforted my broken heart a lil bit.. but i can't help but to question it over and over again.. what's with that ridiculous limited selection of seafood?!

Fried Squid + Tori Karaage + Veal Sausage



Surprise Surprise~ what a nice surprise! the fried squid is so crispy on the outside yet soft and chewy on the inside!!!!! okay.. there were two squid dishes.. one is the delicious fried ones.. the other is the stir-fry ones - which were super rubbery and tasteless *bleh*.. so just stick to the fried ones k! next, the tori karaage were okay - at least not dry and really got meat one lor.. well.. the sausage was a big fail to me.. not nice.. i frowned when i took a bite lehz.. it was slightly heated up and served only.. do i need a chef for that?

XO Sauce Fried Rice



LG lor.. looks good.. but *sigh* not even pass the golden standard of the definition of fried rice.. the fried rice dun have 锅气! literally means the fragrance of the wok.. -in short: bad. small fail. can skip.-

however, pls pls pls (even if there is a queue) try their pasta! the chef was super generous with the toppings and sauce and the pasta.. it was nice! the pasta was about 90% cooked.. the standard pasta.. just nice.. with huge scoop of toppings (choice of beef/seafood).. and u might have realised i dun have that photo coz i was so captivated that i forgot to snap! (>_<) Lamb Chop with Potato



soft, tender, juicy, tasty, delicious lamb chop.. hmmmm.. it was so well-marinated that u won't even have the feeling that u are eating mutton wor.. heehee.. but pls dun be kiasu like me and take the potatoes.. i think they were just for display.. wahahahaa.. kidding.. it was on the big label.. so i guess they were part of the dish.. but they were really awful! to the extent that i swallowed the first bite with gulps of water..

Teppanyaki Beef



at first when i saw the bloody water coming out of the beef, i though they were too raw and.. well bloody.. but but but.. the beef was tender and just nice!! i could stuff the whole big slice of it and chew it well and swallow it.. those who eat beef must have the bad experience of unable to swallow one small bite of badly prepared beef and kept chewing.. but not this.. it's that good.. (^O^)

Roast Duck



really generous portion and the skin was still crispy.. however.. i thought it was too salty.. but if u are a carbo person.. pls eat this with white rice (available there)..

Dessert



Cakes + Puffs + Tarts were all above-average compared to other hotel buffet restaurants.. i meant all.. really all.. coz i tried almost all.. wahahahaaaa~~

oso u gotta have these sweet treats with a cup of coffee or tea right? (i forgot to snap again) i had cappuccino and it was good.. but i wanna point out that their coffee machine sucks! i think some bloggers had pointed this out already.. and it seems that they are still stuck with that faulty, malfunctioning coffee machine.. LOL..



the Longan and Sea Coconut was not very popular wor.. because many ppl only take the ice-melted water on the surface with those floating longan and probably didnt realise got sea coconut.. see! buffet-goers are not lidat.. we dig out the good stuff! look at the longanssssss and sea coconut i dug up.. with sensible taste of sugar syrup..

finally.. my verdict: go only when there is one-for-one deal, or 50% off..
based on the spread and quality.. dun go bonkers and pay $70++ during festive seasons..
Triple Three
333 Orchard Road
Level 5 Mandarin Orchard Singapore
Tel: 68316271