MAY DAY MAY DAY

It's May again~~

I got a habit of deleting my past posts in May every year.. haha!
most of the posts before 2013 have been deleted.. :D

Let's continue to enjoy LIFE!
be adventurous with food and dare to travel~~

Tim Ho Wan

Brief info: Hong Kong's Tim Ho Wan is a recipient of a star from the Michelin Guide in 2009.
Please note that the SMS queue number system has not kick start yet.



What do Singaporeans splurge on? FOOD!
What do Singaporeans queue for? FOOD!



Pork Congee ($4.20) was pretty average.. Besides century egg, there was also salted egg.. and minimal minced meat.. hahahaha.. I still prefer Imperial's congee though.. Tim Ho Wan's congee don't have the HK's hou hou mei (好好味, tasty/savoury).. a bit disappointed..



I kept hearing an auntie asking the staff if one table can only order 3 BBQ Pork Buns ($4.50).. To clarify this once and for all.. currently.. the BBQ Pork Buns are limited to ONE ORDER (3 buns, what you see above) PER PAX.. means if you are in a table of 4.. you can make 4 orders = 12 buns..



The BBQ Pork Buns lived up to its name of being one of the four heavenly kings.. because.. it was really heavenly!! because it was baked, it was mildly crisp on the outside and when you bite it.. omg.. the fragrant and diced char siew just oozed out! No wonder I heard that some auntie came to tabao 50 of these..



Carrot Cake ($4.50) was different from what I usually had at other Chinese restaurants in Singapore.. you can distinctively chew on slices of radish with every bite you take.. what makes it still far from perfect would be the lack of Chinese sausage (腊肠).. there were only a few bits and pieces here and there.. if there were more, the carrot cake would have been more tasty..



Spring Roll with Egg White ($4.20) was unexpectedly good! it's not an easily-done dish k.. coz egg white would ooze out oil and water and the moisture would make the outer skin soggy.. BUT! it was still very crispy! next shocking factor was that - the egg white does not taste like egg white! I wonder what they put inside.. soda powder? haha I dunno.. there was a pleasant surprise though.. I did not expect that there would be some diced prawns inside.. haha.. adds another star to this dish..



Tonic Medlar & Osmanthus Petal Cake (Cold) ($3.50) introduced me to a totally new roller-coaster food experience.. there was a slight bitter Chinese herbal taste.. but at the same time.. there was a tinge of sweetness and fragrance from the osmanthus petals.. by right.. these are the tastes I would find in a Chinese hot dessert.. but when all these were put together in a cold dish i.e. jelly.. oh gosh.. I don't know why.. it just tasted weird but nice at the same time.. am I confusing you? wahahahaa~~



Deep-fried Beancurd Skin Roll with Shrimp ($5.50) was average.. there was no surprise.. it's similar to most Chinese restaurants. . . . . . okie next!



Steamed Beancurd Skin Roll with Pork & Shrimp ($4) was much nicer than the deep-fried version.. maybe because of the tasty saltish sauce.. so the steamed version has more layers of tastes than the deep-fried ones.. it was also more savoury and juicy.. hou sek! (delicious!)



In-house Special Chilli Sauce (FOC) was not spicy.. it was tasty! the chilli was mixed with beans so it was really special..



Prawn Dumplings (Har Gau) ($5.50) was very juicy and filled with prawnssssss.. the skin doesn't dry up and get stuck onto the paper like what happens in most Chinese restaurants.. this was really good.. thumbs up up up!



Pork Dumpling with Shrimp (Siew Mai) ($5) was a little disappointing.. it was not even half as nice as Har Gau.. saddens.. it was bland and plain dull..



Steamed Egg Cake ($3.80) was FLUFFY!!! it was sweet, light and fluffy.. I admit that it was a little overpriced for a mah lai gou but it was really nice leh..



Vermicelli Roll with Shrimp ($5.50) was reeeeeeeeaalllly awful.. omg.. it was not up to a dim sum restaurant's standard.. the skin was too thick and there were too few prawns.. even if there were.. they must be baby prawns.. I know the Vermicelli Roll with Pig's Liver is one of the Big 4 Heavenly Kings.. but I don't eat liver.. so I had to pass on that.. -_-



hahahaaa.. I got a free tee~~ hahahaha.. shhh shhh.. actually I didn't queue that long.. hahahahaaa..

Today was Tim Ho Wan's official opening.. Chef Mak Kwai Pui was there and smiling all the way.. taking pictures.. so cute.. while the people were queuing all the way.. haha..

Tim Ho Wan
68 Orchard Road
#01-29A Plaza Singapura
Tel: 62512000
Website: http://www.timhowan.com
Operating Hours: (Daily) 10:00 - 22:00

Hoshino Coffee

Little did I know.. Hoshino Coffee opens at 10am! BUT they only serve sandwiches and pancakes and their beverages.. the rest of the menu starts at 11.30am.. (^o^) though unplanned.. I decided to have breakfast at Hoshino Coffee~~



Tokyo Style Chicken Teriyaki ($12) is plain nice.. my taste buds grade it better than Subway, but Quiznos outdo this much more.. Hence, I thought it was quite overpriced for the sandwich..



Double Pancake ($12) is fuwa-fuwa (fluffy in Japanese).. there are 3 choices of syrups: maple, honey and brown sugar.. out of curiosity, I chose brown sugar.. unlike maple and honey syrups which are 死甜 (dead sweet).. there is a slight bitter burnt after-taste for the brown sugar.. for those who are a fan of sugar rush sweetness, it's better to stick to maple and honey syrups.. (^O^)

Overall, I thought all items were quite overpriced.. fortunately I'm not a fan of coffee.. I've heard quite negative reviews on their coffee though.. Nonetheless, I would like to visit again for the main courses.. (*o*)
Hoshino Coffee
68 Orchard Road
#03-84 Plaza Singapura
Tel: 63383277
Website: http://www.hoshinocoffee.com
Operating Hours:
Mon - Sun: 11:30 - 17:00
Mon - Sun: 18:00 - 21:00

River Palace Chinese Restaurant

It was my first visit to River Palace but this ala carte restaurant was worth a visit. At the price of $35.80++ for a buffet lunch, River Palace offers a decent spread of dishes and you can have the dishes served to you in approx 10 minutes after you had ordered them.

When I first stepped into the restaurant, I was a little worried. Why? Firstly, it was not crowded. Only approx 1/3 of the restaurant was occupied. And what comes to mind?

BUT BUT BUT BUT BUT! Not until I started my starters.. hold your mark and get set to.. GO~~~



While waiting for my one-time-served dishes, I had a serving of Herbal Chicken Soup that was along their feel-free-to-take dessert table.. it has rich herbal taste but NO bitter taste.. instead, it was like those sweet and fragrant Cantonese soup that I like.. though the only down side was that there was no chicken meat in the soup.. -_-

Next...





First up, Braised Shark's Fin Soup with Crabmeat is served to make you feel full after drinking the super-duper starchy soup. So, I skipped the soup and just attack the crab meat and the minimal shark's fin with a sip of soup here and there. The soup tasted not bad though~



Sliced Duck with Crispy Beancurd Skin wrapped in Egg Pancake was reaaaally good. The sliced duck is fragrant and the juicy meat mixed with the plum sauce wrapped in the thin egg pancake were so perfect in a bite! just when I started biting it, the crunchiness of the cucumber and crisp of the beancurd skin climaxed the whole dish.. why this dish comes only once?!



When Sautéed Fresh Scallops with Asparagus and Pine Nuts came, I was sooo happy. Because I am the only one who eats scallops! wahahahaaa... four words could sum up my satisfaction of the dish - very fresh, very tasty.. *happy~*



Blanched Prawns in Shao Shing Wine was passable.. the prawns were fresh and big but there were no sweetness and no fragrance of the shao shing.. -_-||| what a disappointment.. they wasted the fresh big prawns..

Now let's continue to the unlimited order of foooooooooo~~~d



Deep-fried Shredded Duck in Yam: I couldn't see nor taste the duck.. but it was a nice fried yam dish..



Wok-fried Crab in Black Pepper Sauce: it was served to my table by mistake.. I didn't order any of their crab dishes because it was such a hassle and time-consuming to eat it.. it looks good though! smelt really nice too.. recommended for crab-lovers.. :D



Salmon Sashimi: Who knew?! the salmon sashimi was really fresh and they were in thick slices.. for wasabi-lovers like me.. rest assured that they provide ample amount of wasabi and shoyu.. hahaha.. I had four plates of these~ :D



Fried Vermicelli with Salted Fish: Most buffet-goers would skip carbo dishes.. but Chinese would always have carbo dishes.. why give it a miss? EAT CARBO!



Stewed Pork Belly served with Steamed Bun: the ratio of lean meat to fats was 7:3.. the pork belly they served was more lean than most Chinese restaurant out there (6:4).. the gravy was so nice that my sister dipped the bun.. The steamed bum was fluffy and served hot!



Steamed Sea Bass with Plum and Tomato: the fish was average.. it was not as fresh as those served at seafood restaurants like Tung Lok and Jumbo.. but at $35.80++ buffet lunch, we have to be realistic with our expectations right?



MUST-EAT!! Wok-fried Prawns with Salted Eggs: I ordered this repeatedly.. it was so nice.. you can eat it with the shell if you want! the shell had been fried to crisp and yet not soften by the savoury salted egg.. too good~~ oh! there's no camera tricks here.. it was a camera phone.. hahaha.. so yes.. the prawns were big!



Sautéed Beef Steak in Barbecue Sauce: passable.. there was no sweetness of the beef.. the sauce was not fragrant at all.. I wondered what taste I should be expecting..



Deep-fried Chicken Wing with Shrimp Paste: very crispy but the shrimp paste was so weak!



Chocolate and Strawberry cakes: some people say that the cakes were not good.. I agree.. but it's a Chinese restaurant! it would be so ironic if they have delicious cakes! nonetheless, I thought that their strawberry cake was okay.. I had two! :D there were many uncles who complimented their Cream of Almond when I was there.. telling me "must try must try"..



Mango pudding: this was good! it was not too sweet and the milk complimented the mango pudding just right.. My mom and I had second serving.. they were snatched away as soon as they serve this at the dessert table..

(I missed taking shots of Stir-fried Sliced Venison with Spring Onion and Ginger and Smoked Boneless Chicken with “Po Lei” Tea Leaves.)

The ala carte buffet lunch and dinner @ River Palace is available for minimum 2 persons.

Lunch: Adult – S$35.80, Child – S$22.80
Dinner: Adult – S$38.80, Child – S$24.80

Note: River Palace is closed on Monday (full day) and Tuesday, lunch-time, only.

For more information on Opening Days, Current Promotions and buffet time, please visit http://www.riverview.com.sg/dining/river-palace-chinese-restaurant

For dining reservations or enquiries, please contact:
River Palace Chinese Restaurant
2nd Floor River View Hotel
Tel: (65) 6349 4865
Email: wineNdine@riverview.com.sg

Riverview Hotel Singapore
Address: 382 Havelock Road
Website: http://www.riverview.com.sg
Hotel main line: (65) 6732 9922

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/