Ootoya- Itadakimasu~

Explore the other side of Japanese Cuisine with teishoku. Teishoku (set meal) is part of a typical Japanese dining experience. It usually comprises of a main, a bowl of rice, miso soup and Japanese pickles. And Ootoya, with majority of its chef and waiters being native Japanese, offers a wide range of authentic japanese teishoku at affordable prices.

Taste Paradise - Our Love For Dim Sum Never Wavers

We thought RC was good.
But...can this be even better?

Checkers Deli - Happy Birthday Angeline!

 Happy Birthday Angeline!

Watami @ Ion- Highly raved, little surprise

Located at Ion Orchard, this Japanese casual restaurant sure stirred up a big hoo-ha. Long queues could be seen especially in the evening. The ambience was not bad and the wooden decoration in the restaurant was indeed distinctive.

We were there around 6pm and were lucky that there wasn’t any queue at all. Highly enthusiastic and friendly staffs greeted us and led us to our tables. The service provided was really commendable. Napkins were handed out to us individually and drinks filled up promptly. We were astonished that the staffs actually knelt by the side of our table to take our orders. You will not experience this kind of service at all either in Ichiban Boshi or even Sushi Tei.

Sashimi Deluxe ($13.80)

This sashimi platter consists of salmon, tuna and hotate (scallops). We had many complaints about the salmon and tuna sashimi. The size of the salmon and tuna sashimi was probably half the size you find in Sushi Tei and they were not very fresh, with a slight fishy smell. Fortunately, hotate sashimi tasted better. It was fresh, fat and juicy, with a slight sweetness. Absolutely heavenly!

J's & A’s rating: 3/5 for salmon & tuna sashimi, 4.25/5 hotate sashimi

Kani & Hotate Cream Croquette ($5.80)

This golden crispy ball was delicious! The cream exploded into your mouth when you bite into it. But there wasn’t any sight of kani and hotate chunks. (A: I would prefer to eat croquette full of kani or salmon flakes)

J's & A’s rating: 4/5

Irodori Sushi Grandeur - scallop, seafood salmon & eel ($10.80)

The sushi here was pretty ordinary. The rice was dry, sticky yet still crumbly which caused the ingredients to fall off very easily. The fillings inside each sushi is the same, except tt the toppings were different.

J's & A’s rating: 3/5

Tompeiyaki ($6.80)

Omelette with sliced pork and cabbage, this dish took the longest to arrive. The egg was dry and thin, with the sides slightly burnt unlike the ones in Shokudo or Waraku which are thicker, sweeter and more fragrant. Nothing special for the sauce too.

A’s rating: 3/5, J's rating: 2.5/5

We did not order any dessert this time round because the food did not impress us. We know there were many good reviews of Watami but the quality of their food failed to meet our expectations. Nonetheless, the service here was praiseworthy.

Watami Japanese Restaurant

#B-23 Ion Orchard

2 Orchard Turn

Singapore 238801

Tel: 65099366

http://www.watami.com.sg/

Swissbake II- Delectable Cakes @ Affordable Prices

Swissbake’s cakes had always captured our attention whenever we walked past their kiosk in Takashimaya. We can’t help wondering: “For $3.90 per slice, does it taste good?” We decided to give it a shot especially when all their cakes look so alluring and exquisite.

Walnut Cheesecake
The texture of this cake reminded us of the Apple & Nut Cheesecake from Cedele. The sweet aroma of slightly toasted walnut in combination with cream cheese was luscious. The cream cheese was smooth, soft & delicate, with a delightfully sweet taste of maple syrup.

J's & A’s rating: 4.25/5

We tried out 2 more cakes last Saturday when they’re having a promotion. 2 slice cakes for only $5! What a good deal!

Paradiso Di Nocciola
Being one of their signature cakes, this cake does not disappoint us. Hazelnut rocher sponge cake sandwich with rum soaked crunchy vanilla biscuit. It was divine! The rum was very mild which was quickly overpowered by the strong taste of hazelnut rocher.
(A: Hazelnut lovers would fall for this!)

J's & A’s rating: 4.5/5

Oreo Cheesecake
This oreo cheesecake was a little disappointing. The cookie chunks were soft & soggy unlike the one we had at Bakerzin. Cream cheese was a little sour to our displeasure prob due to the addition of lemon.

(J: The oreos were sooo finely mashed and stuck together tt there's no crisp to it at all. I love big oreos tt r chunky and crunchy.)
A’s rating: 3.5/5, J's rating: 3/5

Overall, we were surprised and pretty satisfied with Swissbake’s quality cakes, at reasonable prices! We will certainly patronise again to try out other signature cakes! 

Visit http://www.swiss-bake.com.sg/ for more info

Swissbake
Ngee Ann City
B2-04

Billy Bombers- Quick fondue fix at decent price

Had an awful dinner yesterday evening and we thought of heading to Billy Bombers for chocolate fondue. We simply can't resist the 50% promotion! ($12.95 after discount)

The chocolate fondue didn't look appetizing at one glance as it looked sticky and burnt. We only had Ben n Jerry's cookie dough ice-cream as they ran out of flavours. However, the chocolate was deceivingly good! Although it paled in comparison to Sweetstone or Swissculture, it's pretty decent for its price. The chocolate was bittersweet which we enjoyed. The cookie dough ice-cream was not too bad, with chunks of cookie dough and chocolates inside which made it a good combination with the chocolate fondue. To our dismay, the waffle was soft and soggy but we just used it as a dipping tool for the chocolate fondue. haha! How we wished we had the sweetstone waffles with us!
Overall we felt that the chocolate fondue was not too bad, but definitely not the best. With the current promotion, the chocolate fondue is value for money given the type of chocolate that they use.

J's & A's Rating: 4/5

Billy Bombers
The Cathay Orchard
#01-12, 2 Handy Road S(229233)
Tel: 6735 5381

Oriole Cafe & Bar- Back with Satisfaction!

Oriole Café & Bar, situated at a quiet corner in Pan Pacific Service Suit, is a hidden gem in Orchard road! The cozy and quiet ambience is definitely a place to chill out and relax in the noisy and bustling city.

This was the second time we patronized the café. There was a slight disappointment the first time we went, which we will talk about it later. Nonetheless, we decided to give it another chance to prove its worth. This time we’re back with satisfaction!

We made a reservation for dinner tonight as we knew the café will be quite packed at night.

We like the ambience in the café. The lightings and music in the café make us feel so comfortable and relaxed. It was a great place for date, chilling out, and gatherings! The staffs here were pretty efficient except that it was a little difficulty in getting their attention when they’re busy. Our drinks were refilled quickly and our dishes were served swiftly after placing the order.

Beef Cheek Tagliatelle ($15)

Melt-in-the-mouth tender beef cheek slices, it was exquisite and heavenly! Red wine braised beef cheek rendered both of us speechless. It surpassed our expectations on the beef slices and we did not even need to cut them! They simply dissolve in our mouth.

A & J’s rating: 4.75/5

Fish and Chips ($15)

The snapper loin was firm and the batter was light, thin and crispy. We thought the tartar sauce was pretty good, with a slight combination of sweetness and sourness. The wedges could be better as it tasted a little bland on its own. However, we must point out that the tartar sauce with the fish and chips was so palatable that we actually requested for more!

A & J’s rating: 4.25/5

Chocolate Fudge Cake ($6)

Being one of Oriole’s signature cakes, this definitely enthralls chocolate lovers. The warm, rich chocolate cake was moist with oozy molten chocolate in the centre. We love the fact that it was not overly sweet but it could be too rich to be finished by a person.

A & J’s rating: 4.25/5

Chocolate Brownie with Vanilla Ice-cream ($5.50)

Being chocolate lovers, we wanted for more and ordered an additional chocolate brownie. The brownie was more of a fudge brownie, the texture was gooey rather than cakey. The rich, creamy vanilla ice-cream with the brownie was pretty pleasant.

A & J’s rating: 4/5

We were very satisfied with the food this time round and will definitely be back again especially for the beef cheek tagliatelle! We spent $48.85 (after GST and service charge) in total for 2 mains and desserts. Reasonable price for such exquisite food and excellent attentive service in Orchard road!

...................................................................................................................................................................

Now we will tell you about our slight disappointment we experienced on our previous visit.

We went in the afternoon for brunch a few weeks ago. These were what we ordered:

The coffee in Oriole Café was fantastic.

Starbuck’s coffee was incomparable to Oriole’s coffee. For the price you pay at Starbuck, you could get a better coffee here. We read up a review on http://www.photoblog.visitors.sg/ stating that Oriole had two of the best baristas in Singapore! That explains their unqiue creation of coffee in Oriole Cafe.

Piccolo Latte ($5)

A rich espresso latte that does not leave an acidic taste in the mouth. The full-bodied aroma lingered in our mouths. The presentation was absolutely lovely~

A’s rating: 4/5, J’s rating: 4.5/5

Mint Mocha ($6)

Sipped slowly and you could taste the subtle mint flavor in the latte. Quite a unique latte actually except that the mint flavor was not distinct enough.

A & J’s rating: 4.25/5

And these were the 3 dishes that left us in bitter pit.

Mushroom Toast ($11.50)

Smoked Salmon Toast with Poached Eggs ($14)

The toast was overly toasted and the poached eggs were SUPER SOUR! The vinegar taste was so strong!

(A: I could make better poached eggs than them! haha!) Waitress said it could be because the chef wasn't in a good mood that day. What a reason -___- The mushroom was normal, nothing special to mention about. The smoked salmon was too salty, saltier than an average normal smoked salmon. Salty salmon, super sour poached eggs with hard toast. It was disastrous! Deeply regretted what we ordered. (J: With my toothache tt day, this meal simply worsened my condition *faint*)

A & J’s rating: 2.5/5 for both toasts

Last but not least, Bread Pudding ($8)

The texture of the bread pudding was too firm and dense for our liking. It was similar to the texture of agar agar. We expected it to be softer, soggier and warmer. Though we requested it to be warmer, it was still not up to our expectation. Perhaps you may have a different view on this. But for us, the taste was just not right.

A & J’s rating: 3/5

Though the first visit was not a pleasant one, but we were glad that the second visit make up for it.

Oriole Café is a great coffee place in the day and a fantastic chill out place at night! We highly recommend Oriole Café to all our readers.

Oriole Café & Bar

96 Somerset Road #01-01

Pan Pacific Serviced Suites

Tel: 6238 8348

Call to make reservation especially on weekends

R Burger- The 1000mg Collagen Burger!

R Burger, a totally new concept of burger franchise that sells generally healthy and tasty burger. It completely revolutionized the fast-food burger chains from Burger King or MacDonald’s. The most distinct feature of R Burger is the use of marine collagen in the steamed bun, with 1000mg of collagen in each burger! That’s good news for ladies who want supple and youthful skin! We are able to eat healthily and at the same time, getting more collagen. *Just from our point of view. Haha*

We ordered a Salmon Burger ($4.30) and a Tofu Burger ($3.80).

The Salmon Burger tasted alright but we wished that they could be more generous with the salmon in the patty. There was hardly any taste of salmon. However, we do like the Ankake sauce (black vinegar) in the burger. The steamed bun was soft but it was not warm enough when we ate it. The shisho leaf had a herbal minty taste. You either like it or dislike it.

J's & A’s rating: 3.75/5

We preferred the Tofu Burger because of the soft, juicy chicken tofu patty in the burger. The patty was also thicker than the salmon patty. The sauce was lighter and more forgettable though.

J's & A’s rating: 4/5

R Burger
Ion Orchard
B4-56/57

Swissbake- The Luxurious Pecan Pie~~

Ever since we tried Swissbake Pecan Pie ($3.50 for a slice) at takashimaya yesterday, we got addicted to it! Today we went to buy it again and spotted a 12 cm pecan pie at only $9.95. More worth it than buying individual slices!

Reason for addiction??
The pecans was so well-toasted that we could literally smell the fragrance of the pecans when we bite into wonderful pie. The sour dough was moist and gooey in the centre with a tinge of delightful brown sugar sweetness. The crust was savoury and full of buttery flavour. We love the nutty crunch of this pie with generous pecan fillings.

Crunchy, savoury and luscious...

We're hooked! :)



*we will post a close-up of the pecan pie soon!*

One good thing about this pecan pie is that you can actually store it for weeks! Checked out the expiry date: 17.09.09. Need not worry that it will turn mouldy in a few days! AND you eat it at room temperature. Save the time on heating up a pie!

 J's & A's rating: 4.75/5

Swissbake

Takashimaya

Visit http://www.swiss-bake.com.sg/ for more info

Gelare- Waffles on Tuesday, anyone?

Being waffle lovers, we are bent on trying out all the yummy waffles in Singapore!

Sadly to say, Gelare closed most of its outlets! BUT we found it again a few weeks ago hiding in a small corner at Orchard Central! We were so glad that the Tuesday promotion is still on! 50% off regular waffles. We ordered 1 waffle with vanilla bean & macadamia nut ice-cream for only $9.90!
(A: I love their vanilla bean ice-cream!  Rich vanilla fragrance just simply blew me off. ) Macadamia nut ice-cream was one of the better flavours that we’re tried in Gelare. With chunks of toasted macadamia nuts, ice-cream was marvellous.

Just look at the waffle. Thick, crispy and soft on the inside. The taste was unforgettable. It’s such an enjoyment eating their waffle and ice-cream! However, we feel that their waffle was a little pricey so we will only come on tuesday. Given a choice between Gelare's waffle or Sweetstone Liege Waffle, we will choose the latter.
(J: The waffle tasted a little salty on its own which i couldn't figure out why...)

A & J’s rating: 4.25/5 


Gelare @ Orchard Central
# 04-23 Orchard Central Shopping Centre
Singapore 238896

Quiznos Sub- Subway's competitor!

We were heading to Orchard Central for Gelare when we saw Quiznos Sub. And there we are at Quinoz Sub looking through the long list of yummy sub sandwiches on the menu. Quiznos Sub is a sub sandwich franchise similar to Subway. 
(A: Being a subway fan myself, we decided to try out their competitor’s sandwich!)

We ordered Honey Bourbon Chicken sandwich ($5.40). Hot spicy mustard with slight sweetness of the chicken. For those who love spicy food, this sandwich is the one for you!

(J: Spicyness and sourness of the mustard sauce combined with the sweet honey was a bit too overpowering for my tastebuds... I prefer their wheat bread to subway's though)

J's & A’s rating: 3.75/5

And a must try sandwich is the Zesty Grill Steak on rosemary parmesan bread ($6.20)! The rosemary parmesan bread was so soft! And grilled beef steak was surprisingly juicy and tender! The beef steak reminded us of Yoshinoya beef bowl. haha. We prefer this sandwich than the Honey Bourbon Chicken Sandwich. We would definitely come back for this delicious sandwich!

(J: Loved the charred parts of the toasted bread lol)

J's & A’s rating: 4.25/5



#03-33 Orchard Central,
181 Orchard Road,
238896, Singapore

The Taiyaki VS Mr Obanyaki!

Food Tour Part IV
4th Item of our 1 day food tour was.....Taiyaki! Spotted this newly opened Taiyaki at Ion Orchard and we can’t resist buying one after seeing “Premium Azuki” as one of the flavours! The way they make the taiyaki is so different from the one at Takashimaya. Do have a look when you happened to be there! They have many exotic flavours which we have not seen before!

However we decided to get our Premium Azuki Taiyaki ($2)! We waited for sooooo long!
Finally it’s ready!

First bite...

The pancake was crispy but it tasted rather plain. However, it is definitely much thinner than other taiyakis. They spread only a thin layer of batter onto the mould before adding generous amount of fillings.

You can tell from the photo that the colour of the pancake was much lighter compared to Mr Obanyaki.
BUT, we do like the premium azuki red bean paste! Chunks of red beans were given generously and was not just the “paste” only itself! You can feel the individual azuki beans and even their skins in your mouth!
(A: We both love the azuki red beans here but I feel that I prefer Mr Obanyaki in Takashimaya. The pancake was more fragrant compared to the one at Ion Orchard. Why can’t I have the best of both worlds?! )

J's rating: 4.5/5 azuki red bean,
A’s rating: 4.25/5 azuki red bean, 3.5/5 taiyaki pancake alone

The Taiyaki @ Ion Orchard

Mr Obanyaki- Yummy fish pancake!

We found a yummy japanese snack in Takashimaya! Tayaki!

Taiyaki is actually a Japanese fish-shaped cake made by using pancake batter. The batter is poured into a fish-shaped mold for each side. The filling is then put on one side and the mold is closed. It is then cooked on both sides until golden brown.

A: Janelle first introduced this to me when we were at Raffles City last week. Frankly speaking, I had never tried this fish pancake before. However, the Taiyaki at Raffles City Basement doesn't taste good. It was cold and sticky inside with very little azuki red bean paste. Janelle then told me that there is a better one right at Takashimaya!

The Taiyaki at Taka is so delicious! Crispy on the outside and soft inside. Most importantly, It was hot from the mold, filled with a generous amount of azuki red bean paste! I love it soo much! Other flavours that they have include chocolate and cheese. However I feel that Japanese sweet snack tasted best with azuki red bean!

J: I would have given a higher rating if i can bit the red beans from the red bean paste.

J's & A's rating: 4.5/5

Mr Obanyaki at Takeshimaya B2

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