Royal London Duck at Westmall

Royal London Duck is owned by Fei Siong and has opened another outlet in the neighbourhood shopping mall, Westmall. It has taken over the previous Mayim restaurant beside Swensens on the second level. 

There were many customers waiting by the time we reached at 6.30pm. Fortunately there were not many of us, so we got a table in 5 mins time. We decided to try the dim sum menu today so here is what we ordered:

1. Royal london duck black pepper bun - crispy and buttery charcoal buns filled with black pepper roasted duck meat. The bun is peppery and hot. A nice bun to try other than the usual bbq pork crispy buns from tim ho wan. 

2. Signature steamed rice roll - deep fried prawn spring roll wrapped with thin glutinous rice flour. Lovely combination. 

3. Steamed chicken feet - very well braised chicken feet so soft and tender. 

4. XO sauce fried turnip cake - fried small pcs of turnip cake fried with xo sauce. Not so well done as it is not fragrantly fried. It is little tasteless. 

5. Braised beancurd with roasted pork - housemade beancurd braised with roasted pork. The roasted pork tasted porky. The sauce was tasteless as well. 

The service was quick and food served swiftly. Certain dim sum dishes are good to order but not others. Compared to Mongkok restaurant at Jurong Point, mongkok restaurant serves better dim sum. 

However, we will be back to try their other main dishes.


Items Ordered:
Royal london duck black pepper bun
Signature steamed rice roll
Steamed chicken feet
XO sauce fried turnip cake
Braised beancurd with roasted pork

My Overall Ratings:

Food: 3/5

Price: 3.5/5

Service: 3.5/5

Ambience: 3.5/5

You can locate them here:

Royal London Duck 

Westmall, 1 Bt Batok Central Link, #02-04, Singapore 658713

Restaurant - Chinese

0

Hollywood China Bistro at USS Sentosa

Our 年初二 was spent at USS (Universal Studios Singapore) this year. After playing the rides for the whole afternoon, we decided to have a quick dinner within USS as the place was so crowded with tourists. 

We tried the Hollywood China Bistro located near the entrance of USS. 

This self service restaurant serves Chinese food like roasted meat rice and different La Mian (拉面). More of a Shanghainese cuisine. We ordered the following dishes: 

1. Char siew rice - thinly sliced char siew with thick gravy on rice. I didn't like it as it has a porky taste. 

2. Roasted duck rice - the duck leg was fatty and skin not roasted to the right texture. Very soggy with the rice. 

3. Braised beef noodles - this noodle dish was the best. Beef tenderly braised in fragrant sauce cooked with handmade La Mian. 

4. Zhajiang mian - minced pork with La Mian. Didn't like all their pork dishes as they tasted very porky and not to our liking. 

5. Mala (麻辣)  zhajiang mian - similar to zhajiang mian but with Mala (麻辣) oil. Those who love spicy and porky taste would like this dish. 

6. Cucumber and carrot pork rib soup - this soup tasted like SiChuan vegetable soup. A preferred soup to be ordered to go with rice. 

7. Guo tie - 6 crispy dumpling pan fried. A little oily and the filling was plain. 

Hollywood China Bistro would not be a preferred restaurant in USS. Food is not worth it as compared to the price. 

For meals, try the western food instead or restaurants outside USS. They would definitely be preferred. 


Items Ordered:
Char siew rice
Roasted duck rice
Braised beef noodles
Zhajiang mian
Mala (麻辣)  zhajiang mian
Cucumber and carrot pork rib soup
Guo tie

My Overall Ratings:

Food: 2/5

Price: 2/5

Service: NA

Ambience: 3/5

You can locate them here:

Hollywood China Bistro

Universal Studios Singapore, Sentosa Island, 30 Sentosa Gateway, Singapore, 098269

Restaurant - Chinese

0

Hard Rock Cafe at Cuscaden Road

27 Jan is CNY eve. Most people are having their reunion dinner but since we had ours on Tue, we went for a western meal reunion this evening at Hard Rock Cafe as most of the other chinese restaurants are fully booked. 

My sis managed to make a reservation at 6pm. We ordered the following dishes: 

1. Caesar salad - fresh iceberg lettuce seasoned with homemade caesar sauce.

2. Buffalo wings - not as up to our expectation. The wings are very dry and and drizzled with enough sauce. But the side vegetables are very fresh though. Luv the crunchiness.

3. Sirloin steak - this dish is ordered by my brother-in-law. He just love the steak. Tender and cooked to the right texture. 

4. Nasi goreng - mummy had this dish as she needs rice as a staple for dinner. The portion was so huge but she enjoyed it a lot. The rice was fragrantly fried with lots of ingredients and its accompanied by 2 satay sticks and eggs.

5. Beef pho - my sis wanted to have some soupy stuff and this was the only one on the menu. Not very fantastic in taste. The beef slices were too lean and a little tough. 

6. Teriyaki salmon with rice - this is like a japanese bento set. The salmon portion was generous and it was considered as a very healthy bento meal with vegetables as sides. 

7. Duo BBQ - kevin and I shared this. It consist of bbq ribs and chicken thigh. All very tenderly grilled and tastefully marinated. There were coleslaw, baked beans and fries as side. This dish was definitely more than enough for the 2 of us to share. 

Food portion was huge and good enough for sharing. Service was prompt but feels a little pushy in the sense thar they are always asking to clear our dishes. We didn't feel too comfortable with that.

For an American meal in SG, hard rock cafe is one of the places to be considered. Not a bad place for gathering. 


Items Ordered:
Caesar salad
Buffalo wings
Sirloin steak
Nasi goreng
Beef pho
Teriyaki salmon with rice
Duo BBQ and Chicken Thigh

My Overall Ratings:

Food: 3.8/5

Price: 3/5

Service: 3.5/5

Ambience: 4/5

You can locate them here:

Hard Rock Cafe

HPL House, 50 Cuscaden Rd, #02/03-01, Singapore 249724

Restaurant - Western

0

Ban Heng at The Cathay

This is our first reunion dinner for this year. We made a reservation at Ban Heng restaurant at The Cathay 3 weeks ago, but could only find a table during a weekday. The exact CNY eve has been fully booked. 

There are 5 different CNY menus for offer. We opted for Menu B which offers suckling pig as one of the options. The set menu is meant for 10 people. Food was promptly served after we were seated. 

First came the lo hei. The lo hei was good. The sauce was just nice and shredded vegetables very fresh. 


Next to be served was roasted suckling pig. The pig looks delicious but tasted very porky. 


We did not really like it. The skin was thick and not crispy enough. The fried soon hock came next. The 2 fishes were very crispily fried and drizzled with thick sauce. 

Shark's fin soup was next. A little starchy and not too much shark's fin. We love the prawn freshness from the salted egg and pumpkin sauce dish. The prawns were so big and crunchy and nicely sauteed. 

For vegetables, we had braised teochew cabbage with mushrooms and black moss. Vegetables very soft and nicely braised. The main staple was ee fu noodle with mushrooms. Lots of noodles but with very little mushrooms. 

Last but not least, dessert was red bean soup with lotus seed. Sweetness was just right with the right consistency. 

Portion was huge and we had to have take aways of the dishes home. Overall environment was comfortable but service not at its best. Ban Heng seems to have lose its touch over the years in terms of food and service.


Items Ordered:
Lo Hei
Roasted Suckling Pig
Braised Shark Fins soup
Deep Fried Soon Hock Fish
Salted egg and pumpkin sauce prawn
Ee Fu noodle
Red Bean soup with lotus seed

My Overall Ratings:

Food: 3.8/5

Price: 3.5/5

Service: 3/5

Ambience: 3.8/5

You can locate them here:

Ban Heng

Former Cathay Building, 2 Handy Rd, Singapore 229233

Restaurant - Chinese

0

Hai Di Lao (海底捞) at Somerset 313

Happy birthday Sis!! For her birthday celebration, we went to queue for the ever popular steamboat restaurant Hai Di Lao at Somerset 313. Being known for its long queuing time, we started queuing at 430pm. 

We were served snacks and drinks. The snacks include popcorn, prawn crackers, fruits, ice cream etc. There are manicure service while waiting as well. 

Fortunately we did not have to wait too long.. We were shown to our seats at 615pm. 

My sis did all the ordering today. We ordered meat like beef, pork and chicken and lots of fish meat, mushrooms and tofu and vegetables. The ingredients were fresh and delicious.

The fun part was we are allowed to do the mix and match of the various seasonings. Lovely dips! There were other side food like cold black fungus, beansprouts, peanuts, pumpkin porridge and fruits. All so lovely and added spice to the dish. 

With noodles ordered, there was a special la mian performance by the crew. Looks like some kongfu performance according to my nephew. Hahaz... Hai Di Lao's service is definitely very commendable. 

Always there to ensure that there is enough soup topup and towels to be changed. Thumbs up. With good quality food and service comes a higher price. 

Hai Di Lao can definitely be a place to be considered for reunion steamboat dinner. But do come early to avoid queuing too long.


Items Ordered:
Steam Boat Dinner


My Overall Ratings:
Food: 4/5

Price: 3.5/5

Service: 4.2/5

Ambience: 4/5

You can locate them here:

Hai Di Lao

313atSomerset, 313 Orchard Road, #04-23/24, Singapore 238895

Restaurant - Chinese

0

Cha Thai at Telok Ayer Street

"We serve Quality" has been Cha Thai's motto for years. They bring in the freshest ingredients and together with their experienced chefs, they offer wonderful modern Thai food with excellent quality and taste. 

Cha Thai is located along Telok Ayer Street, along with many other popular restaurants like Pagi Sore. We reserved our dinner table via Eatigo and they offer 50% off on all ala carte food menu excluding desserts and drinks. We tried 4 of their recommended dishes: 

1. Fried kailan with roasted pork - crispily fried roasted pork fragrantly fried with garlic and kailan. It was an awesome combination. The roasted pork was crispy and added the crunchy texture to the dish. 

2. Phad Thai with king prawn - a generous portion of thai fried kway teow accompanied by lots of ingredients and 2 fresh king prawn. This dish is enough for 2 pple to share. The dish was not too dry as compared to some other restaurants. 

3. Fried prawn cake - freshly minced king prawn meat made into patty form and deep fried with lovely bread crumbs. The dish is accompanied by special plum sauce. So juicy at every bite. Mmm....

4. Tom yum vegetable dumpling - this is a vegetarian dish. The tom yum soup base is more coconuty as compared to others. Its definitely not for those who cannot take spiciness. Besides dumplings, there are mushrooms as well. 

Cha Thai offers good quality and delicious food but price can be quite steep without the discount. Don't give this place a miss since offer is still on. 

With its huge portion, we had no stomach to try their popular desserts like charcoal toast with pandan dip. 

Nevertheless, we will be back for more!


Items Ordered:
Fried kailan with roasted pork
Phad Thai with king prawn
Crispy prawn cake
Tom yum vegetable dumpling

My Overall Ratings:

Food: 4.2/5

Price: 4/5 (with Eatigo), else 3/5

Service: 3.5/5

Ambience: 4/5

You can locate them here:

Cha Thai

80 Telok Ayer Street, #01-01, Singapore 048466

Restaurant - Thai

1

Sangokai Teppanyaki at Food Republic Westgate

This is a new stall at Food Republic Westgate. We previously reviewed on the ban mian stall and today we returned to review this newly opened teppanyaki stall beside the mala xiang guo. 

We ordered yakiniku and chicken teriyaki teppanyaki. There was generous portion of beansprouts and other vegetable on the base but the meat portion was quite little. 

The overall taste was still acceptable but the meet was rather tough. We had a hard time chewing the beef slices. The stall order was a little mixed up and probably this may be common with new stall. 

The rice accompanying it was hard and dry and we had to order a bowl of fishball soup to go with it. The soup provided with the set was not drinkable as there was a burnt taste. 

Definitely more improvements need to be made.


Items Ordered:
Yakiniku
Chicken teriyaki

My Overall Ratings:

Food: 2.5/5

Price: 2.5/5

Service: NA

Ambience: 3/5

You can locate them here:

Sangokai Teppanyaki (Food Republic)

3 Gateway Drive, B1-28/29, Singapore 608532

FoodCourt - Japanese

0

Bangkok Jam at Marina Square

Bangkok Jam, known for its modern bistro-styled interior to its cosmopolitan treatment of Thai fare, is one of the more popular Thai restaurants visited by many. 

Bangkok Jam offers modern Thai cuisine that is unique yet with the familiar authentic Thai taste.

Bangkok Jam at Marina Square is giving 40% off ala carte menu via Eatigo and we decided to grab the wonderful offer to try out these contemporary dishes. 

The restaurant was very spacious with not many customers at 6pm. We were shown to our seats and had our order placed. We ordered the following:

1. Tom yum curry fish head - we had to wait 15 -20 mins for this dish but was rather disappointed by it. The dish came looking hot and appetizing but it was actually lukewarm. The fish head was small and had a slight muddy taste. Fortunately it could be covered by the tom yum curry sauce. The sauce could be better with a little more spice.

2. Beansprouts with salted fish - a small vegetable dish not very fragrantly fried. The other tze char stalls could do very much better.

3. Fried calamari with curry mayo - the sotong was tenderly deep fried in batter and the curry mayo was certainly a good combination sauce to dip the calamari in. 

The food serving was a little slow and the servers seemed to be a little mixed up with the order. We were served the wrong food twice. 

Fortunately the cosy and quiet ambience has helped to compliment the restaurant a little. For authentic Thai food, would still recommend the other restaurants previously reviewed.


Items Ordered:
Tom yum curry fish head
Beansprouts with salted fish
Fried calamari with curry mayo

My Overall Ratings:

Food: 3/5

Price: 3.5/5 (4.5/5 with eatigo 40%off)

Service: 3/5

Ambience: 4/5

You can locate them here:

Bangkok Jam

Marina Square, 6 Raffles Boulevard, #02-105B/C, Singapore  039594 

Restaurant - Thai

0

Small Potatoes Ice Creamery at Somerset 313

Somerset 313 has one of the most dessert/ice cream food kiosk at its basement. From healthier version like ilao ilao to sinful ones like churros 101. 

We went for a newly opened Japanese ice cream dessert kiosk: Small potatoes ice creamery. This kiosk serves sweet potato soft serve ice cream and seasalt caramel soft serve.

We ordered their popular purple japanese sweet potato ice cream with azuki dorayaki. The ice cream is so thick and smooth and best of all not sweet. 

The ice cream comes with rice bubbles and small sweet potatos which blends very well with the overall taste of the ice cream. 

The portion is a little small and expensive for its price but in terms of quality, its definitely worth trying! 


Items Ordered:
Purple japanese sweet potato ice cream with azuki dorayaki

My Overall Ratings:

Food: 4/5

Price: 3/5

Service: NA

Ambience: NA

You can locate them here:

Small potatos ice creamery

313atSomerset, 313 Orchard Road, #B3-48, Singapore 238895

Deserts - Ice Cream

0

PappaRich at Westgate

PappaRich is a Malaysian owned restaurant which started its first outlet in Malaysia in 2006. From then onwards, it has expanded to up to 77 outlets. In 2012, it opened its first outlet in SG and has altogether 6 outlets in SG. 

We visited their outlet at Westgate today after work. We reached at 645pm and the restaurant was already packed with customers. 

We had a table outdoor. Luckily there were a lot of ceiling fans which made it a little cooler. We ordered 2 mains and one vegetable dish. 

First main was fried seafood horfun. Being a halal certified restaurant, they substituted the usual pork offered by tze char stall with chicken. 

The portion was generous and indeed tasty. But slight improvement needed on the gravy. There were left over starch pcs which looks very gooey. Kevin had fried rice with fried chicken leg. This dish was really good and value for money. 

The chicken thigh was nicely fried and meat so tender. It goes well with the sambal chilli accompanying it. The dish has a sunny side up egg, cucumber and crackers. Overall a good dish to try. The side vegetable dish was fried garlic kangkong. 

We did not have very expectation of this dish but surprisingly very well done. Very fragrantly fried with garlic and with no muddy kangkong taste. Not too oily as well. 

Service was swift and overall ambience not too bad either. Thus why not coming to this place for a meal with family or frenz.


Items Ordered:
Fried rice with fried chicken leg
Fried seafood horfun
Fried garlic kang kong

My Overall Ratings:

Food: 3.8/5

Price: 3.5/5

Service: 4/5

Ambience: 3.8/5

You can locate them here:

PappaRich

Westgate, 3 Gateway Drive, #03-06, Singapore 608532

Restaurant - Singapore

0