Ichiban Sushi @ Toa Payoh HDB Hub

I am back at Ichiban Toa Payoh again. I heard about their cheap set meal from 3pm to 530pm. I ordered the Tempura Udon set meal at $5 which came with a free handroll and green tea. With its value for money set meal, Ichiban definitely has become one of my favourite Japanese restaurants. Hmm...maybe as for now :)

Unagi Handroll 4/5

Prawn and Vegetable Tempura 4/5

Udon Meal Set 4/5

Ichiban Sushi
HDB Hub
490 Lorong 6 Toa Payoh
#01-12
Nearest MRT: Toa Payoh, NS Line

Swensen's Cafe Restaurant @ Toa Payoh Entertainment Centre

I love lunching at Swensen as it always have the 1-for-1 lunch treat promotion. Even though it is 1-for-1, food quality and quantity were not compromised. One can always guaranteed a hearty value for money meal at Swensen.

I ordered my usual cray fish spaghetti. Since it was 1-for-1, I went for caesar salad to have a more balance diet.

Caesar Salad 4/5

Cray Fish Spaghetti 4.2/5

Swensen's Cafe Restaurant
Toa Payoh Entertainment Centre
450 Toa Payoh Lorong 6
#02-02
Nearest MRT: Toa Payoh, NS Line

Joo Seng Teochew Porridge @ Bukit Timah

This is one of my favourite teochew porridge restaurants in Singapore. I like to eat here because the porridge is not those watery type. I preferred those teochew porridge with a lot of rice grains. You can even ask for a bowl of teochew porridge less the rice water. Besides that, I like the varieties and sauces served here.

Bean Sauce

I ordered 7 dishes and I enjoyed each and single dish. It cost me $33, quite worth it considered I ordered promfret, duck meat and the clam today.

My Order (7 dishes)

Braised Duck 4/5

Beancurd Skin 4/5

Fish Cake 4.2/5

Steamed Promfret 4/5

Minced Meat 4.2/5

Cabbage 3.8/5

Clam (La La) 4/5

To get here, alight at Beauty World MRT station. Take Exit B. Walk to Cheong Chin Nam Road. Walk to destination. Journey time is about 3 minutes.


Joo Seng Teochew Porridge
14 Cheong Chin Nam Road
(opp Bukit Timah Shopping Centre)
Nearest MRT: Beauty World DT Line

San Gu Dan Shui @ Albert Centre Market & Food Centre

San Gu Dan Shui stall is a branch of Dessert House. It is tucked somewhere in the middle of the food centre. It caught my attention as it offers egg beancurd dessert which I have not tried before. Unfortunately someone in front of me bought the last egg beancurd dessert and I have to settle for chendol.

Chendol 4.2/5

San Gu Dan Shui
Albert Centre Market & Food Centre
270 Queen Street
#01-67
Nearest MRT: Bugis (EW Line, DT Line)

Kopi Alley @ Tanjong Pagar MRT Xchange

Those that do not use the public transport, you probably did not know that more and more eateries have opened at MRT stations. One such eateries is Kopi Alley at Tanjong Pagar MRT station. Now commuters can grab a quick breakfast on the way to work.

I didn't know Kopi Alley was opened by Jollibean until I googled on the web. It has an interesting menu that brought back childhood memories such as toast with condensed milk and milo powder. Unfortunately, I was in a rush for my appointment so I just went for the set menu.

Half Boiled Egg 4/5

Toast with Kaya and Butter 4/5

Kopi Alley
Tanjong Pagar MRT Xchange
#B1-45
Nearest MRT: Tanjong Pagar, EW Line

Cafeteria il Lido @ Suntec City

It was my kaki's monthly dinner gathering and I suggested Cafeteria il Lido at Suntec City. It is opened by the owner of the famous Cafe il Lido at Sentosa. Cafeteria il Lido offers affordable and value for money Italian food. The menu is reasonable priced at $20 or below and the portion was quite generous too. The catereria also offers kid's menu that is under $7.

The Cheese Fries was surprisingly very good. The cheese had a saltiness flavouring that tasted like sour cream which made it very enjoyable while we waited for our mains.

Cheese Fries 4.5/5

My favourite dish for the night. The chicken leg stewed with roast vegetables and mashed potatoes. The gigantic chicken leg was surprisingly moist and tender. I have to admit I struggled to finish the dish not that it was not good but the portion was really too generous.

Chicken Cacciatora 4.2/5

The other mains my friends ordered are both yummy and generous in portion too, except for the grilled fish which was a bit mushy and bland.

Spaghetti Vongole 4/5

Mushroom Steak 4/5

Grilled Dory Fish Fillet 3/5

[CLOSED]
Cafeteria il Lido
Suntec City
3 Temasek Boulevard
#B1-012
Nearest MRT: Esplanade (CC Line), Promenade (CC Line, DT Line), City Hall (EW Line, NS Line)

Let's Sweet @ Bugis Junction

My friends and I went to check out this new dessert buffet restaurant at Bugis after much media publicity. It is a new Japanese buffet concept brought in by Japan Foods Holding Ltd, which also runs Ajisen Ramen, Manpuku, Botejyu, Fruit Paradis and AOBA.

The restaurant is divided into two main sections, one for desserts and the other for savory items. Each table is given a time limit of 60 minutes for lunch and 80 minutes for dinner to complete their meal. There was a timer counting down and the alarm will sound when your time is up. It was rather stressful looking at the timer counting down so we turned it around.

As we are rather hungry, we started with the savory section first. The food was generally good across the board. The fried chicken and omelette were my favourite.

 

Japanese Pizza 4/5

Japanese Pasta 4/5

Fried Chicken 4.2/5

Omelette 4.5/5

Over at the dessert counter, there were a colorful display of mousse, jellies, puff and cakes but way short of the 40 over varieties of desserts they said they served. Of what they were serving, some were even sold out. The cakes were my favourite among the desserts. The mousse were nice too. However, the jellies were bland. Overall, we did not get the sugar rush experience and we stopped at only one round of desserts.

Banana Chocolate Crepe with Ice Cream 4/5

Dancing Yaki Mochi 3.5/5

Cakes and Mousse 4/5

Cakes 4/5 and Jellies 3.5/5

Mousse and Jellies 4/5

[CLOSED]

Let's Sweet

Bugis Junction

200 Victoria Street

#02-49

Nearest MRT: Bugis (EW Line, DT Line)

View Larger Map

Origins (元莊) @ Toa Payoh Lorong 6

Located at the back alley opposite the HDB Hub, the inconspicuous stall exactly served some good food. The stall sells a combinaton of chinese, western food, katong laksa and Selegie bean curd. Addition fifty cents for a bowl of rice. A decent place for a meal near the MRT station.

Herbal Mutton Soup 4/5

Curry Chicken 4/5

Origins (元莊)
Blk 190 Toa Payoh Lorong 6
#01-528
(next to HDB hub)
Nearest MRT: Toa Payoh, NS Line

Ichiban Sushi @ Toa Payoh HDB Hub

I love Japanese food and I am very glad to find that Ichiban Sushi has value for money set meal. We tried 3 different set meals and they were all very good. A dinner set meal was about $15.90. Really a great find near MRT station.

Salmon Mentai Yaki Wazen 4.5/5

Coe roe coated on Salmon

Nikutofu Gozen 4.5/5

Ichiban Bento Wazen 4.5/5

Ichiban Sushi
HDB Hub
490 Lorong 6 Toa Payoh
#01-12
Nearest MRT: Toa Payoh, NS Line

Dragon Robe Crab Roe Dumpling @ Centrepoint

Here is another food court by Kopitiam known as The Basement at Centrepoint. This stall caught my attention as I have not seen it before. I had their signature Eight Treaure Duck Soup and Xiao Long Bao.

The Eight Treasure Duck Soup was light and refreshing. However I did feel deceive by the "eight treasure", it was basically bee hoon soup with a slice of duck meat, quail egg and some vegetarian ingredients that made up the "eight treasure". The Xiao Long Bao however was quite good but got to wait 5 minutes to heat up.

Eight Treasure Duck and Bee Hoon Soup 3.8/5

Xiao Long Bao 4/5

Dragon Robe Crab Roe DumplingThe Centrepoint
The Basement by Kopitiam
176 Orchard Road
#B2-101
Nearest MRT: Somerset, NS Line

Chili's Grill & Bar @ Tanglin Mall

Chili's Grill & Bar has one of the best ribs in town. I ordered the mix and match baby back ribs with half rack original flavour and the other half Honey BBQ flavour. The meat was very tender and slipped off the bone easily. The mashed potato and coleslaw sides are very good too. The mashed potato was not dry, sauce was very good and it came with potato skins which was quite unique. The coleslaw was also very refreshing and nice which different from what we usually get elsewhere.

I also ordered the Terlingua Chili, slow cooked chili with beef, onions and chiles topped with cheese which is another of my favourite here. For dessert, I had the Caramel Apple Tart. The skillet baked apple tart was topped with vanilla ice cream, warm caramel sauce and cinnamon. It was nice but a bit messy to eat.

Terlingua Chili 4/5

Baby Back Ribs with Coleslaw 4.5/5

Caramel Apple Tart 4/5

To get here, go the the bus stop opposite Orchard MRT along Orchard Boulevard road. You can either

1) Take bus 111 or 123 and alight 3 stops later oppsite Trader's Hotel or

2) Take bus 36 and alight 2 stops later at Regent Hotel, take a 3 min walk to Tanglin Mall.

Chili's Grill & Bar

Tanglin Mall

163 Tanglin Road

#02-23

Nearest MRT: Orchard, NS Line

Laksania @ Hougang Mall

Hougang Mall has changed quite a bit since the last time I viisited it. They are more F&B in the mall now. On the fourth floor, there is a new Mei Shi Mei Ke 美食美客 foodcourt by Kopitiam Group. Laksania caught my attention as it offered a variety of laksa. There have Singapore, Kelantan, Penang, Sarawak and Johor laksa.

I had the Johor laksa which came with yellow noodle and thin bee hoon. The laksa soup is quite similar to our Singapore version. However the laksa ingredients it used egg plants, long beans and fish ball which is different from the Singapore version.

Johor Laksa 4/5

Laksania
Hougang Mall
Level 4 Mei Shi Mei Ke Foodcourt by Kopitiam
Stall 17
Nearest MRT: Hougang, NE Line