The Banana Leaf Apolo @ Race Course Road

Stepping into the restaurant was like stepping into a spice supermarket. The aroma from the various spices instantly rushed through your nostril. Upon sitting down, you will be served with a basket of papadum. A good distraction for the hungry stomach while waiting for the food to be served.

Papadum 4/5

I didn't know that the rice came with 2 sides so I ordered the Chana Masala which is chickpeas cooked with masala. I seldom have chickpeas but it was an interesting North India dish.

Chana Masala 4/5

The Biryani Rice was not the yellow type that we usually have. It was more plain in colour but fragrant and nice. There were also two complimentary vegetable sides that came with it.

Biryani Rice 4/5

The Chicken Vindaloo which is chicken breast meat with potato filled in hot n spicy sauce. It was not as hot and spicy as it looked.

Chicken Vindaloo 4/5

The highlight of the night had to be the Curry Fish Head. Lots of spices were packed into the gravy and I love the sourish taste of it. The fish head was also fresh and good.

Curry Fish Head 4.5/5

The Banana Leaf Apolo
56 Race Course Road
Nearest MRT: Little India (NE Line)

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Grandma's Restaurant @ United Square Thomson

If you are looking for local home cooked food, Grandma's Restaurant would be the place to go. "It's so local..." the restaurant's tagline perfectly described the food served at the restaurant.

The Beef Redang really impressed me. It was cooked to perfection, soft and tasty. It reminded me of the best Beef Redang I had in Indonesia.

Beef Redang 4.5/5

The Sotong in Black Sauce was a dish my mum will cook. A nice simple stir fried dish in black soya sauce and onion that came with a bit of spiciness.

Sotong in Black Sauce 4.5/5

I am quite particular when it comes to lady finger. I do not like it if it is mushy. The Sambal Lady Finger did not disappoint me. It has the crunchy texture with a nice balance of spiciness.

Sambal Lady Fingers 4.5/5

Overall I am quite impressed with the food and definitely will return for more.


Grandma's Restaurant
United Square Thomson
101 Thomson Road
#B1-17
Nearest MRT: Novena (NS Line)

Mr Wong's Seremban Beef Noodles @ Marine Parade Central Market and Food Centre

The Beef Noodle Soup at Mr Wong's Seremban Beef Noodles stall at Marine Parade Central Food Centre is unique and nice. The stall sells both the dry and soup version of the beef noodles. Each bowl costs $3.50 or  $4.50.

The first unique thing is the chilli sauce. The appearance was orange rather than red and it had a more garlic taste to it.

Chilli and Chinchalok

The Beef Noodle Soup used the thinner flat rice noodles (kway teow). The soup tasted sweeter than others and it was very tasty and good.

Beef Noodle 4.2/5

To get here.
(a) Alight at Paya Lebar MRT station. Walk to the bus stop at Tanjong Katong Complex and take bus number 43, 853C or 197. Alight 7 bus stops later. The journey takes about 20 minutes.

(b) Alight at Eunos MRT station. Walk to the bus stop along Jalan Eunos Road opposite the MRT station. Take bus number 966 and alight 6 bus stop later or take bus number 15 and alight 9 bus stop later. The journey takes about 20 minutes.


Mr Wong's Seremban Beef Noodles
Marine Parade Central Market and Food Centre
Blk 84 Marine Parade Central
#01-184
Nearest MRT: Paya Lebar, Eunos(EW Line)

The Singapore Food Trail @ The Singapore Flyer

The Singapore Food Trail has a 1960s street theme decoration with famous hawker stalls setup along the road side. There are 17 heritage hawker stalls that have been in the business for 30 years or more. However have the stalls handed down the skill and taste to their next generation? That is for you and me to embark on the Singapore trail to explore our very own national pride of hawker food.

My food trail started with Katong Keah Kee Fried Oyster. The stall is very generous with the chilli sauce. A good Fried Oyster must be matched with a good chilli sauce and the stall did not disappoint me in this aspect. Some may like their plate of sweet potato flour and egg fried until very crisp but I prefer it to be a bit wet. The stall managed to fry a balance neither too wet or crisp.

Katong Keah Kee Fried Oyster 4/5

The Whampoa Ngoh Hiang Prawn Cracker was a disappointment and pricey. Do check with the cashier if you do not want to get a shock as there is no price tag. I ordered 5 items and it cost me $7.80. Food was only average.

Whampoa Ngoh Hiang Prawn Cracker 3/5

The Sin Ming Road Rong Chen Bak Kut Teh was pretty good. A $5 bowl of Bak Kut Teh came with 3 pieces of pork rib. The meats were tender and slipped off the bone easily. The soup was pepper based but not overpowering.

Sin Ming Road Rong Chen Bak Kut Teh 4.2/5

The food trail ended with a dessert from the memory lane, the 1960's ice ball. Shaved ice was shaped into a ball with cooked read beans and atap seeds stuffed inside. Finally coloured syrup and evaporated milk are poured over the ice ball to give it the sweetness taste.

Ice Ball 4/5

The Singapore Food Trail
The Singapore Flyer
Nearest MRT: Promenade (CC Line, DT Line)

Shashlik Restaurant @ Far East Shopping Centre

This restaurant serves Russian cuisine. Story has it that it was actually "set up in 1986 by 9 Hainanse migrants after being laid off at Russian restaurant Troika, the menu remained the same for the past twenty years." (from a HGW review by stargirl).

Walking into the restaurant located at level 6 of Far East Shopping Centre is like turning back the clock. I thought I walked into an old folks home if not for the customers in the restaurant. We have senior citizen waiter/waitress bringing out your food on a wooden trolley and serving at the table side.

Shashlik is famous for its Borsch Soup. The waiter/waitress will push out the wooden trolley with a tureen sitting on it, ladled the soup from it and served at the table. It also came with a scoop of sour cream if you want it. The flavour of the tomato based Borsch Soup ws complex but pretty good. A free soft bun was also served, extra at $0.50. It was warm, fluffy and with some sweetness. It was very good eating it alone with the spread of butter or for cleaning up the plate.

Borsch Soup 4.2/5

The onion soup was quite average and a bit salty. I kind of regret ordering it since I am at a Russian theme restaurant.

Onion Soup 3/5

For the main, I went for the Lamb Shashlik (meat on skewer) which is available in lamb, chicken, beef and pork. Once again, the waiter/waitress pushed the wooden trolley up to the table, removed the meat from the skewer and plated up the meat, fries and garnished it on a sizzling hot plate. Nothing fancy on how the meat is prepared or cooked. It is all down to the marination of the meat. The lamb was really tasty from the marination.

Lamb Shashlik 4/5

Shashlik Restaurant
Far East Shopping Centre
545 Orchard Road
#06-19
Nearest MRT: Orchard (NS Line)

Rock & Ash @ Novena Square 2

This is Rock & Ash third outlet and it is located at the basement of Novena Square 2, conveniently accessible via Novena MRT station. Coincidentally my friends and I were there on their first day of opening. What make Rock & Ash Cafe unique is its specially made to order crispy fries and wide selection of sweet, savoury and spicy homemade dips. The cripsy fries come in 3 sizes at the price of $3.90, $4.90 and $5.90.

I had the Crispy Fries with Power Garlic Mayo dip. The garlic taste from the dip was strong but not over powering.  It actually is a good combination. The fries were good and I can feel that there were thoughts into the size of the fries so that it can be accompanied with the dip.

Crispy Fries with Power Garlic Mayo 4/5

I also like the selection of burgers available at the cafe. After much consideration, I settled for the Minty Yogurt Lamb Burger since I don't usually find lamb burger being sold at most cafe.

The Minty Yogurt Lamb Burger came with fries on the side too. The size of the burger was just right and can be easily handled with both hands. The lamb patty was nice with some yogurt sauce on top of it.

Minty Yogurt Lamb Burger 4/5

My friends had the Fish & Chips and the Grilled Chicken.  The fish was nicely cooked with the golden brown crust. The fish itself was bland in flavour but when eaten with the lemony sauce it was very flavouring. We only wished that there were more sauce as the fish fillet was quite big.

Fish and Chips 3.5/5

The Grilled Chicken came with salad and mashed potato sides. The mashed potato was smooth and good. Unfortunately the black pepper sauce was too salty. Since it was there first day of opening, the kitchen probably still need some fine tuning of their menu.

Grilled Chicken 3.5/5

Rock & Ash
Novena Square 2
10 Sinaran Drive
#B1-105/106/129
Nearest MRT: Novena (NS Line)

Li Fang Zhou Pin (麗芳粥品) @ Albert Centre Market & Food Centre

I was wondering around Albert Centre Food Centre thinking what to eat for dinner and I noticed a lot of people having congee that was served in styrofoam bowl. I started looking for the stall and found it tucked at a corner with a long queue.

I looked up the web and I realized that Li Fang Zhou Pin (麗芳粥品) has several branches around the island. There was a stall at ABC Brickworks Food Centre and another at Yuhua Market and Hawker Centre. Unfortunately I am not able to verify which is the original stall.

The congee was pretty good. I thought it was a wise idea to serve in styrofoam bowl. What I don't understand is for takeaway, the stall used plastic bowl instead for an additional 20 cents.

I had the Congee in Boat Style which is basically congess with sliced fish, cuttlefish, chives and peanuts. The congee was smoothy and not watery. It also came with Youtiao (油条) which was crisp and warm, giving a final toast on the grill before serving.

Congee in Boat Style 4.2/5

Li Fang Zhou Pin (麗芳粥品)
Albert Centre Market & Food Centre
270 Queen Street
#01-78
Nearest MRT: Bugis (EW Line, DT Line)

Hansang Korean Family Restaurant @ Novena Square 2

It has been years since I last visited the restaurant. The restaurant comes in two sections. One section for Korean BBQ while the other for Ala Carte. My friends opted for the ala carte and we ordered the set menu.

When the first servicing came, I was feeling disappointed that the varieties of side dishes in Korean cuisine have shrunk to just 3 small portions on a single plate. It turned out that the restaurant served some sort of Amus Bouche which was unexpected for a Korean restaurant. It has potato salad, anchovies (Ikan Bilis) and black peas on the plate. Both the potato salad and anchovies were ok but nothing Korean. The black beans were hard which I do not really know how to appreciate it.

Now this is the best part of Korean cuisine. The spread of side dishes.

The pancakes were a bit tasteless to me but they were nice and not too floury.

Korean Pancake 3.8/5

Ginseng Chicken which is known as Samgyetang in Korean is a summer dish that consists of a whole chicken stuffed with glutinous rice and cooked in Korean ginseng broth. At first I was worried that the soup will be too heavy with ginseng flavour but it turned out not. The chicken was also nicely cooked and tender.

Ginseng Chicken 4.2/5

I have never eaten Mackerel cooked in Korean style and I love it a lot. It was my favourite for the night. I think I ate three quarter of the dish alone. However this dish is not suitable for children. There were a lot of fish bones and care has to be taken eating this dish.

Mackerel 4.5/5

The Bulgogi Pork was a bit small in portion and tiny sliced. It came with a plate of lettuce so you can wrap the meat with the lettuce and eat it as a whole. The lettuce gave the dish a freshening texture and balanced the oiliness of the meat.

Bulgogi Pork 3.8/5

Han Sang Korean Family Resaurant
Novena Square 2
10 Sinaran Drive
#03-33
Nearest MRT: Novena (NS Line)

Yong He Eating House @ Geylang

When you mentioned 永和豆浆油条大王 probably a lot of people will know where it is. It has exactly moved further down the road to a new location at Lorong 27A from Lorong 9.

I do not like to eat beancurd with sugar syrup. I find it too sweet.  I prefer beancurd with soya bean drink which I think is the right balance to go with the silky smooth beancurd.

Beancurd with Soya Bean Drink 4/5

The Youtiao (油条) seems bigger than others. It was quite oily but crispy and nice. The other reason I like my beancurd with soya bean drink because I can dip the Youtiao into it. I like soaking my Youtiao (油条) in the soya bean drink before eating it.

YouTiao (油条) 4/5

At Yong He (永和), they also sell Taiwanese snacks. The Shao Bing (烧饼) with Egg is one of my favourite.

Shao Bing (烧饼) with Egg 4/5

To get here, alight at Aljunied MRT station and take a five minutes walk to Yong He Eating House at Geylang Lorong 27A.


Yong He Eating House
517 Geylang Road
(near Lorong 27A)
Nearest MRT: Aljunied MRT (EW Line)

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Pizzeria Mozza @ Marina Bay Sands

This restaurant is owned by the renowned by Nancy Silverton, Mario Batali and Joe Bastianich in the United States and it is great to have the dining experience brought to Singapore. You can check out their profile on the Pizzeria Mozza website. I am more familiar with Joe Bastianich as he is one of the judges for US Master Chef.

The first thing that greeted me was an envelope on the dining table from Pizzeria Mozza. This is interesting and unique to me. In the envelope was exactly your cutlery and serviette.

I had the Bruschette Ciccioli for the starter. The Ciccioli had a taste of saltiness (properly from the aging) when eaten with the crispy toasted bread was a good combination of flavour and texture.

Ciccioli with black pepper and thyme 4/5

The best try here is definitely the pizza! It is one of the best pizzas I have eaten and the price range of $20-$28 for a pizza is quite affordable considering this a celebrity chef restaurant. I can't wait to go back to try to the rest of the pizzas in the menu.

The pizzas were unique with its extra large crust and shape. I tried both the Stracchino and Burrata pizzas. Both pizzas were distinctly differently in flavours but they were so good that I cannot judge each was better.

Stracchino with scallions, funghi, thyme & parmesan pizza 4.5/5

Burrata, slow roasted tomato & Sicilian oregano pizza 4.5/5

Pizzeria Mozza
Marina Bay Sands
The Shoppes @ Marina Bay Sands
2 Waterfront Avenue
#B1-42/46
Nearest MRT: Promenade (CC Line, DT Line), Bayfront (CC Line, DT Line)

Direction:
1) Alight at Promenade MRT station. Take exit towards Temasek Avenue. Walk to bus stop opposite Ritz Carlton Hotel (Stop ID 02171). Take bus no. 97, 106, 133, 502 or 518. Alight 1 stop later. Journey time about 5 mins.

 2) Alight at Bayfront MRT station. Exit Station. Cross the road and walk to destination. Journey time about 5 mins.

Saizeriya Italian Restaurant @ City Square Mall

The restaurant was very crowded during my visit. It seems like its value for money concept is very popular with the teenagers. They were so busy that I had to wait for a good 10 minutes before someone came to take my order.

The Mushroom Soup was quite good, thick and creamy.

Mushroom Soup 4/5

The Chicken Wings were my favourite. The seasoning for the marination was pretty good.

Chicken Wing 4/5

The mains however were only so so only but definitely value for money. No wonder it is such a hit with teenagers.

Bacon and Tomato Spaghetti 3.5/5

Doria with Chicken Meat Sauce 3.5/5

Saizeriya Italian Restaurant
City Square Mall
180 Kitchener Road
#B2-55/56
Nearest MRT: Farrer Park (NE Line)