Brunetti, 4Fingers @ Plaza Sing, Le Chocolatier @ Robinsons Orchard

You know, every since I started working, I've been going out frequently on weekend dates with my bf (and friends).

But, I never found the time to blog about my finds! :(

I've so many backdated entries - one kind reader mentioned that I didn't blog about my Food finds in Busan.

OOPS.

Okay, so one fine Saturday, we went to town.

#1 Brunetti, Tanglin Mall (#01-03/04 & 01-35/36)

I've never heard of this place before, but chanced upon it and decided to try it out using the Entertainer 2013 book.

Turns out, it was such a delicious lunch for ME :D

My bf had the chicken aglio olio.

The sauce was great.

However, this dish pales in comparison to my Pan Seared Red Snapper.
Pls get this dish! I'm salivating as I type
The sauce was amazing, and the fish was fresh.
It was heavenly!

 And of course, proof that we like our meals:

#2 4fingers @ Plaza Singapura

My bf has been eyeing this for long, but their long queues deterred me from eating it.

I just can't wait or I'll be famished.

Fortunately that day, the queue wasn't insanely long.

Plus, I wasn't the one who queued :P, so we got to try it!

 We had the chicken drumstick combo above + seafood salad.
Felt that a salad was needed, to complement as well as #eatmoreclean.
I'm not the kind who stomach everything fried, I need my veggies

Tbh, $9.95 for the seafood salad is EXPENSIVE.
Judge for yourself.
But I must say, the fried prawns was delicious :) and chewy

My bf upsized the fries - one with kimchi flavour, another seaweed.
But nope, didn't taste much difference.

 Here comes the main - drumsticks!
I read online that their chicken wings were good.
Okay, the drumsticks was decent
We love the skins - it was flavourful (especially the soy garlic; spicy was rather spicy).
But, we can't say much about the meat.
It was rather bland nor tender.
KFC does a better job in its chicken though.

Total damage $26.90.
Worth it? Just alright - my bf said, "okay, it's enough after 1 try, I was just trying out to see why so many people queue."
It could be quite sinful for those on a diet too haha!

#3 Le Chocolatier @ Robinsons Orchard 

We went to Robinsons Orchard which was newly open and it was huge!

Went window shopping there, and discussed with my bf what I'd like in my future home

*say say only la*

Then, we went down to the basement and saw...MACARONS!

Ok, I was the only one excited about it.

My bf relented and wanted to get me ONE.

But guess what, being greedy, and having no self-control, I gave in for A BOX after the girl told me 6 for $18 (UP: $3.50 each)

Gian png

haha

End of the story - I REGRETTED LA!

Whut, this must be the worst macarons I've ever tasted

Only 1 out of 6 passed - the green pistachio one

So fail!

Buy at your own risk, ok?

Chin Mee Chin Confectionery

"Oldschool kopitiam for breakfast please."
This was what I told my boyfriend, as we ponder over our next dining location.
Love his spontaneity too, because he drove me here upon my request!

Not sure if you've read the viral blogpost about the must-go places for food before you die.
One of it was Chin Mee Chin for our local breakfast (think soft boiled eggs, kopi, kaya toast.)

When I was here, the queue was pretty long. But for 2 pax, we managed to find our seats within a while.
The layout of this shop was really old-school.
It brought back my childhood memories, where I used to drink milo and eat soft boiled eggs beside my grandparents and parents back in Tiong Bahru market (oh man, I can still rmb how it looks like before it was demolished for the new one).
The staff here were old as well, and there was one auntie who doesn't seem very patient when talking to customers.
I didn't receive her wrath, but another auntie did.

Enough talking, let my photos do the talk.
Btw, they're taken using my Note 2 - no editing done.

The custard puff and egg tart below was NOT DELICIOUS.
Disappointing as this was the first 2 pieces we ate.
Murmured to my bf and say "not nice leh".

Ordered 4 soft boiled eggs, and I overestimated myself - luckily I had a dustbin aka bf beside me.
Can only finish 1 plate.
Also had 2 coffees - which was really average.
Err....why was this highly rated?

 But, I am still impressed with their kaya toast buns.
I had expected bread, but they use buns here instead.
Tbh, the buns were meh..so average; but the real deals were the kaya and butter.
I saw people beside me halving the butter (maybe high cholestrol?); but I just gobbled them down.

 1 for him, and 1 for me.
Like not enough leh.

 I'm always very impressed with how kopitiams can make such good soft boiled eggs.
My mum can make them too, but she sometimes fail la. LOL.
The eggs done here were good man!
We just drank the whole thing from the plate....slurp!

 

If you're interested in this oldschool coffeeshop, here's the address:
(Found from Hungrygowhere)

Address

204 East Coast Road

Phone

63450419

Hours

Tue - Sun: 08:30 - 16:00

Closed: Mon

Frustrating service at Lee's Taiwanese - Jem

I love Taiwanese food.

But, not so for those sold in Singapore.

A recent trip to Jem got me fuming.

I wasn't angry at any staff per se, but I was irritated at the service level there.

I'll get to that point.

I hope you can tell from the prices above that this is not a cheap place to have your Taiwanese food.

I won't mind paying this price is the food was good; unfortunately, it wasn't.

Ordered LU ROU FAN which is one of my fav when I was in Taiwan for holiday a few years back.

This costs $10++

By the way, the portion wasn't big, but decent enough for a small eater.

It wasn't delicious - just passable. 

FYI, that red thing at the bottom right of the picture below is the SAUAGE (wtf)

Another wtf thing that I remembered now that I blog.

This rice is supposed to come with a complimentary side dish - sour veggies aka suan1 cai4.

BUT, they didn't give it to us!!

Okay, too late, was so angry with the service that I forgot.

Got a deluxe set meal - which includes the pig intestines mee sua (i prefer oyster, but they don't sell it), drinks and side dish), drink and side dish.

The pig intestines were smelly.

The mee sua was below average - what I had at Shilin (the snacks store in Singapore) was way better!

This side dish - tofu with century egg is the best dish.

I like how the sauce drizzled over the tofu complemented the whole dish.

It was a refreshing cold side dish to accompany the ru rou fan.

Had the melon drink which was too sweet for my liking.

Anyway, food standard aside, what I was angry about was how unresponsive the staff were.

I signaled a staff for help, and she looked at me, not moving an inch from her spot.

I assumed she didn't notice so I move on to the other waitresses to order my food above.

Thereafter, I wanted to try their signature dessert (think Blackball).

I signal that same staff who stood there not moving, to come over, but she was stoning there again - looking at me.

-.-

Moved on to the other staff and asked what was the dessert of the day.

To my surprise, this staff told me there's no dessert of the day.

Dots....it was a Saturday, supposedly a day where they'll have a lot of patrons, but they didn't prepare desserts?

I assumed the staff didn't know what was going on, so I asked the other.

The other staff said, no desserts today because too many people -.-'''

Another said SOLD OUT.

Sigh, really confusing explanations from the staff.

Another thing to mention was, some of the staff were just blur - one auntie gave out wrong orders to different patrons; another staff said wrong information regarding food ingredients; another just stood there not doing anything. 

Such an unpleasant experience there, plus the food wasn't really up to standard.

Not coming back again

Eighteen Chefs - Tiong Bahru Plaza

Eighteen Chefs (http://www.eighteenchefs.com/v2/) is a social enterprise serving Western Fushion Cusines (Halal too).

They employ troubled youths and help them to reintegrate into society.

I believe this is a worthy restaurant to support.

Headed here for dinner at Tiong today, after watching Thor.

Was pleased with what I ate and knew I had to share.

It was great to be able to book for tables with the aid of an ipad in front of the shop.

Really fuss free - key in your number, and an automated call will be directed to you once there are seats.

I didn't wait too long before getting 2 seats.

The ordering process is self-service.

Get your utensils and sauces here - self service.

Ordered the Funky Salad, and the Baked Rice (apparently the BEST - according to ieatishootipost)

Along with my baked rice set, I had a cup of lemon tea - which was really good.

I really love this cup! (anyone knows where I can get them?)

The salad was refreshing, but not quite worth the $9.80+ price tag.

Prawns were decent, but there wasn't much olive oil or lemon taste.

I added cheese and chilli flakes to spice things up :P

Told my bf I should try making my own soon!

I highly rec their baked rice.

I don't know if it's the BEST, but it certainly was good.

We ordered a special ingredient - mango :O

I'll try to be daring with my food choices IF POSSIBLE.

Luckily for me, the mango-mushroom baked rice didnt suck!

In fact I LOVE IT!

It was a great mix.

Also, the cheese was generous enough; cant imagine how cheesy it'll be if I ordered/top up additional money for the "double cheese".

FYI, you're allowed to mix and match different ingredients to get the baked rice you want.

At the end of it, we had a cup of ice cream too!

Look at how pretty it is :) 

It comes in all my favourite color - pink, blue and purple!

Didn't top up $4 for the additional waffle, which was quite a waste.

Should have top it up.

It was a really nice meal there.

I like the open concept of the restaurant, their social mission, the fuss-free ipad-booking of seats, and the efficient service.

I'll certainly be back!