Penang Place

 

Penang Place

6 International Business Park #01-05

Atrium Building (off Boon Lay Way)

Singapore 609918

Tel: 6899 9446

Website: http://www.penangplace.com/index.htm

Opening Hours: 11.30am to 2.00pm (lunch) and 6.30pm to 9.00pm (dinner); Closed on Sundays

 

Went to this place for lunch one fine working day and first impression simply didn’t gel with the quality of food here.

First impression was hmm… ordinary. Got the feeling that it’s a Peranakan Jack’s Place. Went round the buffet table and ok, not too bad a spread for a weekday lunch.

Being at a Penang makan place, of course I had to try the char kway teow, the Penang laksa and the chendol.  These are after all the “die die must try” dishes when you are at Penang.

And oh boy, I must say that the char kway teow here is the most authentic Penang char kway teow that I’ve eaten in Singapore. It’s truly like having the same dish at Penang. Not oily, not spicy and don’t have too much of the black sauce that you find in normal char kway teow in Singapore. One helping is never enough of this good stuff.

The Penang laksa here is good but not as tasty as the ones that they serve at Chilli Padi.  It doesn’t have the oomph that I was looking for – a bit bland and not enough of the prawn paste (heh koh).

Chendol chendol chendol – I always love the chendol that they serve in Malaysia because of the pandan jellies.  The ones that they serve in Singapore are the dark green ones and has the plastic-like look that I never liked.  The ones that they serve at Penang Place here are the same ones that they serve in Malaysia – light green and has that tinge of pandan taste.  You basically have to make your own chendol (like all buffets).  The red beans that they served here are the big ones (small kidney like), but since I am not a red beans person, I typically skipped that stuff.  I had literally 2 full bowls of the chendol – just like the ones that they serve in Penang.

Don’t try the otah at this place – it simply does not taste nice.  They attempt to make it like the Thai otah by steaming their otahs but the coconut simply overwhelms the otah.

I managed to squeeze 1 seasame chicken – I couldn’t taste much of the seasame but the chicken drumstick is crunchy on the outside and moist on the inside.

Since I am a small eater and I think I did very well by eating quite a fair bit, I wasn’t able to stuff any more of their food in.  But am happy coz I had a taste of Penang here at home. Now I don’t have to fly to Penang any more to fulfill my char kway teow/chendol cravings. Overall, great but there are hits and misses.  Just simply enjoy those that you love.  🙂

If you are not a buffet fan, they also have ala-carte dishes available, so you can always order from the menu.

Prices are reasonable –  S$19.80++ for weekday lunch and S$21.80++ for weekday dinner.  Add another S$2 if you are dining on Saturdays, Public Holidays eve nights and on Public Holidays.

Wood Restaurant & Bar

Wood Restaurant & Bar

1 Harbourfront Walk #01-53

Tel: 6375 9663

Website: http://thecaffebar.com/wood/

First impression was wow! This is a classy place! Set-up of the restaurant was like a fine dining place and yet it was a casual dining restaurant.  (Bf chatted with the floor manager later and found out that the original design for the restaurant was indeed for fine dining but the management decided to convert the restaurant into a semi-casual dining one.)

It was hard to decide what to eat as the menu was quite limited.  In the end, I oredered Set Dinner A (which comprises of soup of the day, Hawaiian Pizza and my fav glass of Coke).  Bf went for Spaghetti Algio Olio.  Now what made me decide to order a pizza is that we saw the wood oven at the back of the restaurant.  It has a see-through glass panel where diners can actually how the food was being prepared in the kitchen.  My mistake was not asking whether the pizza was wood baked but I assumed it would be coz I saw the humongous oven.

I love the atmosphere but not the food.  Food was ordinary – could get the same stuff from an Italian food stall at the hawker centre  but at a much lower price.  My set dinner cost us S$19.80 and the spaghetti aglio olio cost S$12 (before taxes and service charge). Definitely not good value for money.

Don’t think we’ll ever return a 2nd time – could get better food at Mont Calzone anytime at the same price.

Nakhon Kitchen

Nakhon Kitchen

Blk 212 Hougang Street 21, #01-341

Tel: 62868785

Opening Hours: 10am to 11pm, daily

 

Saw the review in The New Paper on 18 March 2009 (http://newpaper.asia1.com.sg/guide/story/0,4136,196163,00.html).

Am “beo-ing” this place, so will put up my own review when I finally get there.

Anjappar Authentic Chenttinaad Restuarant

Anjappar Authentic Chenttinaad Restuarant
102 Syed Alwi Road

Tel: 6392 5545

76-78, Racecourse Road

Tel: 6296 5545

Website: http://www.anjappar.com.sg/

Bf and I visited the branch at Syed Alwi Road on 26 January 2009 for dinner.  They’re quite easy to find – directly opposite Mustafah Shopping Centre, along a row of shophouses.

Service was a bit slow; maybe because the place was crowded. We ordered 1 Mutton Biriyani (S$8.50), 1 paper dosa (S$3.00) and 2 cups of “masala” tea (S$2 each).

Bad choice of restaurant man! Bf’s mutton biriyani was tasteless and the mutton smell so strong that even he didn’t like it. My paper dosa was normal but I could get a cheaper one from Komala’s, with more sauce.  The tea was light with hardly masala taste.  The interesting part is that you get to mix the milk and the tea yourself (usually they serve it pre-mix).

Anyway, am not too sure if it was the tea or the dosa I had here but I had a wee bit of stomach upset the next day. Bf had no problem but we certainly won’t come back here again as the food was not tasty at all.  There’s no service charge but they charge GST on the total bill.

Yan Chuan Roaster (S) Pte Ltd

Yan Chuan Roaster (S) Pte Ltd

Blk 3020 Ubi Ave 1 #01-111

Tel: 6747 2623 / 6745 6396

Blk 507 Jurong West St 52 #01-164

Tel: 6565 0330

If you want to eat cheap and good duck, be sure to visit this place.  Nowhere else I think you can get a whole roasted duck for S$16!

The thing is this is a wholesaler, which means you can’t order duck rice to go and no half ducks for sale please. 

I also love their “char siew” (roasted pork) and “xiu yok” (roasted 3-layer fat pork). Not sure how much they charge (as I always get my dad to buy). But being a huge “char siew” fan, this one gets my thumbs up everytime I eat.

I will try to get you pictures of the duck & char siew before we hungrily attack them next time. 🙂

Zambuca, Italian Restaurant & Bar

Zambuca, Italian Restaurant & Bar

Level 3, Pan Pacific Hotel

7 Raffles Boulevard

Tel: (65) 6337 8086

Website: http://www.michelangelos.com.sg/Main/Default.aspx?ContentId=34

Opening Hours: 11.30am to 2.30pm (Weekdays – lunch)

                                  6.30pm to 10.30pm (Daily – Dinner)

Sweet sweet bf brought me here for  my birthday dinner celebration last year.  First impression was wow! this is a classy place and we were so underdressed.

Nevertheless, we were shown a nice table by the window.  Given it was a Saturday night, the crowd was not hopping at this place.  But this was great for us as we prefer to have a quiet dinner than one with all the noise.

The waiter came and gave us the menus and it was hard to decide what food to eat.  But eventually, we ordered:-

• 2 glasses of Umberto Bortol (S$16 each)
• 1 Zambuca salad (S$14)
• 1 Gnocchi (S$28)
• 1 Lamb Rack (S$42)
• 1 Tiramisu (S$12)
• 1 glass of Lemoncello (S$12)

Food was of excellent quality – I find the lamb very pricey as it was 2 small pieces of lamb chops.  But for someone who doesn’t eat lamb coz of the “lamb-y” smell, this lamb rack is excellent! Portions are sufficient for small eaters.  As in all classy dining places, don’t expect huge portions.  You get quality, and not quantity here. 🙂

Being a great tiramisu fan, this tiramisu is fantastic! Out of this world! Worth every cent! If I have to beg the chef for the recipe, I would have. But too bad, I don’t cook. 😛

The glass of lemoncello is not found on the menu but if you are a fan of Italian food (like bf is), you can simply order it to have after your meal.  Limoncello is traditionally served chilled as an after dinner digestivo.  It is made from lemon rinds (traditionally from the Sorrento lemon, though most lemons will produce satisfactory limoncello), alcohol, water and sugar.  It is bright yellow in color, sweet and lemony.  This one tastes a wee bit lemony sourish.

Overall, a fantastic dining experience. We spent a total of S$164.78 (including taxes & charges) for 2 pax; very pricey but worth every single cent. 

Vienna International Seafood & Teppanyaki Restaurant

Vienna International Seafood & Teppanyaki Restaurant

101 Thomson Road #B1-01

United Square

Singapore 307591   

Tel: (65) 6254 6686

Website: http://www.viennabuffet.com/welcome.asp

Opening Hours: 11.30am to 3.00pm (lunch) & 5.30pm to 10.00pm (dinner)

 

We had lunch here on 28 February 2009 (Saturday), thanks to a friend of bf’s who brought us here.

The name of the restaurant is quite deceiving as Vienna is the capital of Austria, and one would expect it to serve Austrian food.  But the rest of its name says “Teppanyaki Restaurant”.  Quite confusing, I must say.

But man! The buffet spread is a sight for sore eyes! Even at lunch, they serve sashimi, sushi, cold dishes such as oysters, scabis, crayfish, smoked salmon, pepper crab, oyster vegetables, clams, etc. For desserts, you can choose ice cream, cakes (American Cheese Cake, Blackforest Cake, Mango Passion, Tiramisu, Fudge, etc.), yang sheng jelly, etc.  Inclusive in the price are free flow of drinks (you can choose either soft drinks or juices – not fresh fruit juice but the cordial kind) and each diner gets a bowl of “Buddha jumps over the wall” soup (I put this in inverted commas as it’s not the real thing but quite tasty).

Now I know why the place was packed on the Saturday afternoon and we were lucky to get a place even though we had no reservations. I must say that the price you pay for is quite good value for money.  Don’t expect high-end quality.  Freshness of the sashimi is also acceptable.

Check the website for the menu details.  If I paste them all here, it’ll make this entry too lengthy.  This will be one place that I will be visiting again soon!

Bakerzin

  

Bakerzin

1 Harbourfront Walk #01-207

VivoCity

Tel: (65) 6438 8700

Website: http://www.bakerzin.com

Opening Hours: 10.30am to 11.00pm, Sun to Thu

                                  10.30am to Midnight, Fri, Sat & Eve of Public Holidays

They have 9 outlets in Singapore but we visited the one at VivoCity on 17 December 2008.

It was after dinner so I was looking for desserts (bf is not the desserts type, but I dragged him along. Hehehe!).

We were quickly shown a table where we were squeezed in between 2 other tables.  Space is cramped and you can hardly walk to the other side of the table without hitting the neighboring table.

Now I have 2 gripes about Bakerzin.  First of all, the wordings of the tapas menu came in red and were in small fonts against white background.  Given the dim lighting of the restaurant, I could hardly read the menu.  (Yes, I will be giving my feedback to the management there on this.) Fortunately, they had a menu outside of the restaurant and I had already perused and made up my mind what I wanted. 

My 2nd gripe was that the taking our order service is terrible! All of the staff seemed to be so busy that they didn’t even looked our way.  One even bothered to clear the empty table next to us but didn’t even bother to check with us if our order had already been taken.  Finally, one staff came along and asked us after 10 minutes! In the meantime, I almost walked out of the restaurant already but bf is more patient, and made me wait (I’m glad that we waited at the end).

Why I’m griping about the order taking service is becoz they managed to give me my bill immediately after our orders came! Amazingly fast! And collection of money was also very fast! If they can do that, why can’t they order my order fast too?

Our orders came quickly (we ordered caramel panna cotta, vanilla creme brulee and rum & raisin ice cream).  First impression was that they all looked so beautiful that I couldn’t bear to eat.  Second impression was that they all looked small, like toys.

I love all the desserts!! especially the rum & raisin ice cream which comes with rum-soaked raisins! Their rum & raisin won over Haagen Daaz’s simply becoz of their rum soaked raisin.  Taste-wise, it is almost the same.

Now I can understand why the place is always packed.  Simply delightful desserts at a reasonable price. And yes, I’ll definitely be back again!

Mont Calzone

Mont Calzone

38 Pekin Street #01-01

Far East Square

Tel: (65) 6557 2304

Website: http://www.montcalzone.com.sg/

Opening Hours: 11.30am to 3.30pm and from 5.30pm to 10.30pm (Mondays to Fridays); 5.30pm to 10.30pm (Saturdays); closed on Sundays

 

Bf discovered this place as we were wandering around Far East Square, wondering what to have for dinner.

What caught his eye was the thin crust pizza that they had on a huge billboard outside the restaurant.  He, being an Italian foodie, wanted to try it.

On our first visit (we’ve been there two other times since), the waiter recommended the parma ham pizza (which has tomato sauce, mozzarella, parma ham topped with rucola salad and shredded parmesan).  I must say that the saltishness of the ham goes excellently well with the rucola salad and the thin crust pizza.  The crust is biscuit like and you can hear the crunch when you bite into the pizza.  Just be sure to catch the chef on a good day – he burnt the crust once.  The pizza is generously topped with the rucola salad.  At the cost of S$14.90 for an 8″ pizza (S$17.90 for 12″), it is suitable for 2 persons with small appetites to share.  Otherwise, just order a whole pizza for yourself.  I must declare that this pizza is the best value-for-money in Singapore.  Surprisingly, this is not a chef-recommended dish.

We also tried the Risotto.  Although the menu says their risotto is prepared with tomato sauce and seafood, we asked the waiter to inform the chef to prepare it with cream sauce and parmesan cheese instead.  But they served us the one with tomato sauce and parmesan cheese instead. 😦  Bf says that the tomato sauce is too heavy and masked the taste of the parmesan cheese.

We also tried the Aglio Olio but we had the chef do it in the classic style (i.e. with no shrimps but with dressing of olive oil, garlic and chilli).  I have to give this a thumbs down – the pasta turned out to be too dry and not spicy (even though we asked for spicy).  At S$12.90 a plate, portion is good for 1 person only (with small appetite).

Overall, I give the parma ham pizza 10 thumbs up for value and quality (if the chef didn’t burn my crust) but a so-so rating for the rest of the food.  But bf and I will continue visiting this place (because of the parma ham pizza) and we’ll continue to taste the other food items that they have on the menu.  I have my eye on their tiramisu already – just hope that they don’t disappoint.

Hua Kee Hougang Wan Ton Mee

Wan Tho Noodles

Hua Kee Hougang Wan Ton Mee

Old Airport Road Emporium & Food Centre

Blk 51 Old Airport Road #01-113B

Opening Hours: 12 noon to 12 midnight; closed on Mondays

 

 

There were a few things that caught my eye and prompted to try the noodles here.  First, I saw the char siew the guy was cutting – it looked red and a bit burnt on the outside.  My ideal char siew!

Second, there was a queue at this stall.  If there is a queue at a food stall in Singapore, the food must be good, right? And lastly, there were the numerous accolades pinned at the stall.  Must be really good, right?

Well, it’s half right.  The portion is really very good value for money.  See the picture above? That’s a S$3 portion!  The char siew didn’t disappoint me – it was really tasty.

But I didn’t like the noodles – it was too dry; not enough chilli sauce and other sauce to blend it in.  So that made the noodles kinda stick together.  The wanton was so so – not memorable.

Overall, if you’re looking for quantity, then go ahead and eat it.  Be prepared for a queue – I was in it for about 15 minutes during off-peak hours.  If you’re going for quality, you’re better off eating the Kok Kee Wanton Noodle at Lavender Hawker Centre..