Saturday, June 29, 2013

Dinner at Bakerzin @Tampines One

My friend who was on overseas posting was back in town for two days. We had a quick catch up dinner with her before she flies again. This is my first time dining at Bakerzin. The restaurant decor was very minimalist and simple. We sat at the open concept dining area.



Menu

Their mains selections were pretty limited...only a few variety of pasta and rice dishes available. All four of us chose to have pasta for mains. We ordered desserts too...

My dinner choice for the night...Aglio Olio spaghetti with Prawns, mushroom, ham and bacon. The Aglio Olio pasta cost $10.90++, I topped up for Prawns at $5.00++ and Mushroom, Ham & Bacon at $5.00++.


This is very nice, 4 succulent mid size prawns grilled to perfection. The mushroom, ham and bacon were also nicely sauteed and very fragrant. The spaghetti was cooked al dente with olive oil, garlic and chili padi...tasted pretty good.

Some of my friend's mains dishes...

Linguini Vongole $16.90++

My friends was pretty satisfied with her Linguini Vongole's generous serving of clams, however she said the white wine sauce isn't spicy enough. Check out at the aftermath...


 There were no complains for the Aglio Olio and Cabonara so I reckon these dishes tasted alright...

Aglio Olio with mushroom, ham & bacon $15.90++

Cabonara $15.50++

Three of us ordered desserts. My choice of sweet treat was Coupé Black Forest Verrine $12.50++


I loved the sticky chewy brownie cubes...goes well with the chocolate ice cream and brandied cherries at the bottom...heavenly!

My friend's Bailey’s Irish Cream Soufflé $11.50++. The souffle started collapsing pretty soon after it was served and my friend said that it was not fluffy enough...failed.


Coupé Cheesecake Verrine $12.50++. My friend said the cream cheese ice cream tasted alright but became a little too cheesy after consuming 3 scoops in a row...the macaron was not bad though.


Our drink choices...Lychee soda $6.30++ and Iced mango passion $5.90++. Both were good, no complains.

Lychee soda 

Iced mango passion 


Service level here was decent, I don't mind coming back here to dine again...


Bakerzin
#01-39/40 Tampines 1
10 Tampines Central 1, Singapore 529536

Tel: 6260 5688

Operating Hours
Sun: 10:30am - 10pm
Mon-Thu: 11am - 10pm
Fri, Sat, PH & Eve of PH: 10:30am - 10:30pm






Wednesday, June 26, 2013

Lunch at Tim Ho Wan 添好運 @Plaza Singapura

It is no longer news that this Michelin Star Dim sum restaurant from HK has long long queues during meal times...the typical waiting time is at least 2hrs long. I was meeting up with my fellow Openricer friends to collect our Gourmet challenge contest prizes at Orchard road area. We decided to try out the food here and brave the queue at 1.15pm.





The queuing area has been moved to indoors due to the haze situation and stools were provided for people in the queue...not too bad. Although the queue may seem long, it only took us about 1 hour to get seated at the restaurant. Small groups of 2pax gets seated faster.



The crowded restaurant...



They have 'I Q 3 Hours' Tees on sale..


Our simple table setting..




Condiments 

Worcestershire sauce for the Spring rolls & Beancurd rolls

We had already filled up the order chit while waiting in the queue...so our food and drinks were served less than 5mins after we had settled down at our table.


Ice water is charged at $0.50++ here..


I ordered cold barley drink as the restaurant area aircon isn't very strong, plus the huge crowd emits heat and makes the area kinda warm.

Barley water $2.00++

Here comes our Dim Sum dishes...first up, the Big 4 Heavenly kings (signature dishes) of Tim Ho Wan..


Baked bun with BBQ pork 酥皮焗叉烧包 

The legendary Baked bun with BBQ pork $4.50++ was served piping hot! The bun is soft and fluffy with flaky 'Bolo bun' crust on top. I had no problem with the bun but the char siew filling is very slimy and wet and overly sweet...verdict, I still prefer my fave Canton Paradise Crispy Char Siew bun.

Pan fried carrot cake 香煎萝卜糕

The Pan fried carrot cake $4.50++ was ermm tasted normal with shreds of radish and some bits of chinese sausages...no wow factor. My fave as of now is still the ones from Lei Garden...they used premium grade chinese sausages and the carrot cake is super fragrant...the same cannot be said for Tim Ho Wan's carrot cake.


Steamed Egg cake 香滑马来糕

This unassuming Steamed Egg cake $3.80++ was the winner of the day! It is super soft and fluffy and moist...the nice and light brown sugar fragrance fills the mouth when consumed...thumbs up!

Vermicelli roll with pig's liver 黄沙猪润肠

The Vermicelli roll with pig's liver $5.50++. I was really looking forward to taste this but it just didn't work out...the liver was overcooked and not tender and 'powdery' like I expected it to be, and the vermicelli skin is kinda thick...not nice :(

We ordered a few dishes recommended by friends & bloggers...here they are..

Spring roll with egg white 赛螃蟹春卷 $4.20++

This is good...very crispy and the unique egg white & prawn fillings blends well together, another must try on top of the Steamed egg cake.

Beancurd skin roll with shrimp 鲜虾腐皮卷 $5.50++

This is nice too...crispy and the prawn fillings were fresh and crunchy..no complains here.


Pork dumpling with shrimp 鲜虾烧卖皇 $5.00++

Prawn dumpling 晶莹鲜虾饺 $5.50++

Pork rib with black bean sauce 豉汁蒸排骨 $4.20++

Vermicelli roll with shrimp 韭王鲜虾肠 $5.50++

Their Har Gow and Siew Mai were not too bad...although I prefer the ones served at Royal China an Lei Garden. The Pork ribs were kinda bland albeit very tender and juicy. As for the Prawn rice rolls, skin was too thick...again not very nice.

The last main dish before dessert...the Lotus leaf Lor Mai Kai. This one I liked, it had generous serving of chicken meat, mushroom and chinese sausage...not outstanding but delicious though.


Glutinous rice dumpling 古法糯米鸡 $5.00++

Last but not least, the highly recommended Tonic Medlar & Osmanthus jelly $3.50++. I liked this too, a very generous amount of wolfberries and osmanthus flower were used...the wolfberries were very sweet! A wonderful dish to finished off the meal.

Tonic Medlar & Osmanthus jelly 杞子桂花糕

Our spread of 11 dishes before we tucked in...too ambitious for 3 ladies huh? 


The queue had subsided at around 3pm...best time to come is tea time.




The service here was prompt and efficient. I would say the quality of food here does not deserve a longer than 30mins queue. My Top 3 fave dishes are Steamed egg cake, Spring rolls and Osmanthus jelly. Prices here are comparable to other Dim sum restaurants but much pricier than Tim Ho Wan in HK.



Tim Ho Wan 添好運

68 Orchard Road #01-29A, Plaza Singapura
Singapore 238839

Opening Hours:
10.00am – 10.00pm (First-come-first-serve basis, no reservations)





Tuesday, June 25, 2013

Ala Carte buffet dinner at Irodori Japanese Restaurant

Met up with my sistas for an impromptu birthday celebration at Irodori. This place is owned by my sistas' uncle and we got to book the private room for the celebration.



Rainbow color lighting in the private room 

We had the Ala Carte Buffet dinner at $35++ per pax. The menu is pretty extensive with over 100 dishes available for unlimited order. All guests are served with a complimentary round of starter Green tea Tofu and one time order of the Grill Ebi Mentai Mayo dish. These were yummilicious!!



Some of the buffet dishes we had...

California maki 

Assorted sashimi 

Ebi tempura

Bacon wrapped sausages 

My sista's uncle also served us some delectable premium dishes not found in the standard buffet menu...the Torched Salmon Belly sushi was to-die-for!

Torched Salmon Belly sushi

Grill fish collar 


Fish slow cooked in Jap soy sauce 

We were stuffed after over eating numerous variety of dishes...nobody is able to finish tasting all the dishes in one seating...you gotta come back for more!


Irodori Japanese Restaurant
382 Havelock Road, Riverview Hotel #03-01
Singapore 169629

Tel: 6737 2002

Business Hours:
Lunch: 11:30 AM - 2:30 PM
Dinner: 6:00 PM - 10:30 PM

Buffet Lunch & Dinner Adult: $35++, Child: $22++ (Below the age of 10)