No Apple but there's lots of Cinnamon

I love the melody of the song 'Apple & Cinnamon' and besides for the word 'Cinnamon', it has nothing to do with this post at all. :P

'Star Caramel Crown' The base is a bun filled with a thick and nice Cinnamon taste and fragrance. Though it has been covered by a layer of cream and caramel, but the taste of Caramel isn't as wonderful as the Cinnamon taste. Cinnamon wins over Caramel...

'Star Almond Awesome' Though it's covered with lots of Almond slices, and the Almond slices have added a crunchy touch to the overall texture of this bun. However, the taste of the Almonds are not as overpowering as the Cinnamon taste, in fact the idea of covering the whole bun with lots of cream is a bit too... Though I love to eat buns but I don't want my fingers to be covered with too much cream...

'Star Original Caramel' At the end of the day, I still prefer the original version. Though it comes with a mixture of 'Cinnamon' and 'Caramel' taste but it's as tasty as the earlier one that is covered with lots of cream. Probably, because I love the sweet, spicy and bitter taste of the 'Cinnamon', therefore I love the overall taste of this bun. :D

So where can you give the buns a good try?

The name of this stall would be 'STAR CINNAMON'.

And it's located on basement 1 of 'Bugis Junction'.

Notes:

• Operating Hours:
  09:00 - 22:00

* Click here to find out more about 'STAR CINNAMON'.
^ Click here for the Facebook page of 'STAR CINNAMON'.
~ Click here for the list of delicacies that you can find & get near 'Bugis Junction'.

The diner where side dishes rules...

Who says that you can only be getting average stuff at an affordable Japanese buffet. This post will prove you wrong, very wrong. In fact, the location of this place is so good that the seats are easily filled up by the neighbouring office workers & commoners like you and me within minutes during the lunch hours...

Depending on your luck, the main dish of the day will differs from time to time. I'm getting this marinated fish during my first visit. Thought it's tasty, but as compared to the dish I'm getting during my second visit, this is far more inferior. During my second visit, I'm actually getting an 'Steamed Anago(Eel) Rice bowl'. Unlike the usual serving of 'Steamed Anago Rice bowl' out there in the market, the chef over here are using a bamboo tray to prepare the 'Steamed Anago Rice bowl'. And they are covering the base of the bamboo tray with a Banana Leaf. By doing this, it could push the fragrance and the overall taste of the 'Steamed Anago Rice bowl' to a higher level. :D

Depending on your luck(?), the side dishes differs from time to time. (As you can see, a small table isn't sufficient for me.)

They have 'fried side dishes' such as 'Karaage(Fried Chicken, it's juicy and not too oily), Tempura (Crispy and not too oily), 'Dashimaki Tamago' (Japanese rolled omelette, fluffy and yummy), Simmered Potatoes, etc... The chef really put his heart and efforts in preparing these delicious dishes. Even simple dishes like 'Croquette', they are adding ingredients like sweet corns to enhance the overall taste even further. :D Well, if you are not into 'Fried' stuff, there always stuff like...

They also have cooked dishes like the above. As mentioned earlier these dishes will change on a daily basis. And most of these dishes always managed to maintain a good balance between the meaty and vegetables stuff.

Depending on your luck, you might be getting these steamed delights too. When I was there previously, they are offering Dim Sum and one of my personal favorites, 'Chawanmushi'(Steamed Egg in a Tea Bowl) and it also comes with slices of 'Shiitake Mushrooms' too. :D But wait, that isn't the best item on their menu.

'Japanese Curry Rice' Loaded with lots of vegetables like 'Carrots', 'Mushrooms' and 'Meaty Chicken Cubes', this dish is a champion. Besides for the delicious 'Chicken Curry'(I have 3 portions of this the first time round), they are also serving delicious looking 'Beef' curry too. Not sure about the 'Beef Curry', but the texture of the 'Chicken Curry' is pretty thick, sweet and delicioous. On top of that, they also have Japanese vegetables cold dishes, yummy 'Miso Soup' and a unlimited flow of good Japanese Tea.

So where can you give this buffet a good try?

The name of this Japanese Cafe/Restaurant would be 'Hanare'. It's located on level 2 in one of the shop houses along 'Tanjong Pagar Road', which is also located opposite 'Tanjong Pagar Market and Food Centre' and at the same time located near 'Orchid Hotel'.

Opening Hours:

• Lunch:
  Mondays - Fridays: 11:45 - 14:30
  Saturdays: 12:00 - 14:30
  Dinner:
  Mondays - Saturdays: 18:30 - 22:00
  (Closed on Sundays)
• They are offering 3 different set meals over here
  
  • 'Hanare Buffet' - you get to choose one of the main dishes and you also get to enjoy all the side dishes
  • 'Bara Chirashi Set' - Comes with a Sashimi Seafood Rice Bowl and you get to enjoy 4 different side dishes and 'Miso Soup'.
  • 'Lunch Set' - Typical Japanese Lunch set

* Click here for the Facebook page of 'Hanare Japanese Cafe/Restaurant'.
^ Click here for the location of 'Hanare Japanese Cafe/Restaurant' on 'Google Maps'.

Works like an atas Coffee Shop... but

Just how good can an air-conditional Coffee Shop be? Just by looking at the ones that you are getting in the shopping mall in your neighbourhood can give you a pretty good idea how it will turn out. However, there are exceptions too. For example...

Even though there's a few stalls inside this coffee shop, but most of the customers here are ordering food from the stall selling 'sliced fish soup'. Therefore I decided to give it a try too. 'Tom Yum Seafood Soup' For a start, though I'm paying the same price that I'm getting at an atas coffee shop, but with the looks of the soup, things are getting better and better already. There's a big load of ingredients inside this bowl of soup and on top of that, there's a nice mixture of different types of ingredients too. Best of all, the soup looks pretty thick and fiery, which is also something that interests me pretty much.

As I dig into the meal, the ingredients are coated with a thin and bright layer of orange color, when I pull them out of the bowl of soup. As I took a bite off these ingredients, there's a nice mix of sour and spicy taste, though I personally find the spicy taste much more overpowering than the sour taste. :P In fact, after finishing up all the fresh ingredients, things just didn't end there. I started moving on to the bowl of soup. One scoop after another, I finish the whole bowl of soup within minutes, which is a big (+). :D

So where can you give the 'Tom Yum Seafood Soup' a good try?

The name of this atas coffee shop would be 'Hotspot Cafe & Restaurant'. It's located on level 1 of 'Burlington Square' and at the same time, it's opposite the 'Sim Lim Square' too.

Opening Hours of 'Hotspot Cafe & Restaurant':

• 10:30 - 23:00 Daily

Opening Hours of the stall:

• 10:30 - 16:00 Daily

* Click here to find out more about 'Hotspot Cafe & Restaurant'.
^ Click here for the Facebook Page of 'Hotspot Cafe & Restaurant'.
~ Click here for the location of 'Burlington Square' on 'Google Maps'.

'Lim Teh' + 'Jiak Gan Dang'!!!

In the past, I used to be a 'Fries Hater'. If I can miraculously finish a big load of Fries, either it's due to the fact that the sauces that comes with it are amazing delicious(Tartar, Garlic Chilli, Curry, etc... ) or the fries isn''t just ordinary fries(Butter Fries, etc...). But, over the last few years, there seems to be a big boom in 'X' fries in the market that has gained my interest in fries again.

'Persian Apple Ginger Tea' Though you can go for unlimited refills for the Tea, but not sure is it the choice of Tea pot(that they are using over here isn't good enough) or it's the Tea Leaves, the drinking experience isn't great enough. It's not that the taste of the 'Tea' isn't fiery or tasty enough, it's just that the 'Tea Leaves' are so fine that it keeps getting into the cup and it's pretty unpleasant and annoying. =.= However...

'X(Sweet Potatoes) Fries' That's right, as for the 'X' fries that I had mentioned earlier, I'm actually referring to the 'Sweet Potatoes Fries'.

Even though when you compare the nutrition value values of a Potatoes vs a Sweet Potatoes, it might ended up to be the same or the Sweet Potatoes might stand out a bit, but that isn't the most important. Most importantly, I love the sweet taste of it and not forgetting the crunchy sensation. It's all these small little details that has capture my interests in Fries or should I say Sweet Potatoes Fries again. :D

So where can you give these Fries a good try?

The name of this cafe would be 'PoTeaTo'. It's located below along 'Yong Siak Street'.

Opening Hours:

• Tuesday - Fridays: 12:00 - 22:30
  Saturdays: 10:00 - 22:30
  Sundays: 10:00 - 21:00

* Click here for the Facebook page of 'PoTeaTo'.
^ Click here to find out more about 'PoTeaTo'.
~ Click here for the location of 'PoTeaTo' on 'Google Maps'.

A 'Rich' Sushi... :P

As suggested by the title, the Japanese restaurant is slightly a bit more costly as compared to the average Japanese restaurant, but the portion and taste are reasonably good. :) By the way, before I move on further, the name of the Japanese restaurant would be '富寿し'(Tomi Sushi) and the Japanese Kanji '富' means 'wealth' or 'fortune'. Anyway, since I have a voucher, rather than wasting it, I decided to give this restaurant a try. :D

While waiting for my dinner, I was taking some random shots of the restaurant. By the way, I only placed an order for an item on the menu. This might sounds pretty unlike me, but it's the truth. Especially when...

'Sashimi' Urm... A bowl, a tray, oh man how should I classify this? Anyway in order to preserve the freshness of the raw cuts of the seafood, rather than handling the customer a plate of raw cuts, they have made the extra effort placing the tray on top of a bowl of ice to preserve the freshness and the moist texture of the seafood. Anyway the cuts are pretty generous and not forgetting fresh. However I have seen something far more better during my trip to Japan this year, but in the local market, this is pretty good. :D

'Sushi' More raw seafood cuts, but this time round, it's prepared with Japanese Rice. One thing I like about Japanese Rice would be the fact that it's sweet and it doesn't stick unnecessarily. (That's probably why I love 'Yayoiken' that much.) Hmmm... I love this, at least the rice/ingredients proportion are pretty good. When I pop each of them into my mouth, there's a satisfying sensation and on top of that, I'm not getting the feeling that there's too much rice in my mouth.

Anyway, this would be the rest of the items that comes in my order. '寿し御膳'(Sushi Gozen) This would be the name of the set meal that I have ordered. Though it wouldn't be possible to cover all the Japanese cooking style in 1 single set meal, but it has covered most of the common stuff. Besides for the 'Sashimi' and 'Sushi', it also comes with 'Tempura', 'Chawanmushi'('Steam Egg served in a Tea Cup'), 'Miso Soup', etc... With a main dish and a few side dishes lying in front of me, too bad I don't have enough space for another bowl of rice, else I would have ordered it. At the end of this meal, I ended up leaving the place with a satisfying smile and a happy stomach, which is the most important part of a meal. :)

The name of this restaurant would be '富寿し'(Tomi Sushi). It's located on level 2 of 'Velocity Novena', which is located above 'Novena MRT'.

Opening Hours:

• Lunch: 11:30 - 14:30
  Dinner: 18:00 - 22:00

* Click here to find out more about '富寿し'(Tomi Sushi)(Overseas a.k.a Out Of Japan).
^ Click here to find out more about '富寿し'(Tomi Sushi).
~ Click here to find out more about 'Velocity Novena'.
# Click here for the location of 'Velocity Novena' on 'Google Maps'.

How good can cheap be?

I was browsing around the web and I came across this unbelievable good promotion for 'Dim Sum'. Though it also comes with a 'Terms & Conditions', but it still makes it a pretty good promotion. But as usual, how good can cheap be? And that's something that I have found out the other day.

Since I'm having early lunch alone, therefore this table ended up to be pretty comfortable and spacious. :D And since I'm in a Chinese restaurant, I must...

'龙凤吉祥' Being a tea lover, I just couldn't resist this. Unlike some other Chinese restaurant, they have a separate menu for beverages over here. For me, it's the tea menu that interest me the most. For this blend, it seems to be a mixture of 'Chinese Green Tea' and 'Chinese Oolong Tea'. At least, that's the impression that I was given when I was drinking and appreciating the tea. There's this nice mixture of 'grassy' and 'sweet' taste. Not bad for a start. :D

Though it doesn't comes with a Chinese cup (which is rather smart, else for heavy tea drinkers like me, we might be sitting there for ages), but it does come with a big pot of hot water. Initially, I thought that I have to help myself to the pot, but the service that the restaurant over here is so good that I had my unlimited flow of good Chinese Tea, without touching the pot at all. O.O Woo Hoo...

'Dim Sum'(点心) These would be the 'Dim Sum' that I have ordered the other day.

'Steamed prawn dumpling with bamboo pith'(竹笙水晶虾饺皇) Freshly steamed and served in a tray. These dumpling are deliciously good. For a start, the skin isn't too soft and it doesn't stick onto the base of the tray. As I pop one of them into my mouth, the generous serving of crunchy prawns started jumping and bouncing around. The sweet and yummy sensation is heavenly and 1 just couldn't stop at 3. I feel like placing a second order for this. -.-""

'Deep-fried prawn dumpling served with Wasabi sauce'(芥辣明虾角) Even though it's covered with a layer of 'Wasabi', but it doesn't comes with irritating breath taking choking touch. In fact, the not so oily and yet crispy skin is a big (+). Combined with the crunchy and delicious prawns just made it better and better and irresistible.

So what's the catch for the cheap 'Dim Sum' selling @ $0.88?

• It's limited to the first 2 orders of Dim Sum for the first 30 tables during Lunch hours only.
• The promotion is valid till 31 Oct 2014.
• Either ways, this still makes it a pretty good promotion. O.OV

So where can you give the delicious 'Dim Sum' a good try?

The name of this chinese restaurant would be 'Grand Mandarin'(御华庭). It's located along 'New Bridge Road', which is also located opposite 'Pearl Centre' and located near 'Outram Park MRT Station'.

Opening Hours:

• Lunch: 11:30 - 14:30
  Dinner: 18:30 - 22:00 Daily

* Click here to find out more about 'Grand Mandarin'(御华庭).
^ Click here for the location of 'Grand Mandarin'(御华庭) on 'Google Maps'.