Away

Fellow readers,

I would be away from this blog for 1 week…. would update again next week (25/10/2010 ).

 

Love,

Lovin greens

Careshop de Cafe

Careshop de cafe

 

Tucked away from the City area, I ventured to the Industrial area this time. The Luzerne – a commercial building along Bendemeer Road houses many offices and AUDIO HOUSE. There is this Cafe located in this building that attracts my attention.

 

 

 

Careshop de Cafe (CDC) is a cafe cum a retail store for care products. You can purchase health products here ( a little weird though). The cafe offers light meals such as sandwiches, coffee , salads..etc which is an ideal place for the office workers to grab something light here.

 

 

The Cafe

 

The cafe looks simple and neat. You would have to order & pay @ the counter & wait for your food to be served.

 

The Menu

 

They offer light salads, sandwiches, pastas, mains , bento sets and desserts. The pastas & sandwiches are popular here ( according to the waiter ) .

 

 

 

P.S Please note that they do charge 50cents for a glass of plain water here.

 

 

The Caesar ($3.50+)

 

I requested for less croutons and they kindly separated the garlic croutons & dressing . Salads are supposed to be healthy but this salad seemed to be loaded with loads of cheese !

 

 

Grilled Chicken chop, brown sauce, garlic mash & veggies ($11.90+)

 

The Grilled chicken chop was recommended by the waiter as one of the popular dish here. Well, the portion was HUGE! It was a bit of a challenge for me to finish this up & somehow I regretted ordering the Caesar salad in the first place.

 

Close up

 

 

Seriously, the chicken chop was tasteless even though it was seasoned with black pepper. The meat taste like frozen chicken meat which I could easily make out. The brown sauce was slightly coagulated and starch granules could be seen … 😦  . The chicken skin was also slightly rubbery (like eating chewing gum). The only thing that I like is the greens served by the sides.

 

Verdict : I happened to be in the vicinity to visit my friend & try out this Cafe but was disappointed with the food. Thankfully, I didn’t come all the way here from the West & left unsatisfied.

 

Careshop de Cafe

70 Bendemeer Road

#01-05 The Luzerne

Website : http://www.careshopdecafe.com/

 

 

LENAS

LENAS

 

 

Under the MOF group of restaurant , Lenas served a range a range of cuisine- Italian pastas, pizzas, Western grill , Asian hotpot..etc.

 

The  set lunch

 

I was attracted to the $9.90++ set lunch . You get to choose with a pasta, pizza or chicken as main course . Each set comes with garlic bread, salad & a glass of  iced peach tea.

 

The Menu

 

Upon seated, 3 different menus were placed on the table . The Menus- Set Lunch, Ala Carte & dessert & beverages. An  order form is also provided ( tick along the dishes you want for the lunch sets). They offer a wide selections of salads & appetizers which I took a while to glance through. Even for the main course, it allows you to choose the type of sauce to go along with your steak, meat or fish.

 

 

Special deals

 

Lenas adopt a ‘‘DIY” concept where *everything is placed on the dining table and you would have to ”serve” yourself.

 

* Cups for you to refill water  , plates, bowls,serviette, utensils, seasonings,credit card holders ..etc

 

Salad buffet

 

A $ 5 top up is required for the salad buffet if you order a main course. A small bowl is given to you & pile as much as you want! *Only one time is allowed.

 

 

The salad buffet

 

The usual greens , dressings & condiments. They do provide hard boiled egg, mashed potatoes and garlic bread.

 

Garlic bread & grilled tomatoes

 

I didn’t enjoy the garlic bread as it was slightly on the dry side.

 

 

My bowl of salad

 

Basil pesto chicken ($11++)

 

Do note that the main courses are served with only a small grilled tomato alongside.

The chicken was well grilled (imo), the meat was juicy, especially the parts under the skin. The chicken was well marinated and the basil sauce is just for dipping purpose.

 

 

The chicken skin was incredibly crispy, which reminds me of roast pork skin… sinful indulgence!

 

 

Verdict: I can’t really give my verdict now  since I only had the grilled chicken. There were  -ve reviews about LENAS but  I guess its all about consistency and personal preference. Perhaps I would return again to try the range of appetizers they offer and then give my verdict.

 

 

 

Lenas

#01-88/89 Bugis Junction

 

 

 

 

 

 

Figos Grail

Figos Grail

 

Figos Grail, formerly known as ”The Harrods” offers Portuguese Western Food in a coffeeshop located at The Katong Student Hostel . The Portugese marinate & grilling method are the key factors  …. succulent & juicy meat , made me crave for more.

 

 

What makes this Western stall different from the rest? Well, besides the usual Western fare such as Chicken chop, F&C…etc, they offer Portugese specialities such as the ”Viana do Castolo ”(cod fish casserole ), ”Lisbon Pork loin” & ”Porto Salmon”. I’m sure these dishes are not offered in normal Western food stalls.

They rate themselves ” Affordable & Arguably the best steak in Singapore”. They are pretty confident but I have not yet to try their steaks. Could someone try it and re-confirmed?

 

Chargrilled chicken chop ( Portuguese marination & black pepper sauce) $6

 

The mains comes with 2 free sides & I opt for both salads since I’m not a big fan of mashed potatoes, baked beans, coleslaw…etc.

 

 

 

A waiting time of 10 mins is required as the chicken is chargrilled ala minute. No doubt the chicken was well marinated with spices and the meat was juicy. The chicken skin was thick and on the fatty side . I find the black pepper sauce a little  mild & perhaps the sauce is not necessary . Side salad was crisp & drizzled with light 1000island dressing.

 

 

Verdict: I can’t complain much about the price given the quality. Other than the weak black pepper sauce, the chicken was well-marinated and has the QQ texture. There is a promotion ongoing- SMS ”FIGOS” to 8468 1780 & get a free soup for every main course ordered.

 

Figos Grail

368 Tanjong Katong Road

Website :http://www.westernfood-singapore.com/

Mariner’s Corner Restaurant

Mariner’s Corner Restaurant

Mariner’s Corner Restaurant @ Maritime House

 

 

After reading several positive reviews of Mariner’s Corner Restaurant, I finally made my way here . The restaurant was located inside the Maritime House and they served Western Cuisine with a Hainanese twist.

The restaurant is full house during lunch hours thus please make your way here early to avoid waiting in line.

 

 

The Menu

 

The place reminds of ”The Ship Restaurant”. The dining concept is similar to The Ship Restaurant.They  have similar dishes such as escargots, mussels , combos ( lobster & chicken, lobster & dory …) . Daily set lunch comes with soup of the day, choice of mains, garlic bread, dessert of the day and coffee/tea. Top up $2 + for a bowl of salad.

For ala carte, simply  top up $4.30+ for the salad bar , coffee/tea, soup, garlic bread and dessert.

 

 

Soup of the day- Cream of celery

 

The soup was thick but was bland and it taste more like cornflour + water. After 2 sips, I left it untouched.

 

Garlic bread

 

Bread was dry and tasteless.

 

 

Salad -I topped up $2 for this bowl of salad.

 

The salad consists of Iceberg lettuce, raisins, shredded carrots , mixed vegetables(corn, carrot cube and green peas which is normally used in chinese fried rice) , bread croutons , broccoli florets and tossed in 1000island dressing.

 

 

Grilled dory with Mango salsa sauce  ($9.80+)

 

All lunch sets comes with mashed potatoes & seasonal greens ( carrots). The dory was pan-fried rather than grilled ( due to the crispy skin & slightly oily) . I couldn’t understand the term ” mango salsa sauce ‘‘. I couldn’t taste any mango in the sauce and it taste like normal white cream … tasteless.

 

 

 

The mashed potato could have been better if it was smoother ( too starchy) .

 

 

BBQ Shishamo ($7+)

 

The 8 shishamo ( pregnant fish) was deep-fried instead of BBQ as it was slightly oily in texture. I love shishamo as the fish is full of fish roe and was addictive! I mean… it’s healthier than your usual fried chicken wings or nuggets. The fish is actually a good source of calcium ( edible bones) . The chilli sauce is optionally as I prefer to eat it on its own .

 

 

Yums…

 

 

Butter cake

 

Dessert was a piece of butter cake. Seriously, eat this if you are really desperate for cakes. The cake was dry and flat… skip!!!

 

 

Verdict: The prices here are single +, no GST. The restaurant is crowded during lunch & dinner time. Personally , I felt it was just an average dining experience ( couldn’t understand the hype & crowd ).

 

 

 

Mariner’s Corner Restaurant

120 Cantonment Road

#01-02 Maritime House

 

 

Ambush

Ambush

Ambush, a cafe offering Western cuisine at affordable prices. I walked past this cafe, took a glance @ the menu board & found the prices reasonable & interesting dishes being offered.

The cafe adopts an open concept  style and people could easily watch what you are doing ( of course eating !) at the cafe.

The Menu board placed outside the cafe

The Menu

The menu was printed in a large board which makes it easier to read. The cafe offers a wide range of cuisine – spanish paella, Italian pasta, German pork knuckle… yes! you can find them here @ Ambush!They offer a range of pastas which allows you to decide on the sauce and ingredients.

Entree menu

I noticed they do not serve any chicken meat here.

Mesclun salad with salmon belly ($8++)

I had the (s) Mesclun salad with salmon belly and it came with generous fillets of the  salmon belly. The salad leaves were cool but the salmon belly was warm. The salmon belly was well prepared ( middle rare ) and oozing with flavours in every bite. I wished the salad leaves were a bigger portion cos there were too much salmon belly fillets.

Salmon fillet with Honey mustard dressing ($14.50++)

The 2 generous salmon fillets were really worth it’s price. I request the salmon to be done medium rare and it was well executed. The salmon fillets were served with slices of potatoes sauteed with bacon strips & onions & top with purple cabbage.

The pieces of potatoes had a fragrant aroma of bacon and the onions further enhance its flavour. I like the sweet purple cabbage which were soft & easy to chew.

Medium rare salmon

The salmon was really juicy and has its natural sweetness . The accompanying lemon honey mustard sauce ( serve @ the side ) was really good. It has a tangy flavour and melts in my mouth … like butter.

Verdict: Reasonable prices and delicious food (rate 8/10  ) , I would definitely make a re-visit. Service is prompt and friendly too.

Ambush

#02-24 Jurong Point

Buddy Hoagies Cafe & Grilla

Buddy Hoagies Cafe & Grill

Bukit Timah Shopping Centre wasn’t  my usual hunt for food and neither was it a hip & trendy mall . I would personally call that shopping centre ” The home of maids”.  Indeed, 90% of the shops here are maid agencies . Of course, there are a few restaurants & cafes . One of them  ,Buddy Hoagies Cafe & Grill ,  offers reasonably- priced & great Western Food.

Banner outside the Cafe

The cafe was insanely crowded during lunch time. I would expect it to be crowded as well during the weekdays as students from the nearby schools would drop by for lunch. Well, the prices are reasonable and the food was up to the mark so business was brisk.

The Menu- Interesting cartoons!

Food selections

Upon entering the cafe, I looked at the cake display & saw cakes from Sweet Secrets( one of my fav shop for choc cakes) .

The usual Western fare you would expect – BBQ chicken, ribeye steak, dory fish, sandwiches…etc. The mains comes with a choice of 2 side sides and additional side cost $ 2.20/ea. They offer a selection of sides- mac & cheese, baked potatoes, coleslaw , french beans, corn on the cob, cauliflower & cheese…etc. The popular dishes are labelled with ‘‘Popular choice” .

Charboiled Salmon with lemon butter sauce($13.90)

2 sides- Cauliflower & cheese & sauteed green veggies

A patient wait ( 15 mins) for my grilled salmon to be served . The salmon looked overdone but the interior was slightly medium rare. It was just the doneness that I would prefer. I enjoyed every slab of the fatty piece of salmon.

The sides, cauliflower & cheese would have been better if the cauliflower was boiled till a little softer. Melted cheddar cheese on cauliflower — yums! It reminds me of the KFC cheese fries ( replaced by the cauliflowers).

Sauteed veggies were normal but I guess greens has its natural sweet flavour & simple boiling or steaming are perfect.

Additional serving of sauteed veggies….

Verdict: NO GST & SVC charge here ( give tips generously). Great food @ Great prices. Given the food standard, I would probably make a return… yeah ambience was great too!

Buddy Hoagies Cafe & Grill

B1-05 Bukit Timah Shopping Centre

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

The Diet Butler

The Diet Butler

Hidden @ the second level of an office building ( Winstedt road, near to distict 10 bistro bar ) there is a cosy cafe that offers healthy meals. The cafe, The Diet Butler was set up 3 months ago and so far there wasn’t much advertising & we were kept uninformed about its existence. Thank god, HGW led me to the discovery of this cafe.

We all know the responsibility of a butler & in this case, The Diet Butler would be in charge of our food service – providing healthy meals . The Diet Butler is the brainchild of Mr Owen Chong ( 2nd runner up of Manhunt 2008)

The dining area

The cafe is cosy & probably sit around 20 people ( 4 tables) .Most of their customers preferred to call for delivery. The regulars are the office people and they would call for delivery & food would be sent to their door asap. They also provide * home delivery but restrict to certain areas ( preferably the CBD, Orchard, Bukit Timah ). If you are looking for a healthy meal yet lazy to get out from your office/ house, just give them a call!

* delivery charge of $ 3 applies

Menu

Their Objective is to provide healthy meals and no doubt the food being offered are on the healthy side . No deep-frying, chicken breast meat, salads … etc .

The menu is changed monthly and selected items would be replaced by new dishes. Thus, it provides you a good reason to head back monthly for something new to try out.

Crab & Tangerine Salad ($9+)

There is a heavy usage of mayonnaise in this salad & is this healthy? I doubt so… The crab was the normal crabstick ( how I wished it was real crabmeat) and I do like the orange segments that added a tangy and fruity flavour to the salad.

Grilled Chicken breast with spicy mango topper ($12+)

The popular dishes here are apparently the Chicken breast with spicy mango topper, ribeye steak with mushroom sauce and pork loin with turnips & pineapples with apple sauce.

An interesting dish caught my attention – ”Mediterranean cod with peach salsa warpped in tortilla skin” ( aka. cod wap) & unfortunately the peaches went bad & they were unable to serve this dish .

Close up

2 generous chicken breast fillets were heavily seasoned with black pepper, served with cubes of mangoes & spicy sauce. The meat has a pungent & peppery taste. Personally, I am not a fan of the breast meat as it tends to be tougher & dry out easily. I was right , the meat was tough but the sauce and sweet mangoes provides a sweet & tangy finish. It would be good if Chicken Leg were used.

Verdict : Come down to The Diet Butler for a healthy meal . If you are lazy to leave your house / inconvenience due to distance, just give them a call & food would be sent to your doorstep!

The Diet Butler

10 Winstedt Road

#02-07

Website :http://www.thedietbutler.com/

Delivery hotline : 6733 3250

Breeks Cafe

Breeks Cafe

 

6 years…. time really flies… it’s been 6 years since I stepped into Breeks Cafe. The virgin visit to Breeks was during my teenage years and it was @ CWP( causeway point). I vividly remembered what I had…. Chicken pattie melted and I enjoyed that.

 

 

 

I stepped into Breeks Cafe again… after 6 years and this time round was the branch @ Marina Square. The cafe seemed to be quiet during lunch hours, considering the crowd over @  SaladSTOP!

 

 

Set Lunch menu

 

Set lunch being offered priced at $9.90 ++ with a choice of a pasta / chicken pattie melted, a drink & soup of the day.

Soup of the day: Potato chicken soup

 

 

Caesar salad ($6.90++)

 

Caesar dressing served @ the side, bread croutons were crispy and fragrant!

 

 

Chicken Pattie Melted ($9.90++)

 

The chicken pattie melted was served with seasonal veggies & mashed potatoes but I kindly request them to change the mashed potatoes to waffles fries.

The chicken pattie taste like those frozen chicken patties ( for burgers) and simply top it with a slice of cheese & onions . The chicken pattie is a mixture of mushrooms, spinach , *cashew nuts & chicken meat. It was rather bland on it’s own but they top it with a slice of cheese( which turned rubbery when cool) serve with BBQ sauce.

* I carefully picked them out one by one

 

The waffles fries were seasoned with some cajun seasoning & they were simply addictive!

 

Verdict: Simple western food , nothing special or outstanding but I wished to applaud for the excellent service ( courteous & attentive ).

 

 

Breeks Cafe

#02-07 Marina Square

Website : http://www.zingrill.com.sg/zingrill/breeks_cafe.html

With a Pinch of Salt

With a Pinch of Salt

Look out for this sign

The” eye-catchy” signboard & logo is hard to missed

It’s really hard to miss this cheeky cafe located along Tanjong katong road. With a pinch of salt by Kyra is cosy cafe that offers reasonable-priced Western food. Kyra is a very common first name for women in the U.S.

This cafe is popular with people of all ages and it’s even featured in various TVprogrammes ( introduce yummy food) .

The cafe has an attractive decor – cute posters, the wallpapers uses bright colours such as baby  blue and pink and adorable pictures and photo are being hang up  on the walls. The tables & chair are smaller in size too. I felt like a small little kid dining here & I assured Girls would fall in love with this place!

Caption on the tables

Menu

They offer a range of appetitzer, mains , pastas & risottos. The most important fact – they are reasonably priced! NO GST & SERVICE CHARGE. The mains are priced from $8.90 onwards and simply top up $3.50 to enjoy a soup of the day/ salad, a drink and dessert of the day.

Pictures of the food are shown in *the photo album, to allow informative choice.

*Enquire about the photo album.

P.S They have escargots too and I might try that the next time.

The set lunch

The set lunch is priced at $6.90 nett which allows you to choose a main dish from 4 choices & inclusive of a drink, soup and a scoop of ice-cream. The set lunch is VERY POPULAR and the food served was decent ( enquired comments from a diner ) .

Soft-shelled crab salad ($7.90)

One of the popular salad here and a crispy soft-shell crab laid on top of ice-berg lettuce & served with 1000island dressing.

The soft shell crab was warm and crispy and one is not enough!

Mrs Dory Garlic-Crusted ($9.90)

I had the beautiful Mrs Dory fish with a garlic crust skin, served with roasted potatoes, beans and carrots.

Close up

The dory was soft but the ”garlic-crusted” skin could be better. It was slightly soggy and mild. It taste more like soggy breadcrumbs to me rather than a crusty skin .

Roasted potatoes had a fragrant aroma of herbs ( dill & tarragon ) and a touch of olive oil… I like!

I think they blanched the carrots in boiling water with lemon as the lemony flavour seemed to be infused in the carrots.

Verdict: Definitely worth a visit again. Prices are reasonable , cafe is cosy, food is decent, no ++ and it brings back childhood memories, what more can I ask?

With a Pinch of Salt by Kyra

297 Tanjong Katong Road

Website  :http://www.withapinchofsalt.com.sg/#