Chili's @ Resorts World

I have been to Resorts World a few times and came across Chili's, but never had a chance to eat there until last night. I spent a day exploring fish in Sentosa so decided to eat at Chili's as I was so hungry after my adventures.

 

Chili's looks like any typical American diner. Ambience wise, it is not as cosy as TGI Friday's. The interior decoration is structured like a 50's malt shop. Food wise, there is not much variety too, save for the typica burgers and fries, steaks, and appetisers. The signature appetiser is chilli, of course!

 Interior decoration of the restaurant

 

 

After perusing the menu, I decided to order a New York striploin steak, medium, with two sides of mashed potato with black pepper gravy and seasonal vegetables. The order came pretty fast, but they got my sides wrong - serving me fries instead of mashed potato. I requested to change and the waiter promptly changed it for me. All steak orders come with a piece of garlic toast.

My order of New York striploin, with mashed potato with black pepper gravy, garlic toast and seasonal vegetables

 

The steak is quite chewy for medium. The potato is fine, but the vegetables taste as if they have been boiled for too long, as they seem so soft. Furthermore, the steak is not as big a piece as I expected.

 

Overall, it was a decent meal, although I think for the quality of the food, it is a tad overpriced. I much prefer TGI Friday's, for the ambience and food!

 

Food : 2.5 out of 5

Price : 2 out of 5

Ambience : 3 out of 5

Service : 4 out of 5

Chong Pang Nasi Lemak @ Sembawang

I have always been a nasi lemak (aka coconut rice) fan. The rice with the combination of peanuts, anchovies and fish always taste so good! Through the years, I developed from eating coconut rice on banana leaves, to little brown packets, to paper plates. The ingredients have also changed, from normal anchovies and nuts to luncheon meat, chicken wing, anchovies and even vegetables! But the rice and the chilli still remain the same, and these two are the best in coconut rice.

 

My favourite nasi lemak stall has to be Punggol Nasi Lemak, situated at Tanjong Katong. The rice is so fragrant, and the chilli the perfect sambal. What I like about this nasi lemak is the chicken wing. The chicken wings are fried to perfection - crunchy, aromatic yet soft at the same time. I will always go back there and order extra chicken wings!

 

Some time ago, I heard about Chong Pang Nasi Lemak, found at Chong Pang village somewhere in Sembawang, right next to Chong Pang camp. Since I needed to go around there yesterday, I thought I could finally try the Chong Pang nasi lemak which people are also raving about.

 

Chong Pang Nasi Lemak is a stall in a corner shophouse, same as Punggol Nasi Lemak. We also have to order the ingredients we prefer, and the staff will then put it over the rice and spread the chilli at the side, same as the Punggol one.

 Entrance to Chong Pang Nasi Lemak

 

 Variety of ingredients to choose from

 

The price is also not that cheap. My order of nasi lemak with one friend egg, long beans, anchovies and two chicken wings came up to more than S$5.00. I think a price war can be started between Punggol Nasi Lemak and Chong Pang Nasi Lemak.

 



This cost more than S$5.00!

 

My verdict? Even though Chong Pang Nasi Lemak tastes nice, it is just another nasi lemak dish. I really wonder why the hype when I find it is not as appealing as it looks. I prefer the Punggol Nasi Lemak anytime, especially for that kind of price!

 

Food : 3 out of 5

Service : 4 out of 5

Price : 3 out of 5



Jollibee @ Lucky Plaza

Jollibee is this new chain of fried chicken restaurants from the Philippines that is newly opened here. Apparently, ever since it opened, many people, Philippinos especially, flocked to the place, and the waiting time is perpetually long. I went there last Saturday for lunch, and was in the queue for around two hours! It got to the stage where I wanted to give up queuing, but since I was already in the queue for so long, might as well keep queueing!

 

The restaurant currently operates on the sixth level of Lucky Plaza. The eatery itself is at one corner, but the queue started from the next unit, so I believe that whole section probably belongs to the restaurant.

 

Why is this place called Jollibee? Because it has the logo of a jolly bee. Why use a bee in a chicken restaurant I cannot fathom, but the bee attracts many young children who wants to take a photo with the mascot!

Logo of Jollibee

 

 Statue outside the restaurant

 

As the queue is so long and it takes almost forever to finish the queue, there are notices informing customers to play fair and not queue for others. Each person is only entitled to six pieces of chicken. I guess this is to prevent someone from ordering in bulk or bringing their whole village to queue.

 The queue was this long when I first started queueing

 

 Flowers for their opening ceremony

 

 After an hour and a half, I was here, but still outside the restaurant

 

 The bee mascot

 

 

Finally, after two hours, I could buy the chicken set. I bought the Chicken Joy set consisting of two pieces of fried chicken, rice and a drink. While I was still in the queue, one of the staff came up and asked what I wanted. She then asked if I wanted to sit in or take out. Initially I thought of taking away, but she said there were still seats available, which is surprising due to the number of people in the queue. But I guess most people preferred to take away hence there were still many available seats in the restaurant. I find that a pretty good gesture so there would not be time wasted when it came to my turn to order.

 

What is so different about this chain is that instead of fries or potato. the side is rice or spaghetti. No chilli is provided, rather there is the sauce (which tastes like the potato gravy from KFC) to dip the chicken into and to spread over the rice. Trust me, with the sauce, the chicken and rice tastes so much better. I think the secret is really in the sauce and not the chicken.

 2 pieces of friend chicken with the dipping sauce

 

The rice as a side dish

 

My verdict? The chicken is a normal fried chicken. It is crispy and the flesh melts in your mouth like what any other fried chicken is supposed to do. With the sauce, it really tastes much better. I can understand the hype about this. But would I go back there again? Perhaps after the craze died down and it becomes a "normal" chicken restaurant, so I can go back and order without queuing again!

 

Food : 4 out of 5 (with the sauce)

Service : 4 out of 5

Price : 3.5 out of 5



T.G.I. Friday's @ I12 Katong

I finally went to T.G.I Friday's for dinner after it came back to our shores after ten years or so. My impression of the restaurant now is not as good as before. I used to be so awed by this place, but now, I find it a typical diner.

 

Perhaps because it is now situated in a shopping mall (I12 Katong) instead of The Glass House, so the ambience is not as romantic or cosy anymore. And now it has alfresco sitting too, hence many kids were sitting outside the restaurant. I think alfresco sitting is more romantic, but the waitress gave us a table inside.

 

The menu has changed. No longer is it serving my favourite mudpie. And there is no jukebox anymore, at least I do not see it. Despite that, the food is good though. I ordered the Jack Daniel's Sirloin Steak, with American cut. The steak is a big cut (although I suspect it is much bigger in United States itself), and comes with two sides.

 

I ordered medium, and the steak is perfectly done in medium! The texture of the steak is good, although not as thick as some steaks I have seen. Besides, the Jack Daniel's sauce is fantastic! The sauce lingers in my mouth after I ate up the steak! I really must find out how to make this sauce!

My sirloin steak, American cut, cooked medium, with two sides of mashed potato, seasonal vegetables and thick Jack Daniel's sauce

 My dinner companion ordered a ribeye steak, medium rare, Australian cut, with two sides of chips (fries) and seasonal vegetables. The steak looks smaller than mine though, maybe because it is an Australian cut, but the broccoli is gigantic!

Ribeye steak, Australian cut, cooked medium rare, with chips (fries) and seasonal vegetables

 

I must say, T.G.I Friday's is still a cool place to hang out, especially for expatriates and kids. One can know that the food is good from the number of expatriates (ie Caucasians) going to the restaurant. The service staff is also polite and friendly. I hope I can have the chance to go back there again, to try out the other dishes on the menu!

 

 

Food : 4 out of 5

Service : 4 out of 5

Price : 3 out of 5

Ambience : 3.5 out of 5

Baking Macarons

I signed up for a macaron baking class via Groupon and went for the session last night. This would be my first attempt at baking macarons, so the instructor gave us step by step instructions.

First, beat the egg white and castor sugar until it is thick like a merengue.

 The egg white (left) must be pure - no traces of egg yolk, no butter, nothing is to be mixed inside

 

 The egg white and sugar should be whisked until there is a lump of white cream

 

After whisking the egg white and sugar combination, mix the ground almond with icing sugar, and then sift out the fine particles.

 



 Almond and icing sugar mix

 

 Sifting the almond and icing sugar mix

 

Next, mix the sifted mixture into the egg white and sugar cream, folding in properly until a runny liquid is formed.

 



 After folding in the almond and sugar mixture with the egg white and sugar mixture

 

Add one drop of food colouring. Pour into piping plastic and then pipe onto a tray or onto moulds with various shapes.

 

 I kind of like this shape actually!

 

After piping, the moulds have to be left out at room temperature to set for around half an hour. After that, put into the oven to bake for twenty minutes. The oven should be pre-heated to 150 degree celsius first.

 



 Macarons fresh out of the oven

 

After the macarons were taken out of the oven, turn them over and pipe them with either chcolate cream, butter cream, or chocolate spread, before placing the other half on top. The macarons are ready to be served.

 



Completed macarons