Mel's Drive-In @ Universal Studios

Last night, I was priviledged enough to get invited to Universal Studios for free, complete with a meal voucher of S$10.00 per person. After the rides and exploring the place, we went to Mel's Drive-In, which I had heard about, for dinner. The entire meal for two cost S$19.90 in all, so we did not need to pay a single cent after utilising the vouchers!

My first impression of the place is that it kind of reminds me of Billy Bombers - the concept of an American eatery in the 1950s to 1960s, where there are jukeboxes, popstars and milkshakes. In fact, the set meal consists of a burger, fries and iced tea.

We were lucky to get a place by the window, which overlooks out into the water and the lights reflecting upon it. The thing is, it does not look like it is an outside view, it looks like an interior view!

The exterior of the restaurant

This retro car is parked outside the restaurant

The food counter

The interior of the restaurant

Because it is a fast food joint, I ordered a chilli burger set and he ordered a double cheeseburger set. When the food arrived, I was surprised. The burger is big! It is almost an American size burger! Luckily it is not so big that I could not finish it, although after the burger, I could not eat the fries anymore! Even the iced tea was huge, like the McDonald's large cup of Pepsi! At least it is still not as big as the burgers in Carl's Junior!

His double cheeseburger

My chilli burger

The fries

The big cup of iced tea

The other side of the iced tea cup

Normally I do not go for fast food joints unless it is McDonald's or KFCs, but Mel's Drive-In is good! The food is great and filling. Although the set meal is a bit on the high side, still the price is pretty worth it, as compared to those overpriced yet small portions places. Worth the try!

Food : 4 out of 5

Ambience : 3.5 out of 5

Price : 3.5 out of 5

Bei Shan Chuan Spicy Steamboat Buffet (北山川) @ ViVo City

I am not a big fan of buffets or steamboat. As far as I am concerned, it will be a waste of my money going for a buffet, as I only eat certain kinds of food. Hence, having a all-you-can-eat buffet simply defeats the purpose as I will be full after one course.

The same goes for steamboats. I like my food cooked in a certain way, and if I am to go for a steamboat where it is mass cooking, somehow the taste is not up to what I desired.

Still, we met some friends for a steamboat buffet lunch earlier since it is a public holiday. One thing good about this steamboat place is that there are two different kinds of soup - so I chose Hot and Spicy soup and Chicken soup. The soup is then poured onto a pot and the gas is then switched on, leaving the pot to boil.

The steaming pot

While waiting for the soup to boil, we then went to collect the food. I must say, there is quite a big variety of meat (chicken, fish, beef), seafood (prawns, squid, salmon, threadfin), vegetables (cabbages, green vegetables), mushrooms (shitake, button, long), noodles, bee hoon, even ice-cream, fruits, puddings, cakes and whatnot! Simply put, it is a feast!

We filled up our plates with the food and went back to our seats. We put in the food in the soup and let it cook. Some things can cook instantly, like the mushrooms, while others may take a longer time, like the prawns. We had a variety of hot and spicy as well as chicken.

The different kinds of meat

The food cooking away

The different kinds of vegetables

Cooking noodles

The cooked food

 

We had about three courses, and then it was as much as we could take. As I said, buffets do not work for me as my appetite is too small. Hence I much prefer a la carte or set meals where I can just order enough for my stomach.

In any case, after eating, I was intrigued by the bandung ice cream, and decided to take some to try, together with mango pudding and some fruits. The bandung ice cream has quite an interesting taste, but I much prefer the drink since it is tastier and sweeter!

The bandung ice cream

 

The meal wrapped up around an hour and a half. In any case, the buffet is only limited to two hours, as every hour or part thereof will be charged a nominal amount. All in all, it cost about S$25.00 per person for two kinds of soup, all-you-can-eat buffet (as long as there are no leftovers) and for two hours! Pretty worth it!

Food : cannot comment since we cooked it ourselves, but for variety, I would give it 4.5 out of 5

Service : 3.5 out of 5

Price : 4 out of 5

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Aston's Specialities (Part 2) @ Suntec City

Singaporeans are quite a predictable bunch. There are only a few kinds of food they like. Besides sushi joints, the most popular Western food is Botak Jones in coffee shops, or for those who prefer air-conditioning comfort, Aston's Specialities.

It was not the first time I ate at Aston's Specialities. I wrote about the Cathay branch some time back, which was quite good. Last night, we ate at the Suntec City branch, and it was not as good. I am not sure if it is because the standard had dropped, or the Suntec branch happened to be a paler comparison to its sister branch.

One thing I do not like about Aston's Specialities is its queuing time. There is always a long queue no matter which branch you go! And we are not allowed to do any reservations since it is on a first-come-first-served basis. To save time, the waiter asked us to pick our food first. Even then, when we finally got a table, the food took so long to be served!

Each of us ordered something different - medium-well lamb loin chops, medium sirloin steak, fried chicken chop, and medium extra cut steak, as well as different sides. When the food arrived, it was a disappointment.

First, according to my friend, the lamb loin chops seem hard to eat. She said she would have much rather stuck to the medium done than to take the medium-well, as she did not see any difference.

Second, the sirloin steak I ordered seemed more medium-rare than medium. When I sliced off a piece, the steak still looked pink. Yet it was a tad tough, as if it was well-done.

Third, the fried chicken chop seemed a bit hard.

Still, despite all these glitches, it was a rather enjoyable dinner. However, if I am to choose, I will still much prefer Aston's Prime any time!

The supposedly medium-well lamb loin chops, with coleslaw and onion rings

The extra cut sirloin steak, with french fries and garden salad

The fried chicken chop, with french fries and fried beans

The supposedly medium sirloin steak, with mashed potato and coleslaw

La Cantina In Venezia @ Changi Village Hotel

There is this cosy place on the top floor of Changi Village Hotel (formerly Le Meridien Changi) that overlooks the sea. It makes for a fantastic sunset view overlooking the Changi Boardwalk. The restaurant is tucked in a corner facing the swimming pool. It is called La Cantina In Venezia, serving Italian food and wines.

The view is spectacular, especially if you take alfresco seating! We could see the sea on one side, Changi Golf Club on the other side, and perhaps Pulau Ubin too.

View of the sea from the restaurant

Changi Golf Club

The golf course

The serving staff are courteous. A waiter would come to us and recommend us the special of the day. We ordered a pizza to split, and shared two plates of pasta amongst us, as well as bread for starters.

The order came at just the right time - not too long, not too short. The bread basket consisted of three slices of olive bread, with 4 packets of butter and a butter knife at the side. The bread is smooth and soft, just nice!

The bread basket

The dishes were all served together. The spaghetti bolognaise was a tad tasteless and too dry, even though the quantity is just right. The pasta sauce is few and far in between and did not seep into the spaghetti. There was no mined meat in the spaghetti, only sauce and a sprinkling of parsley. I think I can make much better spaghetti!

Spaghetti Bolognaise

The other pasta is an aglio olio. I did not taste that, but according to my friend, it is nothing much as well.

The Crab Linguine

The worst of the lot is the Parma Ham pizza. The pizza looked like a big roti prata, and the ham looked like it was just placed on top of it as an afterthought. The pizza had been sliced, but the ham had not. It looked as if someone forgot the ham and put it on top later on. It was hard to slice, and we ended up slicing more than the required ham pieces, or less than the required ham pieces. And it was quite tasteless too!

The Parma Ham Pizza

My verdict? This restaurant is great for the ambience and good for dates. If you like to experience rooftop alfresco dining facing the sea and just a bit of a nibble, this place will be great to chill out for drinks, that is, if you do not care so much about how the food taste like! For such a price, one would expect worthy food, but the food was indeed a disappointment and not worth the price!

Food : 2 out of 5
Price : 1.5 out of 5
Service : 3.5 out of 5
Ambience : 4 out of 5

Garuda Padang Cuisine @ ViVo City

There are not that many good nasi padangs around here. Nasi Padang, as locals know, are just Malay rice with condiments, something like the Chinese zi char mixed rice. However, this is where the misconception starts. Nasi Padang actually originates from Indonesia, hence it is not Malay, but Indonesian. Just like white sparkling wine can only be called Champagne when it originates from that region of France, similarly, nasi padang is so called only when it originates from Padang in Indonesia.

Last night, I met a friend and we went to Garuda Padang Cuisine at the basement of ViVo City for dinner. I have long wanted to try this rather famous Indonesian restaurant. When we went there, we realise that it is kind of a buffet style where we go to the counter with a variety of dishes, and pick and choose which ones we like.

In the end, we ended up with four dishes - Rendang Sapi (beef rendang), Ikan Asin Pakang (my favourite crispy thin-sliced lightly salted fish), Gulai Singkong (Tapioca leaves), Ikan Ghembong Belado (Khembong fish with belado sauce), with rice and free-flow of lime juice.

After all the hype about the restaurant, I must say I am a tad disappointed. It is not that the food is not delicious, the food is good, but I kind of expected more, perhaps the food could taste better, be more extraordinary? Somehow it tastes about the same as any other Indonesian restaurants around.

But then again, I was having a sore throat so maybe my taste buds were a tad off. In any case, the beef rendang is of the right colour, but not of the right taste. Somehow I expected the beef rendang to be sweeter, but the one we ate seemed a bit bland.

The gulai singkong is good - tapioca leaves steeped in creamy juice, and just the right texture. The ikan ghembong is spicy (I kind of thought it would be sour) and the best is the ikan asin pakang - crispy, just the right amount of saltiness, and chewy in the mouth. That was the best dish by far!

The service is a bit slow though. It was supposed to be free-flow of lime juice but no one served us even after calling the waiter twice. Finally he came and refilled our juice. I asked for another glass of warm water but it never came, until we had to go to the counter and asked it ourselves.

Still, besides all these, it was a fun night! This will be in my re-visit list for sure!

Food : 3.5 out of 5
Service : 2 out of 5
Price : Not sure as I did not pay for it

Above And Beyond - A Collection Of Recipes From Singapore Airlines International Culinary Panel

It is here! Finally! The Singapore Airlines cookbook, written by is panel of celebrity chefs. I had it ordered online at its Kris Shop, and it came in a UPS sealed envelope, in mint condition! That is the efficiency of SIA!

While looking through this, I notice that there are lots of interesting recipes - some are straight forward, some not so straight forward. The recipes and pictures are so delicious that I felt like eating them there and then!

But the first question that went through my mind was that : are these recipes and food actually served on airplanes?

Personally, in all my years of taking airplanes, I have never come across food that is so beautifully prepared and presented. The airplane food I have partaken all come in a box, like the Japanese bento set, or else would be a normal kind of set meal. I have never eaten such beautiful and delicious creations as in the book!

I cannot wait to go back and try out the recipes in there! Hopefully my concoctions will not be disastrous!

50 Things I Want In My Kitchen

1. Two-door multi-compartment refrigerator with an external ice-dispenser

2. Microwave oven and a conventional oven with compartments that can bake a cake and roast a turkey, as well as baking cookies, brownies, muffins and whatnots

3. Dishwasher

4. Stove with heat absorber

5. Cake Mixer with inter-changeable whisks

6. Cake moulds (round, square, chiffon, sandwich, loaf)

7. Cookie, cupcakes and Muffin moulds, pans and trays

8. Souffle and panna cotta dish

9. Tart and Pie pans

10. Pizza pans

11. Brownie moulds

12. Chocolate moulds

13. Chocolate Fondue Set

14. Cheese Fondue Set

15. Spatula

16. Rolling Pin

17. Measuring Cup

18. Measuring Spoons

19. Small Measuring Cups

20. Marzipan Tools

21. Creme Brulee Set

22. Big Pots, Medium Pots, Small Pots and Pans

23. Ice-Cream Maker

24. Cookbook Holder

25. Saucepans

26. Food Blender / Processor

27. Pasta Maker

28. Knife Sets

29. Chopping Board

30. Stemware (champagne glass, wine glass, beer mug, sherry glasses)

31. Coffee and Tea sets (teapot, cups and saucers, sugar bowl, milk jug, strainer)

32. Hot Pots

33. Drinking glasses

34. Plates

35. Bowls

36. Spoons (soup, dessert)

37. Forks (salad, appetiser, main course, dessert)

38. Knives

39. Coasters and Mats

40. Serving forks / spoons / ladles

41. Corkscrew

42. Wine-opener / can-opener

43. Salt and Pepper Mill

44. Coffee Grinders / Breakfast Maker

45. Waffle Maker

46. Barbecue Grills

47. Yoghurt Maker

48. Bread Maker

49. Multislicer with Portable Scale

50. Wine Chiller / Cellar

So who can I get to sponsor me my dream kitchen?? :-p

Where Can I Find This?

I saw this multipurpose kitchen equipment / breakfast maker and fell in love with it!

Just imagine the non-hassle of making coffee, toast, eggs and sausage all together instead of separately. And the washing of everything in one instead of different pots and pans. Whoever who invented this is a genius!

Where, oh where, can I find one like this??

Ice Cream Frenzy @ West Coast

Ice-cream cafes are getting very popular in recent years. There is Island Creamery, Cold Rock Creamery, Once Upon A Milkshake, The Ice Cream Gallery, The Daily Scoop, and the more recent ones like UDDERS.

Today we went to a newly-opened ice cream cafe called Ice Cream Frenzy. Tucked away under a housing block in a little western corner, this new ice cream cafe is opened by a retired civil servant and all the ice cream is home-made. There is a variety of flavours like Tiger Beer, Avocado with Attap Chee to name a few.

There is also waffles with ice cream, with maple syrup. The ice cream is soft, gelato-like, with low sugar and fat, so one can eat it without a worry of putting on more ounces. The ice cream melts in the mouth, with just the right consistency, yet it is not too rich.

In short, it is one of the most perfect ice-cream I have ever partaken! The owner of the shop made it a point to come mingle with us, his customers. He even said they do delivery and children's parties. He says we can buy our food and eat in his shop, stay as long as we like. How nice!

If distance is not a problem, I will sure love to go there again!

The Perfect Teapot

I am so happy to be able to win this darling teapot and warmer set!

Add a tealight into the warmer, put in tea bag / tea leaves and water, and put the teapot on the warmer. Start boiling. A cup of tea is ready in a few minutes!

Actually, what would make it even better if it comes with a set of teacups, sauces, spoons, sugar bowls and milk jars. That would make it a complete set!

Beppu Menkan 别府 @ Tiong Bahru Plaza

I always feel the best ramen I have ever taken is in Japan. The local ramen tastes more like instant noodles than anything else. Still, there are some places which serve quite good ramen of a reasonable standard.

One such place is Beppu Makan, which surprisingly, serves pretty good ramen. I was having lunch earlier with some friends and I ordered the chicken ramen. The spiciness index comes in two chillis, four chillis, eight chillis or the fiery sixteen chillis!

The customer service is pretty good, considering all of us have diverse taste. Some do not like onions, some do not like corn, onions and peas, some prefer more chilli, some prefer no chilli at all. The service staff wrote everything down and got all our orders right!

I ordered mine with four chillis, and it is not as spicy as I thought it would be. The ramen came in a big bowl with a big spoon, typical style of a Japanese ramen. The ingredients consist of corn, chicken, peas and spring onions.

For a local-made ramen, it is one of the rare good ones I have taken. If it tastes this good here, I wonder how much better it would taste in Beppu itself? I hope to be able to go again and see if I can take an even spicier one!

Food : 3.5 out of 5
Service : 4 out of 5
Price : 3.5 out of 5

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone