Tim Ho Wan - Not bad but not fantastic either

Given the long queue of Tim Ho Wan, I will never go and try out the food there. However, since I was hanging around Plaza Singapura at nine in the morning, and there is no queue at this place, so I thought that I might as well check it out. So if you want to avoid the queue, go there before ten in the morning.

The staff at the reception is friendly while the others are quite okay in terms of service. The place is pretty cramped, plus the cantonese music blaring in the background, the Hong Kong feel is really strong.

As for the dim sum, they are not bad, but are nowhere comparable to the ones I have in my favourite restaurants—take note that the price is comparable though. The Bo Lo Bun is decent in taste, the sauce used for the char siew tends to be on the sweet side. But there is nothing exceptional about it. The same goes for the Steamed Cake that has a very silky, fluffy texture but the taste is hardly noteworthy. There is just slight sweetness with hints of egg taste. The dim sum with wasabi looks and tastes interesting, but I can hardly detect any wasabi or horseradish in it. The porridge is really a huge meh. It is so bland and has that cooked-in-the-pot-for-too-long taste, like one of those horrible porridges I had in Imperial Treasures and Jade Restaurant.

I don't mind having the Bo Lo Buns and Steamed Cake again, but queuing for them is put of question. And I will not specially go down for them either.

My Thoughts: Still Okay

Nearest car park: Plaza Singapura's car park

Nearest MRT: Dhoby Ghuat

68 Orchard Road #01-29A

Plaza Singapura

Contact No: 62512000

Saboten - Delicious Tonkatsu ... and Salad

If you check out my reviews, you will notice I generally have bad impressions of chain restaurants. There are of course exceptions, like Rakuichi, and Saboten!

What this place gets right are the tonkatsu and the free flow of salad. The tonkatsu is coated with an amazingly crispy yet fine breadcrumbs that does not cut the mouth, unlike lots of CUTlets out there. I highly recommend the tenderloin over the loin meat since as the name has stated, the meat is tender, fresh, flavourful and juicy. The loin meat is a bit too tough and has too much fat. The special sauce has the right balance of flavours and a bit of sourness to kick things up. To make things interesting, many patrons need to grind the sesame seeds before mixing them with the specialty sauce. Needless to say, the aroma of the crushed sesame adds more robustness to the overall taste.

The salad of finely shredded cabbage totally whets the appetite when the tangy sesame sauce or ponzu one, maybe both are added to the cold, crisp, extremely fresh vegetables, served in a cold bowl. Even the rice served here is of high quality type. The grains each has a pearl-like sheen coating it, looking really moist. They are perfectly cooked: no broken grains, smooth texture and quite soft to the bite, but not overly so.

Dessert is yuzu ice cream, which refreshes the palate a lot. Nothing really special, but I am glad that watermelon is not served instead since a lot of Japanese restaurants love to serve watermelon.

Service is okay. They are prompt to responses and are quite friendly.

I became a regular of the place already.

Update: I find the quality of the meat to have somewhat dropped. The rest are still good though.

My Thoughts: My Favourite place for Tonkatsu.

This restaurant had shifted to Millennia Walk.

The Curry Culture - Intensely Flavoured Dishes

Besides the some great finds in Cuppage Plaza, I found out that there is a trove of treasures hidden among the stretch of shophouses outside the place: Cuppage Terrace. And Curry Culture is one of them.

Despite the relatively small area, the interior is quite posh with dark wood furniture and exotic decorations. The service is attentive and friendly. So I immediately feels at ease when in there.

As for the food, I need to rave about the Raita here. The Raita of Curry Culture is the best I ever have, period. The yoghurt used here is full-bodied, rich and thick yet mild and pleasing to the palates, unlike the watery sour ones commonly found in other places. It is almost of the quality of premium greek yoghurt. The raw vegetables like cucumbers and such are fresh and crunchy. A must-order, especially when it helps to quench the hot flavours.

The grilled chicken with cheese is another winner. The meat is imbued with lots of spices, simulating the taste buds when savouring it. The cheese adds texture to the dish and adds an extra dimension to the overall taste. Surprisingly, the light flavour of cheese complements the strong aromas of the spices instead of being muted. So good combination there.

The Briyani is good with lots of flavours, tends towards the spicy side. Though I prefer the one in the restaurant in Holiday Inn, which is drier, thus retaining the excellent bite, flavour and texture typical of basmatic rice.

Glad to find this restaurant, so I have more options to consider when having a craving for North Indian food.

My Thoughts: Lots of Kick!

Nearest car park: Cuppage Plaza's car park

Nearest MRT: Somerset

31 Cuppage Road

Cuppage Terrace

Singapore

Contact No: 62356133

Lady M - Not Bad Cakes, but Bad Management

Frankly speaking, I cannot see what's with the hype on Lady M. The queue there is insane. I only bother to check it out because I went in at a timing where there is no need to queue. But guess what, despite that, the cappaccino didn't come even after waiting for more than thirty minutes. I gave up and cancelled the order for the beverage. Thank goodness that the staff are helpful.

Well, the cakes are interesting. It is not like one can find mille crêpes and cakes made from almond flour everywhere, and Lady M does manage to produce cakes that taste pretty good. The chocolate mille crêpes has excellent texture with the pleasant light cream sandwiched between the ultra thin silky crêpes. There is no rubbery feel that is typical of crêpe. The problem is that the taste is just okay only. Nothing mind-blowing about it that I can rave about. The taste of chocolate is flat and boring, as expected from those generic chocolates. This cake further cements my theory that if the chocolate dessert/cake is not made from premium chocolate in the likes of Valhorlna and such, it is no good. Gâteau aux Marrons is good in the sense the almond flour adds dimension to the taste of the cake, lending in that almost floral aroma of almond. The texture of the cake is moist and slightly crumbly. But this cake is a tad too sweet, and the aroma of chestnut is very muted in the chestnut cream. So much for adding "marron" into its name.

The place also serves mains and appetizers. This confirms another theory of mine: a cafe cannot come out with excellent desserts and cakes. Only top notch restaurants, patisseries and bakeries can achieve that.

The experience of dining at there is so horrible, plus the fact the cakes are not cheap, that my impression of the place was seriously marred. The cakes are not that fantastic that I am willing to go through the ordeal again. It is ridiculous that there is only one staff manning such a big area spanning over two decks. The poor girl is running up and down the stairs, and all over the place to take orders and deliver the ordered items. I felt sorry for her. She managed to keep it up with amicable attitude and smiles. Lady M is lucky to get such staff, but there is no excuse for the organization to scrimp and have only one staff around to take care of dining area.

Even wanting to foot the bill is a pain when I find a long queue at the cashier. I give props to the cashier for his attention to details since I didn't voice out my grievances, but he knew that I was very pissed off, so he immediately apologized for the wait. Got to find out that quite a number of staff were deployed from the Fullerton branch at the last minute. Maybe the experience at the branch at Fullerton will be better?

And one more thing, there is neither number nor receipt for me to inform the cashier in order for him to retrieve my bill. The quick thinking personnel let me single out my table through the computer system so that it is possible for me to foot the bill. To the management: if you do not have enough staff to tend to the place, then please put a number on the table or provide a receipt, instead of trying to look classy.

I have far better cakes at other places. So nope, will not be back there anytime soon.

My Thoughts: Okay

Nearest car park: Orchard Central's car park

Nearest MRT: Somerset

Orchard Central Shopping Mall

181 Orchard Road

Orchard Central #02-07

Contact No: 65093673