Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Cold Rock Ice Creamery, Holland Village

Creative? Create your own Ice Cream..

We came here for dessert after our dinner at El Patio. Cold Rock Ice Creamery allows customers choosing their ice cream flavours and mix ins and watch their staff blending and smashing them.






Each of us chose our own flavour and shared later.

SP’s – Large Ferrero Indulgence $11.50 – 5/10
Ferrero Ice Cream with Ferrero Rocher, Nutella and Crushed Nuts. It was so-so only.


Mine – Rum and Raisin – 3/10
No Mix ins. It was simply sweet and I could not taste the alcohol.


MH’s – Chocolate – 3/10
Also no Mix ins. The appearance was as dark as charcoal which we thought that it could be bitter sweet chocolate which was our favourite. The verdict was that it was simply sweet again and we cannot feel the chocolate flavour.


LS’s – Chocolate Banana – 5/10
Mixed in with banana and chocolate. It was also so-so only.



Overall Verdict: 4/10

With such steep prices, we expect high quality of their ice creams. However, it did not meet up to our expectations. So disappointed.

Address:
Cold Rock Ice Creamery
24A Lorong Mambong
Holland Village
Singapore 277683
http://www.coldrock.com.sg/

Tel: 6763 1323

Operating Hours:
Mon-Thurs : 11am - 10.30pm
Friday-Sat : 10.30am - 1am
Sun : 10.30am - 12mn

El Patio Mexican Restaurant & Wine Bar, Holland Village

Singapore-Style Mexican Food?

We went El Patio for Mexican food since we have been to Margaritas at Faber Drive for a few times already. Furthermore, the place is more accessible for the four of us.


Our orders:

Tortilla chips & Salsa sauce (complimentary) – 7/10
The chips were warm, crispy and addictive. SP couldn’t stop munching on them. The staff was kind enough to refill the empty basket for us.


Lime Margaritas in Jam Jar $48 – 8/10
They were very good and refreshing, especially when the weather was so warm and humid that day.


Combo – Chicken Burrito and Salmon Enchilada $16.50 – 6/10
The combo consisted of a Burrito and Enchilada. I did not find a difference between the twos, except one was filled with chicken and the other was salmon. Both were topped with creamy sauces and sour cream. Enchilada was topped with an additional kind of tomato or chilli sauce. They were warm and soft (I suppose they were meant to be in this way.)



The Fajitas were the restaurant’s recommendations. They were served in a sizzling hotplate and came with sour cream, guacamole dip (creamy avocado) and warm flour tortillas.

Sizzling Chicken Fajitas $20.50 – 7/10
Chicken breast meat was used. A healthier choice for us. The gravy was slightly too thick. To me, they tasted like the Cze Cha stir-fried onion chicken cubes.


Sizzling Beef Fajitas $22.50 – 6/10
The sliced beef would have been better if the tenderness can be improved. Similar to the Chicken Fajitas, it seemed that much thickener was used for making the gravy.


Flour Tortillas (served with Fajitas) – 6/10
The warm Tortillas turned cold and dried easily. Perhaps, they would have been prevented if they were covered with a dish towel.


Total bill came up to $126.50.




Overall Verdict: 6.7/10


Address:
El Patio Mexican Restaurant & Wine Bar
34 Lorong Mambong
Holland Village
Singapore 277691

Tel: 6468 1520

Operating Hours:
Mon - Fri: 5pm - 11pm
Sat/Sun: 11am - 11pm

Sunday, June 28, 2009

Han Fung Korean BBQ Restaurant韩风, Cheong Chin Nam

One of the Authentic Korean Restaurants at Upper Bukit Timah..

It was a Saturday and there wasn’t much crowd that day. There are too many eateries along Cheong Chin Nam so it was not surprised that the restaurant was not even half filled with customers.


See what we had:

Side dishes (complimentary) – 6/10
They may not be the best side dishes I ever tried but they were still acceptable.


BulGoGi (Sliced Beef) $19.50 – 7/10
The beef slices were tender and flavourful. Too bad, I didn’t get a chance to BBQ it myself.


BiBimBap (Assorted Mixed Rice (Beef)) $12.50 – 8/10
This is one of my favourite Korean dishes. White rice topped with generous sautéed and seasoned vegetables, raw egg and a type of meat (either beef, chicken or pork) and served in a very hot stone bowl. Before it turned cold, I have to quickly mix and stir the rice and its ingredients thoroughly.



Total bill came up to $40.15.


Their location can be found in this namecard. Hope it helps.



Overall Verdict: 7/10
I will definitely come back again to try their Spicy Beef Soup and others.


Address:
Han Fung Korean BBQ Restaurant韩风
(Opposite Bukit Timah Shopping Centre)
16 Cheong Chin Nam Road
Singapore 599740
http://www.singaporemirror.com.sg/co_hanfung.htm

Tel: 6465 7806

Operating Hours:
Daily:
11.30am to 3.00pm (Last Order 2.15pm)
5.30pm to 11.00pm (Last Order 10.15pm)
Closed on Tuesday

Hokkaido Fair, Isetan Scotts, 19 to 29 June 2009

Largest Hokkaido Fair 2009 ever held out of Japan..

I enjoyed this Hokkaido Fair the most out of so many other Japanese Fairs. There were so many food samplings. Mmmm..



Some of the stations I patronized:


We bought 6 packs of Seasoned Processed Squid and Shellfish & Squid with Miso without realizing that 3 packs of the processed squid and shellfish were already expired. We were too lazy to go to the Hokkaido Fair at Tampines for the exchange as the one at Scotts already ended by the time we realized the expiry dates.



2. Cream Dowa Station


This Yubari Melon Soft Ice Cream was very smooth and nice.


3. Another Chinmi Station


It mainly specialized in dried Scallops with different flavours. Their scallops were so fresh and yummy but very expensive. I went back to buy few packs of dried soft scallops few days later. Each pack weights about 80g and it costs $20.


4. Uncooked Ramen

I sampled this ramen and the miso taste so good. Therefore, I bought two packets – one miso flavour and one spicy miso flavour. Each pack cost $10 and came two servings.


They provided me with the cooking instructions too. However, when I cooked it at home, I find the ramen and the soup tasted very different from I sampled at the Fair. It might be because the servings were too big and the soup were quickly absorbed by the ramen.


5. Moisture Souffle
This soft and moist cheesecake had a floral fragrant and it tasted heavenly.


6. Otaru Marugoto Sweet Potato


It was baked sweet potato cake filled with melty mild custard cream. It was so so sweet which I believe extra sugar were added.


7. Butter Manju Tokachi Red Bean



They are generous with the Japanese Red Bean fillings. The thickness of outer pancake crust was just nice.


8. Sapporo Draft Beer


This beer was so fresh, $3.50 a cup.



How I wish the Hokkaido Fair quickly comes back again..

Hokkaido Fair 2009
Isetan Scotts Supermarket Basement


Thursday, June 25, 2009

Hard Rock Café, HPL House at Cuscaden Road

Bachelorette Party cum Birthday Party Celebrations..

We had two stars for the night. Here comes the Shimmering stars..


As usual, we ordered few different dishes for sharing. I will not give any ratings on the foods as we ate the foods much later after they were served to us as we were playing games.

Ours orders were:

1. Jumbo Combo (x2) $50
It is their most popular starters and it includes Santa Fe Spring Rolls, Hickory-Smoked Chicken Wings, Onion Rings, Potato Skins and Tupelo Chicken Tenders. They were served with four different sauces for mixing and matching.


2. Fish N Chips (x2) $25.
One of it was free as there was a promotion for Citibank Credit Card.


3. Trio Combo $32
This was a Hickory Smoked Bar-B-Que Combo. It consisted of Bar-B-Que Ribs, Bar-B-Que Chicken and Smoked Pulled-Pork. They were served with fries, ranch beans and fresh coleslaw.


4. New Zealand Pepper Steak $26


5. Pulled Pork Sandwiches $20
We were too full to eat this item. Therefore, we requested for this item to be take away instead.


Total bill came up to $204.80.


The foods already turned cold and those fried items were no longer crispy. Therefore it would not fair for me to comment on them. I shall come to try the hot foods again next time.


Address:
Hard Rock Cafe, Singapore
#02-01 / # 03-01 HPL House
50 Cuscaden Road
Singapore 249724

Website: http://hardrock.com.sg/aboutus.htm

Tel: (65) 6235 5232

Operating Hours:
11.00 am - 2.00 am (Mondays to Fridays)
11.00 am - 3.00 am (Saturday, Sunday & Eve Of Public Holiday)

Merchandise Store Operation Hours:
11.00 am - 2.00 am (Mondays to Fridays)
11.00 am - 3.00 am (Saturday, Sunday & Eve Of Public Holiday)