Canton-i

Me and my friends meant to try the dim sum at Taste Paradise, but because they only serve it during lunch we decided to head to Canton-i instead for dinner. Interestingly in the recent weekend, Wong Ah Yoke on The Sunday Times Lifestyle rated Canton-i as one of the worst mid-priced restaurants of the year, and to be honest I think that's a bit too harsh. I personally don't think anyone of us is in the position to give "the worst" awards, especially not on the national newspaper right!

Seafood Fried Rice: 3.75/5


The seafood fried rice with eggs, scallops and seafood came in a hot stone bowl and it was still sizzling an hour after it arrived. Everyone around the table was clearly envious over my little gem, not least because it smelled good and looked more promising than their own dishes. I did away with the usual addition of the (pork) chinese sausages, the staff were happy to oblige, and it still tasted pretty alright. Sufficient mix of prawns, squids, scallops and mushrooms.

Wanton Soup with Noodles


HweeGuang didn't like this much, save for the wantons. He commented that the noodles were so much like instant noodles, and the soup quite tasteless.

Char-Roast Duck Noodle


Stella felt that Canton-i's specialty duck is not too bad, better than expected, but overall as a dish it was just average.

Guangdong Style Stir-Fried Noodles


Not sure about the exact name of this dish, but it's close. Leona could only manage an "it's okay" when I asked her about it.

Fried Radish Cake with XO Sauce


This probably came close to saving the dinner for the three. Well-fried and flavourful enough.

Service
It was pretty crowded and understandably so it would be difficult trying to get the attention of the busy staff. To be fair, when we did get their attention, they were very helpful and thorough with our orders, even giving suggestions on alternative choices. I appreciate that.

Price
$10.80 for the seafood fried rice
$8.80 for the char-roast duck noodle
$7.80 for the fried radish cake with xo sauce
(Around the same price for the other two noodle dishes)

* Prices subject to the usual 7% GST and 10% service charge.

Place
ION Orchard, #03-14.

Pictures taken with the Canon EOS 500D.

Bosses Restaurant

We had two celebrations for Daphne's 22nd birthday, this one at Bosses was shared with some of her closer friends and held on the actual day of her birthday. I'm posting this ahead of the earlier celebrations that I had for her because I think those are much more impressive and yummy as compared to Bosses, and thus deserve to be at the top of my current batch of food posts =)

I will only post the food that the both of us had though, since we couldn't possibly go around the big round table snapping away at every single dish that our friends were having. I kinda like the ambience of the place because it has this chic and stylish feel to it, and it's even better if you have a view of the sea.

Stewed Beef with Egg Fried Rice: 6/10


The stewed beef came cold, and I tried to "heat" the beef up by putting it on the warm fried rice. The fried rice, though tasty enough, was a bit too oily for me.

La Mian Chicken and Wanton: 7/10


Daphne had this, and found the wanton (dumplings) to be quite good as they have "lots of chicken inside". However, she feels the overall taste of this dish is just ordinary, and nothing to shout about.

And for those scratching their heads over what it means for "la mian", if I'm not wrong it refers to the way that these noodles are made, "la" being translated to "pull" as these noodles are stretched and pulled to fine strands.

Service
Even for a Tuesday night, the restaurant was packed, and it was very difficult trying to get the waitresses attention. I literally had to stand in their way to order, putting up your hand won't help.

Price
$12.00 for the stewed beef with egg fried rice
$10.50 for the la mian with chicken and wanton

Prices subject to 7% GST and 10% service charge.

Place
#02-156/157, VivoCity

TSC by Tong Shui Cafe III

My sister insisted on going back to Changi Airport for TSC because she likes the noodles here, and somehow or another most of us ordered almost the same thing when we came back this time round. Daphne, as she too realised, ordered the same dish three times in a row. So much for the extensive menu! Our past visits, in case you're curious, can be found in the "Changi Airport" labels.

(517) Fried Rice with SzeChuan Sauce Chicken: 5/10


You can say this was a marked difference from the last time I came here. As much as the SzeChuan sauce was minisculously different from the BBQ sauce I had previously (which should be a matter of concern), the chicken was terribly overfried that it made chewing a tiring chore, and the rice didn't taste like it was newly cooked. The mixed vegetables were horrid. The egg wasn't fried properly, much of the white was still runny. The sauce saved the rice, only just.

(372) HK Dried Noodles - Sunset Egg and Shrimp Wanton: 8/10


Daphne's consistent favourite. The crunch of the crispy wanton will always be there, much to her satisfaction.

(371) HK Dried Noodles - Sunset Egg and Chicken Chop: 7/10


The sisters' (yes, both of them) consistent favourite. The only problem between now and then is the chicken chop, because this time round it was far too oily for my liking. I can say for sure because my sister couldn't finish hers and naturally turned to me to finish it up, but it was so oily (and at many parts, dry from overcooking) that I could only allow a single bite.

Chee Cheong Fun with Sunset Egg and Luncheon Meat: 6.5/10


My dad and his chee cheong fun. Pretty ordinary if you ask me. For those of you who aren't too sure what "chee cheong fun" is, its basically rice flour with a sauce that contains, among other things, soya sauce and vinegar (at least that's what I gather). It's called "chee cheong" because it looks like pig's intestines (??!!) and "fun" because it means rice (in Cantonese probably). Anyone would like to confirm or correct this?

(295) Chicken Lor Mai Kai: 7.3/10


"Lor mai kai" (in Cantonese again) is actually glutinous rice with chicken, and this one from TSC in particular was not too bad. Never mind the stray plant used to adorn this otherwise typically cheap and common food, in a bid probably to make it look like some runaway French delicacy of sorts.

(277) Stuffed Yu Char Kueh with Black Pepper Sauce: 6/10


Whilst the TSC menu spells it as such, the more common spellings would be (in different dialects) "you tiao" or "you char kway". It refers to deep-fried dough popular in Chinese cuisines (especially breakfast) and here in the picture above, is stuffed with what I would think to be squid paste. Very ordinary stuff, and the black pepper sauce seemed out of place. Stuffed you char kway is more frequently served with mayo!

(460) Fish Steak in BBQ Sauce with Rice: 7.5/10


My mum thought this was alright. Me and Daphne, who had a bit of the fish, found it really fresh and evenly fried, as compared to my dry chicken drumstick.

(255) Thick Toast - Peanut Butter and Condensed Milk: 8/10


Since my mum did not eat much of the rice provided alongside the fish, she had room for thick toast, which she shared with my lil sister as well. As usual, I was given a forkful, and I thought this toast has continued to maintain its standard of nicely toasted bread (not too burnt, charred or dry) with a fattening glaze of peanut butter and condensed milk. It's yummy.

(155) Sago Mango and Strawberry with Ice-Cream: 5/10


This was the unique and surprise dish of the day. I suppose all of us misread the menu and took it to be something like sago mango with strawberry ice-cream. My dad expected something like a cold Chinese dessert, and we were laughing when this was served to us. It's a bit too many flavours to deal with and thus the mix wasn't entirely there.

(111) Beancurd Sheet with Gingko Barley: 8/10


This is Daphne's all-time favourite dessert, and she would almost always eat this if she has to choose from local desserts. Cute thing is that while this dessert is more commonly known as barley with gingko nut, she doesn't want the nuts in them. So I always have to order "barley with gingko nut, without the gingko nut" just so the person gets what dessert I'm referring to. This one by TSC was pretty good, came with a tiny almond cookie as well, and Daphne felt that this was even better than the one I bought for her a couple days back from Toa Payoh Central, in a dessert stall that prides itself to be from Amoy Street honour.

Service
More attentive than the last few times that we came here. Friendly too. The crowd began coming in only after 8.30pm, probably for supper or light snacks.

Price
(517) Fried Rice with SzeChuan Sauce Chicken: $9.88
(372) HK Dried Noodles - Sunset Egg and Shrimp Wanton: $6.88
(371) HK Dried Noodles - Sunset Egg and Chicken Chop: $8.88
(295) Chicken Lor Mai Kai: $4.88
(277) Stuffed Yu Char Kueh with Black Pepper Sauce: $4.88
(460) Fish Steak in BBQ Sauce with Rice: $8.88
(255) Thick Toast - Peanut Butter and Condensed Milk: $3.88
(155) Sago Mango and Strawberry with Ice-Cream: $5.38
(111) Beancurd Sheet with Gingko Barley: $3.38

Usual 10% service charge and prevailing gst rates apply.

Place
Changi Airport Terminal 2
Viewing Mall, Level 3

Additional Comments
1. Halal-certified, but the only Tong Shui Cafe branch that is.
2. Open 24 hours.

TSC by Tong Shui Cafe

Tong Shui has its quirky element of Italian fusion in it with its baked pasta, and yes a variety of Western dishes as well, making its menu pretty extensive. In fact, it boasts close to 600 items!

TSC by Tong Shui Cafe is the chain's first attempt at reaching out to the Muslim community in Singapore with its Halal certification, and to me it's a pretty impressive concept (and effort) that's worth some praise. Of course, they could have done better with the naming, TSC still stands for Tong Shui Cafe if you think about it, but perhaps it's all under one simple branding strategy.


The interior is quite pretty, the usual Tong Shui design actually. One thing I found odd was that yes, I know it's Halal, but you don't have to play Suria channel on the television right?! I think to make it more authentic, it's fine playing some HongKong serials instead. The other television was showing MTV. Well, on to the food!

(1) HK Milk Tea: 6/10


The milk tea wasn't particularly milky, nor did it have a strong tea taste. Should have gotten the yuan yang coffee-tea combination.

(72) Mango Cooler: 6/10


Daphne had this, but she found it too fizzy for her liking. Still, she liked the fruits and jellies in the drink.

(557) Macaroni Mat Tu Loh: 7/10


"Mat tu loh" refers to what I would call the "processed meat trinity" HAHA - chicken sausage, chicken ham and chicken salami. The macaroni tasted pretty good actually, the cheese was yummy. The processed meats may have made the dish a tad saltier than it would otherwise been, but mixing it with fried chicken wings (chicken again!) did the trick.

(372) HK Dried Noodles - Sunset Egg and Shrimp Wanton: 8.3/10


Daphne liked this a lot, and was grinning everytime she bit into the crispy crunchy fried wanton. The noodles were evenly cooked and if you look at it, it's like a balanced meal in itself.

(300) Half Dozen Chicken Wings with Fries: 8/10


Half a dozen makes 6, but in essence it really means six chicken wing parts rather than six full chicken wings. We liked the spices and marinate used for the chicken, which made them a good complement to our main dishes.

Service
Friendly, and it wasn't really a long wait. Then again, it was close to 8.30 on a Monday evening and there weren't many people around. The airport was pretty quiet, you could play bowling if you wanted to with all the clear lanes.


You've got to write your orders on a piece of paper and pass it to the waitress. If you hadn't known by now, the numbers preceding the food names above refer to their menu item numbers.

Price
HK Milk Tea: $1.88
Mango Cooler: $3.88
Macaroni Mat Tu Loh: $9.88
HK Dried Noodles Sunset Egg & Shrimp Wanton: $5.88
Half Dozen Chicken Wings with Fries: $9.88

Yeah "88" indeed!

Place
Changi Airport Terminal 2
Viewing Mall, Level 3

Additional Comments
1. Halal-certified, but the only Tong Shui Cafe branch that is.
2. Open 24 hours.