Tohirah Restaurant @ Jalan Kayu

I don't normally like to have supper after a heavy dinner (with a sweet chocolate cornetto after that too mind you) but the invite by a relative to Jalan Kayu seemed too good to pass. It has really been some time since I've gone there, and as I've been telling my girlfriend, the thought of adding more posts of food on this blog will always be the best incentive haha!


This is Tohirah Restaurant along the Jalan Kayu stretch (I see Mad Jack here too, but the one along Bukit Timah looks more accomodating if you ask me). Very crowded on a Saturday night, but what you do get is a nice picture of multiculturalism! Chinese, Malays and Indians all gathered here for the love of food =)

Roti Prata [Plain / Egg] - 6.5/10


HAHA. You must be thinking, all the way to Jalan Kayu and only for plain prata?! As I said, I was full from dinner and dessert, so all I had space left for was one plain and one egg (not shown in pic). Still, if we're talking about good prata, we should always look at basics first shouldn't we?

Alas, this one was terribly ordinary fare, even the curry was boring to say the very least. I know there's a couple more prata shops in the area, all claiming to be the Jalan Kayu roti prata, but this one is definitely not it then. To be honest, the prata place along Thomson is crispier and the curry is better too.

Service
Prompt.

Price
Perhaps riding on Jalan Kayu popularity, this shop sells plain pratas at $0.90 a piece, and $1.50 for an egg one. Man!

Place
Jalan Kayu, Tohirah Restaurant

Additional Comments
1. They have your typical Indian muslim ala carte fare as well as Halal seafood here. I think some of the dishes are cooked by chinese chefs too, since I saw them at work in the kitchen.
2. Because I had a pretty ordinary visit to Jalan Kayu, today's breakfast was... Roti Prata again! HAHA. But this time, my mummy cooked the frozen ones from the supermarket, and let's be honest: It's much better! Not oily, not thin, but really... nice! Don't ask me why it's spelt "roti paratha" haha, I was wondering why too.



Curious how it would look? Of course nothing far from the original prata. Lightly crisp, and the flour is good. No oil needed too, just pan fried (or heated).


Guess what's the next best thing, it costs only about $2 for a packet of 5! (I'm tempted to cook this for the girlfriend soon!) We didn't cook curry though, we were lazy and made do with Yeo's canned Chicken Curry heh.

Da Jie Niang Dou Fu

I learned about this stall through another food blog actually, one which I read pretty often. Me and Daphne were thinking of going somewhere near campus for dinner, and I suggested coming to this place since the yong tau foo looked pretty appetising through the blog's photos.


It's a modest, small eatery in a very quiet neighbourhood, further away from the central area. You might just need to use the street directory to find this place, though I had it in my head in one glance so it shouldn't be a problem for you too. Above, you can see the four different "bases" they have for the yong tau foo. They also have some ala carte dishes, a couple of which we tried.

Ampang Yong Tau Foo: 7.4/10


Have I ever mentioned how much I love my Nokia N73 Music Edition for the pictures it can take? *smiles* Anyway, this is yong tau foo in "ampang" gravy, which is described as "unique sweet and sour" and a little spicier "for that extra kick".


In contrast to the non-spicy and more starchy ampang gravy at Suntec, this one tastes more like "Tao Jio", or fermented soybean sauce. Still, we liked it, and I'm glad to see that this place has a habit of frying its items for the non-soup dishes. I like my ingredients in the ampang gravy fried and crispy! Yum yum =)

Fried Salad You Tiao: 7.7/10


Sinful as it is because of the mayo, this dish is still great on taste nonetheless because of the crispiness and fishcake-like thing in the you tiao.

Fried Calamari: 6/10


I found this a tad over-fried, and at some parts the sotong/calamari were a tad tasteless, probably because of the oil. The unique thai sweet chilli saved this though.

Service
Good. They send the food to you. Need to pick up on speed though.

Price
Since we were kind of eating a few dishes, we cut down on the yong tau foo items to the minimum of 6.
Yong tau foo: $3.50 (including gravy)
Fried salad you tiao: $6.00
Fried calamari: $6.00

Place
Clementi Avenue 2, Blk 354.

Additional Comment
This stall is certified Halal.

Swensen's Ice-Cream

The roundup to my birthday was none other than sweet dessert at Holland Village's 24hr Swensen's. I met up with a few of my friends, one of whom was having her birthday the next day, and in fact by the time we reached the restaurant it was already 5minutes into her birthday. We did ask if we could order the free Firehouse Happy Birthday if the birthday was 5-10mins ago, and they were actually fine with it. Still, I decided to order my all-time Swensen's favourite - Cookie Summit!

Cookie Summit: 8.5/10


This sundae works great for you if you like your cookies&cream and butterscotch ice-cream, caramel and chocolate fudge, and chocolate maltesers. For me, it fits perfectly well =) Sweet goodness!

Sticky Chewy Chocolate: 8/10


One of the girls had this. It's very chocolatey and might even be too sweet for some.

Firehouse Happy Birthday: 7/10


Because it really is ordinary. Vanilla, chocolate and strawberry with bits of strawberries and pineapples.

Service
It was past midnight, but the manager and his crew were still friendly and attentive.

Price
Around $8, not including tax for each of the sundaes. The Firehouse is free with valid identification.

Place
Holland Village
251/253 Holland Avenue
Website: http://www.swensens.com.sg/

Additional Comments
1. This outlet at Holland V is 24hrs, just like Changi Airport Terminal 2 and Park Hotel in Orchard.
2. Swensen's is a certified Halal restaurant.

Timbre @ Substation

The 25th of March was MY BIRTHDAY! YAY! =)

Daphne had in store for me a brilliant dinner treat for me at Timbre, Substation and it was a pure gastronomic sensation. Thank you for the dinner treat, and thank you too for dedicating a song from the band to me, it touched my heart and I'm so glad to have you to spend my special day with me!


It was our first time at Substation's Timbre actually, and as far as alfresco dining goes, this is certainly a great place to just hang out with friends over great food and drinks. At the same time, because of the pretty rustic setting, it makes it a romantic but not overly pretentious place to dine with your special one.

Timbre's Seafood Pizza: 9.5/10


I'm feeling all hungry and in deep craving for this pizza just by looking at the picture all over again. It looks FANTASTIC, doesn't it? And indeed, it tastes wonderfully good as well!

Timbre's Seafood Pizza is not your usual Pizzahut or Canadian pizza that focuses a lot on the bread and cheese, because really this is the traditional Italian fire-cooked thin crust pizza we're talking about and Timbre seems to have hit the G (gastronomic)-spot here. I really enjoyed the cheese, the crisp and the fresh seafood ingredients which made this a great birthday dish for me indeed.

I seem to be using so much superlatives, but it IS that good =)

Garlic Chicken Pasta: 7/10


Daphne liked this, the usual creamy pasta which she simply adores and can never get enough of. It's quite cute really when her pasta's always the whitey creamy ones while mine would always be the red meaty ones.

We changed the pasta from fettuccine to linguine because she doesn't quite like the flat ones. Bits of the pasta had a slightly awkward spinach aftertaste, but still it was very well-cooked.

Mushroom Soup: 8.5/10


Timbre has some fancy name for this mushroom soup, some triple mushroom thing, but hey, what matters most is the taste, and to the both of us, this is one of the best mushroom soups we've tasted.

Sure, it may not have big bits of chewy mushrooms like that of Soup Spoon, but it had that pleasant thick creaminess that the both of us simply love in our soups. The crispy and nicely marinated garlic bread was so yummy, and I think Daphne pretended she was full and let the birthday boy have most of it. As you can tell, I like my garlic bread toasted to a nice dark brown. It tasted great alone, and even better with the soup. It has to be this good mix that gives this soup a high rating.

Service
Despite the low reviews online, I have to say for myself that the service was pretty good actually, the staff were polite and they were pretty attentive. One thing though, iced water is on a free one-round basis, and you can't have anymore after that. I suppose they sensed that I was quite amused at such a silly policy, and gave us another glass. It's not 2011 yet people, we're still getting our water freely from across the causeway.

Price
$17 for the Pizza, $18 for the Pasta, and $7 for the Soup, excluding taxes.

Place
The Substation
45 Armenian Street
Entrance is from behind the Substation House
Website: http://www.timbre.com.sg/t1.htm

Additional Comments
1. There's a live band almost every night, so a great place to just sit back and relax.
2. I observed two crowd favourites from the menu: chicken wings and the seafood basket (wedges, prawn, calamari etc.) I must try the latter, no make that both (!!) soon, along with my Seafood Pizza again! Yum yum! =)

Swiss Culture

Yesterday, the 25th of March, was MY BIRTHDAY! YAY! =)

Since I knew Daphne had plans for me in the evening, I thought I should treat her with something she has been craving for for quite some time now - chocolate fondue! Besides, I'm like the chocolate lover of all time, so celebrating this special day with oh so wonderful chocolate seems to me like the best thing to do! =)


I took her to Swiss Culture because I've read and heard some great reviews on this little place in Suntec City, and it turns out their chocolate fondue is one of the most hailed fondues on this island. Having already tried Max Brenner's fondue in the past (in my opinion, pretty over-rated) and passing on Swensen's (because we were going there for supper with our friends that night), I was hoping that Swiss Culture's chocolate would be good.

Swiss Culture Chocolate Fondue: 9/10


And yes, the chocolate was DELICIOUS! While the fruits were just fruits, and marshmallows just marshmallows, the real deal was in the rich, creamy and dark chocolate that had that distinct mark of quality Swiss chocolate. I was cooing in delight at every lick and mouthful, while Daphne was dipping the condiments as deep and thick as they could go.


The chocolate, when heated up gradually by the small fire, tasted better and better with each passing minute. I can still think about the warm, thick chocolate even when I'm sitting here typing this post like more than thirty hours later. If I had to describe the chocolate in one word, somehow the word SEXY actually springs to mind.

Little wonder then that Swiss Culture dares to label its chocolate fondue as a "Must Try" on its menu, and I realised a lot of people would come here just for this. And for such quality, it's amazingly affordable too. Thumbs up.

Service
Very attentive staff, if not, too attentive.

Price
$14.80 (excluding taxes). Simply awesome.

Place
Suntec City Mall #03-006.
Opposite Toys-R-Us and along the stretch of restaurants.
Website: http://www.swissculture.com.sg/

Additional Comments
Read that their Cheese Fondue is good stuff too, you might like to try it.

Newton Food Centre [Seafood]

I love my family. We're unique, epsecially when me, my mother and my lil sister share our birthdays in three consecutive days (25th, 24th and 26th respectively). No wonder we're so close =)


This year round, I suggested we should try something else other than the usual pricey restaurants and perhaps try a variety of food at Newton Circus. The last time I came here with my friends I had a gastronomically good time, so I thought why not go for more now. And we did =)

Main Course


As usual, I reward good service. So I brought my family and relatives back to the same stall. We arrived around 5.45pm to avoid the dinner crowd, and it was already starting to fill up. So fellas, if you want to have a good seat under shelter, the best time is to come by 6pm, and then take your leisurely time to order.

Here's the roll of food, in order of appearance, heh ;)

Fried Kangkong with Sambal: 8.5/10


Medium-sized dish at $8. Well cooked with delicious sambal, great with rice.

BBQ Sambal Stingray: 8/10


Today's stingray was actually better than what I had the last time, largely because it wasn't as burnt on the sides and the meat was very fresh indeed. Served so hot you could actually see a couple of bubbles haha.

Fried Omelette: 7/10


Another one of the dishes that has markedly improved since the last visit. Not oily at all, with more prawns and certainly more taste. We bought this because we had the little ones to think about, and we were concerned that many of the dishes we were ordering were probably going to be too spicy for them.

Fried Tofu: 6/10


When we asked the stallholder if he had something like hotplate tofu (again, for the kids), he described this dish as "the same thing, only served on paper (sic) plate". Haha, so there you go.

Very ordinary stuff, the usual fare you get almost... Anywhere. Haha.

Sweet and Sour Chicken: 7.5/10


This was much better than the Lemon Chicken! Nice gravy to go along with the crispy chicken pieces.

Black Pepper Beef: 7.7/10


Not bad, but some slices of beef could be a little tough. Still, I find it to be cooked pretty well and I like it.

Black Pepper Crayfish: 8/10


My my, not only is this fresh, it's also so yummy. The black pepper sauce is damn good. If only the crayfish had more flesh lah, but still I was waiting for my chilli crabs...

Grilled Sotong: 8.5/10


I was staring at this for some time because we didn't order it at the start. In the end, I did anyway, because I know it's good. It's so fresh and well-cooked, and this is probably one of the favourites of the day.

Chilli Crab: 8.8/10


Ah yes, this was what I was waiting for. And thank goodness it didn't disappoint. Very generous servings of eggs and chilli gravy, and like the rest of the dishes, this was very fresh too (if you're wondering how I tell some things are fresh, we need to go out together someday and I'll show you how to see if they are, usually it's that bit of moisture, that bit of texture, and that bit of colour!).

Fried Mantou Bread: 7.7/10


All fried mantou bread taste the same to be honest, though this one was like the mantou minis. Still it was jolly good, a tad crispy too. Just had so much fun dipping it in the chilli gravy. Awww yum yum.

Place
Denmark Seafood. Stall 49.

Price
Total for all 9 dishes was $130. Inclusive of eleven bowls of rice (me and my uncle had another helping hehe).

Service
Very friendly and helpful, and so attentive that when my uncle bought popiah at the start the stallholder immediately provided plates for him.

Desserts!


Tadpole De Soursop: 7.7/10


One of the desserts that I managed to take a picture of. Two other desserts were ordered and they were both chendol. Funny name, but it was sweet and a pretty cool dessert after all that spicy food!

Place
Sim Huat Cold Drinks and Beer. Stall 48.

Price
No idea, haha. 2 chendols and this tadpole thing cost $5 altogether.

.
.
.

Wow, that was a good dinner indeed. If you include the popiah appetiser that we had (couldn't get the photograph on that), this was truly a ten course dinner indeed. And so cheap too, considering we're having it here at Newton. Imagine if it's at No Signboard or something.

Coolness yay *smiles*

Additional Comments
On my walkabout:
1. Stalls 31, 53, 74 and 78 are certified Halal.
2. Stalls 35 and 49 market themselves as "No pork, no lard".
3. There seems to be a drinks stall for every 2-3 food stall!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MUMMY AND SISTER SERENA!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME! =)

Mad Jack Cafe

So we've got Botak Jones, Crazy Ang Moh and Mad Jack. There must be something quirky about our Caucasian friends here. HAHA.

Chicken Cream of Corn Soup: 5/10


I didn't like this at all, because eventhough it was quite thick and smelled good, in the end it tasted very bland. Kind of more starchy than thick actually.

Cheese Fries: 7.5/10


Kind of forgotten what was the exact name of this dish, but it's cheese fries alright. Although I would have wanted the fries piping hot, still the cheese and mayo went well with the fries.

Fish and Chips: 7.5/10


Pretty good fish and chips, although we are really starting to miss the food at Globetrotters. What I like about this dish is the freshness of the fish, which is really quite visible when you remove the layer of batter.

Grilled Chicken with Black Pepper Sauce: 7/10


The sauce was quite good, and overall the dish is tasty. I was so hungry that I immediately gave half of the chicken to Daphne, and she trading it with a fish slice (as we do sometimes in restaurants by sharing), before I realised I have yet to take a picture. I scooped the chicken off her plate and back onto mine for this minute of photo-taking. Hahaha...

Chocolate Delight Cake (with Vanilla Ice-Cream): 7.7/10


I don't normally eat that much cake, but this turned out quite rich and good actually. The top part was so chocolatey good.

Service
Satisfactory. The staff seem alright, just that the guys need to smile more!

Price
We actually ordered two set dinners - the fish and chips and the grilled chicken.
Both came with soup of the day, a drink (coke/sprite) and dessert (the cake and ice-cream).
We added the cheese fries and a bottle of mineral water.
Altogether: $40.00.

Place
Bukit Timah Road
Before Coronation Plaza, After Serene Centre
Next to Police Post.
Website: http://www.madjackcafe.com/

Additional Comment
It's certified Halal.

Seah Im Food Centre

I wanted some hawker food again, so me and Daphne decided to have dinner at Seah Im, since it was after all a relatively short bus ride from school.


Could someone please explain to me what's the purpose for this odd tagline: "We are bullish about beefing you"?? I used to think this had something to do with the ex-PM of Thailand, but judging from the photos, it doesn't look like it.

Phad Thai: 7/10


Preparing for my Bangkok trip in May surely haha. Pretty ordinary noodles. I should have selected the one with beef, but since me and Daphne were contemplating side dishes and I myself was not too keen on paying a whole $1.50 more for a few beef slices, I settled on a very much plain dish. The chilli wasn't all too bad though.

Place
Thaksin Beef Noodles - Seah Im Food Centre
Price
$3.


Indian Rojak is one of my all-time favourites. Jabbing away at the little pieces of food is always a delight to me.

Indian Rojak: 7.7/10


Daphne liked the gravy, me on the other hand liked the crispiness of the deep-fried ingredients, especially that item with the fried prawn on top? Yummy *crunch crunch* Daphne just starred at me in amazement as I just munched everything away, prawn shell and all. It's all too crisp to peel any shell lah!

Place
Waterloo Street Indian Rojak - Seah Im Food Centre
Price
$4+ for four pieces of ingredients.

Overall
Place
2 Seah Im Road
Harbourfront MRT

Additional Comments
1. There's a drink stall next to the Indian Rojak stall. Do NOT buy anything from here! I was so turned off to find a big fly surfacing after I poured my drink. Later when the girlfriend drank hers from the cup, there was a little ant in there too! AHHHH. Horrors. Somehow she was cooler about it than I was though.
2. There's a fishball noodle stall located behind the Indian Rojak stall. Low ratings for this because of the very tiny portion. Daphne didn't take a picture of this stall though.

Changing Appetites

End of the week, and we decided once again that we needed a treat to lift our spirits up after a busy week. Daphne suggested Changing Appetites and started going on about her long lost desire for CA's Fajitas. For me, burgers came to mind!

CA Burger: 8/10


I like the fact that this beef patty is very very... beefy (yes, no other better word to describe it) and the "secret recipe" this restuarant claims for its marinate is awesome - seemed like a mix of wine and brown sauce. The onion fritter was also a much welcomed addition to the burger, and the buns were evenly toasted.

Cajun Chicken Fajitas: 8.5/10


Daphne enjoyed this a lot, though I myself am not very much a fan of cajun. She insisted this deserved a 9, but I pushed it down a bit to an 8.5, so you can tell that food ratings, as I've stressed from the start, is always subjective. Haha.

Very cheesy feel to this dish. Particularly a customers' favourite in this restaurant and I'd always see a few people having this whenever I'm here. Could be the taste, could be the big enticing picture in the menu. I'm also amused at how Daphne likes to eat her fajitas filled like a chinese pao haha.

Service
Very attentive and friendly.

Price
$12.90 for the CA Burger, $15.90 for the Cajun Chicken.

Place
Marina Square #01-204

Additional Comments
Try their desserts and cakes. Although we didn't have room for desserts this time round, I used to come here for my sugar needs, heh.

Island Creamery

After an early dinner and after Daphne's late project meeting, we decided that we should treat ourselves to a little something before heading home. Island Creamery came to mind much because it was along the way as well.

Two Scoops of Ice-Cream: 7/10 (Teh Tarik), 8/10 (Burnt Caramel)


I've read lots of favourable reviews for the teh tarik flavour, and at first taste it sure did feel like I was "eating" the real drink. I preferred the burnt caramel one though because it didn't leave much of an after taste. Pity I couldn't mix these flavours into a Sundae (only two scoops of Cookeis and Cream allowed) otherwise the whole mix would have been better. At least I had my colourful M&Ms haha.

Mud Pie: 9/10


Daphne was cooing with delight at almost every forkful, just like how she enjoyed the tofu cheesecake at Shokudo. This was really good, creamy, chocolatey stuff, and just good enough to give you a night-time high. We felt this was comparatively better than the one at NYDC because it wasn't too soft and moist.

Service
Very friendly. It's a thing about girls in ice-cream parlours. They probably had to go through stringent QC to be sweet, young and merry.

Price
2 scoops at $4.00 and M&Ms topping at $0.50,
Mudpie $4.90.

Place
10 Jalan Serene
#01-03 Serene Centre
Also: Great World City

Additional Comments
The girl let me try the Kahlua flavour, and like what she said, "This is really good"! So Kahlua the next time! =)