Octa Hotel

I first heard about Octa Hotel from one of my favourite blogs, Singapura Makan Photo, and I thought its antique Parisian concept was quite interesting and definitely something worth a look. Coincidentally, I was looking for a dinner venue recently for a sweet, girly friend of mine and I realised this place seemed like a good fit.


Part café and part shop, Octa Hotel gives you the opportunity to do a little shopping for gifts whilst waiting for your food and drinks. The menu here isn't extensive but decent enough for a satisfying lunch or teatime break. Of course, we were here for dinner, and so convinced ourselves that sandwiches would be a healthy change for... a day haha. We were actually quite intent on ordering the delightful-looking parfaits but these turned out to be out by nine. Another time then!


For most of it, the interior decor of Octa Hotel is simple, with brief, quaint touches of old Paris (or rather, a Japanese take on it). The peaceful setting here is perfect for intimate conversations over a cup of tea. Or a sweet parfait of course.

Parisian Hot Dog


In terms of food, Octa Hotel did not seem to impress me as much, or at least as far as what I'd ordered. I had expected a larger hot dog, but I realised that it was made to look large and long when it was actually an empty bun in the middle. Hmmm...


The bread was overdone, so overdone it was difficult to slice it cleanly with a knife. A bit too crispy like a biscuit if you ask me.


The sausage and cheese were alright, so were the chips. But in its entirety it was not as good as I thought it would be.

Grilled Bacon Sandwich


Jasmine's sandwich on the other hand looked really healthy indeed. It's not the kind you would ever find me eating but she seemed to enjoy it and that's good enough for me.


I was actually quite envious of her soft bread, as compared to my crusty over-toasted bun ha! I guess we were both disappointed that we couldn't try the parfaits, both the chocolate and strawberry ones. While we sure did enjoy our MOF desserts thereafter, there's still that lingering yearning for those pretty parfaits from Octa Hotel... Next time, next time...

Service
Very good.

Price
$12.90 for the Parisian Hot Dog
$13.90 for the Grilled Bacon Sandwich

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

Place
Parco Marina Bay, #P1-39,
Connected to Millenia Walk.

Pictures taken with the Canon EOS 500D.

Hooked!

I've always been interested to try Hooked's lunch specials, especially since they're so reasonably priced at just $9.90 and have received fairly decent reviews online as well. Most people seem to be more familiar with the branch at Upper Thomson, but there's also another one in the wild wild west (or so I wish) at The Rail Mall.

Ocean-Fresh Mackerel and Squid Rings Linguine


I found this pasta dish just passable, but at least the fish was very fresh with a smooth texture. I do think the other dishes on the ala carte menu seem way more appetising though, so I'm definitely returning to Hooked! next time to try them out :)

Service
Good.

Price
$10.80 (including GST) for one of the lunch selections and a soft drink.

Place
The Rail Mall, 390 Bukit Timah Road (Website)

Pictures taken with the Canon Ixus 80 IS.

Eighteen Chefs II

This is the second time that I'm at Eighteen Chefs, the first being at Simei Eastpoint, and I have to say that the dining experience is still as pleasant as before. From its first restaurant at Eastpoint, Eighteen Chefs have since expanded to three more outlets - Tiong Bahru Plaza, Yishun 10 and Fusionopolis (along Buona Vista) - which is good news especially for students given their "student-friendly" menus and promotions. And oh, speaking of which, here's the link to their menus :) What I like most about Eighteen Chefs actually is their service as the staffs are always so cheery, friendly and polite. Makes dining all the more pleasant!

Beef Slices and Sausages - Japanese Curry Flavour: 3.5/5


The way Eighteen Chefs works is that you get to choose the sauce and ingredient(s) to your pasta or baked rice, which comes up to quite a lot of combinations given the variety of ingredients (take a look at the menu). The students promotion is a bit more interesting because while you have to choose from the four cheapest ingredients, you will actually get a free ingredient top-up if you make an ingredient add-on. It just means you would end up with three ingredients for the price of two :)

I was curious about how the japanese curry sauce would taste like and I have to admit that I was quite disappointed that it turned out watery and not as flavourful as the typical, thick Japanese curry. At least the tender beef slices and the nicely baked cheese did not disappoint. By the way, there's only two ingredients (beef and sausages) because I opted for a double serving of beef slices, as did my sisters with their main ingredients.

Minced Beef and Sausages - Tangy Tomato Flavour
Chicken Slices and Sausages - Tangy Tomato Flavour


The sisters said it was okayyy, though the older sister prefers Pastamania. I think they should have at least cooked the sausages together with the gravy rather than just putting it bare like that. At least it wouldn't be so obvious that the pasta and its ingredients and sauces were cooked separately haha.

Peanut Butter with Condensed Milk Toast: 3.25/5


The peanut butter toast could have been better, and I think the weak point would have been the bread. It should have been more well-toasted with a thicker layer of peanut butter - the more sinful, the better.

EggsChipsBeansVeg


Yeaps, that's how the name goes. My mum had this with the peanut butter toast (which she shared with the rest of the family) and she commented that the scrambled eggs were quite nice. The rest were well, normal.

9-Inch Beef Hotdog


My dad liked the hotdog, though I would think it would have been better with chilli and mayo instead of beef bolognaise sauce.

Service
Very very good!


Price
$6.00 for the basic student meal, which comes with an iced lemon tea (left) and a scoop of ice-cream
$2.00 for ingredient add-on of
beef slices/chicken slices/minced beef
$2.90 for the peanut butter with condensed milk toast
$5.90 for the eggschipsbeansveg
$8.50 for the 9-inch beef hotdog
$1.80 for a glass of sprite
* Prices subject to 7% GST.

Place
Tiong Bahru Plaza, #02-K1/K6.

Additional Comments
I'm quite sure Eighteen Chefs has Halal-certification, but the Muis logo was nowhere to be found on the menu, nor on the website itself. The certificate was right there at the Eastpoint outlet display window but I couldn't quite spot it at the more open-style restaurant at Tiong Bahru Plaza. On a separate (but somewhat related) note, you can click here for a review by Malay magazine Manja.

Mykii

Placed on the quieter end of the Holland Village stretch, Mykii (pronounced as "mee-kai") promises not only a getaway from the hustle and bustle of urban life but also a getaway for the tastebuds with its fusion cuisine. I've always wondered if you could really call fusion food part of a cuisine by itself, then I looked it up on Wiki and got a simple answer - "fusion cuisine combines elements of various culinary traditions while not fitting specifically into any". Probably that's why the best friend says fusion food doesn't do much justice to cuisines, I suppose she likes her food in their... purer form.


Me, I've always looked to fusion food with a certain type of interest, and with a certain type of expectation. You never really know what you're going to get (like Forrest Gump would say of a box of chocolates) but you hope that the mix would be good, that it would yin-yang sort of good and not some weird mismatch of tastes. At least in Mykii, while you're going through the menu and pondering over what to order, you're treated really well by the friendly and polite staff, so that eases you a bit. And then you order. And then you wait patiently and see what the chefs whips up for you...

Seafood Linguini with Laksa Pesto: 4/5


I could tell the best friend wasn't impressed, but to be honest, I liked this linguini-version of laksa (for those wondering what this is, it's a type of spicy, coconut-based noodle soup). It's less watery than our typical laksa, certainly more like a spaghetti gravy, but spicy and flavourful nevertheless. There was an over-dosage of laksa leaves (otherwise known as Vietnamese coriander) that I thought the dish could do less with. Perhaps a couple more prawns would be nice too. I'm already thinking of using spaghetti, linguine or even fusilli the next time my mother cooks laksa!

Seafood Curry with Tomato Cheesy Pie


In short, seafood curry with plain pizza. It looked quite plain when it arrived and for a while I felt bad for suggesting to my friend to try this. He said it was not too bad though, but noted that there was not much "fusion" going on between the pizza and the curry. He would prefer the cheese blended into the curry, somewhat like the Cheese Curry Udon at Wakashachiya.

Pot Roasted Chicken


The chicken is described as being slow-cooked with Mediterranean vegetables and served with olive and almond pilaf rice, and to me it looks like a Mediterranean version of the Indian briyani rice. Tyler didn't say much, so I'm guessing it was alright but not exactly impressive.

Service
The service was a winner here. A couple of us came earlier and they sat us down with glasses of iced water and politely offered to go through the menu should we need any help. Our glasses were consistently filled throughout the meal too.

Price
$15.80 for the seafood linguine with laksa pesto
$15.80 for the seafood curry with tomato cheesy pie
$14.80 for the pot roasted chicken

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

Place
17D Lorong Liput Holland Village.
Opposite Subway, next to Petit Provence.

ZenZen

ZenZen is a new colourful eatery at Bugis Junction that prides itself as an award-winning European fast-food restaurant "with an Asian kick". We weren't intending to dine here at first but the pleasant service at the door won us over. What about the food you say?

Marco Polo Spaghetti: 3.25/5


The spaghetti comes in a box similar to American Chinese takeouts, and the portion does look a tad little for the price I'm paying. The spaghetti tasted plain normal, but of course I liked the meatballs for they were filling, juicy and beefy altogether. The good thing is that the meatballs, unlike those at Ikea, are purely beef - ZenZen claims to not sell any pork nor lard here.

Swedish Meatballs with Tempura Wedges: 3.5/5


The meatballs came in a sauce that is a far cry from the more delicious cream sauce at Ikea, and is instead closer to that of a Japanese curry. Still, the meatballs were nice and the wedges came piping hot and crispy. Good addition of the rice since it was pretty tasteless on its own but goes well with the gravy.

Chocolate Bao: 2.75/5


Plain, average bao (dumpling) with really usual chocolate filling. Kinda small too. Order this only if you really need something tiny to nibble on after your meal.

Service
Good.

Price
$8.80 for the marco polo spaghetti
$8.80 for the swedish meatballs with tempura wedges
$1.90 for a serving of rice and soft drink
$1.50 for the chocolate bao

Place
Bugis Junction, #01-88/89.

Hua Li Xuan

Good service always has its merits. We meant to try out Ebisboshi Shotengai at Iluma after reading some of the reviews about it but found ourselves at this small eatery called "Hua Li Xuan" instead. We were checking out the different restaurants (and honestly, Iluma has quite a range of them) and decided to "reward" this waiter from Hua Li Xuan for making sincere efforts to tell us more about the dishes on offer as well as their special "mantou burgers". This unique burger claims to be "Singapore's First Oriental Burger" and I found the concept quite interesting. Service of course did not stop at the front doorstep, for the same waiter took the time to go through their promotions and even taught us ways to save money. Thumbs up for the good service.

Peppery Beef Mantou Burger: 4/5


This was really quite delightful. We're accustomed to using mantou (a type of Chinese steamed bun) as a dip for our favourite chilli crabs, but we never thought it could be made into a real burger. It doesn't look much aesthetically, but that's largely because I did away with the lettuce and tomatoes (so much for healthy eating). I chose to have my mantou fried (instead of steamed) and it was a good choice because it came all hot and crispy. The beef patty was very good, but the drawback was that it had to be smaller than regular sized patties to fit the mantou bun. The patty seemed handmade to me, and was nicely juicy and tender. The black pepper sauce used was good too. Since it's only $3.80, I reckon you could order two of such burgers to have a fuller meal.

Hua Li Xuan also has a platter of three mini burgers where you can choose from each of the Mantou Burgers on offer. Seems to be one of the favourite choices amongst some of the customers.

Onion Rings and French Fries: 3.25/5


Add $2 per side when you order any one of the Mantou Burgers. Standard deep-fried side dishes but at least they came hot and crispy.

Crispy Chicken Cutlet La Mian: 2.75/5


Daphne didn't like this very much because there was something about the soya sauce that didn't go down very well with her. The noodles on their own were fine, but it's hard to pull them away from the light gravy. The chicken cutlet was a delight though, nicely deep-fried without being too oily.

Service
Excellent, friendly and helpful.

Price
$3.80 for the peppery beef mantou burger
$2.00 for each side (eg. onion rings, french fries)
$7.80 for the crispy chicken cutlet la mian
$2.00 for a glass of soft drink

* If you're a student, you're entitled to a free soft drink.
** Prices subject to the usual 7% GST and 10% service charge.

Place
Iluma @ Bugis, #04-12.

California Pizza Kitchen II

I was always curious about the interesting pastas on offer at California Pizza Kitchen, and since the peking duck pizza did not turn out to be much of a disaster (in fact, it was quite good actually), I decided to give Daphne a little pasta treat.

Kung Pao Spaghetti: 4/5


"A classic Kung Pao sauce with garlic, green onions, peanuts and HOT red chilies. Also available with chicken, shrimp or chicken & shrimp."

Well, trust the Americans to think a few dried chillies would be that "HOT". It came out a mix between sweet and spicy, and I have to admit that I enjoyed this dish more than I expected. The first couple of forkfuls needed a little getting used to, but it was fine from there on. The nuts added a bit of crunch to the noodles, even if I chose to pick them out as mini-appetisers for myself. Go ahead and add some cheese to the spaghetti, or even chilli flakes if this is not spicy enough for you. Some may feel this is a little too sweet for them but I think it's tasty and just nice. The chicken was very tender while the prawns were succulent.

Jambalaya: 3.75/5


"Blackened chicken and shrimp in a spicy Jambalaya sauce with crawfish, Andouille sausage and Tasso ham served on linguini fini and topped with fresh green onions."

I initially wanted to order this but couldn't because of the pork sausages and ham. Daphne said this wasn't too bad as well, in fact she prefers this to mine. It's a very filing portion and she couldn't finish it, so ladies might want to order one to share especially if they are on a carbo watch. The linguine was slightly drier/harder than my spaghetti though, so you might like to ask for a change of pasta to spaghetti.

Service
Contrary to online forums slamming the service here, I think service was actually very good! The staff were very polite and obliging, and I do believe California Pizza Kitchen has hired extra pairs of hands to deal with the dinnertime crowds on weekends. They did take quite a while returning me my bill though, but given the crowd it's quite understandable.

Price
$20.90 for the kung pao spaghetti (chicken and shrimp)
$22.90 for the jambalaya pasta

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

Place
Forum the Shopping Mall 583 Orchard Road, #01-42
Mall is located next to the Hilton Hotel.

Additional Comment
For their menu, click here.

Sour Puss Cafe

Formerly known as "2Hot Halal Cafe" at the Esplanade, SourPuss cafe emerged out of a marketing makeover following slow business and less than positive reviews. Unfazed by this, I brought Daphne here for dinner and thankfully it turned out alright. The only problem (for many pampered Singaporeans) is that it's al fresco dining and the ceiling fans may not do enough to keep you cool and comfortable especially if it begins to get more humid, as it often is these days.

Masala Fish and Chips: 3.75/5


Fried to a deep golden brown, the fish was certainly something unique given its masala-flavoured batter. The fish was very fresh and smooth, while the fries were simple but served hot and crisp. Probably one of the better fish and chips that I've tried. Interesting taste indeed.

Devil's De Souza: 2.5/5


I think the beef burger was disappointing because the patty wasn't thick enough and was just not "beefy" enough for me. The patty was over-cooked as well. Thank goodness for the healthy portion of fries.

One-for-one drinks


One-for-one drinks after nine in the evening.

Service
Really good, friendly, obliging and attentive all at once.

Price
$14.90 for the masala fish and chips
$9.50 for the devil's de souza burger
$4.00 for a bottle of snapple

* Prices subject to 10% service charge.

Place
Esplanade Mall, #01-13E.

Additional Comments
1. Certified Halal.
2. There are some board games to keep you entertained if you're here with a group of friends.

Pasta de Waraku II

Me and Daphne had our reservations about coming to Pasta de Waraku because of the terribly small portions during our previous visit here. I felt however that it deserves a second chance, especially since Globetrotter's at United Square (our initial choice) has closed down for yet another branch of Thai Express.

Gratin Set
Wafu Chicken and Egg Pasta: 7.5/10
Prawn Gratin: 3.9/10


We were feeling veryyyyy hungry alright, so since we knew that portions here weren't that large, we decided to go for their sets, which features a gratin (or pizza) with a pasta, corn soup as well as a small serving of salad. The soup wasn't too bad, but the soy sauce (or so we think it is) ruined the salad.


When the first plate of pasta arrived, our eyes widened. Crikey, the portion seemed to have increased by more than half, if not doubled. Good on you Pasta de Waraku! On taste, I felt it was pretty good, the spaghetti's texture was just nice, and the oil used was perfect. Very filling.


I made sure that I took some forkfuls of gratin while I was in the middle of eating my pasta because I didn't want to do injustice to the gratin by tasting it when I was too full. Still, the gratin failed to impress because it really tasted somewhat microwaved (I'm not suggesting it was), with the cheese and penne a little too hard on some parts.

Cabonara Pasta: 7/10


Daphne had the gratin set as well, but chose the cabonara as her choice of pasta. She thought it was quite good, but was too full to even eat a quarter of her gratin. So girls, sets like these aren't for you, leave it to the guys!

Service
Very good, very polite.

Price
$16.80 per set, subject to GST and service charge.

Place
Novena Square 2 #01-07
Website (with menu): http://www.waraku.com.sg/

TSC by Tong Shui Cafe II

Daphne joined my family for dinner and this was after our Bangkok trip. You can read more about TSC by TongShui here and know more about its Halal and 24-hour concept. Daphne ordered her HK Dried Noodles with Shrimp Wanton again, and so did we with the chicken wings, so we're not going to do another review on those. Here's a few other things that we tried.

Fried Rice with Black Pepper Chicken: 7.7/10


I found this to be pretty good actually, though the chicken was a tad overfried I have to admit. The gravy was pretty good and went well with the fried rice, which otherwise would have been quite plain on its own.

I was pretty hungry and the chicken looked so good, that I hurried with the picture shot haha. Apologies for the blurriness.

HK Dried Noodles with Chicken Chop: 7.5/10


My two sisters ordered this and they liked it quite a lot. Chicken chop seemed pretty tender and well-marinated. Noodles otherwise were the same as the one Daphne was having with her shrimp wanton.

Thick Toast with Peanut Butter: 8/10


Crispy on all sides and oozing with peanut butter goodness. It's fattening and sweet yes, but hey, it's worth the try really.

My dad also ordered the "lo mai kai" but because we were too busy eating, didn't get to take a picture. But it looks like any lo mai kai, and my dad says, it tastes like any other lo mai kai as well.

Service
They missed out an order, and it seemed that the staff were very slow, probably because of the slow pace of business. My mum was telling me that they went for the buffet a week ago during Mother's Day and the staff were quite impatient as well.

Price
A brief estimate of:
$8.88 for the Fried Rice
$2.88 for the Thick Toast
$7.88 for the Chicken Chop Noodles

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.

Pasta de Waraku

I know Pasta de Waraku has been around for quite some time, though for some reasons I haven't got down to trying it. Daphne likes Waraku, but I haven't tried that either.



You can always trust the Japanese with their creativity. Displays like these at Novena and Marina Square never fail to attract attention and make some of the hungrier people curious, or salivate, or both at the same time. The desserts look so tempting, don't they? But because we had a pretty heavy lunch and were heavily snacking throughout the day, we decided not to stretch our tummies further. Your foodie guide here has put on quite a lot of weight since he started this food blog a few months ago!


So what is Pasta de Waraku? It seems to me to be very much Italian cuisined with Japanese culinary skills and spices fused into it. For those who love to find examples of globalisation, this is probably one of it. You've got gratin and pasta with Japanese additions. Throughout the menu you'd keep seeing the words "healthy", and also this "wafu sauce" that I have little idea what it really is. Sounds cute though - wafu, wafu, wafu.

BBQ Beef with Spicy Sesame Sauce: 7.3/10


I was thinking between this and the "hamburg" thing with pasta. Since this beef pasta is on the "seasonal" menu (which probably means it ain't going to be there all the time) I thought I might as well try it now. And to be honest, it tasted pretty good. A little spicy and the beef was very tender. It seemed a little oily though, and I wonder if this is the sesame oil. There is another problem though.


Portion! Now I know why it's "healthy". That's because they don't give you much, that's why! Haha. You've got to adore their plates, it simply dwarves the food in the middle, as you can see in the picture just above that I purposely took to prove my point.

Katsu Tamatoji: 7.7/10


This is what Daphne had - pork cutlet with egg and tadah - wafu sauce! Portion was slightly larger, only slightly. But then I realise now that by default, they give you the larger sized one for the ordinary menu. That makes it $2 more! Still, she liked this, and was happily alternating between the different side seasonings available on our table - cheese, pepper and dried chilli.

Service
Exceptional. Very polite, the usual Japanese routine of one greet, all must greet sort of service. As they didn't take reservations after 7pm for weekends, one of them, who looks like one of the managers, put us top on the waiting list. We came at 7.10pm anyways, he remembered us and there were still a few seats left. Pretty crowded on a weekend for a more peaceful part of Novena if you ask me.

Price
$12.80 for the bbq beef with spicy sesame sauce
$15.80 for the katsu tamatoji with WAFU sauce.

Okay on checking, wafu just means "japanese style".

Place
Novena Square 2 #01-07
Website (with menu): http://www.waraku.com.sg/

Additional Comments
On observing we realised:
1. The eel pizza is awfully thin, like some thin biscuit.
2. The hamburg steak on its own was small, but if you order the set with rice, it's larger in size.
3. Their soup pastas are served in pretty large bowls, but it should be the same as the fairly large plates.

And, if you're wondering about opening hours: