3 Monkeys Cafe

I thought the concept of this place is pretty interesting, plush monkeys lying around the restaurant, waiters and waitresses in safari-like uniforms, even a manager in the safari ranger shirt. 3 Monkeys Cafe at Holland Village is the second branch to open in Singapore, with the first and main restaurant located at Orchard Towers.


3 Monkeys Cafe is a great spot for gatherings with their long tables and benches, so if you're looking for a place to monkey around (alcoholic drinks available as well) here's one to bring your buddies to. You would notice that there wouldn't be much reviews on the food in this post, in part because everyone agreed that the food was "alright", "okay", "not bad" but not necessarily awesome. The good thing was the 1-for-1 UOB Card offer for main courses (note: one card for one pair of main courses, promotion from 1 August till 31 October 2009) which made dinner cheaper.

Italian Meatball Spaghetti: 3/5


I stifled the urge to try the "Mighty Joe Burger" (Double beef patty, double cheese, double turkey bacon and double turkey ham) and settled for the meatball spaghetti instead. Wrong choice as the spaghetti was quite ordinary and the meatballs were close to the ones from Pastamania, the latter of which goes for half the price.

Black Pepper Burger


Yiwang had this and it did look heartily good. He found the portion a tad too big for him though, and the patty was quite thick indeed.

Sambal Bali Fish


This dish has been receiving quite a lot of favourable reviews online because of the spicy sambal chilli. Portion could be improved though, the two slices of dory fish looked quite small.

Catch of the Day


The "catch of the day" was dory fish cooked with some type of mushroom sauce, topped with greens. You could always opt for fries if you prefer them over broccoli and cauliflower, well, I know I would :)

Creamy Tarragon Chix



For simplicity sake, it's like a chicken chop with cream sauce, served with a small side of pasta. Not an easy photograph to take because the plates were quite long.

Diavolo Chiz


This is the tomato sauce variation of the creamy tarragon chix above.

Supreme Brownie


Looks nice right, I would have ordered it if not for the pants ha.

Pretty Water Jug


Yes, they serve free iced water.

Service
Very good, they try to be attentive despite operating at full house for a Friday night. It was quite a wait for the food though, but they seemed apologetic enough.

Price
$16.90 for the Italian meatball spaghetti
$15.90 for the black pepper burger
$16.90 for the sambal bali fish
$15.90 for the catch of the day
$15.90 for the creamy tarragon chicken
$15.90 for the diavolo chicken
$7.50 for the supreme brownie

* Prices subject to the usual 7% GST and 10% service charge.
** Have at least a couple of UOB cards ready for the 1-for-1 deal ;)

Place


267 Holland Avenue, Holland Village.
Along the Swensen's, Essential Brew and Foster's row of restaurants.

Additional Comment
No pork, no lard.

New York New York II

The New York New York branch at Lot 1 (Choa Chu Kang) is the only New York New York branch that has a "no pork, no lard" menu but I doubt this is anything of a move towards eventual full Halal-certification across its outlets. Non-Muslim folks who aren't too aware of the difference(s) between Halal and "no pork no lard" should always consult their Muslim friends first before making any prior meal arrangements, because few actually would accept the latter.

Rotisserie Spring Chicken: 3.75/5


This turned out better, and certainly larger, than I had expected it to be. I thought it would be pretty small like those at the food-court "Tenderfresh" stalls and was not prepared for a big, well-fed bird to be on the plate in front of me. There were two orders for this, and the both of us took quite some time (and quite a bit of arm/wrist strength) to get through the chicken with our forks and knives. On taste, it was quite good actually, not too dry and almost evenly marinated.

Giant Meatball Spaghetti


I can't remember the exact name to this dish, but it came with two to three large-sized meatballs that were quite dry and tasteless. My friend also commented that the spaghetti was a bit too hard for his liking.

Baked Sausages with Cheese


Whoops, didn't get the name of this dish too! My friend quite liked it but I think he thought I had the better deal with the chicken. The sausages were medium-sized and I would think it's a wee bit over-priced.

Hawaiian Teriyaki Chicken


Almost standard type of chicken chop.

Service
Very good.

Price
$15.90++ for the rotisserie spring chicken

Place
Choa Chu Kang Lot 1 Shoppers' Mall, #01-05/06/07.

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.

Pastamania II

Pastamania's kind of a fast food for pasta to me, it isn't exactly the bestest pasta you can find around the island, but it isn't all too bad either. My all-time fav there is always the Seafood Marinara (the girlfriend likes her Creamy Chicken or Carbonara) but I'm looking for something else to try.


By the way, Pastamania's "trying out" going Halal because of the "vast demand from the Muslim Community" (really??), so while it's waiting for its application to be processed, it's going "No Pork, No Lard" at all of its outlets. On its online FAQ, ingredient changes were revealed:

Q: What is being used for bacon?
A: Turkey Bacon as a substitute. They are closest to the real thing.

Q: What is the Ham made of?
A: Chicken Ham.

So if you're interested to know more about the food they serve (with prices indicated as well), click here now!

Update 28.03.09: By now, all Pastamania outlets are certified Halal. Click here to go to Pastamania's main website!

Garlic Bread: 7/10


Both me and Daphne chose the "Combo C" that gives us a small drink and three pieces of garlic bread at an additional $3.20. The garlic bread came nicely hot, toasted and crisp. Yums.

Beef Meatballs with Fusili: 7.2/10


I doubt Ikea will have pure beef meatballs anytime soon, so for now I will settle with alternatives like Pastamania's. The meatballs were well-grilled and went well with the pasta, which however did not impress me much especially with the tomatoey-paste and at times pretty larger than usual tomato slices.

Cream Chicken: 7.3/10


Daphne's. She likes creamy stuff, but it gets to me after a few mouthfuls. Well, no one said we have to like the same things haha.

Service
Good and friendly.

Price
$8.80 for the meatball pasta
$8.50 for the creamy chicken pasta
$3.20 for the Combo C - garlic bread and a small drink

Place
Blk 190 Toa Payoh
Lorong 6 #01-572
Other Venues: Bishan Junction 8, Orchard Cineleisure, West Mall, Plaza Singapura, Bugis Junction, Lot 1 etc. For full listing, see here.

Ikea Restaurant

I think when anyone who has ever been to the Ikea restaurant, the first thing that would come to their mind would be the Swedish Meatballs, and that was exactly what the girlfriend wanted when we were en route to Alexandra Road.

Pity the meatballs had pork, so I left it to Daphne to enjoy them herself. Although I wasn't hungry and was supposed to have a light dinner, the smell of fried chicken left me with little choice.

Fried Bee Hoon Set: 7/10. Fried Chicken: 8/10


I decided to go with something light like BeeHoon and it turned out alright. Nothing to shout about for the ordinary otah fish cake and fried fish slice (the sweet waitress said she would "give [me] a bigger piece of fish" because I didn't want the veg) but I chose to give a separate rating for the chicken because it was pretty well fried and marinated.

Swedish Meatballs and Spaghetti: 8.5/10


Daphne was cooing with delight at every bite of the meatballs, and she said she would give a separate rating for the meatball gravy at 9/10. The spaghetti was typical, and it seemed it was more of a side dish as compared to the meatballs. The gravy wasn't given if you bought it with spaghetti though, so we had to pay $0.30 for a plate of it.

Service
Self-service. One of the dish aunties yelped at Daphne when we unintentionally used the plain water drinking cup to fill it with 7-Up. We thought it was obvious that we intended to fill it with drinks but realised we weren't charged for it. Drinks are refillable though.

Price
Cheap. $5.50 for the noodles set, around $6.00 for the meatball spaghetti and $1.50 for drinks (refillable).

Place
IKEA Alexandra Road Level 2
Also: IKEA Tampines Level 4
http://ikea.com.sg/store_services/restaurant.asp

Additional Comments
Kids Menu available.
For those who want to cook some meatballs and gravy at home, these are sold at the Swedish Food Market, Level 1.