Red Ginger

There's a humble Halal-certified eatery tucked at a corner of IMM that I hear is a favourite amongst many heartlanders, and for good reason too. Simple, delicious food at affordable prices, with that hint of a home-cooked meal.


As you can see, there's quite a variety of dishes on offer, not to mention that there's also a nasi padang section beside it which serves a plethora of Malay dishes.

Tahu Goreng: 3.75/5


Not your usual tahu goreng with peanut or satay sauce. As you can probably tell this was served with Thai sweet chilli, which I thought was pretty good.

Nasi Goreng: 3.5/5


The fried rice that I had was really simple but I liked it nonetheless. Not too oily and had that "wok-fried taste" to it. Chicken wing was nice too.

Fried Bee Hoon: 3.5/5


This was delicious and came in a sizeable portion. For those familiar with mee siam, this seemed like a fried version to me.

Seafood Curry: 4/5


Red Ginger's "house favourite" is their fish head curry, but since it was out I got the seafood curry instead. It uses the same fish curry gravy, which is really good! Fair portions of seafood as well. Certainly one of the better fish curries (Malay-style) that I've tried so far.

Nasi Padang


As I mentioned earlier, they have a section where you can select dishes from, and these come in a mix of Malay and Chinese-styled cuisines. Not surprising seeing how the people managing the restaurant are Chinese.

Service
Friendly.

Price
$3.00 for the tahu goreng
$5.20 for the fried rice
$5.20 for the fried bee hoon
$6.50 for the seafood curry
$1.30 for hot beverages like coffee

Place
IMM Building, #01-46.

Re!Fill @ Hotel Re!

Hotel Re! is certainly known for its uniquely-decorated rooms but its more down-to-earth restaurant on the other hand is relatively unknown. Me, the family and the girlfriend were here for dinner just yesterday and we didn't quite know what to expect when we arrived at this humble little eatery. Still, at the end of the day, we felt that the food was decent enough and we appreciated the good service shown by the waitresses on duty.

Chicken Teriyaki: 3.75/5


Three of us at the table ordered this and when it arrived we all stared at the portions in mock disbelief because it was quite small - the serving of rice for instance was barely half the size of my fist. What saved it all was the juicy and tender chicken fillets topped with sweet teriyaki sauce, but then we still wished there was more. At least there was the complimentary bread and soup (both part of a set meal that the chef specially whipped up for the weekend) to fill us up. This set meal, which also comes with a small dessert and a cup of coffee or tea, is available every weekdays till 10.15pm. You can check out their set meal promotions here.

Tahu Goreng


My dad also had the tahu goreng (Indonesian deep-fried beancurd with peanut sauce, beansprouts and cucumber slices) in addition to his teriyaki chicken, which we thought was a kinda odd choice for an appetiser because it didn't quite match the main course. I think the tahu goreng was a tad too dry, not just because the peanut sauce was lacking in quantity but also because it wasn't moist enough.

Fish and Chips: 3.25/5


The girlfriend had the typical fish and chips. She thought it tasted a little "fishy" (no pun intended haha) but I thought it was quite fresh actually!

Grilled Seabass Fish


My mother had the grilled seabass fish, which came in an equally small portion as my teriyaki chicken. Still, with all the bread, soup, side of mashed potatoes, dessert and coffee, the set meal as a whole was more filling than we thought and was certainly worth the money.

Thin Crust Pizza


The older of the two sisters had the thin crust pizza, which tasted pretty okay to me. I couldn't quite remember the name of the pizza but it was close to "carnivora", with ingredients like turkey bacon and sausages.

Service
Very good. Warm, friendly and attentive. The waitresses seem eager to help.

Price
$12.80 for the set meal, which comes with free-flow access to the bread bar, soup-of-the-day (campbell soup alert!), main course, dessert and coffee/tea.
$14.90 for the fish and chips
$6.80 for the tahu goreng
$12.00 for the thin crust pizza.

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

Place
Hotel Re! 175A Chin Swee Road.

Additional Comment
"No pork, no lard" menu.