Hoshino Coffee 星乃珈琲屋

Not the first time to Hoshino Coffee 星乃珈琲屋 at Plaza Singapura and the queue was normally long. I reckon is the waiting time for the food to be cooked and served to the table. I always have this mindset that Hoshino would prepare the food only when they received the order. Thus, it will always take more than 15 minutes for the food to be served. Thus, let's do some maths. If we took 5-10 minutes to decide what to order, than another 15 minutes for the food to be prepared, it will be 20-25 minutes before we started to eat. With another 15-20 minutes of eating and maybe another 10 minutes to dilly-dally a bit, it will be 35-45 minutes before the table can be freed up for the next diner. Woooow... 

Anyway, I always forget that the curry base served in Hoshino is cooked with beef. Thus, if you do not eat beef, then skip the rice section. I like the fact that the serving crew makes the effort (without fail) to remind diner of this clause - very responsible!

So in the end, the curry rice order became void and I ordered the Lobster Bisque Soup Spaghetti. So basically, drink the soup and eat the spaghetti. It's 2-in-1 dish, worth the $16. The spaghetti was simply al dente and went well with the bisque soup. With ingredients like tofu and prawns, this pasta simply makes it to one of the top place in my Japaneses pasta list. 

Desserts is simply a love-hate dish in this world. Chocolate Fondant cake with softee - a heavenly combination of the chocolate lava cake with ice cream! This lava cake took real long to be served - more than 15 minutes since we ordered it. I wondered if they actually started preparing only after the main course is being served or when we were half way through the meal. 

Cut the cake into half and see the chocolate flows out. Eat together with the soffee and it was marvelous. The portion was not that big, but was well enough for us to indulge in it. A nice way to end the meal. 

Top:  Lobster Bisque Soup Spaghetti
Bottom: Chocolate Fondant cake with softee

I simply love the service received at Hoshino Coffee - the crews were attentive. Will be back if the queue is short! 

Plaza Singapura
68 Orchard Road #03-84

Tonkichi Restaurant- Orchard Central

Please please, do make a reservation before you head to this place, if not, well, you got to wait. Else, please go early before 7pm. Luckily we did both. Reached at 7pm to make a reservation for 7.30pm since the rest will be late - did not really want to occupy their tables while waiting for the rest. 

It was a belated Birthday Celebration for Random S. She had cravings for Ramen but she satisfied it the night before. But well, this did not stop us from eating Japanese food tonight! It is forever crowded in Orchard on a Friday Night and I am so glad that Orchard Central remains as a less-crowd and relatively quiet place in the busy town in Singapore. Nonetheless, this place is filled with restaurants which we can happily enjoy our meals. 

Been long since I visited Tonkichi and I ordered the Oroshi Rosu Katsu Set. It is a deep fried pork loin with oroshi pontzu sauce top with grated radish (with refreshing  citrus soy sauce). By looking at the description, it had already captured my saliva - with the many different levels of flavours. This set came with cabbage, miso soup, and a plate of fruits. 

For the cabbage, you can always ask them to top up, it is free-flow. Remember to add the salad dressing to the cabbage - it tasted great. 

For the Katsu, well, it is really a big portion - the pork loin is thick but tender. With the deep fried meat, the radish that came with it gave it a less oily and dry texture. Totally a very filling meal that is worth the money! Had a great night with the girls, chatting till the shop was about to close.

Oroshi Rosu Katsu

Fantastic service and value for money. Food served fresh with very big portion. Nice ambiance for gathering.

Tonkichi Restaurant
181 Orchard Road
#07-06 Orchard Central

Hotpot @ Shabu Sai

Lunch for the day was at Shabu Sai - a treat from Sis made the day. She highly recommended to go to Shabu Sai at Orchard Central to have hotpot. The lunch buffet starts at 11.30am and we read that we have 70mins of time limit to complete the meal. However, upon asking the manager, he mentioned that it is only upon there is a crowd and line forming that they will execute this time limit. Well, a reasonable answer to our question. 

At Shabu Sai, you would have to pay before eating. For each pot, we are entitled to 2 soup choices with a total of 7 soup bases to choose from. In the end, we took the Sukiyaki Soup and the Seafood White Broth. The latter is the special soup of the month which changes every period. For weekend lunch, the price is S$19.90 per adult and we add on S$1.99 per adult to enjoy free flow of drinks.

The buffet concept is that the vegetables, ramen, udon, and some seafood are put at the counter for self-service. For the meat (chicken, pork and beef), we would have to order from the service crew who will bring them fresh to us.

For the chicken and pork (we do not eat beef), they are very thiny sliced and thus, it took us just seconds to get them cook in the hotpot. The meat was tender and sweet. As for the self service counter, there were cooked food and sushi and rice for us to eat while waiting for the hotpot to be ready. The variety of vegetables was great - mushrooms, chinese cabbage, lettuce, radish, carrot, bamboo shoots and more but the other variety of hotpot ingredients was lacking - just mussels, clams, crabstick meat, fishballs and vegetable balls. But well, I guess people go for the meat, that's why.

There is a counter where we can mix and make our own sauces according to our preference. I added sesame sauce to peanut sauce and added sesame seeds to it. I quite liked the combination. The soup broths got saltier as we put in more ingredients along the way. The way to tackle this saltiness was the pot of seaweed broth on the table to dilute the soup broth.

To conclude, Shabu Sai is reasonably-priced. Thus, if you are looking for affordable Japanese Buffet in Orchard area over a good supply of meat and vegetables, Shabu Sai is a place you can consider. Moreover, it is located at Orchard Central which is a relatively less crowded place to dine at. 

Hotpot @ Shabu Sai

Address:
Shabu Sai
#08-09, Orchard Central
181 Orchard Road

Covet London Nail Colours

Free express manicure - Covet London Nail Colours - at Tangs. 

New colour to welcome the weekend. I think this colour goes well with short nails. I love free manicure as my manicure always does not last for more than 3 days. I need to be more lady-like, I guess!

TCC, once again!

Three months in a row and I'm back at TCC for lunch again. This time round, I went to the Wisma Outlet. The ambiance was quite good but the service crew was not very alert. I waited for five minutes before someone noticed me at the entrance.

I had Pasta in August, Main Course in September and thus, for the month of October, I am going to try the Sandwiches. But just bread for lunch, not that. I ordered the New England Clam Chowder to start off the lunch. S$10 for the soup, not worth but with the 50% discount, I found the price reasonable. The soup was not very creamy or thick but it tasted good. There were not many clams served, many around five. The garlic bread was nice but I wished it was served warm. The soup was overall flavourful with the clams, potato cubes and chicken ham. 

New England Clam Chowder

Next up was the Cheeso Portobello Sandwich served with greens and potato chips. The problem I always have with sandwich or burger is that I need to 'dismantle' them in order to cut and eat them. Same goes to today's snadwich. The pan-fried portobello steak with cheddar and parmesan cheese was flavorful. I liked it. The turkish bread was cripsy and it went well with the portobello. The Teriyaki glaze and Japanese mayo was a bit too much for the dish. It was the first time I had sandwich at TCC, a good choice, I must say. The greens was there to make the dish more healthy but with the potato chips, my friends said otherwise. But lighted salted chips won't do much harm, don't you agree?

Cheeso Portobello Sandwich

To end off the meal, we had coffee instead of desserts. Well, I'm out with the small eaters so no choice. A decent hazelnut latte with caramel and chocolate bits. Love it. But actually, I quite missed their Osmanthus latte (I hope I mentioned the right drink at the right place).

Caramel Hazelnut Latte 

That's all for TCC. I hope I won't step into TCC till Year 2014! 

TCC - The Connoisseur Concerto @ Orchard Ion

Amused by the number of friends that own the TCC card. 50% off the payment once again. This time round, I decided to look at the main course instead of the pasta. Can't imagine myself having to eat a big plate of pasta again. Looking through the menu, my friend realised that TCC does not have many dishes with the icon "Chef recommendations" and many of the "NEW" items have existed long ago. Our guess is that they do not update and reprint their menu. And this will also mean that they do not have new dishes for a long time.  

After pondering, the sides of the main dishes caught my attention - onion-roasted potatoes, lotus root slices and broccolini. So my choice for the day was Pan-seared Chicken Breast with Shogayaki Sauce. 

Found the Shogayaki sauce too salty for my tongue - does not like it. The chicken breast was not well marinated but the edamame cream proved to be special. Luckily the sides did not fail me. The lotus root slices are crunchy and the potatoes are soft. Good!

Pan-seared Chicken Breast

We ordered the Shrooms Bite as snack to share. It is definitely cooked when ordered as they were served real hot. So be mindful and do not put the entire piece into your mouth. The pastry was puffy and the mushrooms are great. 

Shrooms Bites

Complete the meal with my drink. This round, I ordered the Honey Citrus Fizz. It is soda that is mixed with orange, mango and honey. A fruity and thirst-quenching drink, feel so great after eating the salty sauce. 

Honey Citrus Fizz

ION Orchard
2 Orchard Turn #B2-49 

L'Espresso High Tea Buffet @ Goodwood Park

It was just a random gathering with a friend whom I have not met for quite some time. Not knowing where to go, she suggested L'Espresso High Tea Buffet @ Goodwood Park. Not a bad idea for a chit chat and chillax gathering. We can eat and catch up with each other's life, a great way to bond over food. 

At L'Espresso High Tea Buffet, each diner is entitled to two choices of beverages. The variety of choices was not that bad and the list consists of teas — black, green, herbal, and fruit teas — coffees and espresso-based drinks, hot chocolate, hot milk, and also iced beverages like iced mocha and iced lemon tea.

Since it was high tea, I decided to choose TEA for my first drink - Rosehips with Hibiscus Flowers tea. A special tea with lingering taste of sourness. A refreshing hot drink to start off my High Tea. Look at the cups - the prints is so pretty. 

Rosehip with Hibiscus Flowers Tea 

I wasn't expecting much from a High Tea Buffet but was totally surprised with the wide variety of pastries and sandwiches they've got there. I guess if you do not like bread, this buffet is certainly a no-no for you. 

The long food counter started off with the Croissants, Sandwiches and Canapes. Here are some of the variety I got for myself. 

The croissants is very crispy and soft, totally a must try for this buffet.The chicken crepes was nice too. Despite being a cold dish, the chicken was tender. The salmon canapes was marvelous - Salmon being fresh and the beetroot mousse totally complements the whole taste.

Assorted Croissant, sandwich... 

For salmon lovers, the Smoked salmon is a must try as well. I ate it with the mini bagel. More of the canapes which they name it  open faced sandwich. The toppings of salmon, prawn and tuna were really fresh. 

More of the food

Scones came into different flavour and I got the plain scones to go with the jam. The scone is not too buttery nor is it too dry. The texture of the scone was great and is perfect with some butter or jam. The baked pork meatloaf went well with the french loaf. A hot dish that was kept warm throughout the buffet. 

Scones

Hot savouries was next. The fried finger food was a change from eating bread and flour. The crispy chicken was like the popcorn chicken from KFC (quoted from my friend after she ate it). The fried finger food was just normal. 

Finger Food

If you love cakes, I think you will love this buffet. There are quite a number of varieties to choose from. Here are those that I took to try out. The size of the cakes was totally just nice that I can actually tried most of the cakes on the trays. 

The white chocolate dome cake was special. Sweet on the outer layer and when you ate it, the cake was actually coffee taste. I think coffee lovers will love this. I think there is this cherry cake that you can eat bites of cherries in every bites - giving you a crunchy feel when eating it. The cheese brownie was quite special and the cheese taste was not that strong. There was also this Earl Grey cake where the Earl Grey taste will linger around your tongue after you ate it. The green tea lime cake was refreshing and nice. 

Cakes

Last but not least, here comes the chocolate fondue and fruits to end off the day. 

Chocolate Fondue

After all the eating, we ordered a Ice Mocha to end off the buffet. A worthy buffet if you are into bread and cakes.

L’Espresso
Goodwood Park Hotel
22 Scotts Road

Croissant set @ Maison Kayser

Due to work, I was around Orchard area early in the morning. When I was done with work, it was only 9 plus in the morning. I was cracking my brain for a place for a nice breakfast to reward myself for waking up so early and to complete the first task on hand. I thought of Maison Kayser at Scotts Square. My friend recommends this place for their croissant  before. 

Maison Kayser

Was pleased that the shop is opened when I reached. The seating capacity is quite small. With only a couple of tables occupied, this is a nice place for me to chill in the early morning while waiting for my next task. Croissant was what I set to eat and was pleased to find this Croissant Menu they have. I chose Set A since I already had my first round of breakfast at home. As for the drink, you can choose from their drinks menu. I got the Cappuccino. Seriously, this set is worth the price. The Cappuccino is already priced at $6.70+ in their menu. Thus, it was like getting an almost-free croissant. 

Croissant Set Menu

They serve really fast. Within minutes, the set arrived at my table. The croissant has the crispy flaky exterior while the inside is soft and chewy. With a strong buttery taste, you can simply eat it plain. I really like this combination of taste.To save any fuss, eat it with your hands! The cappuccino, on the other hand, is just normal. I guess their specialty is still about their pastry.  

Croissant with Cappuccino 

Will come back to try their other pastry and food!

Maison Kayser
Scotts Road, #B1-09 Scotts Square

Fukuichi Japanese Dining

Fukuichi is tucked in a quiet corner of Orchard - Triple One Somerset is often a neglected place for me. Never knew that there are some great restaurants hidden there. Visited Fukuichi Japanese Restaurant yesterday to have a birthday dinner for Random W. I never knew there are some restaurants on the second level. Probably heading back there for dinner for a less-crowded but centralised gathering.

Here's some of the food we had:

Kani Tofu

The cold appetiser - Kani Tofu – is actually tofu with crab meat in century egg sauce. I’ve never seen or tried this dish before in a Japanese restaurant. I am not a century egg lover but the sauce was done to perfection. It was not overpowering and went well with the fresh tofu and crab meat. The tofu simply melted in the mouth. This dish was a pleasant surprise and was very refreshing.

Sushi Rolls

Seared Salmon Roll 

This was great and we ordered 2 plates of it. Mainly was due to the fact that the birthday girl was late and she ordered another plate to satisfy her cravings. This sushi roll was executed perfectly. The salmon was seared perfectly, bringing out a smoky smell and yet not overcooked. Perfect match with the other ingredients that was added to make the roll. Yummy! 

Avocado Roll

We had high expectations to the presentation of this roll. We thought we would see a ‘caterpillar’ but we were disappointed. The avocado was fresh and sweet. For the vegetarian, please do not order as there is crab meat in this roll. 

Seared White Tuna roll 

Fukuichi really makes effort to display their dish. From the sushi roll, they put the sushi into small holder to bring out visual effect to the food. Like the Salmon roll, the tuna was not overcooked. However, we preferred the Salmon roll more.

Cold Soba

Wanted to order the Cold Fish Soba but in the end, we ordered the normal cold soba due to some error. The soba was chewy and nice. 

Hotate Yaki 

Wanted to order the bamboo clams but it was not available. Thus, we opted for the Hotate Yaki (Scallops in Garlic Sauce). Not a bad choice after all. The scallop was grilled to perfection. Fresh is the word to describe the seafood at Fukuichi. Easy to chew and it really went well with the cheese. The Garlic and Butter made it more tasty and flavourful.

Chawanmushi

There are many types of Chawanmushi and we went for the normal one. It was not bad and there were crab meat, prawn and meat in it.

Forget to take the photo for the Ebi Almond Tempura. This dish was a pleasant surprise. The almond flakes were crispy and they did not fall off the Ebi when I dipped it in the sauce. The prawn was fresh, sweet and tender. For those who like almond, you could try this dish as this is quite special. 

We also have the Yuzu Sparkling Sake. Sweet and nice and when you drink it, it does not taste like Sake. I guess that’s the dangerous part as you will unknowingly drank a lot! Overall, Fukuichi is a nice place to eat and chill for a gathering. Will come back to this area soon!

Fukuichi Japanese Dining
111 Somerset Road
TripleOne Somerset