LeNu (樂牛) @ Vivocity

LeNu (樂牛) @ Vivocity (Score: 3.5 out of 5)

It's been quite a while since my last post but I just had to blog about LeNu. LeNu is a beef noodle place located at a prime spot in VivoCity. Its near Soup Restaurant and occupies what used to be Nando's.


The theme is simple. Serve Taiwanese beef noodle soup at the most convenient and efficient way. No bells and whistles only beef, noodles, and some appetizer.

Our Orders

Century Egg on Silky Tofu - SGD 2.90

I love century egg and I love silky tofu. Guess what, I love them together and this dish was the star of our visit :) I just loved being served simple food done right. The tofu was soft and the century egg was also nice and firm. The sause was on the salty side but that's how I like it.

Beef and Tendon with Broad Noodles - SGD 13.90

If you've eaten Taiwanese Beef Noodles then guess what, you've eaten this bowl already. Its not necessarily bad but then again its nothing special. I had two gripes with the dish. First, the soup was not as hot as I wanted it to be. I want my soup served piping hot and this was not. Second, the tendon was of nice quality but it was not as thick and rich as the ones that I had in HongKong. 

In fairness though the soup did taste nice and as a "twist" they served a "special" beef sauce. The beef sauce is like the topping sauce that is salty, spicy and sweet all at the same time. I liked it but its nothing to rave about. The broad noodle was also good but on the heavy side. 

Beef Shank with Thin Noodles - SGD 9.90

Just like the beef and tendon noodle soup, this is the same dish only served with beef shank. This was actually the better of both dishes as the beef shank is served more generously. The thin noodles was just ok. I prefer the broad noodles than this. 

If I visit this place again, I'll definitely order the beef shank. The tendon is not worth the additional SGD 4.00. 

Price and Value

We paid $32 for all the food we ate. If you are craving for spicy Taiwanese beef noodles then you won't go wrong with this place. Just don't expect anything special. If I had a choice between this and NamNam, I'll still go with NamNam Vietnamese Noodles.

Rating:

Food - 3.5

Ambiance - 3

Value - 4.5

Service - 3

Overall 3.5 of 5

Repeat Factor (No!! No! Yes Yes! Yes!!): 

Yes

Tel no: +65 6376 9039
Website: http://www.paradisegroup.com.sg/our-milestone/

Mellben Signature @ Tanjong Pagar

Mellben Signature @ Tanjong Pagar (Score: 3.5 out of 5)

So after a heavy holiday (though this one is a bit less than last year), I thought that we were going a bit lean for our first dine-out of the year. We didn't :) 

Wifey wanted to have crabs and a recent recommendation made us try Mellben Signature. I didn't know about this place and they have their original spot in Ang Mo Kio. To be honest, I would have given this a 4.5 but since we waited for almost an hour for our food it got demoted.

The Place

Our Orders

Thai Coconut Juice - 3 for $10.00

We had to be contented with this for an hour since they forgot to punch in our order. It was pretty good though. I was quite thirsty when we got here and nothing beats a good cold fresh coconut juice to quench the thirst.

Fried Beancurd - Free (no price in the menu)

After waiting for an hour, these perfectly crisp beancurds arrived. I loved these but wifey had some reservations. I like my fried stuff crunchy and crunchy this was. The dipping sauce was sweet and had a hint of sourness. 

Claypot Crab Bee Hoon - $60.00 for 1Kg

This was the saviour of the night. If this was another place, I'd say I'd never be back but I just loved the soup, the been hoon, the crab, and everything in this dish. The crab was firm and meaty but I had some reservations whether it was truly 1Kg. Nevertheless, this is friggin delicious. The soup had some body in it probably due to the milk. I can't really describe the taste as it had sweetness and saltiness but the balance was perfect. 

Worth going back just for the crab.

Price and Value

We paid $70 for all the food we ate but the fried beancurd was free as they made us wait for an hour for our food. The brilliant manager (who got our order) didn't punch in the order. I'd guess that the beancurd would be another $15-$20. 

I'd think that $60 is now an average price for a 1Kg crab. The place though is a hawker type of a place so don't expect air-conditioning like Seafood Paradise. But that said, I'd still go back even just for the crab bee hoon. It's really that good.

Rating:

Food - 4.5

Ambiance - 3

Value - 4

Service - 2.5

Overall 3.5 of 5

Repeat Factor (No!! No! Yes Yes! Yes!!): 

Yes!

Address: 12 Prince Edward Road, Tanjong Pagar
Tel no: +65 6220 5512
Website: NA

Lady M @ Marina Square

Lady M @ Marina Square (Score: 3.0 out of 5)

International boutique coffee shops seem to be the trend here in Singapore. Though I'm not that familiar with this one, wifey's officemates were raving about this place. This place has its roots from New York. 


Since we were in the area anyway, we decided to give this a try. Lady M, by the way, is located in Marina Square's Dining Edition. Now, lets see how they fare against Singapore's coffee shops.

Our Orders

Lady M Mille Crepe (Left) - $7.50 and Strawberry Mille Feuille (Right) - $8.00

We were not able to take pictures of the drinks but coffee was nice. The real reason though for the visit was not the coffee or tea but the cakes. Lady M serves a "Mille Crepe" cake. What is it? Well, lets just say its layers and layers of crepe and creme formed as a cake. Does it work? Definitely! It had a smooth silky feeling in the mouth and it wasn't sweet. 

The Strawberry Mille Feuille is a different story though. We were expecting something similar to the Lady M cake but unfotunately it wasn't. It just didn't have anything special to it. Not even sure where the "Mille Feuille" came from as it didn't have any. It's not that it wasn't good but at $8.00 a slice there must be something more from a cake.

Price and Value

We paid $40 for 2 cafes and 4 drinks (combination of coffee and tea). That's a bit too steep for a weekend coffee for 5 people given that we only had 2 slices of cake. I wished the strawberry mille feuille had more substance or even surprise on it but sadly its difficult to justify the value. It's worth a try though specially the signature Lady M Mille Crepe.

Rating:

Food - 3.5

Ambiance - 3

Value - 3

Service - 3.5

Overall 3.0 of 5

Repeat Factor (No!! No! Yes Yes! Yes!!): 

Yes

Address: Marina Square Shopping Mall, #02-103 Singapore, 039594
Tel no: +65 6822 2095
Website: http://ladym.com.sg/

Riders Cafe @ Bukit Timah Saddle Club Round 2

Riders Cafe @ Bukit Timah Saddle Club (Score: 4.0 out of 5)

Its not often that we go to a place for two consecutive weeks but given that we had visitors, we just had to take them here. This place is that good and as you will see, it actually got better.

Our Orders

Blackstone Benedict - $16.00

This time around the first serving was perfect. The eggs were runny inside and simply oozed out after breaking the yolk. This is a must have for people who loves eggs benedict. My mom loved this and she's not a very breakfast type of person.

Cream Corn Polenta - $16.00

My sister had this and that cream polenta is simply delish. Its served with a medium sized portobello mushroom toast and poached egg. Wish I had this type of breakfast everyday.

Pacific Benedict - $18.00

Since I had the Blackstone Benedict last week, I decided to try the Pacific Benedict. The eggs were again cooked perfectly and the combination of crab meat, egg, tomato, hollandaise, and brioche is a winner. I can easily recommend this to anyone who would prefer a seafood style benedict.

Tamarind Zing - $6.50

I didn't see this last week but I just had to try it when I saw it in the menu. I love sour/tangy stuff and making a tamarind flavoured carbonated drink is something that I should do myself more often. On a bright sunny day (which it was), this is a perfect drink to have.

Brioche French Toast - $16.00

Ahhh... this should be easy to make.... French toast, sweet banana fritters, slices of toasted ham, butter and maple syrup. Sounds simple enough right but trust me other restaurants here in SG just can't serve this quality of food. This is good. You don't like eggs? Order this instead and you wont regret it. You like eggs??? Well order this still. This is a must try here.

Death by Chocolate - $13.00

Ahhh.... what is brunch without dessert. Luckily we didn't order the caramel brioche anymore. This was so rich that 5 of us barely finished it (everyone was just full after this). Order some coffee with this just to balance out the sweetness. Is it good? If you like what you see in the pic then I think you'll love it too.

Price and Value

We paid $145 for all of the items above (missing the burger) and you know what, it was still worth it. So far I've tried the best sellers already (benedict, burger, and brioche french toast). Well, I'm not sure if these are the best sellers but the other tables seem to think so too as they order these as well. There are still other items to try but I think my next brunch will be in Wild Honey.... heard they had better benedicts there... Watch out for that review.

Rating:

Food - 4

Ambiance - 4.5

Value - 4

Service - 4

Overall 4 of 5

Repeat Factor (No!! No! Yes Yes! Yes!!): 

Yes!

Address: 51 Fairways Drive Singapore 286965 Bukit Timah Saddle Club
Tel no: +65 6466 9819
Website: http://www.riderscafe.sg/
Reservation is recommended specially on weekends (you've been warned). Walk-in wait is about 30 mins to 1 hour.

Rider's Cafe @ Bukit Timah Saddle Club

Riders Cafe @ Bukit Timah Saddle Club (Score: 4.0 out of 5)

So today's order was non-asian (after weeks of having noodles, dimsum and korean). I also had a craving for a good brunch place and I also wanted to do something different.

After going through numerous sites and various reviews, one place kept on popping up as highly recommended: Rider's Cafe. It looked like the perfect match for what I needed: brunch and somewhere out of the way (ie something different). 

Riders Cafe is an al fresco restaurant. Located within the compound of Saddle Club of Singapore, it is not easily accessible (ie car or taxi only). But once your inside, it will be a treat. Today was a good day and saw some horses out and about. You can smell them but nothing too bad which can ruin your meal (not unless you are very very sensitive). Reservations are highly suggested (we waited almost an hour just to get a table for two).

Random shots @ Riders Cafe:

Any guess on what this is?

Our Orders

Truffle Fries - $10.00

My first knee jerk reaction to this was, PS Cafe's truffle fries was better. But when I started eating it, I can't stop. The fries just had the right amount of truffle oil. It was not overpowering nor did it leave a oily trail in the mouth. This was a good appetizer.

Blackstone Benedict: Looks good but the egg was over cooked.

The first set of eggs benedict looked good but unfortunately it was overcooked. This was after waiting for the seats for an hour and another 30 mins for the food. Service was pretty apologetic though and they promised that they will expedite a perfect benedict. So after 5 mins, we got this:

Blackstone Benedict Part 2: Looks good, smelled good, was very good. Good save: $16.00

I forgive them... These are excellent egg benedicts. Between this, PS Cafe, and Jones the grocer, this is the champ. The egg (part 2) was cooked perfectly. Pair that with a crunchy toast and bacon... YUMMY. Plus under the eggs is a secret which I found to be very good. There is a toasted sweet tomato under the eggs. Mix them all together (hollandaise, eggs, bacon, sour dough, and tomato) and you have a perfect brunch!

Shepherd's Pie - $22.00

Didn't know why i ordered this. I liked it but halfway through I felt so full. It was quite heavy as there is a thick mashed potato under that layer of cheese. Underneath that mashed potato is a generous amount of beef ragout. This tasted good but somehow I was wishing I ordered something else. (Which I will do as I will visit them again :D)

Salted Caramel Brioche - $12.00

What can I say, salty + sweet = the best dessert. What you see above is the best $12 dessert in Singapore. I loved everything in it: from the crunchy brioche drizzle with salty caramel to the vanilla ice cream and the sweet crisp on top. I would suggest to eat this fast as when the ice cream melts, it does become very very sweet.

Our dessert and coffee pic. Macchiato - $3.50 and Latte - $4.50

You'll need the coffee with the caramel brioche to add some bitterness. Trust me, the pairing of the caramel brioche and the machiatto was perfect.

Price and Value

We paid $80 for all of the items above and you know what, it was worth it. I want to try the other dishes and I didn't feel like that this place was overpriced like those brunch places in the city. I did find the Shepherd's pie to be a bit simple but I have my eyes on the french bread which was a crowd favorite earlier. This could have been a 4.5 I think if I ordered that but for sure we will be back for more!!!

Rating:

Food - 4

Ambiance - 4.5

Value - 4

Service - 4

Overall 4 of 5

Repeat Factor (No!! No! Yes Yes! Yes!!): 

Yes!

Address: 51 Fairways Drive Singapore 286965 Bukit Timah Saddle Club
Tel no: +65 6466 9819
Website: http://www.riderscafe.sg/
Reservation is recommended specially on weekends (you've been warned). Walk-in wait is about 30 mins to 1 hour.

Men-ichi @ NEX Mall Serangoon

Men-Ichi @ NEX Mall Serangoon (Score: 3.0 out of 5)

So wifey and I was able to complete a full promo card from Ichiban. We decided to try the other restaurants from this food chain and decided to go to NEX mall as they had most of their brands available in this mall. When we got to NEX mall, the RES restaurants occupied a good corner of the mall where they named the area Japanese Street Food.

We decided to have some ramen in Men-Ichi as the freebies in the promo also looked best with this chain.

Our Orders

Miso Ramen - $15.50 + 1.50 for extra egg.

I won't say that this is the best ramen but it is good enough. The ramen in Ukkokei (Philippines) and Men-tei (Robinsons Road) are still to beat for top spot for ramen. 

Gyoza - free with promo

The gyoza was good but like others its also just gyoza. I still wait for the day to say "This is the bomb" to a gyoza. This gyoza though was cooked just right as the skin has some crispness and chewiness in it. The filling had a right proportion as well.

Kanitama - free with promo

This was unexpected. I'm not a big egg lover but I liked how they prepared this. Its basically a mushroom omelette that was based with light sweet teriyaki sauce. I loved the saltiness and sweetness that this dish had. It's simple but good.

Char Siew Don - free with promo

This was a disappointment. If I had to pay for this, I would immediately ask them to return it to the kitchen as this is not worth $1. Ok, it might not be that bad but just look at it. If you say that it looks dry and the char siew looks like its been massacred, well its because it was. I had to ask for extra sauce on this so that it became edible. Tip... don't order this here just stick with the ramen and you'll be fine.

Price and Value

All-in-all the bill amounted to SGD 22.36, which was to cover the ramen, extra egg, and 2 cold tea. I think Men-tei ramen is the same price but its still a lot better. However, $15 now seems to be a standard for ramen places whether its good or bad. I'll go back to this restaurant but since they also have a branch of Shimbashi Soba here, I might just as well eat there next time.

Rating:

Food - 3

Ambiance - 3

Value - 3

Service - 3

Overall 3 of 5

Repeat Factor (No!! No! Yes Yes! Yes!!): 

Yes

Address: #B1-79 NEX, 23 Serangoon Central

Tel no: +65 6634 4638
Website: http://www.men-ichi.com.sg/

Madam Kwan @ VivoCity

Madam Kwan @ VivoCity (Score: 2.5 out of 5)

I have been trying to look for the best Malaysian food here in Singapore. When I heard that Madam Kwan was opening here in Singapore, I was quite excited as I have heard and seen rave reviews about it in Malaysia. Unfortunately, there is nothing to rave nor get excited about this branch in Singapore. Read below for more info.

Our Orders

Nasi Bojari - S$18.90

The nasi bojari is a combination of Malaysian fried chicken, beef rendang, and assam prawn. I'm a sucker for combination platters and this, sad to say, is nothing special. I think I've eaten in some Nasi Lemak food court place which serves better food. Worse yet, the food court will charge you only S$7-9 but here since its a restaurant, they charge S$18.90. I'm not one to complain about price in food but this isn't worth it. 

Beef Rendang - S$11.90

Yes, to my surprise, this was what arrived for my beef rendang. They did a sloppy job of plating this dish. Worse yet, the order itself isn't substantial enough to warrant a $12 price tag. It also was served warm rather than hot which just made me think if this was freshly cooked or maybe even microwaved. Really disappointed.

Beef Satay - S$11.90

The beef satay was, again unfortunately, another disappointment. It was too tough for my liking and worse yet it was dry. They need to get those satay guys in East Coast Park to improve their quality. The only saving grace of the dish was an excellent satay sauce. 

Price and Value

All-in-all the bill amounted to SGD 66.85, which for the food that we had, is just not worth it. I won't return to this place as there are much much better restaurants in VivoCity. It will take a lot of work to make this place attractive. 

Rating:

Food - 2.5

Ambiance - 3

Value - 2

Service - 2.5

Overall 2.5 of 5

Repeat Factor (No!! No! Yes Yes! Yes!!): 

No!

Address: 1 Harbourfront Walk #01-155 Vivocity
Tel no: +65 6271 9989
Website: N/A