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