Brewbakers Kitchen and Bar

Brewbaker's is part of Jack's Place holdings but is an offshoot in the sense that unlike Jack's place, its not halal certified. Its concept is one of escapism and relaxation which is reflected in its rather decent bar selection but holds many similarities to its parent company in regards to areas like its interior design and overall service level. Me and my gf patronized this venue on Valentine's day this year because i found it in a rather decent and new community centre near my house. It took about 35 minutes for us to walk the distance but honestly, we needed the exercise. Was it worth our effort though?

Location: 59 Anchorvale Road #01-06 Anchorvale Community Centre

Contact: 68861811

Website: http://www.brewbakers.com.sg/

Price range: $30-35 per head

Thoughts on the location and surroundings:
Being in a community centre doesn't necessarily mean its a slipshod location. The restaurant had a rather laidback atmosphere and relaxing buzz as its next to an excellently under utilized yet beautiful public pool and is next to a canal/river which actually is rather pleasing. The interior is spacious but the design reminds me too much of Jack's place to be a good thing.

Menu

Valentines Set Lunch

Its Valentines day, so what better way to celebrate then to have a decent meal with my girl? And there's even a menu that promises a "gift for the ladies" to every couple. Perfect. More on the gift at the end of the post.

Archipelago Travellers Wheat

Self brewed gourmet beer seems to be appearing everywhere these days. Not that its a bad thing. I ordered a complimentary sampler from their menu and honestly, it wasn't too bad. Travellers Wheat tastes like....golden ale from Brewerkz and i simply adore beer with that taste so this is good for me.

Mango Drink

This is definitely not made in house since it tastes just like something you can get from a concentrate with water added. Need some work here.

Terrine of Seafood

This was weird. It tastes like it has milk concentrate in it but dissipates in each taste. There's actual crab and fishcake-like taste in the pasty center as well. Its not a bad dish per se, its just weird.

Garlic Bread and Homemade Clam Chowder

This was a surprise. At first glance, i was thinking: "how dare they serve campbells soup when its stated as homemade clam chowder?" My fears were put to rest once i taste it though. There's actually a generous amount of seafood tucked beneath the surface and it provided a balanced palate for the meal to come. Helps that its not flooded with salt and other such nonsensical tastes as well.

True Love Platter

Another Look

The "True Love Platter" for 2 feels more like "true fat platter" to me. However, it wasn't bad at all. The grilled salmon steak with dill sauce was a little salty and had a rather strong "fishy" taste which didn't sit well with me. The Sirloin steak did not come with black pepper sauce as per the menu and was well done, which means it was rather tough to eat. The grilled vegetable skewers were pretty good as is the chicken drumlets and potato salad. My gf didn't like the calamari rings due to the thick batter. The potato salad was supposed to be potato wedges but was switched without informing us and the steak was well done without asking the doneness we wanted it in. I attribute this to a service issue though.

Sweet Temptations

The dessert was basically strawberry and chocolate mousse cake with fruits. The white chocolate sticks and fruits were pretty good. Refreshing and sweet while the cake itself....is a little too creamy for our tastes. Otherwise, it was an ok ending to the meal. Coffee was served after this which helped as well.

Bill

The final bill for a simple valentine's lunch came up to $70.62. Rather steep for the quality of food served.

Cons: The "gift" mentioned in the menu was never given. We had to ask for it 3 times before being given something and it was not a valentines gift for the lady at all. It was a leftover scratch and win card from Chinese New Year which held no significance whatsoever. Needless to say, i was disappointed. At the very least, if there was no gift, i would have appreciated being warned beforehand and replaced with either an additional dish or a drink would suffice. Not this lame attempt at redeeming themselves with a useless item. The management needs to look into this. Not to mention, the lack of initiative to inform on the change of items and the courtesy to ask about the doneness of my steak.

Final Score: 6/10 (minus 1 due to the service lapses and problems with the "gift" that never was.)

Last word:
I was disappointed with the gift problem and service but the food was actually decent and so was the beer. Actually, the beer and location is probably the only reason i'll consider returning to this place. 50% off beer and 1 for 1 offers for the beer is something i could live with. Otherwise, i'd say try the food sparingly and they really need to buck up on their service training. Oh, its still better then Jack's Place as far as i'm concerned. Just thought i'd end it with that.

Bakerzin

Recently, i've been bestowed with a valuable gift of Takashimaya vouchers from my superbly wonderful company. I've thus been thronging Takashimaya with the intention of spending every single voucher away to no avail. Thus, i used it to the most important aspect of my being. My every growing tummy. It so happend that Bakerzin was having an offer for macarons and i just hopped to try it.


Location: 391 Orchard Road #B2-08-04 Takashimaya Department Store

Price: $10 for 2 bags of 6

The undefilable bag ($5 for 6 prepacked)

Chocolate Macaron

First off, a little background into why i wanted to try this.

1: My boss bought a nice sample of the best macarons back from France for the team to try during her trip and i have to say, they were excellent if a little pricey. I mean, 1 small macaron for $8? Ouch.

2: I've been told the Singapore renditions for macarons were no where near the true taste and standard of a France. And being a true blue Singaporean, i felt compelled to see if this was true.

The observation:
The macarons from Bakerzin were smaller and the proportions were different. The original macaron i had was thick in the middle and thinner on the sides. The Bakerzin rendition had a thicker side and smaller middle with a generally smaller size as well.
Taste wise, the Bakerzin rendition i bought had 6 flavors, chocolate, mint, strawberry, cherry, coffee and lemon. They all had a rather strong milky taste which is unusual because the actual french version had no such taste. The sides were are less fragrant and had a different texture and layer of crunchiness as compared to the french version. Overall, i felt this version highly inadequate.
I only had 2 flavors from the ones my boss brought back and i can tell you, the ones you find here are no where near the real thing. For starters, there is absolutely no milky taste. The texture is highly different and the actual fillings were packed full of actual flavor as opposed to the ready made ones you see on offer here.

Score: 4/10

Last word:
Sure, i may be overly harsh on this. After all, the real thing costs 700% more and has to be flown in but hey, i had more faith in our chefs then to produce this half baked effort. Maybe when the promotion is over the macarons will be of better quality. I wouldn't know for sure but honestly, they need to step up their game so that it tastes like a true macaron instead of looking the part. Just my personal opinion is all.

Hua Ting Pt 2

Hua Ting was one of the first few places where i had my little adventure with food begin. I went back again after one year to relive the extremely tasty fish paste noodles. You may view my previous visit here. To sum it up, it's still as good as ever but the surprise is lost.

Address: 2nd Floor Orchard Hotel, 442 Orchard Road

Contact: 67396666 or 67343872

Price Range: $35-40 per head (lunch and dim sum only)

The fabled double boiled soup fish paste noodles with seafood ($28)

This was the only reason i returned to this place. The noodles previously left a great impression but i was too stuffed to really appreciate it. This time, we made sure there was space for the meal. To be honest, it didn't disappoint, a thick, milky double boiled seafood broth with 2 medium sized scallops and 2 medium sized prawns with assorted mushrooms and fish paste noodles. The noodles maintain the same chewy texture and fragrance i remembered but sadly, i found the broth not hot enough. This dish should be served piping hot for the best effect but it was not to be. My other gripe is the portion of seafood which was rather miserly compared to my previous visit and finally, the broth itself was rather saltier then before. Nitpicking i suppose but it did fare better in my previous visit for sure.

Abalone Dumplings ($5.40 for 3)

We also ordered an assortment of dim sum to start the meal and the abalone dumplings were a start. The abalone was small but fragrant and chewy along with the chives in the dumplings. Its reminiscent of Crystal dumplings in terms of the skin but a little thinner and more tender.

Prawn dumplings ($4.50 for 3)

I'm a sucker for prawns and this was one of those excellently sweet and crunchy prawn dim sums i'd easily fall for. It helps that the specialty is how its wrapped in fragrant vegetables (I forgot what kind) which gave it its delectable color.

Custard Buns ($3.90 for 3)

Inside look

Overall, this was a disappointment. Custard buns, to me at least, are supposed to be slightly molten and flow out of the bun when one bites into it. This version was pasty and rather solid. Taste wise, the custard was balanced, which means its not too sweet but not something i would praise otherwise.

Fish Siew Mai ($4.80)

Another prawn filled dish with crunchy sweet prawns. I'm very biased towards these so you know what kind of verdict i would give for it. On the flipside, i found the skin too elastic and difficult to tear through though.

Beef Fillet Tenderloin ($9 per piece)

Another look

The beef tenderloin is tender, fragrant and tasted strangely sweet with the coating of sauce and ground nuts. The coating could be likened to sweet and sour pork's tomato base but with more sourish taste in it. I liked it but can't say the same for my gf.

The bill

The final bill came to $77.76 for a moderately satisfying meal.

Final Score: 6.5/10

Last Word:
Sorry about the extremely late post but i'm struggling to find time for posting these days. On this meal, i'd say the experience is rather monotone with nothing truly exceptional for me to report. The standard of food is average but could be better.

Carousal Pt 2

Back again to Carousal for our farewell dinner to a dear colleague just recently but this time, we went for a more safe approach by having its well known buffet dinner. "Well known" because my boss and colleagues have already eaten here numerous times before and because it still remains the most worthwhile investment.

Location: 25 Scotts Road, Royal Plaza Hotel, Lobby Level

Contact: 6589-7799

Website: http://www.royalplaza.com.sg/carousel.php

Price range: $45-60 per head for dinner

The cold dish corner

Japanese Counter

Salads and Meat Counter

Chinese Food Counter

Roast and spaghetti counter

Fish and condiments

Dessert

Fondue

Dinner, it seems, brings out the best and worst in this restaurant. I'll just point out the worthwhile items in point form.

1: The cold dish corner is a must. Baby lobsters, medium sized oysters, crayfish and prawns adorn the counter. The freshness is hit or miss though. Out of the 4 lobsters i had, 2 had a powdery aftertaste while the remaining 2 were crunchy, juicy and fresh. So i'd place it at 50/50 on quality.

2: The Japanese counter is a steal. Lots of sashimi, sushi and freshly made california rolls. There's also warm udon and cha soba if you are so inclined. I came back to this counter quite a few times.

3: The spaghetti corner is also a highlight with the spaghetti done al dente along with a balanced tomato base. Waiting time can get a little long when its peak hour though. Along the same counter are huge cuts of steak, duck and fish with a wide variety of condiments which were also worth trying.

4: The cooked food section had sauted wagyu beef the night i was there. There was also eggplant with cheese that the group agreed was done really well. The prawns were average and so were the rest of the offerings though.

5: The chinese food, malay good and indian food counter had queues as well but i don't really take spicy food so i'm not sure if their good.

6: DO NOT TAKE the desserts. This was a surprise for me because i found all the desserts lacking that night. They were either too sweet, too fluffy, or just plain weird like the pandan creme brulee. A disappointment on this corner.

Overall, dinner was a better experience then my previous visit. Click here for previous visit.

I'd up my score to 6.5/10 for this visit for the cold dish and japanese food section.

Last word:
The desserts definitely need work but on another note, I'll still be back for dinner if given the chance.