KPO Cafe Bar @ 1 Kiliney Road

Been there a couple of times, mostly for drinks and light bites. Was wracking the brain for a place to have dinner on a Saturday evening, and KPO came to mind. "Let's go there and eat hokkien mee!" I suggested. Hehe, this was said to a fellow blogger friend, only because I have confidence in KPO's rendition of the noodles.

The place was relaxed on that evening, possibly because it was just right after the rain. Previous visits on weekday evenings always saw this place packed. Live music was playing upstairs, and the volume must've been set to probably about level 4 out of 5, and hence, conversations inside the airconditioned place would be almost impossible unless you were either shouting or whispering right into the ear of the other person! Choosing to do neither of those, we ventured to its al-fresco area at ground level. Only contention was the humid weather and one or two flying insects.

It was still during Happy Hour, so got myself a bottle of Asahi Super "Dry" Black for $10+. I think I have a certain fondness for Japanese beer.

Cheers かんぱい

Satay and KPO Hokkien Mee

The chicken satay was well marinated and tender to the bite. Sauce was flavourful but lacked the spicy kick. But the ketupat (rice cake) was strangely charred on its exterior and was too dense for liking. Yet, am still recommending the satay for as it is. Very nice snack or light bites to have with the drinks.

Chicken Satay (12 sticks) @$18+

KPO Hokkien Mee @$16+

The noodles were well cooked with the flavourful stock coating the strands that was of a soft delightful chew. Nice to slurped it up! Each bite was accompanied by the strips of 'sio-bak' or roasted pork meat (minus crackling). Deep fried lard is a welcomed sight on the plate. But the two pieces of prawns were very overcooked though.

Thus far, the service from the service staff of KPO had been good. That night, it was the same. Thank you and kudos to KPO service crew. Much appreciative.

KPO is listed in The Entertainer App Singapore, hence, do take advantage of the app and get one main free with every 2 orders of mains. Saved $16 that night using the app.

KPO Cafe Bar

Location: 1 Kiliney Road, Kiliney Post Office, Singapore 239518
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KPO.sg/
Website: http://www.imaginings.com.sg/
Reservation: Through Hungrygowhere link or 6733 3648

Marco Marco @ Novena Square

Noticed that they seemed to have more items in their menu. Plus, there are more choices for mains that could be redeemed with The Entertainer App. Yay! Except, that there was no signal in this area. Incredibile!

Anyway, we ordered the Melbourne Pizza and the Roma. The food arrived fairly quickly, with the pasta making its appearance known by the smell of the cheese.

The Roma looked and tasted like a dry carbonara. Has bacon, pecorino and parmesan cheese, an egg yolk and some chives. My preference for its pasta is still The Jaipur. Fusion yes, but scores in the stronger taste.

The Roma @$12++

Next up, was The Melbourne Pizza. This pizza ought to be shared amongst two pax. Though the pizza doesn't look like its picture in the menu, the toppings were actually adequate. But noticed that its pricing had went up since they haven't update their website menu.

The Melbourne @$16++

It has beef salami, bacon strips, turkey ham, red onion and capsicums with tomato based sauce and cheese ontop. Tasty when eaten hot.

Marmalade Pantry @ Oasia Hotel

Was there again for lunch. Time to utilize The Entertainer App, and one gets two main courses for the price of one. Yay!

For something new, the pan-seared salmon served on a bed of chilled yuzu dressed potato noodles. Hmm, loved the crispy skin and the tender flesh of the salmon. The yuzu flavour was rather mild and tangy.

salmon @$28++

Had the baby chicken again. This dish allows you to practice carving skills. Slicing the meat up beautifully required quite a bit of work, especially for novices. This was a slow cooked chicken, with braised celery, and baby potatoes. Flavours were mild as usual.

Baby Chicken @$28++

Minute Steak Sandwich @$28++

The steak was 150 days grain-fed sirloin, requested to be done medium rare. Turned out pretty chewy unfortunately. But the sweet potato fries were good!

Kaiserhaus Restaurant | Cafe | Bar @ Capitol Theatre

Don't know much about the Habsburg Empire, so wiki'ed it proper. All those description cajoled up strains of musical notes of the Blue Danube Waltz, by Austrian (nonetheless!) composer, Johann Strauss and perfectly poised gentlemen with neatly combed hair, big moustache and dressed in decorated elaborate costumes, while the ladies in their lovely gowns, dancing the night away... Haha!

Sort of fairytale like, and for some odd reason, Kaiserhaus managed to conjure up that effect.  Especially after visiting their website. So, decided to drop by for lunch on a Saturday. Quandoo reservation did not go through initially, so tried it via their website and eventually, it worked. However, it wasn't necessary as the place was fairly empty on our day of visit.

ready to order

Take Exit D from City Hall MRT and you'd end up at Capitol Piazza. Walk over to Capitol Theatre and Kaiserhaus is at Level 2.

Friend ordered the Tafelspitz, said to be one of Austria's national dish as well as favourite of former Emperor of Austria, Kaiser Franz Josef. There's even an instructional booklet on how to eat it.

how to enjoy Tafelspitz

Ok, backtrack a bit. For drinks, of course my idea was to try the Austrian beer and they do have a beer promo then. Nope, not Happy Hour, but two beers for $18++ with a free side dish of bread or deep fried mushroom.

Hirter Beer Promo @$18++

Shoved the dark lager to the guy while for me, I took the lighter one. To get the beer to our table, that took some time as it seemed to have been poured from upstairs and the staff had to carry it down that majestic stairs to the dining hall.

interior

Cheers! Hirter Mochl and Hirter Private Pils @$18++

Happy Hour price for the beer was $8.50 and the Crispy Fried Mushroom was priced at $12++ ala-carte. Hence, with the promo, the side-dish was almost free.

Crispy Fried Mushroom @$12++ (ala-carte)

crispy button mushroom with homemade tartar sauce

The side dish was done in no time and beer was nice but let's have the main course now.

lunch spread

The Tafelspitz for one pax (@$38++) consist of a copper pot filled with beef bouillon, root vegetables and bone marrow, side-dish of creamy spinach, horseradish sauce and toasted rye bread with potato rosti. With so many 'plates', the table for two is no longer enough and the staff pulled the table next to us to expand the space of the table. Keke.

beef broth with liver dumpling (half)

grain fed beef rump, bone marrow and oyster blade

The booklet instructed to spread bone marrow on a piece of toasted rye bread and season with salt and pepper to taste. But alas, the bone was there, but where was the marrow? But that's ok, since butter is supplied. Tasted nice and light beef broth was comforting. Loved the creamed spinach. Smooth and hearty.

potato rosti and toasted rye bread

creamed spinach

The other main course, was the Original Wiener Schnitzel from Veal. Two generous pieces of veal, pounded, breaded and pan-fried.

Original Wiener Schnitzel from Veal @$38++

Served with a potato salad, lemon wedge and cranberry ragout.  Loved the cranberry ragout with the meat. Even better with the horseradish sauce.

Traditional and classic Viennese desserts are available including the famed sachertorte. According to the lady at the cakes section, she mentioned that the cakes are baked in-house daily.

plenty of desserts

raspberry truffle cake

Total meal would've cost about $110+ but with the Entertainer App, one of the main course was free. Hence, per pax bill came up to $34 each.

Skyve Wine Bistro @ 10 Winstedt Road

This time round, managed to do dinner. Usually, we'd just have drinks and some snacks like chicken wings and fries. Was in the mood for some mains, but discovered that its delicious beef kalbi is no longer in its menu. Sads...

chardonnay to start the night @$14++

For mains, we tried the Parmesan Beef Burger and the Ancho Cod.

Parmesan Beef Burger @$34++

The beef burger parmesan infused patty, red onion confit, bacon jam, foie gras butter, spinach, kaiser brioche bun and a small bucket of truffle fries. Didn't recall the taste of foie gras butter though. Bun was nice since its a brioche. Hmm, the beef patty was a tad tougher than expected.

lovely truffle fries

The Ancho Cod was a surprise though. It was sitting atop of some white sauce but was packed with some lovely heat. Yums. The seasoning for the fish was good. Flavourful and with some kick. The yam and potato chips were good.

Ancho Cod @$38++

A dinner with two mains and two alcoholic drinks, would cost around $75 per pax. Thanks to the Entertainer App, we saved $34 off our meal here.

Nara Thai @ Westgate

Nara Thai Cuisine offers Thai food in a comfortable setting. A quick glance of the menu showed many seafood options. Was in the mood for some tom yum soup, so was there one evening for late dinner.

The restaurant has dark furnishings and dim lightings. As usual, ordered Thai Iced Tea, seafood tom yum soup and a meat dish, of stir fried duck.

Thai Iced Tea

Tom yum soup arrived fairly quickly. For carbs, they only had the blue jasmine rice available, otherwise need to order fried rice. There's no difference in taste between blue coloured rice or white rice, though my bro fedback that his was a tad too moist.

tom yum kung (@$19.90++) and blue jasmine rice (@$2++)

closer view of the tom yum soup

The tom yum soup was tangy, leaning more towards the sweetish sourish tone. The spice component was too mild. It gets very sourish towards the end of the pot. Sure to awaken any taste buds!

Unfortunately, the stir fried roasted duck took forever to arrive and it actually took us by surprise. For $18.90++, there were only that few pieces of duck meat and the rest were actually duck skin. Albeit very oily but tasty skins. Spicy too. Best eaten with rice.

stir fried roasted duck with crispy basil @$18.90++

Jewel Cafe and Bar @ Rangoon Road

First time trying the mains here. Last visited for coffee. Seated upstairs, and it was a tad warm though the air-conditioning had been turned on to full blast.

We had three orders of prawn capellini, so that ought to be good! I'd likened the capellini to Western mee kia. Had a taste and it was pleasant. Looked pretty, with bonito flakes dancing ontop of the soft capellini strands.

umami prawn capellini

chili crab pasta

Mine was chili crab pasta, that came with deep fried super crispy mantous. Tasted just like your regular chili crab; spicy, sweetish and eggy. Pasta and mantous? Carb on carb combo! Portion was good and you won't feel hungry after this plate.

Warning though, it was pretty spicy. Probably not if you're accustomed to chomping down on chili padis but this plate did pack a spicy punch. Thankfully, the heat doesn't linger for too long, before it gets reignited on the next bite.

Desserts portion were huge too, so it's better to share.

apple crumble

Chunks of apple that tasted of cinnamon, hidden underneath a pile of crumble and topped with a large scoop of ice-cream, drizzled with caramel. Not too sweet, with slight sour notes from the apple.

Liked the chocolate brownie lots. So soft!

If you have The Entertainer Singapore App, this is one of the place where you could utilize it. One-for-one main course.

J's Restaurant @ Purvis Street

If you're looking for some halal Mexican food with select few Spanish influenced ones, then J's the right place to be. Limited seating downstairs but I heard that they can fit 20 pax upstairs.

menu

Menu selection is somewhat limited, but it's good that they chose to focus on what they do best. At J's, one could expect nicely presented food, and of good portion size.

Started off the meal with Chef's Salad, which was served in a very elongated plate. Yes, very.

Chef's Salad @$18++

daily servings of greens

Though the long plate enabled easier sharing amongst two tables, it was a pity that the ingredients aren't evenly distributed. One end had all the smoked salmon, mozarella while the other end had some good eggs with soft yolk. Unless you need your greens and your main course doesn't have any, then go for this. Otherwise, skip this and go for other appetiser.

Soup of the day - mushroom @$8++

Mushroom soup was served very hot, and thus be warned. Tasted smooth and liked the enoki mushrooms in it.

For main course, our table had quesadillas, paella and sirloin beef.

Chicken Quesadillas - $22++

The quesadillas looked good, and bet it tasted good too.

yummy

Paella seemed like a perennial favourite amongst the patrons of the restaurant. Almost every table has it. But fajitas might well be the top favourite as I saw plates after hot plates being served.

Paella (single serve) - $28++

Paella (servings for 2) - $39++

The saffron paella looked appetising with its yellow hues but the proteins in it which consist of chicken, salmon and tilapia all tasted somewhat the same. Liked that the paella was done with extra moistness. How about a seafood version soon?

sirloin beef @$32++

grass-fed New Zealand beef - done medium rare

The beef was done up pretty good. Pink center and its sides charred appropriately. Good meaty chew, juicy at center parts and smokey char good at its outer sides. Loved the garlic mash. So yummy. Enoki appeared again and it was so good to be eaten with the garlic mash. Didn't fancy the carrot though.

Didn't have a chance to get desserts though as the churros were sold out by the time we finished our mains.

Expect to spend about $40 to $50 per pax. With the Entertainer App, you could enjoy savings when dining at participating restaurants. J's included as one of the Entertainer Singapore 2015 merchants.

Entertainer Singapore 2015 Launch Party | Lime House @ Jiak Chuan Road

The Entertainer Singapore had a launch party at Lime House. Must say that Entertainer app is one of my favourite apps. Haven't heard of the Entertainer app? Fret not. It is a nifty app that gives you access to buy one get one free deals.

Been using it and loving it. Last year, on one birthday celebration alone, managed to save about $92 with the Entertainer app. Sweet. What's more, for a limited time only, you too could enjoy this app for a low price of just $60 (usual $75)!

Buy Entertainer Singapore Mobile 2015

There's better news. Key in this code "2015ALVIN" to get a further 10% discount off the Entertainer Singapore Mobile 2015 app. That means for a mere $54, you will get to enjoy Entertainer Singapore Mobile 2015. Hurry, as the discount code will expire by end of February!

apply discount code to get 10% off (code valid till end of Feb 2015)

Welcome to the Entertainer 2015 Launch Party

Guests were treated to canapés and Lime House Classic Punch. Music was loud, food was flying off the trays and everyone had a drink in their hand.

venue

canapé

Lime House Classic Punch (Rum, orange juice, pineapple juice)

In case you're wondering, the folks here at Lime House uses Mount Gay rum which is said to be the oldest existing brand of rum in the world.

at the bar

the happy bros who made the drinks - Thanks for being such a sport!

I think I tried fish, curry (goat?) and chicken. Well, it was dark in there and the rum was pretty strong...

sampling of curry goat

jerk chicken

Jerk chicken meat was flavourful and the sweet potato puree was so good.

Also managed to get some ice-cream from Marble Slab. Tried the salted caramel and the red velvet. Nice.

red velvet ice cream from Marble Slab Creamery

If you are interested to get the Entertainer 2015 app, hesitate no more and get it at the early bird pricing (still available) + 10% off when you use this code "2015ALVIN". Remember, the code expires by end of February. Here is the link to the product.

Lime House

Address: 2 Jiak Chuan Road, Singapore 089260
Opening Hours:  Monday to Friday: 5pm - 12pm, Saturday: 12pm - 12am

Contact: 6222-3130
Website: http://www.limehouse.asia