Mel's Drive In @ Universal Studios Singapore

Located at Resorts World Sentosa Universal Studios. Pretty near the entrance. Visited on a Friday, during lunch hour, around 1-ish.

lunching in

plenty of photo opportunities with the retro cars

best burger in town?

The air-conditioning inside the diner wasn't very strong, but any cool air is better than the scorching hot sun outside.

Its interior reminds me of the show 'Happy Days'. Think neon lights, think juke box.

order and pay at this counter

interior

It claims to have the best burger in town, hence ordered a double cheeseburger (@$12+) to try. The burger comes with fries, and without drinks. Had a bottle of apple juice (@$3.80+). Payment via Mastercard to get a 10% discount.

double cheese burger (beef), served with fries and a bottle of apple juice

Such a small bottle of apple juice. For about the same price, one could get a large carbonated drink or ice-lemon tea.

double cheese burger with lettuce, onions and tomato, smothered with thousand island

The beef patty actually had very little taste. Most of the flavour came from the sauce and cheese. The fries were rather limp.

time for more rides

A meal here would costs about $15.

GRUB @ Bishan Park 1

Located at Ang Mo Kio Ave 1. This park is not the one with Canopy nor MacDonalds. Some of our friends went to the other park and had to redirect them to the right one.

Once there, proceed immediately to the front of the restaurant where there's a stand with an ipad (or tablet of some sort) with an app. Follow the instructions and got ourselves into the queue. The system will send out an sms to your mobile, and the link allows the user to check the queue number as well.

At 7.48pm, there were 25 tables ahead of us in the queue and the place was full. Finally got a table at 9pm. So the legendary queue was true and yes, we were one of those that waited an hour plus. Final order at 9.45pm and the place closes for the day at 10.30pm.

cider, 500ml (@$13++)

For food, we had fish burger, cheeseburger, risotto, pork belly and steak fries.

pork belly and risotto (@$15++ and $10.50++)

parma ham crumble and shimeji mushroom risotto

The crumble was interesting and slightly intriguing as I can't really tell what it is that I'm eating. But we thought the risotto were too watery and its flavours too subdued. Someone said porridge.

Crispy fish burger (@$12++)

crumbed fish fillet, remoulade

The fish fillet had crispy crumbs but there wasn't much taste on the fillet. The sauce on the burger bun was nice.

GRUB cheeseburger (@$11++)

minced beef patty with melted Monterey Jack cheese

One characteristic of the burger buns here, was its glistening top. So shiny! Liked the cheeseburger better than the fish. The beef patty was strongly flavoured (a tad salty though). Perhaps, adding the fried egg (@$2++) might balance up the flavour a little.

 Grilled steak & fries (@$18.50++)

ordered medium rare

The ribeye was abit tough. One can chew slowly and savour its beefy flavours but guess I liked fatty beef a little too much.

Slow roasted pork belly (@$15++)

Best dish of the night? All votes went to pork belly.

Had churros for desserts. First time having this! Served with dark chocolate and sweet creme anglais.

churros (@$8++)

Best eaten while it's hot, and gotta knock off quite a bit of those sugar before dunking it into the slightly bitter chocolate sauce. Yums. Crispy outsides and abit cakey-kuehy on its insides.

The service staff were courteous, and they do acknowledge the customers' long wait. The bistro seem to be doing well, with its steady stream of diners. One might even catch a glimpse of local tv/radio personalities here.

Our meal there costs $140 for 5 pax.

&MADE By Bruno Ménard @ Pacific Plaza, Scotts Road

Curiouser, curiouser and that's what brought me there. The place was quiet on a Sunday afternoon, way past lunch time.

red napkin

It was no fun being a lone diner. The only table for two was smack right in the middle of the restaurant, surrounded by tables meant for four and more...

casual diner

Anyway, tried the 'B' burger (@$19++) and had an iced tea (@$6++). Think my mind had a brief disconnect at that moment as I had mistakenly thought iced tea as iced lemon tea...ya, I know...I know...

The osmanthus sancha (sencha?) was a novelty, in terms of the way it was served. Osmanthus flavoured tea frozen in ice cubes and then dissolved with hot water to release the flavours. It has a sweet smell in the beginning but in terms of taste, it tasted like an extremely light green tea, or plain water. Should've just added $2++ to get a half pint of beer. *sobs*

iced tea (osmanthus sancha)

The burger looked quite manageable as it arrived on the table.

The 'B' Burger (served with garlic & vinegar fries)

shoestring fries

The fries tasted more of garlic than vinegar. In fact, hardly any vinegar taste at all.

dry aged beef patty, caramelized onions, comte cheese and garlic mayo

First time having comté cheese and thought it had melted quite nicely on the patty. According to wiki, comté cheese ought to have a certain grading for taste in order for it to be called as what it is, otherwise, it'll just be gruyère. Interesting.

thick patty

Quite liked the texture and the thickness of the beef patty. The overall flavours were surprisingly subtle, with just that hint of sweetness from caramelized onions, and that occasional whiff of garlic mayo and probably that bit of melted butter on the bun surface.

Felt rather stuffed by the end of the meal.

For the month of July, there's a sure-win lucky dip after one has settled the bill, and this is in conjunction with &Made's 1st Birthday Celebration. Apparently one might win a burger (a Rossini, perhaps?)

mini sundae redeemable before 15 August 2013 (terms & conditions apply)

Omakase Burger @ The Grandstand (Turf City), Bukit Timah

Located at 200 Turf Club Road. Ample parking spaces. This burger joint can't be seen from the carpark, so go on inside and look for Giant Supermarket and you'll find the shop.

'outdoor' seats

omakase ~ let the chef decide

order from the counter

The burgers here are kind of pricey. Single patty burgers starts from $13.90. Just for the burger. To make it a meal (with fries and soft drink), that'll cost another $5.90. Nevertheless, we came to try the newest patty on the burger block, and so we did.

Between three people with normal appetite and one who just wanted to snack, we ordered a deluxe cheeseburger, two omakase cheese burgers and made one a meal plus changed the soft drink to root beer float, and the normal fries to cheese fries. Total damage for this combo? About $53+.

To order, simply saunter up to the bright and cheery looking cashier counter where it is currently helmed by Mr Cheng (senior). After making the payment and collecting the receipts, you'll get a buzzer that'll vibrate when either drinks/food are ready for collection.

buzzer

saw quite a lot of root beer floats getting ordered

Our burgers were ready in about ten minutes or less. First impression? Whoa, these are baby burgers! Hahaa, cute.

Omakase Cheeseburgers

Don't mind the look of the cheeseburger. I had them cut into half for easier sharing, although Mr Cheng Senior had warned that it wouldn't look as nice.

juicy beef patty of a special blend

artisanal bun, cheese and special sauce, beef patty, tomatoes and lettuce

special blend smashed beef patty, yums!

The star of the burger, was no doubt, its proprietry blended USDA Choice-grade beef patty. Its texture was akin to wagyu-like burger patties. Soft, juicy and with that last bit of bite of not too finely ground beef. The special sauce was supposed to be tangy and spicy but maybe because it had mixed in with the melted cheese, it tasted more salty and slight tangy than spicy. Would've preferred if the bun had its underside charred, but then again, that wouldn't be 'omakase' style already, right?

Feel free to take the sauces (chili, tomato, and mustard) from its dispenser. There's also pickles, if you'd like some.

young pickles

Here's a picture of the cheese fries (as part of a set meal), so probably the smaller sized version.

cheese fries

closer view

Not quite the taste that I had conjured up for cheese fries. Maybe I had it when its a tad too cold. But was pleasantly surprised to find one fries that tasted of truffle. That was nice (truffle + cheese + fries = yums!).

Also tried the AdstraGold (Golden Ale) draft beer (@$8.90). This has a slight metallic aftertaste to it, and the beer doesn't seem to be cold enough. Not sure.

AdstraGold beer

golden coloured

De Burg @ Bukit Merah

Located at Blk 119 Bukit Merah Lane 1, this eatery is really near the office. Near like walking distance near, or if you like, two bus stops away. So it made sense to drop by to try, especially after it has been featured in a local tv programme, so decided to see what's the fuss about.

stall front

indoor or alfresco seats

Most of the coffeeshop tables are four-seaters, so if you're going in a larger group then it'll be good to make reservations. Their email response was really fast. Was impressed.

menu

It's self-service so just take the menu from the plastic holder in front of the cashier, decide what to eat then proceed to cashier to order and to pay. Then, you'll be given a device that'll buzz when the food is ready for collection.

buzzer

Quite a good number of choices for burgers; The Signature/Celebrity Burgers, then there are the usual beef, lamb and pork burgers that one can choose between 100gms or 200gms patty. For 200gms patty, you'll have a choice of 2 sides (salad, chips, tater tots or ranch beans). For 100gms patty, by default it'll be served with chips.

Allow at least 15 minutes for cooking time. If you're part of a larger group and there are many burgers to cook, then the waiting time would be much longer as the burgers for the entire group ought to be ready at the same time for collection.

Certain items may not be available on your day of visit, so there's a whiteboard behind the cashier that displays those items.

Ok, back to the food.

De Burg Decadence, with extra side orders of chicken wings and onion rings

onion rings

chicken wings

Just realised how sinful all these deep fried stuffs are! Chicken wings were crispy but felt that the meat seemed to be somewhat lacking in flavour. No matter, as there're chili, mustard and tabasco sauces available, should one prefers it.

ready for some 'burgasm'?

De Burg Decadence - pièce de résistance

bun, mayo ring, greens, tomato, portobello mushroom, crispy bacon, melted cheese, Aus wagyu beef patty 200gms, bbq ring, bun

eat me

 juicy wagyu patty

The burger was good. First bite, soft bun with crispy bottom. Chew and savour mild sweetness of bread, crisp fresh greens and tomato slice bursting with juice. Second bite, a hint of smoky bitterness from portobello, very moist and flavourful beef patty contrasted by crunchy crispy bacon. Yums.

glistening crispy bacon

When oil started dripping out of the burger, it was inevitable that the mind would be forced to evaluate whether it was worth all the calories and fats. So in times of emotional turmoil over the want to continue eating versus the logic to stop, guess it's time to munch on some greens while the battle rages.

fresh greens

nicely salted fries

Eventually, without knowing it, it was almost down to the last bite...

nom nom nom

The wagyu burger is only available on Fridays and weekends and in limited quantity.

For ladies or small eaters, a 100gms burger is actually quite filling (considering the chips and a drink). This meal was shared between 2 pax and we were stuffed.