Din Tai Fung @ Serangoon NEX

Located at Level B1, this expanse of an eatery was not difficult to locate. As usual, approach the counter for a number, and you'll get an order chit to tick off the items that you'd like to order. In this manner, they could process your order as soon as you get a table. Waiting time here was just 5 minutes during Sunday lunch hour.

chinese tea

As usual, ordered the vegetarian appetiser, xiao long bao's (minced pork and vegetable half a dozen each), chicken soup, fried rice and deep fried pork cutlet.

appetiser of beancurd strips, glass noodles and beansprouts

chicken soup and pork cutlet

Chicken soup was wholesome and light. I've heard so much about the pork cutlet of Din Tai Fung, but it was just alright. In fact, it tasted pretty mild. The meat was quite lean as well.

Must have orders for most tables? Likely the 小笼包 dumplings.

vegetable dumplings

waiting to be devoured

quite a pretty colour inside

The vegetable dumplings were quite tasty, and I did like those vibrant green colours too. But, give me the original, anytime. Minced pork dumplings, served hot and oozing with soup. Best eaten with ginger and vinegar.

pour this onto the ginger plate

minced pork dumpling, looking delicate

bursting with goodness

Our tea was topped up frequently, automatically. The service staff was alarmingly polite! She'd be informing us that she's here to top up the tea, and after she's done, she'd asked us to enjoy our meal. Never fails to repeat the same procedure everytime that she was at our table, which I'd say probably 5-6 times? Wow.

The Merry Men @ 86 Robertson Quay

Located at Robertson Quay, this place is quite near EM by the River (separated by a short underpass looking pathway). If you're at The Quayside, just walk towards Filter and EM, and abit more up after EM, and you should be able to find the place.

Made a reservation prior to visit ('coz it's a Friday!) but unfortunately, they lost the reservation. Not sure why also. So waited for a while, and they managed to get a table for my friends who were there early. I actually lost my way, so only managed to join them at 8pm.

We chose outdoor seats, facing the river view. They have three types of beer on draught, but my friends were quite taken with Mac's Great White Cloudy Wheat beer (New Zealand). We also got the Asahi Happy Hour promo of buy 3 bottles and get 1 free.

Asahi Happy Hour

super dry

everyone seems to be a pure blonde

except for one on our table, who got a red rock

I  chose a cider drink. They have Kopparberg Strawberry and Elderflower (from Sweden). Tried both and liked both. Elderflower is more refreshing while strawberry flavoured ones reminds me of those strawberry lollipop with swirls of pink. Nice.

lovely sweet strawberry cider, yums

light and refreshing

Food. We need food! Ordered a squid ink pasta (tagliatelle), bangers and mash and half dozen buffalo wings to share.

squid ink pasta

The squid ink pasta here can be described in one word: minimalist. Really. Just pasta, a few prawns (3 pieces) and some cherry tomatoes. That's it. Tasted like olive oil and a little sourish (probably from a dash of lime, or something).

tagliatelle and prawn

My friends voted the pasta as the best dish for our table. The bangers and mash is most expensive dish amongst our order, @$24 for 2 pieces of plump looking sausages, 2 pieces of onion rings, some mashed potatoes, a handful of greens and some shrooms. That's it. Ok ok, of course one of the sausage was a Kurobuta "Toulouse" and the darker one, a wagyu beef sausage.

bangers and mash

two types of sausages: Kurobuta "toulouse" and wagyu beef

I think I prefer the kurobuta. Oh, wait. I only had one slice of the wagyu 'coz it was eaten up by the rest of my friends. No wonder, I only remembered the pork sausage.... We were hungry.

The buffalo wings, tasted like fusion. A little bit coconut'ey on its red sauce and it tasted good with the blue cheese dip. But the wings 'aint juicy though.

buffalo wings with blue cheese dip

closer view

The good thing about this place is, all prices are nett. No gst, service charge whatsoever. The service crew were quite friendly, and our orders were taken quite promptly as soon as they're able to come by. Opens till 2am on Friday nights. Chill and relax with close friends.

we had 2 jugs of Great White (@$36 per jug and serves about 4 glasses), so drink up drink up!

There were four of us and we spent about $50 per pax. Currently, if paying via OCBC credit card, you'll get 10% off.

The Rotisserie @ China Square Food Centre

Located at Telok Ayer Street. Visited on a weekday night and indoor seats were speckled with patrons. Plenty of outdoor seats unoccupied. My friend has been raving about this place since maybe forever, so guess that's enough reason to warrant a visit.

There are menu boards at the cashier, as well as near the big table towards the back of the shop. It's generally self-service, so order and pay at the cashier first, then go towards the food area to collect your order. The prices listed on board are nett price. From observation, most people who were there that night, had chicken.

tables for large groups

nearer to the back of the shop

paper napkin

For the sake of variety, I had the pork knuckles (half portion @$16), and a glass of Yalumba Sauvignon Blanc (@$7). My friend, of course, got her all time favourite de-facto quarter chicken (@$10) and a pot of Pearl of the Orient tea (@$4).

hey, who drank my wine? nah..'twas no one, it just came in this size

One can choose either the hot side dish or the cold side dish. The hot side dishes options are mashed potato, corn, peas or cauliflower. The cold side dishes include coleslaw, potato salad, pasta, and rocket leaves with basil and cherry tomatoes.

I had the potato salad and rocket leaves for my sides, and my friend had cauliflower, mashed potato and corn. Yeap, apparently one can choose not two but three sides from the hot counter.

pork knuckles (half) with potato salad and rocket leaves drizzled with balsamic vinegar

closer view

You'll get a whole lot of meat (and fats as well) with that half portion of knuckles. Unfortunately, the skin wasn't crackling that night, and the amount of meat was just a little too much for me. Perhaps, it'll be better if it can be shared but my friend was just not interested in pork knuckles. She was totally focused on the chicken. I got a little 'jelak' after a while of chewing through half the meat.

On its own, the pork knuckles were kinda juicy. Its meat solid and chewy and can be considered tender (not meltingly soft tender though). But still had some difficulty cutting the meat at times using the butter knife due to the fats surrounding the meat.

The Yalumba wine was light and provided some respite from the heaviness of the meat. Oh, and don't forget the mustard. That too gave it some variety in taste.

quarter chicken with mashed potato, corn and cauliflowers

tender chicken

My friend really loves the chicken. She has declared that she'll be back in two weeks time to eat this again. I had a bite of it, and the chicken meat was fork tender but the skin was a little salty though. Nice and a quarter chicken with that much of side dish can last you a long way, and all that for just $10. Probably, that's the draw.