Limoncello Pizza and Grill @ Rivergate, 95 Robertson Quay

Located within the Rivergate condominium, Blk 95. Very close to Bar Bar Black Sheep. Business was thriving when we were there. Expect lots of well-heeled diners, and non-locals, or an occassional young couple on a date to impress.

Opted for al-fresco dining, and weather was hot and humid these days. The indoor dining looked comfortable with airconditioning, plants and ceiling fans. Ice-water is served here, as well as bottled ones.

getting ready for dinner

Ordered a ravioli dish (with cheese and mushrooms filling), pizza and squid ink pasta to share amongst 4 of us. Also had a limoncello drink each (just to get a taste of the restaurant's namesake).

limoncello

Limoncello is actually an after-dinner drink, and made from lemon peel. Very sweet. Bread basket was served while we waited for our main courses to arrive.

bread basket

bread dip

The first to arrive was the ravioli.

ravioli

mushroom and cheese fillings

The ravioli was fragrant with creamy cheese sauce. The fillings were nicely smooth with mushroom hints. However, the sauce was on the salty side.

squid ink pasta with seafood

with prawns, squids and scallops chunks

The squid ink pasta was done al-dente, with just the right amount of sauce that nicely coated the noodles and seafood. The seafood was fresh and bouncy to the bite.

a slice of pizza

We ordered a 13 inch pizza, and it was nicely crunchy. However, a friend commented that it tasted like it had been in the oven a few seconds too long. Nice but nothing to shout about. I liked the squid ink pasta best.

This meal (inclusive of drinks and taxes) should be about less than $90 and fed 4 pax.

Akashi @ Vivocity

Located at B2 of Vivocity. Visited during lunch time and there were ample seats available. As this was our first visit, we took some time to pore over the menu.

have some green tea while deciding what to order

We ordered gyu teriyaki, sukiyaki set and umi tsuki don set. The sets here means it's going to be served with rice and fruits. In Chinese restaurants, they will serve peanuts while here at Akashi, they served us edamame (chargeable @$2).

edamame

The food arrived fairly quickly and the first to reach our table was the pan-fried beef teriyaki.

beautiful gyu teriyaki ala-carte

Served with cabbage shreds. The teriyaki beef was nicely pink in the middle, slightly chewy and the middle pieces were really tender. Nice texture, and tasted good especially when the sauce gets absorbed by the crispy outerpart. There is also a drizzle of plum sauce on the cabbage so overall you will get plenty of taste from this dish.

yummy beef!

My friend had the umi tsuki don set and it looked delectable. It is basically fresh seafood sashimi on rice. There were maguro, salmon, tako, avocado and tamago cubes. Served with miso soup, salad (shredded cabbage) and fruits.

umi tsuki don set

close up view

Tried the maguro, salmon and tako cubes. Fresh and firm. Just remember to go easy on the wasabi! And finally, the sukiyaki set.

sukiyaki set

beef slices

The sukiyaki pot has chockfuls of ingredients. Huge amount of wongbok simmered in the soup, some leafy greens, substantial pieces of tofu, a handful of japanese tang hoon and many many slices of beef! The beef slices were tender (if it is not left in  the pot for too long) especially those with a bit of fats on them. The soup was sweet and flavourful.

The service was efficient and green tea topped up regularly. This lunch is a birthday treat from my colleague, so thanks to Cathy. Otherwise, it will cost about $33 per pax, with the umi tsuki don set being the priciest at $25++. Between lunch and dinner, the same sets have a pricing difference between $3 to $5.

Spicy Thai Thai Restaurant @ Dickson Road

Located next to the Wanderlust Hotel, somewhere along Dickson Road. If you see Jalan Besar, Dunlop St. then this place is nearby.

signboard

The place looks abit dingy and we dined at the back alley. The lady who came to take our orders was friendly and helpful, plus conversant in Mandarin too.

menu

Decided to go for their Thai steamboat bbq combo, and ordered a small tom yam clear soup, pineapple rice, spicy mini wings and fried kai lan. The place looked quite busy with many diners, and the helpful lady did warn us that we might need to wait a bit for the food but nevertheless, not too long. Like any other hawker centre, payment for drinks is expected once the drinks are delivered to the table.

green and red sauce

The green dipping sauce was quite spicy while the red sauce was sweet and also a tad salty. So use it sparingly, I'd say.

charcoal fired shallow pot for steamboat and bbq

steamboating the vege and bbq'ing the meats

The steamboat set consists of vegetables such as wong bok, kangkong and cilantro. It also has tang hoon (vermicelli) and an egg. The meat plate has many fatty mini lard cubes to oil the pot/stove. This set has pork done two cuts. One streaky fats and the other lean meat type. It also came with some squids and small prawns (de-shelled). Quite fun to cook and sometimes need to 'rescue' the meats out of the soup.

tom yam clear soup

stir fried kai lan

pineapple rice

closer view of pineapple rice

mini spicy wings

tiny wings

The tom yam soup was spicy but shiok because the heat doesn't stay on your tongue as it dissipates after a while. Not much ingredients in it though. The pineapple rice was sweeter than any of the pineapple rice that I had tasted so far in Singapore and has loads of cashew nuts in it. The mini spicy wings looked interesting and it was really tiny. It was dry, has a nice lemongrass flavour, adequately spiced and very tasty. Goes well with beer, perhaps.

at the end of the meal, the pot looked like this..

We paid $65 for the food and it fed 4 pax.

Old Ponggol Satay @ Alexandra Village Food Centre

My friend recommended this when it was still at ABC Brickworks Market, but we were too late. Its neighbouring stall said they had moved to the newly renovated Alexandra Village Food Centre. Was at AVFC recently, hence decided to give this a try.

stall front

The stall was manned by a young chap and an old uncle. All satays (chicken, pork, mutton) are priced at 50 cents a stick. Ketupat as well. Ordered mutton and pork to try.

mutton + pork + ketupat

The satay size, can't say its big nor is it small. I think they were just about the regular sized. Rather thin, but I've eaten even smaller pieces elsewhere. Their version of satay sauce was not spicy (though it has a layer of chili oil) and has a dollop of pineapple sauce at the top.

satay sauce

ketupat

The ketupat rice was rather soft and compact, but at least it came wrapped in the authentic casing and not those plastic type!

mutton satay

pork satay

The mutton satay has abit of 'lamb'ey smell but not overpowering. The meat was tender and enjoyable to eat. Pork satay has this tiny piece of fat at the center, that gave a good burst of flavour when eaten together with the slightly charred lean meat. Overall, the satay taste at this stall, leaned towards the sweeter side of things.

Overall costs was $5.50 for one pax. Looked harmless but this meal was quite filling. Washed it all down with a glass of cold sugar cane. Nice.

Paradise Inn @ NEX

Located at Level 3 of NEX mall, with nearest MRT being the Serangoon MRT. Took a train from Yew Tee and changed at Bishan. Went to the restaurant before 12pm, and was seated immediately. The place was nicely decorated with soup pots lining up its wall.

interior

typical table setting

Once seated, the service staff brought a plate of peanuts to our table. This is chargeable (same as towel).

peanuts

menu

order chit

For drinks, once can opt for the usual per pot (think it's those usual flavours like jasmine/oolong) refillable permutation where it is calculated per head. Or choose from the herb/fruit infused tea where it is meant for per pax portion (non-refillable).

jasmine, osmanthus tea

lychee mojito tea

My friend had the jasmine, osmanthus, dried longan with chrysanthemum tea. Served in a teapot, with tealight and a quaint small little drinking cup.

cute cup

can you see jasmine, osmanthus, dried longan and chrysanthemum?

The lychee mojito was refreshing and nicely sweetened. Nice drink on a hot day. Not sure why is it called a mojito though but suspect it could be just due to that sprig of mint used as decoration. Hahaa!

lychee yums

We ordered dishes to go with rice.  Steamed minced meat with salted fish, yellow croaker fish, pork ribs, baby kai lan with oyster sauce and prawn paste chicken wings. All small sizes. Actually wanted to try their steamed Song fish head but apparently, it was out of stock. So the service staff suggested yellow croaker instead.

steamed minced meat with salted fish

yellow croaker fish

kai lan with oyster sauce

prawn paste chicken wings

white rice

The rice was soft, so it can be enjoyed by the young and old alike. The kai lan was quite salty (too much oyster sauce) and a little oily. The minced meat was enjoyable as it tasted homecooked. The fish has just a  hint of muddy smell. Otherwise, its meat was soft. But do watch out for the small bones.

closer view of steamed minced meat

a waitstaff commented that she has never eaten yellow croaker before

My favourite was the prawn paste chicken wings. Actually the drumlets tasted nicer than the midwings here! Meaty and juicy, and not too salty. Yums! Service was brisk, and friendly.

The above meal costs about $65 (inclusive of tax, service charge, towel and peanuts) for 3 pax.