Tea Lounge @ The Regent Hotel

Located at the Regent Hotel at Cuscaden Road. If you are walking from Orchard MRT, head towards Wheelock and then towards Hilton Hotel until you come towards a small road at the Forum. I was a bit lost there, so I asked the security uncle the location of Regent Hotel. He said alot of people had asked him the same question. Hahaa!

the back of Regent Hotel, if you're walking from Forum

hotel lobby

Tea Lounge reception

our table

On weekdays 12-5pm, they have the English Afternoon Tea set @$36++ per pax. Can choose 2 drinks; for example free flow of coffee and one flavour of tea, or two flavors of tea with refillable hot water. There are about 12 selections of tea flavours to choose from. If you are not into coffee nor tea, then there is the last option of chocolate (hot/cold) drink.

menu

teacup with strainer

tea room blend

Tried the tea room blend and afternoon darjeeling. These flavours sits well with conservative tea drinker like me. Not too exotic. There is one really smoky flavoured leaves from China with name that is too funky for me to remember! The rose flavoured was really fragrant and nice too.

coffee

sugar cubes

We sipped tea and chit-chatted while waited for the finger sandwiches.

finger sandwiches

roast beef horseradish sandwich (right)

roast beef

The roast beef finger sandwich has a certain pungent smell to it (probably from horseradish?). An acquired taste.

guessed this is the free range chicken on brioche?

smoked salmon on sunflower bread

organic egg mayo

is this the McLelland smoked cheddar cheese on the right?

The best tasting finger sandwich, I felt was the brown colored bread (soft) with cheese (McLelland smoked cheddar?). Nice and yummy. All in all, the finger sandwiches were quite 'dry'. And looks can be deceptive. After that plate of petite looking finger sandwiches, I felt the tummy filling up fast, especially when combined with two cups of hot tea.

After the finger sandwiches, out came the 3-tiered pastries. It was really pretty to look at. Somehow it lends to the atmosphere of a 'proper' English afternoon tea.

3-tiered pastries

First tier, was the scones. Plain and raisin scones. Scones with jam, lemon curd and clotted cream. The best combination ever!

scones

clotted cream

lemon curd

strawberry preserve

yummy!

Devonshire clotted cream (should be quite high in fats content!) gave the scones a smooth and creamy bite while the strawberry preserve or lemon curd added a touch of sweetness to the buttery coarseness.

a bite of scone, a sip of tea

Second tier was the savouries. By now, the pace is definitely slowing down.

savouries

crispy pastry (cheese straw)

sausage pastry

pie

mushroom spinach quiche

cross section of quiche

I liked the pie on this savoury plate, while most of the people in the group preferred the quiche. After having our fill on the savouries, we were all quite stuffed. Before starting on the sweets, we had our pot of tea changed to a different flavour.

sweets

am quite tickled by this dessert, looks like a smiley face with sunglasses

sour alert!

is that a flower petal?

nice mousse like dessert with berry

chocolate truffle

madeleine (didn't like this, as it didn't taste fresh)

raspberry coconut delice

The service crew were friendly and obliged with hot water refills, more clotted cream and preserves. We spent a leisurely two hours or so at the lounge. An indulgence indeed.

We paid $34 per pax as there was a UOB credit card promotion.

Hua Nam Restaurant @ Upper Thomson Road

Located at 244F Upper Thomson Road, this coffeeshop can be seen by the main road. Along the same stretch, there are other shops selling prata, porridge, noodles etc.

It feels old school and I don't mean the modernised old school vibe. The shop has probably been around for many many years.

inside the coffeeshop

old school tiles

This coffeeshop sells zhi char, roasted meats, fish/chicken porridge and dim sum. My friend wanted to eat the dim sum, so we ordered that.

dim sum

To order dim sum, just go up to the front of the shop where you see trays of dim sum, and let the young chap or uncle know which type you want. They'll steam it up and send it to your table. We ordered har gao, siew mai, lor mai kai, xiao long bao, pork ribs, chee cheong fun and beancurd roll with minced meat and waterchestnut.

pickled vege and chili sauce

har gao

lor mai kai

siew mai

The har gao was tiny and prawns is definitely not this coffeeshop's forte. My friend says that har gao is his benchmark for any dim sum joint. So, it was disappointment at first bite. The lor mai kai tasted as it looked. Uninspiring. The siew mai looked alright and it tasted like those factory produced version minus the strong peppery taste commonly found in those mass manufactured products.

chee cheong fun

The chee cheong fun here looked a little unusual. The skin was thick and it was stuffed with minced meat, and its sauce was at the bottom of the tiny saucer. Not unlikeable, just unusual.

waiter, there's minced meat in my cheong fun!

We had a laugh when we picked up the xiao long bao to eat. They used cut carrot as a base for the xiao long bao to prevent its bottom from sticking.

carrot base for the xiao long bao

In my opinion, the xiao long bao here tasted strangely like da bao (big bao) with soggy skin. I would avoid this at all cost.

If there is one dim sum that you must order, make it the steamed pork ribs. Served piping hot, its meat was tender, juicy and tasty. Flavourful and not too much bones.

steamed pork ribs

this was how it all looked like after a bite or two

The chili sauce here tasted like a watered down version, and not spicy. We had about 8 plates of items plus 3 iced barley. The total meal costs about $22 for 3 pax.

Dian Xiao Er @ Lot One Choa Chu Kang

Located at the basement of Lot One, this restaurant seems to be enjoying brisk business during the weekends. The waitresses are garbed in traditional Chinese inn waiter's costumes. Visited on a Sunday evening at about 7pm and there was a queue already formed. Waited for about 10 minutes before being seated.

interior

service staff hurrying to attend to walk-in customers

wet towel (chargeable)

Their set meals start from $38++ till $66++ for 2 pax. For us, we took the family set meal (@$38++ for 2 pax) that comprises of roasted angelica duck, mongolian pork ribs (or dong po rou), stir fried kai lan with salted fish and lime, soup of the day and white rice. Ordered plum with lime and luo han with longan for our drinks as the set doesn't come with any drinks.

Service was friendly, and the wait staff always greets the customer prior to placing the food on the table.

longan luo han drink

sour plum with lime drink

I'd much prefer if the longan drink was sweeter. The sour plum with lime lives up to expectation as it was sour, salty, sweet and refreshing. Both drinks could do with more ice though. The food was served fairly quickly and soon we were enjoying our meal.

table-full of dishes for 2 pax

stir fried baby kai lan with salted fish and lime

close up view

This is my first time having vegetable that tasted abit sourish. The salted fish bits were very very little and its fragrance was practically drowned out by the sourish taste.

mongolian pork ribs

closer view of pork ribs

The pork ribs was tasty, and its meat was tender to bite. Tasted pepperish and sweetish. This was the most oily dish in our meal.

soup of the day, old cucumber soup

The soup of the day was old cucumber soup and each has one bowl. The soup was pretty yummy. Besides the slice of old cucumber, there was pork ribs bits and some herbs in the soup.

soupy remnants

angelica duck

nice roasted skin and tender meat

The roasted duck was enjoyable as its meat was tender and its skin nicely roasted. The sauce has strong herbal taste (当归 or angelica) and was a tad too salty and sweet at the same time. Goes well with rice.

This meal costs about $50 (inclusive of towels, drinks and taxes) for 2 pax.

Here's a link to subsequent visit with family.

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.