Drinks @ Unity Street, Robertson Walk

Went to chill out at Robertson Walk yesterday. First stop, Cappadocia Cafe and Restaurant. The night was nice, air was cool and there wasn't any crowd at that cafe. Saw people smoking shisha too. Ordered a mojito cocktail as I didn't want to get a beer. The beer selection that they have are Heineken, Tiger, Sol, Efes, and  Erdinger, if not wrong. Another friend got an apple tea drink.

mojito (@$13++)

The cocktail tasted mild during the first half of the glass. I think I like caipirinha better (because of the palm sugar!). Hehehe, I was thinking that this mojito wasn't sweet enough! Anyways, the alcohol kicked in much slower and felt better after finishing the drink. The service here is somewhat, regrettable. The person who took our order seemed to have difficulty understanding our order. Took him quite a while to write it down also. Maybe he's new. Anyway, we asked for iced-water and he said he'll get it for us but it never did come.

Next stop, Wine Connection Deli & Bistro. Depending on what you're ordering, a bottle of wine could be as affordable as $25++ per bottle. We ordered a bottle of winner of some gold medal Spinyback white wine from New Zealand (@$37++) but they have this weekend charge of another $10 per bottle.

As it was past midnight, we decided to get some food as snack. Our friend who had been here before recommends the ham and bruschetta. So we did the 'make your own platter' combo where you tick off the items that you want to eat.

bruschetta, honey glazed ham and ewe cheese

favourite meat, looking yummy and waiting to be devoured

The bread was nicely crisps, tomato bits tangy and tasty but abit too laden with olive oil. The ewe cheese being a hard cheese, was a little chalky and not too pungent. Ham was fantastic. Nice thick cut, and for the good parts are what we deemed the 'fatty' parts. Not fatty per say as in you see layers of fats but that particular taste in your mouth as you savour the flavour and juiciness of the meat.

The Spinyback wine was fruity, not tannic and has a slight salty sourish finish. Acceptable for someone who prefers moscatos.

Spinyback white wine, not sure whether it was a riesling or something else

The service at Wine Connection was good. Friendly and efficient. It started to rain while we were enjoying our drinks and snacks, so we asked their help to shift over to a dryer area where the rain don't splatter onto you. No problems here. No complaints also even when they had to lay out another set of utensils for us. Nice.

iced-water is served freely to customers

This place seemed rather popular, judging by its crowd.Oh, and by the way.. maybe it's better to look at the cheese before ordering especially for cheese illiterates like me. Ordered a goat's cheese that no one (on our table) can eat (stomach). What a waste!

Hong Kong Sheng Kee Dessert @ Clementi Mall

Located at B1 of the mall, it is one of those kiosk shops with seats. We visited on a Thursday night and the place was rather packed. The set lunch menu was available for dinner as well. There are two types of combo. Type 1 is where the main dish is a rice dish and served with a drink. Type 2 has a main dish (usually noodles) and served with desserts (sweet) and savouries (for example carrot cake). Both sets are priced at less than $10.

My friend ordered a rice dish of preserved vegetables and pork with iced-coffee for $6.90. I wasn't feeling hungry, so ordered their mango pomelo sago dessert ($4.90).

preserved vegetable with pork rice

mango pomelo sago

My friend commented that the rice dish was tasty. I liked the mango pomelo sago but wished that it was more chilled though. The dessert sweetness was just right and thick with mango flavour. Yums.

However, this is one joint that you have to eat and go. We were chased away even when my friend still had more than half a cup of his drink left...

Ma Maison @ The Central

Located at Level 3 of The Central. Go to level 2, pass by Billy Bombers, another shop that sells nasi padang place and just follow the escalator nearest to Ramen Santouka, upwards. Leads you straight to the restaurant. Made a reservation prior to our visit as we've heard that Ma Maison here, is rather small.

shopfront

cosy interior

I've always liked the ambience of Ma Maisons. Dim lights, heavy furnitures, dark wooden theme...feels cosy and intimate. Haven't been to Ma Maison for many years and this was my first time to this branch. Was amused by the number of menus displayed on our table when we got seated.

our table, reserved

an array of menus on the table

food menu, the red rectangle one is for drinks(incl. alcohol) and desserts

We ordered assorted sausages for appetiser (when I really wanted scallop carpaccio! But had a friend who didn't want that... *sobs*), and for mains, we ordered large hamburger steak, beef stroganov omurice, and mentaiko pasta.

Iced water is served freely and topped up regularly.

assorted sausages (@$11.80++)

The sausages were really tiny. Came with a small serving of sauerkraut. Everyone had 2 pieces of the sausages, one chipolata type and the other is the red coloured ones. Not sure what sauce it had, but it tasted sweetish. This is one appetiser that you can skip. Better stick to escargots or salads or scallop carpaccios.

Next, comes our mains! Large hamburger steak. During taking order time, the waitress will ask if you'd lke Japanese or brown sauce. We remembered the picture in the menu showed a sunny side up with this dish, so we asked our waitress. She said, "Oh, the egg is only if it was ordered with brown sauce." =_='
Ok, next time remember to order brown sauce instead or you'll lose an egg...

large hamburger steak with Japanese sauce

Beef patty was still moist but not as juicy as I remembered it to be, many years ago when I first had this dish. Things do change, I guessed.

beef stroganov omurice

First time having beef stroganov omurice. The egg was fluffy and light. Very yummy. The sauce was nice too, with a hint of smokey bitterness. Goes well with the rice. Beef slices were tender.

mentaiko pasta

The mentaiko pasta was likeable. The noodles texture was just right, not too al-dente. Ingredients included small clams (tiny la-la), thinly sliced mushrooms and spicy cod roe. Not spicy at all, and flavourful. Nice.

Next, desserts. The friendly waitress brought the various available tarts to our table, when we wanted to order.Tarts are one pricey dessert. Ranges from $6.80++ to $8.80++.

blueberry tart

closer look

The blueberries were encased in jelly. Much like the usual fresh cream fruit cake. Blueberries here looked bigger than the usual but that could be because I'm too used to see shrunk dried version of blueberries? Hahaa! Not too sweet, easy to eat. But my friend complained that it was too sour for her.

Total bill came up to $77 (after 10% Stanchart credit card promo) and it fed 3 pax.

ps: pictures taken by blackberry camera phone

PappaRich @ Kajang

Located near Kajang town (small town in Selangor, Malaysia), occupying a space that was previously selling furnitures and plants. The compound is large, and its decor is mostly dark brown and green. These kind of modern kopitiams/cafes seems to be thriving in Kajang.

inside the cafe

menu

We went there at about 4+pm, and decided to have an early dinner. To order, simply press on the buzzer/bell at your table. Someone will attend to you shortly after that.

Ordered curry chicken noodles and iced lemon tea for myself. Mom ordered dry kway teow with steamed chicken. Sis and dad had fried rice and bro chose rice with rendang chicken. They had iced coffee and iced milk tea.

chicken rendang with yellow rice

kway teow with steamed chicken

tiny portion for fried rice

curry chicken noodles

with cockles, bean sprouts, steamed chicken and beancurd

The curry chicken noodles was one of the better dish amongst the ones that we've ordered. Best in terms of value and portion. Pricey at RM9.90++. The rest of the stuffs were pretty run of the mill yet expensive. Can get better stuffs elsewhere for much less.

Total bill came up to RM70 for 5 pax. Good news is, this place has free wifi. Not very good news is.. sometimes the wifi connection doesn't seem to be working well....

Jack's Place @ AnchorPoint

Located at Level 1 of AnchorPoint, this place always seemed packed during lunch time. Likely need to wait for a while before their service staff gets you a table.

table setting

cutlery

My colleague ordered the executive lunch set of ribeye steak while I had the Friday daily set lunch. All set lunches came with soup of the day, dessert and coffee.

Today's soup of the day was cream of spinach.

cream of spinach with garlic bread

dunk it in!

The spinach soup was alright. Healthy tasting. Warmed the tummy before our mains arrived.

ribeye steak done medium (@$16++ executive set lunch)

chicken chop with garlic sauce (@$11.30++ Friday daily set lunch)

The daily set lunches usually have a choice of two mains and for Friday, the other choice happened to be fish and chips. The executive set lunch has about four mains to choose from. Can't remember the rest though.

looked a bit more rare than medium

The ribeye tasted beefy, and I thought those with fatty bits were quite nice. The chicken chop had a dry/charred surface but the thigh meat underneath those skins were tender and moist. Not bad.

baked potato from the steak plate

dessert

The dessert of the day was a fruits mini bowl with nata-de-coco. I thought it was quite exotic to have nata-de-coco with fruits...

Service tends to be slower during peak hours and you may need to repeat your reminders more than once. We had to alert two different service staff before our dessert and coffee were served.

Total meal costs about $32 for two pax.