KungFu Paradise @ JCube Jurong East

Located at Level 1 of JCube. This restaurant is also under the Paradise Group, hence, membership can be used here to get points, redeemable on next visit.

menu

breakfast menu

opens till 4am

There was a time-limited offer for one dish; Japanese Black Pepper Curry Chicken Rice for $6.90++ (usual price is $10.90++). Sounds like a good deal, so we tried that. Also ordered the Prawn Paste Chicken, Chicken Cutlet Curry Rice and Lava Custard Bun.

honey lemon and water chestnut

KungFu Stylo Coffee

Japanese Black Pepper Curry Chicken Rice, served with some greens and half a lava egg

The time-limited offer dish does have an impact, visually, with its larger than life looking whole chicken thigh! However, the Japanese curry tasted somewhat like the curry for roti prata. There's quite some heat coming from the black pepper in the curry! It was also unfortunate that the thigh was overcooked.

The chicken cutlet curry rice fared better and the curry here was similar to the other dish.

Japanese Curry Chicken Cutlet Rice

served with sunny side up

The side dish of Prawn Paste Chicken (@$6.90++) was quite good albeit pricey for just 5 mid-wings. Well marinated, very tasty with still moist chicken and smells great. Just a tad too oily though.

Prawn Paste Chicken (5 mid-wings)

yums

how can we not try?

Lava Custard Bun (salted egg yolk bun) 流沙包 (@$3.90++)

salty goodness

The custard bun was pretty smallish, yet packed with all the right flavours, as expected from a good 流沙包.

Expect to pay around $15 per pax for a main course and a drink.

Paradise Dynasty @ Lot 1 Choa Chu Kang

Located at Level 3 of Lot 1 Choa Chu Kang. Visited on a Saturday late-noon and we could get a table within 5 minutes.

default setup

By default, there are saucer plates of ginger strips already on the table. Probably assuming majority of customers are there for the xlb (xiao long bao)?

menu

table

Ok, ordered a basket of original xiao long bao's (Shanghai pork dumplings) to try.

Shanghai pork dumplings aka xiao long bao (original flavour) @$9.80++ for 10 pieces

The pork dumpling (小笼包) was alright. The broth was tasty yet not overpowering. The waitress was actually more concerned when we didn't eat it right away, or when someone accidentally broke the dumpling skin and wasted the broth...

Also had the "La Mian" in vegetable pork  (菜肉云吞拉面). Served in a rather large bowl.

vegetable pork dumplings la mian (@$8.80++)

thin strand noodles

The la mian was mild tasting. Good if you want something soothing and not oily.

interesting bowl

"Yang Zhou" fried rice (@$10.80++)

The "Yang Zhou" fried rice (扬州炒饭) came loaded with ingredients. Chicken bits, prawns, char siew, diced vege and stir fried egg bits. However, still find the taste somewhat lacking. Probably the lack of 'wok hei'.

a dash of chili for added fragrance

One must have some vegetables. Chose one from the appetiser menu instead. Quite yums, although it looked somewhat different from the picture in the menu.

marinated mixed vegetables (@$4.20++)

Sis wanted to try the buns. So got some Shanghai panfried pork buns.

pan fried Shanghai pork bun 生煎包 (@$4.20++)

looks like xlb fillings to me~

Looks like we're on a 'porky' theme that day! Next, was the Slice Pork in Minced Garlic sauce (香辣蒜泥白肉), appetiser dish as well.

slice pork in minced garlic sauce (@$7.80++)

This was another dish that looked different from the menu picture. (Too) Generously slathered with salty minced garlic bean paste sauce but it was actually quite enjoyable. However the pork slice was too thinly sliced till the meat taste was somewhat lost.

For desserts, we had the Souffle Egg White Balls with red bean paste. Looked like a small round doughnut. Tasted eggy, but souffle was not as light as expected. My brother didn't like it.

Souffle Egg White Balls with Red Bean Paste (@$4.80++)

Members enjoy 20% points during their birthday months and can be used/redeemed on their next visit.

The food above fed a family of five, comfortably. Oh ya, the default tea is charged per head @$1++.

default tea (refillable)

Service was good and generally friendly.

Cafe Melba @ Goodman Arts Centre

Located at 90 Goodman Road, within the Goodman Arts Centre compound.

cafe front

Seated at its alfresco area, and there was plenty of sunlight, right up till 730pm.

outdoor seats

view from our table

The food menu is somewhat limited in choices.

food menu

Iced-water is served here.

iced water bottle, cool relief on hot sunny day

Started off with nibbles, ordered the Truffle Fries (@$13++). Just a small bucket, but it sure was addictive, and goes so well with ketchup!

small bucket of truffle fries

Since we're in a group of 5, we ordered food that's easier to share, and one of them would be Parma Ham and Rocket Pizza (12 inch).

12 inch - Parma Ham and Rocket pizza (@$22++)

Pizza was thin crust and tasted good with parma ham and rocket leaves.

Next, Crayfish pasta. Best eaten hot. Linguini was tasty, and liked the abundance of rocket here. The roasted peppers gave this dish good flavours and some sweetness.

Crayfish Linguini (@$26++)

Melba Breakfast (@$24++)

Should've changed out the bacon. If you like non-crispy bacon, then you'll like the version here. Liked the crisp homemade toasted bread though and the sauteed mushroom was good. Mushrooms received much love from everyone in the group! The rest of the stuffs on the plate was pretty ordinary.

Chicken Parmigiana, served with potato wedges

The Chicken Parmigiana (@$24++) was a late entry to our dinner. Two still has space in their stomachs hence this item from the menu, made it to our table. Likeable and best eaten while its hot. Enjoyed the tender chicken breast that's made flavourful by the tomato chutney and mozarella cheese. The balsamic on the salad was sweet and tangy. Yum.

One thing about Cafe Melba, is that it doesn't have beer on tap. So we opted for wine instead. Must commend the friend who chose this. Villa Maria Estate is New Zealand's most awarded winery.

Villa Maria (@$60++) New Zealand wine

Villa Maria white wine

Also tried the Sileni, which is a Pinot Gris from Nautilus Estate, Malborough New Zealand. All that we've chosen, we liked. Sweet, light, fruitty and very easy to drink.

There is a Standard Chartered credit card promo where diners get 15% off on food menu with min. spend of $50. No discount on truffle fries though (maybe because it's not main course?) and drinks (alcohol and non-alcohol).

Expect to spend around $50~$80 per pax, for food and drinks.

JJ.com Fish Mart @ Vivocity

Located at basement of Vivocity. Went here to grab some food after an evening of shopping. It's a quiet place.

dine-in area

One can pick up those readily packed sushi or donburi at the counter, or choose from its menuboard. Pay first, eat later. Unlike other Japanese fish mart that I've been to, this place doesn't offer free green tea to its diners.

Tried their Chirashi Sushi. It comes with miso soup.

chirashi sushi (@$16.80 nett)

Notice the size of the bowl compared to the miso soup? Surprisingly, there was no pickles. Not even pickled ginger...

closer view of the sashimi

So now you know exactly what you're getting for that price if you're ordering chirashi sushi.

Bugis+ Food Trail 2013: Hawaiian Kitchen Aloha Ma Maison マ・メゾン

This place conjures up an image of beautiful hula dancers. That'll be nice, won't it? Hahaha. Instead, we'd settle for something equally delicious. Pancakes!

welcome

kitchen area

decorations on the wall

Tried the Homemade Mixed Fruits Pancake. One can choose between with or without whipped cream.

Handmade Mixed Fruits Pancake (@$13.80++)

Handmade Mixed Fruits Pancake with a tower of whipped cream (@$15.80++)

Pancake was light and so was the whipped cream. Airy and light with a hint of sweetness.

pancakes essentials (top to bottom): maple, guava and coconut syrup

Preferred the coconut syrup. Very fragrant especially if some of the grated coconut slipped out from the bottle. The essence!

With that, our Bugis+ Food Trail 2013 ended on a sweet note. Thank you omy.sg for organising and to the various hosts for having us!

Hawaiian Kitchen Aloha Ma Maison

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