SMITHS Authentic British Fish and Chips @ Balmoral Plaza

Located at Balmoral Plaza, Bukit Timah Road. Easy to locate as the shop is right behind the bus stop.

let's have some fish & chips

Christmas is round the corner~

Visited on a weekday evening. Not many customers, probably because it was a rainy day. Self-service, so order right up from the counter. They ran out of chicken, so we got ourselves a dory and chips to share.

just 7 mins wait for the hot food

Drinks, get from the fridge. Ice-box is nearby there, so we helped ourselves.

beer and disposable plastic cup

The beer was too light. Haha, probably a root beer suits the fried food better!

salt and vinegar, added lots of vinegar

piping hot, dory and chips

This was my second try. First one was last year, had Cod but the fish was bland. This time round, had Dory which has some taste but its flesh was too soft.

Spent $23 for the above.

Kenny Rogers Roasters @ Velocity

Located at Level 3 of Velocity. If you're looking for a quiet (or rather deserted place), this is it.

menu

colourful cashier/drinks counter

Once seated, the corn muffins were served. Unfortunately, the muffins looked as though it had shrunken a bit since the last time I had it (but that was years ago), it was hard at its outersides (abit chao tar?) and rather cold. Hmm... Taste wise, it was still ok.

tiny muffins

Ordered a combo meal of a quarter chicken, ribs and two side dishes. Drink was pink lemonade Snapple. My friend likes pink.

even her camera is pink

for 2 pax

Chicken was still good and tender but somehow, our meats were served rather lukewarm. Was quite irked because the table next to us got their chicken and ribs with steam still rising from it!

Our macaroni and cheese was served piping hot but very watery. Sighs.

chicken fared better

very filling potato salad and coleslaw

Expect to spend about $22 per pax here.

Cafe Crema @ Westgate Jurong East

Was enticed by its 1-for-1 offer, but when we got around to this cafe after dinner, the offer had lapsed. What a bummer. Nevertheless, still went in for coffee.

guess what we ordered

Drinks here are priced between $3.50 to $7.50. Tried their piccolo (@$4) and it was decent.

Piccolo, served with biscuit

New York Cheesecake (@$7)

Cheesecake was dense and rich. Not quite the cake if you're on a diet. But life's short. Have a slice of enjoyment with bitter coffee. Pricey though.

Lenas @ JEM Jurong East

Located at Level 1 of JEM, and it's one of the brands under Ministry of Food (MOF). Visited on a Saturday for dinner. Was there before 630pm and could get a table fairly easily.

open area

menu

It has everything from deep fried appetisers (onion rings, squids, chicken wings etc), salads, pizza, steaks, breakfast, pasta and ice-cream.

Ordered a steak (250gms without side dish @$25) and half a roast chicken (@$15 with 1 side dish), and topped up $12 for half pint hoegaarden and a glass of Santa Luz Merlot.

As we were seated outside the restaurant, it was quite difficult to get the service staff attention. Liked that they repeated our orders before keying it to the system, and once again when the print-out was brought back to our table. Double-confirmed our orders. Hahaa!

beer and red wine

Food was served within 15 minutes. Pretty efficient, I'd say.

friend's steak with mushroonm sauce, served on the side

medium doneness

The roasted chicken was actually quite small. More like spring chicken size. Nevertheless, the charred skin was nice and it was served with a dark sticky sweet sauce. Too bad the chicken breast was rather dry. The sauce for garden salad was sweet and slightly tangy with lime. Enjoyable.

The merlot was somewhat spicy and goes well with the meats.

half roasted chicken

There was a queue formed by 645pm. Spent about $26 per pax for the meal.

Bacchus Wine Shop @ Isetan Westgate

Located at B2 Isetan Westgate, the latest mall at Jurong East.Was walking around at the liquor section of Isetan, and had just sampled some sake. Was contemplating whether to get any but can't decide because it felt kinda risky to get a big bottle then ended up not drinking it.

Suddenly, came across this area that looked like a bar. Hmm, went closer and discovered that they do serve wine, as well as sake. And the best thing is, one can buy the food from Isetan and have it together with the alcohol. Nice.

menu

come early, to get seats

Got myself a seafood chirashi bento from Mikoma @$12 (after 20% discount). And a $5 Taiheizan Tenkou (junmai daiginjo) sake. The seafood bento has one cooked prawn, one raw prawn, one hotate, one slice of smoked/cooked salmon, plenty of shredded crab meat and some ikuras. Has quite a bit of rice too, so ended up with a rather full tummy.

seafood chirashi, sake and some nuts (complimentary from the bar)

The Taiheizan Tenkou Junmai Daiginjoshu (太平山天巧 純米大吟醸酒) sake has 16.5% alcohol and a +2 in sake meter value and a 1.5 acidity.

Junmai Daiginjoshu ranks high in sake world as premium grade with no distilled alcohol added. Brewed using very precise and labour intensive methods.

Liked the taste as it was somewhat sweet. Very light, clear taste and has a peculiar fragrance to it. Easy to drink, but had to drink it slowly since it's pretty high in alcohol content!

Was quite fun to talk to others who were there to chill and drink. Met a wonderful couple, Peter and Dee. Peter had to work unfortunately, so Dee was my companion for the rest of the evening. So, if you're there, do say hi to Dee, an elegant looking lady whom people might mistake her for being a Japanese! Thanks Dee, my evening wasn't so lonely after all.

The patrons at the bar were quite friendly too. After sometime, it felt like everybody's is everybody else's friends.

friendly and hardworking staff, Edmund

Also tried the La Spinetta Moscato (@$10). That was quite yums too. Mellow, fruity, smooth and sweet.

No worries if you don't feel like having sushi with wine. Tierney's cart is just right next to the bar, if you'd like some cold cuts with cheese to go along with the wine. Think I'll probably grab some fried chicken and wakame the next time I'm there. Bar food with wine and sake.

One can also buy the alcohol from the liquor section and have it at Bacchus too. So, cheers!