Old Hong Kong Kitchen @ Novena Square 2

Located at Level 2 of Novena Square 2. Usually crowded during lunch hours. This place serves dim sum, and was there to have some.

dim sum menu

interior

chrysanthemum tea (@$4.80++ per pot) and cover charge

Actually wanted to order fluffy cha siu bao (叉烧包) but accidentally ticked the bolo cha siu bao instead, without realising it till the order arrived. -_-''

bolo cha siu bao (@$6.80++)

sweet cha siu

The quality had deteriorated. Had this a few months ago at the same place and it was much better. Now, the ratio of bun is very much higher than the fillings plus it was not even warmed up before serving.

rice rolls, deep fried mango prawn and steamed beancurd skin with chicken and fish maw

The chee cheong fun was three thick slab of flour, with honey cha siu, shrimp and scallop fillings.One taste stood out from the chee cheong fun dish. It was sweet. The deep fried mango prawn roll was nicely crunchy but it was tiny.

deep fried breaded mango prawn roll

Colleague said wanted to try the steamed fish maw, chicken, mushroom and pig stomach in beancurd skin.

steamed chicken, fish maw, pig stomach in beancurd skin

Hmm, didn't find any pig stomach in the dish though. Apparently it had been substituted with crabstick instead, and this was done without informing the customer. Tsk tsk.


Also had a basket of salted egg yolk custard bun (流沙奶黄包). The version here is a tiny ball of bao, with thick lava that's full of those salty sweet sandy goodness. Eat it while it's hot.

salted egg yolk custard bun

Prices of dim sum here are averaging from $6 onwards. Very steep. Expect to pay about $18 per pax for ala-carte dim sum, with drinks and cover charges (towel and pickles). If there's any consolation, that price bought me quite a filling dim sum lunch (but am not a big eater anyway). But satisfaction wise...

BangkokJam @ Wheelock Place, Orchard Road

Finding an impromptu dining place around Orchard on a Saturday evening, saw us moving from one spot to another. Queue was too long? Place too expensive? Shop too crowded?

Hence, finally came to a place where we could rest our tired legs. BangkokJam, located at Level 2 of Wheelock Place.

colourful coasters

interior

What's your usual order when doing Thai food? For me, its Thai milk tea.

Thai milk tea (@$4.80++)

The rendition here was quite enjoyable. Iced cold tea on a hot stuffy evening. Not overly sweet and good tea strength.

Another popular drink, would be lemongrass tea.

lemongrass drink (@$4.80++)

Quite surprising that we didn't order any phad thai that night. Instead, we had Stir Fried Egg Noodles with bacon and crabmeat. This plate tasted very similar to Singapore beehoon (新洲米粉).

stir fried egg noodles with bacon and crab meat (@$11.90++)

Another perennial favourite would be the olive fried rice. My friend's choice of carbs.

olive fried rice (@$11++)

seafood in red tomyam soup (@$7.90++)

The sourness of the tomyam soup was just right. However, it could use abit more heat.

Spaghetti in Thai cuisine? Seems like fusion. Prawns with spaghetti in coconut base sauce.  The spaghetti tasted like thick bee hoon and the coconut base sauce was quite yums albeit a little watery. Good for slurping while its still hot~

prawns with spaghetti in coconut base (@$11.90++)

Most of the dishes are non-spicy. Very tamed down version. For sharing, we had a plate of  mixed grill.

Bangkok Mixed Grill (@$23++)

grilled chicken, squid, beef and prawns

The grilled chicken and squid were good and tender. Too bad the beef was overdone and was quite tough. The chili sauce had kick but in general, food here was abit on the high sodium side of things.

For desserts, we had red ruby. Not the usual watery kind with coconut milk. This version had coconut ice cream instead. Pretty good, the ice cream and the rubies. We liked.

red ruby (@$4.50++)

The meal fed the five of us (with 2 not very hungry) and costs about $20 per pax. There's a 10% discount for Stanchart credit card if the total bill (excluding taxes, gst) is above $80.

Spageddies @ Orchard Central

Located at Level 4 of Orchard Central. This place was rather peaceful during weekday lunch hour. Was enticed by its OCBC credit card 1-for-1 main course offer.

One can choose any two main courses and the lower priced one shall be complimentary. After placing our orders, noticed that we had covered everything from land to the sea, and with carbs and vege. Not bad. Not bad at all!

lamb shank

The lamb shank was quite a hunk. Served with broccoli, yellow zuchini and carrots. Mostly tender although there are dried out parts too. Good to share.

tenderloin

The beef tenderloin looked quite nice. Served with small potatoes and grilled vege. But at medium, it was already quite tough. Probably medium rare would fare better?

spaghetti with lobster and chicken

Lobster? Hmm. A small one perhaps? The spaghetti was al-dente but overall, this dish was a tad too dry for me. Not much flavour from the fried chicken breast.

seafood sizzlelini

The seafood sizzlelini boasts of scallops, mussels, prawns and crayfish. Served in spicy neopolitan sauce which was not spicy at all, but tangy and savoury sweetish. Liked the doneness of the pasta here, as the heat helped to soften it further but not till too soggy. Good dish to share.

Hence, for a party of two, the lamb shank and the seafood sizzlelini would probably make a good meal.

Spent about $17 per pax.

Hansang Korean Family Restaurant @ Novena Square 2

Located at Level 3 of Novena Square 2. Dropped by for lunch, and they were packed. Mostly office crowd and the occassional tourist. There weren't any tables left for 2 pax, so they decided to let us sit at the BBQ table meant for 4. Cool.

BBQ?

Plenty of options during lunch hour. One can opt for ala-carte dishes, or BBQ buffet, or set lunches or daily special etc. Set lunches is at $15++ for one pax. Got myself a bowl of jajangmyun (炸酱面) @$8.90++. This is part of the special menu where one must place the order between 12pm to 1pm. There's bibimbap and ramyun options as well, amongst others. All served with side dishes and without drinks.

banchan (kimchi, fish cake, chives flower and pickles)

The pickled something was nice. Piquant, sourish sweet. Can't tell if it's a fruit or radish...

jajangmyun (자장면)

The jjajang noodles was tasty and not overly salty. A bit sweetish too. Plenty of onions and some minced meat. The single prawn was of a good size too. Quite enjoyable but could get a bit boring, if not for the banchans.

Iced water is served here. Service was good even though lunch hour was a busy period. The lady manager was courteous and helpful.

Sugisawa Japanese Restaurant @ Robertson Quay

Located at Riverside View, Robertson Quay. It's at the same cluster as Aburiya and opposite of the Laurent Bernard's cluster. It was easy to walk past Sugisawa without realising that we had done so. And that's exactly what happened to us. Haha! Hardly surprising since the last visit was almost two years ago.

signboard

Were quite famished after having the pre-dinner drinks at Verre Wine Bar, so we came to Sugisawa for something more substantial than bar food.

Friend had enjoyed her bento the other time, so I knew I wanted to get a bento set too! Another friend ordered the beef paper hot pot, which I think was a pretty good idea. Hot soup in the tummy is a good hangover cure. Not sure if I did qualify for that, since it has just been less than half an hour since the last glass of bubbly. *hic*

hot tea at Sugisawa

The place was crowded and walk-ins will need to wait for about 10-20 minutes. We got ours within 10 minutes because another table was already finishing their dinner. Lucky us.

same same yet different

The beef paper hot pot (without rice) was the first to arrive, followed by unagi bento set. Most items are below $20 except for unagi bento set priced at $25. The soup from this paper hot pot was sweet but not overly. Warm and soothing, but unless you eat like a bird, this might not last you through the night.

beef kaminabe

And there shall be sashimis.

ika (squid), hamachi, (yellow tail) salmon, maguro (tuna), ebi (prawn) sashimi

Had a piece of maguro and the ebis. Liked the thicker cut of the tuna.

Both of our orders of beef yakiniku bento set were the last to arrive. Starving already.

stir fried beef with onions, pickled item,  stewed/boiled items and sashimi (maguro and salmon)

I think it's a good deal for this beef yakiniku bento set. Ample slices of thin beef, stir fried in sweet sauce. Goes well with the rice. Bento set comes with a bowl of rice and seaweed tofu miso soup. In the stewed items compartment, one could find bamboo shoot, juliened turnip, tamago, sweet carrot, konyaku, a slice of fish cake, mashed potato and a boiled prawn.

carbs

It was rather difficult to get the tea refill. Tried four times and was successful on the fourth try. Busy busy place!

Dinner costs about $121 for 4-pax.


Click here to view more of first visit.