The Cafe' Cartel (The Café Cartel) @ Upper East Coast

907 Upper East Coast Road, #01-02, Springvale, T: 64499789

Right, so here's a new review... It's actually delayed (by a lot) because I didn't have much access to my computer... In fact I'm not at mine right now but that's besides the point. This meal was eaten on 11th Dec 2009 (Last year! as of now. lols)

Anyway, this is my first time at the "refurbished" and "revamped" cafe cartel and it does seem much neater and "cleaner" in a sense but I suppose if you give it a few months it will probably return back to what I was used to (bread crumbs stuck in corners of the sofa that nobody ever clears etc.) We shall see.

On to the food! The menu was "updated" as well, along with other major changes. Firstly, NO MORE FREE FLOW OF BREAD! Sadly, that was what I was there for. Things took a turn for confusion after this. The menu indicates that you'd get a serving of a side salad and bread with every main course ordered. Elsewhere in the menu, the same bread is sold as an a la carte item as well. An inquiry with a waiter regarding the discontinued free flow of bread gave me the impression that I would be getting an extra serving of bread with every main course ordered as part of their "promotion" (in his words).

Unfortunately, this didn't happen. Only 2 servings of bread were served with 2 main courses. There was no "promotion". The waiter was referring to the side salad and bread served with every main course - which is serving fries with fish & chips - it's a given! So much for the promotion. The manager initially refused to budge on the matter but gave in eventually and we were given the extra 2 servings of bread. What a breadloaf of confusion.

Sadly, the bread was unremarkable and I'd have preferred the bread offered before the revamp.

The photo of the left is that of the side salad. Her immediate reaction was like "What is this? Chopped Vegetables Ah? Do I look Like A Rabbit?"

It felt like KFC's coleslaw - poured out on a white plate. It doesn't seem fresh either. So much for the side dishes.

Onwards! TO THE MAIN DISHES!

Item 992 : Sizzling Dory Fish & Cripsy Soft Shell Crab

In one word? OILY. In fact, all the items tasted like they were dropped into a deep fryer and served. When it comes to cripsy soft shell crabs, I think I'd go back to the specialty Japanese Restaurants for that. It was so hard to taste any crab at all amid the oil and the everything the crab was suffering in. The fish wasn't any better. Either it was too bland and tasteless, or the oil was too overpowering. Perhaps both.

Item 996 : Sizzling Grilled Dory Fish & Spaghetti in Mushroom Sauce

This item was slightly better than 992 - Perhaps redeemed by the mushroom's natural strong taste and aroma to cover the bad stuff. It was, however, oily to me as well.

Another new change is that the food was served on a hot plate - Much like Jack's Place's steaks. Other than for presentation, i don't see how it helps in the taste at all.

Last but not least, we cannot forget dessert. Here, Cafe Cartel seems to have redeemed itself.

Item 195 : Crème Brûlée (Creme Brulee)

This was the star performer! It wasn't served in a regular white ceramic but a in a simple aluminium base - but that didn't matter. Personally I prefer a harder crust on the surface, but the inside was damn nice. Somewhat like a cold egg pudding. Sweeteningly sweet. Luckily the vanilla ice cream wasn't as sweet or I'd be having sugar overload. It tasted great. Not the best, but great nonetheless.

The Final Bill:

S$44.95 in total. Breakdowns above. Oh and for the record, the manager gave us a pair of their lovely little piggy soft toys. I honestly have no idea whether it was a store promo, card promo, or just CSR (Customer Service Recovery) but it made us all feel better so everything's fine and sunshine after the rain and yada yada (: But if I go back again, it'll probably be just for the dessert.

Merry Christmas!

VIG EATS dot BLOGSPOT dot COM

would like to wish everyone a

SPARKLING MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Yaki Yaki Bo, Jurong Point, Shokutsu 10

#B1-52, Jurong Point, Tel 67920583

As you can see, there are no photos =( except for this receipt. Apologies as this was an unscheduled meal and the camera wasn't with me during the meal. However, I can describe this in one word anyway. DELICIOUS. It's basically a teppan yaki restaurant, under the RE & S group (which owns ichiban boshi/sushi etc.).

I can't find much fault with the food except that the distinction between Tamago (Egg) Rice and Garlic Rice is quite misleading. If you like garlic rice and you like egg as well, go with the tamago rice. Reason? Their tamago rice is actually garlic rice, WITH EGG! -_-

Oh and they serve prawn balls and octopus balls (the puri puri prawn and tasty tako) too, which are not exactly remarkable but are at least above average (: The prawn balls do not come with bonito flakes by default so you'd have to make a special request, which I did and they did put it in for me, albeit forgetting to do so at first.

Overall, I think I'd go back there again for the food, and perhaps some photos. If I can stomach the price again.

Waffle Factory

#B1-03, Singapore Post Centre (Paya Lebar MRT)

This is a post from memory, as the visit to this place was a long long time ago. As you can see, I ate the chocolate and honey stars waffle. I cannot recall the price. However, the food was average at best, with nothing to rave about. The only thing that makes this stall stand out from the others is the variety of fillings you get to choose from for your waffles. The seating space was extremely limited though, as the stall is a rather small one. In my opinion, it is NOT worth it to try this out. There are better waffles out there.

Marutama Ramen

#03-90/91 The Central, 6 Eu Tong Sen Street, tel 6534 8090

Entrance Signage (Above) - This isn't photos from my first trip here so this won't be about first impressions. However, I'm glad to write that my impression of the food here hasn't changed much since my first impression. In short, I think the ramen here is GREAT! In fact, it's the best ramen shop in Singapore (in my opinion). If you think there's a better or nicer ramen shop, TELL ME!

Main interior seating area (Above) - This restaurant is fully air-conditioned (duh, its in an air con mall), and has no al fresco seats. Generally there are 3 seating sections. The first (not pictured) would be the "bar counter" style seats around the kitchen at the background of the photo above. The 2nd would be this main seating area as you can see.

Back seating area (Above) - The 3rd seating section is pictured above, in a set up that I feel is the most comfortable. You can also see the provided free flow of cold water, tissue, chopsticks, etc.

(Above) Non spicy ramen with added char siew (pork) and tamago (egg)! My favourite dish at this restaurant. The soup base is absolutely delicious and the saltiness is just right, althought maybe just slightly oily, but the free flow of water helps to alleviate that problem. The char siew and the egg are both soft and extremely easy to chew. All this comes with the springy noodles and the added vegetables. The chefs/cooks are supposedly Japanese. I've no idea whether the bowl includes monosodium glutamante, but i hope not =\ perhaps I should ask next time.

The finished bowl! Yes I finished every strand of noodle! In fact, if you finish your noodles too fast and have a lot of soup left, you can order a noodle refill where they will add more noodles to your soup! (: Oh and by the way, the spicy and the non-spicy soup looks almost identical to me so be careful not to mix them up with your friends. The menu can be hard to order from the first time, so make sure you clarify with the service staff first (: lols. They have another outlet at liang court if i'm not wrong but I don't know about there cause I've never tried that outlet (:

Marutama Ramen (cont'd)

Footnote: I forgot to add that the dish pictured above costs $12 (Non spicy ramen) + $4 (Add char siew) + $1 (Add egg) = S$17++

So, 2 bowls was $34, + service charge $3.40, + GST $2.62 = S$40.00 (after rounding down the 2 cents! that should be the way lor)

Approximately $20.01 per bowl la (:

Zento Singapore

Blk 18b Dempsey Road, tel 64740378
http://www.zento.com.sg

Right, this will be a summary review, simply because I cannot remember every single dish and item separately, so I will only write based on the overall experience. I will let the dishes speak for themselves in their individual photos xD enjoy the shots!

Ice Water (above)

Scallop (above)

Calamari Rings (above)

Sushi (above)

Green Tea Crème Brûlée (above)

Okay that's all the shots I've got. This was a dinner, albeit eaten at 10:45pm. We ordered two different "Dinner Sets". The first one was $58++, The second one was $98++. Both dinner sets were supposed to come with the same dessert (supposedly a chocolate based cake whose name I forgot) but we requested for one to be changed. The service staff agreed to it but also told us that we would be charged an additional $8++ for the "Upgrade" as the other dessert (green tea crème brûlée) is not meant to be served on that day. So the total bill came up to be: $58 + $98 + $8 + SVC CHRG $16.40 + GST $12.63 + ROUND $0.02 = S$193.05 which was expected, considering the base price of 58 and 98.

However, I did not think the food was worth that much. The green tea crème brûlée was so-so. I'd have very much preferred a regular crème brûlée, and for $8++, there was nothing fantastic to rave about. The chocolate cake was average too. But then again, this isn't a dessert cafe so we'll move on to the main dishes. I suppose you probably have to be a connoisseur of fusion food to appreciate the dishes. I didn't even know what were some of the dishes I was eating. The common food items were, well, common in my opinion. That would include items like the calamari rings and the scallop. The only most outstanding dish I can remember is the sushi, which wasn't your regular mix like california roll. Both plates of sushi were delicious (: The main courses were, well, forgettable! I don't even remember what they taste like. The general impression I had over all the food (except the sushi) was.... SALTY. Perhaps it was just a bad day.

Food aside, the service was very attentive, although slightly bordering on intrusive. Kinda hard to get privacy with service staff looking at your table constantly to see if you need anything. Perhaps it was because we went there at 10.30pm and there were only two other tables occupied, so I can't comment on service during the actual dinner time.

On a side note, I think the practice of rounding up the extra $0.02 is, well, unscrupulous.