Return to the Ladder Cafe

Pan Fried Dory Fillet ($10.90)

Seek a quiet, relaxing lunch with good coffee. We returned to the Larder Café. 

Repeat for their Sangenton pork culet ($10.90) which was proven to be good on our previous visit. The pan-fried Dory today was surprising; even better.

A big slice of their signature Ondeh Ondeh cake, with bitter aromatic coffee. This is an hour of bliss with Ric.

Ondeh Ondeh Cake ($7)

Day Soup and Coffee set ($4.80/ pax)

TOBY'S The Dessert Asylum

Weekday Lunch Menu (Mon-Fri, 11am-3pm)

Our last visit to Toby's was in 2010, at their Parkway Parade main branch. They have since moved to  Tradehub 21 in the west of Singapore. And now offers really affordable set lunches (Oct/Nov Promotion: buy 2 get 1 free); with $1 top ups to include a good coffee/ drinks and day soup.

A cosy restaurant to wind down before getting back to work again.

Grilled Fish Fillet ($9.90++)

with lemon butter sauce + mash potato or rice

Spaghetti Vongole ($9.90++)

fresh clam in white wine

Chef Salad ($9.90++)

mesclun salad topped with pork ham, roasted chicken, boiled egg + cheddar cheese

Wild Mushroom Cheeseburger ($9.90++)

ground beef patty with roasted mushroom, melted cheese + fries

Grilled Dory fillet was boringly healthy. Chef salad, with vinegary dressing does it so much better! Not mentioning their all time favourite cheeseburger.

For starters, everybody prefers the Cajun spiced button mushrooms to the rather tasteless calamari. And being in a dessert asylum, the girl sneak off to order a sweet, chilling mud pie! Lovely with their warm bitter coffee..

The afternoon felt liberated.

Battered Button Mushroom ($6.50++)

Calamari ($9.90++)

T-Rex Mud Pies ($10.90++)

double chocolate ice cream + mocha almond ice cream + cookies

Smokin' Joe

Premium New Zealand Reserved Ribeye Steak ($18)

Served with fries, house salad and brown sauce.

Our first visit to Smokin Joe at the Yishun Park Hawker Centre. Yes, they are the western food hawker stall which invested $10K in a premium oven. Such premium grill promises 'to seal in a rustic and smoky flavour in meat', and is usually found in high-end steak houses.

The grill today was more than perfect (you can judge by the color and texture of the steak from the photos!). Their brown sauce was awesome. We eagerly planned for another night here, completed with a good bottle of red.

Alas, it was not to be. 

The ribeye steak was dry, and has few tough-to-chew veins. The Kurobuta pork collar ($18, 200g pork served with fries, corn and house salad) was juicy and flavorsome. But without a reliable good steak, we couldn't find a reason to come back.. 

The Larder Cafe

Weekday Set-Lunch-Add-On - Soup of the Day, Corn Soup

Baked Escargots ($10)

Sangenton Pork Cutlet ($10.90)

The Larder Café where they take care of the small details - the crisp shoestring fries and many sprinkles of parsley. All at very affordable price tag.. imagine the boss of this little café, doing a struggle balancing quality with pricing. Where they can, they provide. Surely, the Larder is making a conscious effort to please its consumers.

Every little thing that is added or replaced with something else has cost estimation. But we see a good job done - generous bits of vegetables in the corn soup, thick slab of juicy Japanese pork cutlet and crunchy sweet shrimps.

Not forgetting the aromatic cup of Arabica coffee that comes at just $4.80 net; with a day soup! Yes, we promise a return to try out their more sophisticated offerings.

Pesto Shrimp Spaghetti ($9.90)

Weekday Set-Lunch-Add-On - Flat White

The Grumpy Bear

Signature Good ol’ Fish and Chips

Pan Seared Pork Loin

Lunch at the Grumpy Bear café in Thomson Plaza, somewhat turned us grumpy. The pork loin was alright, but the thickly battered Dory was very disappointing. Even with a good discount from Fave promotion - 2 mains of your choice, with hot tea at $16.80.

Ric tried to save our lunch date from disappointment, and bought a dessert of their buttermilk waffles with ice-cream. Alas, the waffle was served lukewarm.

Waffle with Ice Cream Scoop ($10.90, $5.90 Fave Promotion)

Lunch at Salute Coffeeshop

Stew Kuche - Signature pork knuckle (Served with rice)

Salute Kopitiam opened with a bang in 2014, splashing stories across blogs and Instagram. We weren't moved, because it meant loud crowd. And prices weren't exactly attractive for unproven food. It was Fave 1-for-1 set-lunch promotion that got us here today - $9.90 set lunch for 2, includes a good creamy mushroom soup.

The famous German pork knuckle from Stew Kuche gave us a hard time with its thick, tough skin. But beneath that hard baked cover, you'll harvest some flavorsome meat with lean melting fat. Nice. The acidic red wine dip is genius for helping to digest the heavy meal.

Jack the Ripper - Ripper’s Original Burger

Originally served with fries, the burger stall had ran out of it - we were offered corn chips, which was tasty enough to keep us satisfied. Then we were asked that the pork patty which was also not available, be replaced with chicken patty for the burger.

The chicken patty was heavily seasoned and moist. While we would have preferred natural meaty, grilled flavor. A burger with just lettuces and melted cheese is also quite plain. A definite no, if we are paying full priced meal.

BURGS!

Do we even need an introduction to the hottest burger joint in Singapore now. Yes, this is Burgs at the Golden Mile Food Centre.

The Classic beef burger totally stole our hearts! and palate. It was thick, juicy and flavorsome. This is one of those rare instances which i don't want to share my food with Ric. Haha. But having pickled green chili, in place of drill pickles is a little disappointing for a classic.

The Seoul fried chicken was most beautifully deep fried and marinated, but i rebuff sweet mains. And the coleslaw is miser in this one. Last, we had a tough time chewing off the pulled beef brisket in the Hickory smoked beef burger ($5.50). Awkwardly, the shredded meat got caught in between the teeth. If you are even on dentures, forget this.

The Classic for repeats. And we are definitely coming back for their Teriyaki Chicken burger ($5.50) which got sold out during our queuing!

The Classic - Beef Patty, Caramelized Onions, American Cheese, Pickled Green Chilli ($4.50).

Seoul Fried Chicken - Korean style fried Chicken, Homemade Coleslaw ($5).

Tom's Kitchen

Pork Cutlet ($5.50)

Taman Jurong Market Food Centre might be the most unlikely place for a weekend meal because of its secluded location, while it is noteworthy for its many little stalls of good cze char. But tonight we wanted something new. We hopped around and saw the hustling at Tom's.

Youngsters were ordering up spaghettis, baked rice and the usual cutlets and chips. We called it the KFC-sauced chicken - gravy that goes with our cutlet and chop tastes like the whip potato sauce from the KFC! 

Your average salad, crumbly cutlet and a well-grilled chicken that is crispy on the outside, and juicy on the inside. Pretty mediocre fare, you may say. But it was decadent and characterizes by the KFC sauce! Not bad for a weekend.

Grilled Chicken Chop ($5.50)

Fave Chicken Chops @ Changi

Garlic Chicken Chop ($5.80)

This is our favourite chicken chop place, the W Kitchen. Don't say bo jio.

Love the garlicky one, that's both savory and oh! so flavorful. If you prefer a smoother taste, go for the sesame sauce chicken chop. And am always looking forward to balancing things up with their chilled, crunchy green salad.

Being most disciplined, we often save up our binge quotas, travelling far east for the occasional treat of the heavy meal.

Sesame Chicken Chop ($6.50)

W Kitchen Western Food!

Pork Cutlet ($6)

This is like a pretty Christmas platter - the colorful and generous chilled salad in vinegary dressing, as a side dish. We felt pampered. And no western food in any hawker centre has ever done this before; at such affordable price and big portion of meat!

We were at (stall, #01-33) the Changi Village Food Centre. I have never liked too much meat in a meal, but the pork cutlets here just seems to be really good. I do miss it.

The steak and fish fillet however, disappoint. The beef was a little over tenderized, giving it a texture of a burger patty. We prefer our steak with that flavorsome grind. The dory fillet has an unpleasant taste that i'm sensitive with; it may be a result from the shared oil? We can't tell.

Despite the hit and misses, we are looking forward to revisit them for their signature pork chop, garlic chicken chop or the salmon teriyaki!

Pan Seared Beef Steak ($7.50)

Fish & Chips ($5.80)

NTP Western & Grill - Low on Salt

This western food stall at the new Bukit Panjang Ring Road Hawker Centre tastes a little different from our usual. Everything here seems low in salt. This might just dampen the appetites of many, but we find it whetting, as the natural sweetness of the sauteed fishes is better savoured. Even the simple Dory tastes good.

The white sauce (over the spaghetti and Dory fish) however, does grip me. It was less creamy and reminded me somewhat of Campbell soup base? The yakitori sauce is alright. We thought the grilled Salmon was worth it.

Grill Fish Set ($7.50, include Soup of the Day)

Ham & Mushroom Spaghetti with Grilled Fish ($7.80)

Grilled Salmon ($8)

Fish and Chicks

Fish & Chips ($6.90)

Fish & Chicks is one new favorite on social media, so i tend to revolt it. I am skeptical because such trendy food for the young just might not suit an auntie's taste.

There was no more queue at the stall, and we obtained our food promptly. We did not pay the $3 extra for top ups of their salted egg or chili crab sauce; we prefer our fillets crisp and fresh. And i think we made the right choice.

Because of the similar pricing, we can't help comparing the fish fillets with that from Long JS and the Manhattan Fish. Fish & Chicks definitely win hands down against LJS. Their Dory is fresher and juicier. And the batter less salted. The onion rings are real stuff too, and the fries satisfy. But LJS has much better tartar sauce with pickle relish, than the floury, tasteless one here. For a meatier affair, try the Manhattan.

By hawker centre standards, however, Fish & Chicks is impressive.

Season's Cafe - LNY Promotion

Teriyaki Chicken with Rice (RM$19.90, S$6.70)

Season's Cafe ended our venture at the Johor Bahru City Square this Chinese New Year season. If i remembered correctly, we had never lunched at Season's Cafe because of its close resemblance to Swensen's Singapore - that element of novelty is just missing. Today, we were attracted by their CNY promotion set.

8 dishes range from Chicken Baked Rice or Pepperoni & Cheese Pizza (RM$16.90) to Lamb Chop (RM$25.90). In between, there were Spicy Aglio Olio Mushroom Pasta, Black Pepper Seafood Pasta or an Half Spring Chicken (RM$19.90). All sets come with complimentary day soup.

Close resemblance to Swensen's Singapore? Yes. But we thought Season's Malaysia tastes better. Can eat.

Black Pepper Beef Burger (RM$17.90, S$6)

Complimentary Soup of the Day - Creme of Mushrooms

Western Food at NTU, New Canteen B

Grilled Chicken Chop Set ($3.50)

Went on a walkabout at the newly renovated Koufu @ the South Spine, NTU for some lunch ideas. It was then the Western lunch set struck us at its low pricing - $3.50. So we try it out.

Not bad at all, albeit the tough, dry bits of the charred chicken chop.

We like the lightly buttered rice and wouldn't trade it for the plump scoop of mashed potatoes when the server offered it. The light salad was refreshing and healthy. Some students preferred their Dory fish & chips, but it's Tempura fish for us.

Tempura Fish Set ($3.50)

The Soup Spoon - too hungry for soup

 Velvety Mushroom Stroganoff  (regular, $7.30), Tokyo Chicken Stew (regular, $7)

Maybe it's my high expectation for The Soup Spoon; that despite my hunger, the soup doesn't seem to rouse the appetite nor satisfy it. I was simply scooping in the warm soup to fill the void in the stomach and trying to finish the meal.

The mushroom stroganoff had a better texture and taste than the chicken stew; and it being less salted than the stew.

For the same price we paid, i guess a bowl of dipping hot fish soup or double boiled herbal soup would serve better.

Main ingredients: Vegetable stock (water, root vegetables, herbs), button mushrooms, shitake mushrooms, cream, 

rice flour, onions, butter, red cooking wine, vegetable oil, herbs, salt, sugar and garlic.

Main ingredients: Chicken stock (water, chicken, root vegetables, herbs), marinated chicken leg, carrots, white radish, celery, shitake mushrooms, leek, lotus roots, onions, bamboo shoots, enoki mushrooms, mirin, sake, 

soya sauce (water, soya beans, wheat, salt), corn starch, sugar, ginger, salt, garlic and vegetable oil.