Saizeriya Ristorante E Caffe

Another place which caught our attention as the queue was SUPER long! In the end Picky Girlfriend and Fussy boyfriend literally waited till the crowd is gone (aka when the restaurant is towards the last closing hour) and got served pretty quickly.

The menu looks quite catchy and the moment we flipped through the menu, we knew immediately what explains the crowd! If we categorise this under Japanese Italian food, this would probably be the most affordable one available in the market!

 We were spoilt for choices as everything looks so affordable and greedy us almost wanted to try as much as our stomach can hold! eg: $20 can probably buy you 2 main courses somewhere else, but 4 in this restaurant!
 
Our orders came pretty fast like 10 mins? Almost like fast  food timing!


Fussy Boyfriend was craving for some potatoes, so ordered the grilled potatoes, only $1.90!

Was a little dry for our liking though! Condiments are placed in a central area, so remember to grab some sauces to go with it!




















Carbonara $5.90

 













Again a little too dry for our liking. Comes with bacon pieces. Fussy Boyfriend being a fan of Parmesan cheese almost emptied half-bottle of cheese onto the spaghetti! (See the difference in the 2 photos!)















Picky Girlfriend ordered seafood gratin $6.90  
 

 And another Pizza for sharing!

 














Our table full of food!

All in all, nothing much to rave about the food, except that the prices are really affordable! This place would be recommended for the pocket friendly and also students who are budget conscious. Oh yes, go for their free flow drinks which has quite a variety from hot to cold beverages at addition $2.90 (if we remembered correctly).

Both Picky Girlfriend and Fussy Boyfriend rating for Saizeriya Italian food: 2.75/5

Saizeriya Ristorante E Caffe
(There are a few outlets: Liang Court - the one we went to, City Square mall, Bukit Timah Plaza and Toa Payoh Central)

Seafood Trail by the Sea @Barnacles

And yes Picky Girlfriend and Fussy Boyfriend are back in action! With the festive season coming up, we thought it will be good to recommend more atas places for dinner!

Picky Girlfriend was lucky enough to win a contest which entitles us to dine at Barnacles! As the name suggests, we are in for a treat for SEAFOOOOOOOD buffet! We have so many yummy pictures to share so let the pictures do the talking!

The restaurant is not big, but selection is available indoors (for appetizers, desserts and cold dishes) and outdoors (for soups and BBQ food).

So we started off with the appetizers and cold dishes.

Cold prawns and Alaskan Cold crabs! Picky Girlfriend's favourite is to dip the prawns in thousand island sauce! Yummms.

 

 Quail egg with roes

 

And freshly opened oysters. Fussy Boyfriend tried a few and commented it was fresh and sweet! Picky Girlfriend gave it a miss as it was too raw and slimey for her liking!

 

Big succulent salad prawns with Thai sauce. Definitely love prawns which are fresh, big and crunchy! And more importantly since they are already peeled, it saves us the trouble of peeling the prawns! ;)  

Other cold dishes include salad, sushi, sashimi etc!

Next we proceeded to the hot food section.

Seafood soup which tasted not bad! Fussy Boyfriend actually had 2 servings of this!

And Picky Girlfriend had 2 servings of unagi! Sweet and very yummy!

And the highlight is probably the BBQ section! 

Grilled squid and softshell Crab! The former was too chewy for both our liking, but the latter was crispy.

 If you are also in the mood for some local delight, you can find sambal stingray too!

The seafood we ate most was the chunky fish pieces, topped with lemon butter sauce! You know how usually fish can be too dry after BBQ-ing them, but the sauce works perfectly on them! Such a good blend that we actually use the sauce as dipping sauce for other items too :)

 

 

And this is not to be missed - BBQ Crayfish! Gets wiped out pretty fast and we love that the fact that the fleshy crayfish has a tinge of smokey taste. Big, juicy and yummy! We lost count of the number of times we ate this ;)

This was recommended by the chef while Fussy Boyfriend was hovering around the stations deciding what to eat next. Apparently, they thought he is a tourist so they explained everything to him in mandarin on what's available. hurhur, so Fussy Boyfriend played along. HA!

 Garoupa fish! So lightly seasoned you can simply taste the freshness of the fish! Thumbs up!

 Grilled tiger prawns!

And of course to add a balance to the super intense seafood meal, we got the chefs to dish up some vegetables for us too!

The mushroom is very very yummy. Consist of about 2-3 different types of mushroom and cooked simply with garlic.

Can't resist sambal kang kong too! So so so yummy and local that Picky Girlfriend can't resist and scoop some white rice to go with it ;)

And again the chef thought we were tourists, so actually told us this dish could be quite spicy! Bring it on! ha

.

And like the famous saying - always save some space for desserts! The choice of desserts is not very extensive, but well, the focus is on the seafood, so desserts is already secondary (in our opinion!). Despite the limitations, we still managed to try some desserts which is not too bad!

Fussy Boyfriend loves the jackfruit cake (top right) and the yam mousse on (middle left), while Picky Girlfriend thought the Strawberry Crumble (middle right) tasted interesting and a nice twist comparing to the conventional apple crumble.

Worth the money and has good ambiance facing the sea (though can't see much at night). BBQ section a must try. Feeling hungry while looking at the photos we took!

Both Picky girlfriend & Fussy Boyfriend rating for seafood buffet : 4.25/5

Seafood Trail by the Sea @Barnacles

Shangri-La Rasa Sentosa Resort & Spa

101 Siloso Road, Sentosa

Seafood Trail available every Thursday, until 16 December 2012
6pm to 8.30pm / 8.30pm to 10pm
SGD68++ per adult / SGD25++ per child (6 to 12 years)

Red Star Restaurant 红星酒家

When thinking about yum cha (literally meaning drinking tea in Cantonese) in the morning, this place will always be our top of mind option! Red Star Restaurant! :)

A place with a super nostalgic feel where ala carta dim sum are served in push carts, this place is certainly unique as this is probably one of the few left with push carts culture. And be prepared to queue if you are there early cos the old folks there are really used to being there at 7am to have their share and dim sum and hot tea!

To avoid the crowd, Picky Girlfriend and Fussy Boyfriend and 2 other friends who wanted to try out were there 10.30am on a Saturday morning and thankfully we did not have to queue for long! Phew.

We were presented with this and has the "license" to start ordering!

As some trollies whizzes by, we stopped the ones we wanted to order and also tried some specialty items which were only available on weekends. And for each item ordered, we will get a chop on the respective item and you can even decide whether you want a small / big serving! Great when not everyone in the group wants to eat the same thing :)

We ordered the usual like chee cheong fan (Rice rolls), har gao (prawn dumpling), lor mai gai (Chicken glutinous rice) and so much more!

We literally have to chase the push carts to order this as it was bombarded with people the moment it is freshly out from the kitchen. Interesting experience and yes we managed to grab a plate before the cart got emptied again.

The chee cheong fan was soft and quite yummy. We like the fact that the sauce is not too salty which goes well with the cheong fan! Comes with the option of prawn or char siew filling.





















The har gao has big crunchy prawns, however the skin was a little too floury really too thick for our liking. In the end Picky Girlfriend (being very Picky) took out the skin and just ate the prawns! Ooops.

The lor mai gai was nicely done and has quite alot of ingredients! With 2 types of chinese sausages (Picky Girlfriend's favourite!), chicken wing and mushroom. Chicken wing is well marinated! Noms, wiped out in minutes :)

And now introducing Fussy Boyfriend's favourite who really focuses more on pastry dim sum items such as the yam puff, egg tarts and also char siew su.

The yam pastry is really crispy on the outside and with warm well seasoned ingredients in the puff. One of the nicer ones we have tried so far!

And not forgetting other yummy dim sum pastries: 


































Both the char siew su and egg tarts are worth trying especially when they are freshly out of the kitchen! The pastries are light with a generous filling. The egg tart is the mid sized version so it tasted good without getting sick of it easily.

The Roast duck was one of the items that are available during weekends, so you may want to try it if you are there on weekends and a fan of roast duck!

The last item we ordered was..

Custard buns with oozing yummy custard goodness! 

Tips: If possible, request to be seated near the kitchen! That's where you can monitor when the items are pushed out in carts, and grab them before they are gone rather then the need for you to chase the carts!! :)

Both Picky girlfriend & Fussy Boyfriend rating for dim sum : 3.75/5

Red Star Restaurant 红星酒家
Blk 54 Chin Swee Road
#07-23

Mon - Thu :	8am - 3pm
Fri - Sat:	8am - 3pm, 7pm - 9pm
Sun:	7am - 10pm

91 Fried Kway Teow Mee 翠绿炒粿条面

Still at Golden Mile Food Centre, Picky Girlfriend and Fussy Boyfriend decided to try another stall since we still have space for more food! So instinctively, we joined the one with the next longest queue and it turns out to be Char Kway Teow! From the signboard, it has been featured in quite a few TV programs too!

The queue took about 15-20 mins before we are presented with this:



Probably one of the few Char Kway Teow with lots of greens! Definitely a healthier choice! :)

And both Picky Girlfriend ad Fussy Boyfriend really loves the fact that the char kway teow is topped with crunchy anchovies which added an additional layer of texture to the char kway teow!


Available in $3, $4





However as we began to savour the fried kway teow, Picky girlfriend got a little disappointed as she didn't manage to find her favourite chinese sausages! And Fussy boyfriend did not find his favourite lard pieces too. It was then we realised... this is one special kway teow with no pork and no lard! ahhh.

Overall it was still nice and special in it's own way. Healthier choice with lots of greens (Picky girlfriend likes veggies!)


Healthier version of Fried kway teow, popular with young and old! 

Picky Girlfriend: Sometimes as much as we would want a healthier choice, char kway teow still taste better with its lard and sausages as it definitely makes the dish more fragrant and a tinge of sweetness to it! =P

Fussy Boyfriend: It's a nice twist to the traditional char kway teow and hands up for healthier choice!

So our rating is slightly different this time round since our char kway teow agenda is quite different and we could not agree with a similar score ;)

Picky Girlfriend's  Rating for Fried Kway Teow: 3.25/5

Fussy Boyfriend's Rating for Fried Kway Teow: 3.75/5



Do you prefer a sinful or healthy char kway teow? :)

91 Fried Kway Teow Mee 翠绿炒粿条面
505 Beach Road
Golden Mile Food Centre
#01-91
(Closed on Mondays)

Golden Mile Fried Hokkien Prawn Mee 海南福建炒虾面

This is probably our longest hiatus so far! Picky Girlfriend has been busy for the past month travelling for work, finding new job, going for interviews and now finally has the time to blog! It kinda feels foreign to be blogging again after so long, but the love of sharing good food is our mission! So we apologise for the delay, and hope you are still with us while we continue to recommend yummy food! :)

Now exploring Golden Mile Food Centre (better known as army market as there is a floor of stores dedicated to selling army related stuff). Picky girlfriend and Fussy Boyfriend spotted this store with long queue so naturally we joined in the queue and the rest like how others always say, was history. :)



We queued for approx 20 mins and we must say it was really worth the wait!

 
 And finally! $3 per plate

Piping hot fried hokkien mee served with both chilli padi and sambal chilli! And Picky girlfriend really love the chilli has it has a strong hae bee hiam (Dried shrimps) taste and goes really well with the noodles, giving it an extra oomph!




This version of the hokkien mee is the drier version as compared to the rest we have tried before which is a mixture of use of yellow noodles and thin bee hoon. Definitely preferred this over the use of thick bee hoon as thin bee hoon is able to absorb the gravy and fragrance better.






It comes with prawn, squid and 3 layer pork which both of us really love! 3 layer pork is definitely sinful but it's what that makes the noodles awesome :)





Our last shot before we wiped off the noodles in minutes. :)

Tips:

• Try out the fruit juice stall just located beside the hokkien mee stall if you feel that hokkien mee is sinful. We tried the banana milk shake only at $2 and totally love it!

Both Picky Girlfriend and Fussy Boyfriend Rating for Fried Hokkien Prawn Noodles : 3.75/5

Fried Hokkien Prawn Mee 海南福建炒虾面
505 Beach Road
Golden Mile Food Centre
B1-34

Jia Ji Mei Shi 佳记美食

Following our claypot entry in Chinatown, this is another store which we will frequent often when we are in that area and when we are craving for a light meal. This is definitely one store we will recommend that may give you a satisfying meal! :)

And there will always be a queue for this store. It sells a variety of cooked food such as rice dumplings, soon kueh, fried bee hoon and noodles, yam cake chee cheong fan and porridge! All at affordable prices,  this store is a hit for both young and old.

So.. we joined the queue and waited for about 10-15 mins before we can savour our favorite yam cake!

And tada! Our order of yam cake and chee cheong fan combination. Topped with sweet sauce, chilli sauce and sesame seeds, we really love the yam cake here! :)

$2 for the chee cheong fan and yam cake combination! you can choose to have either one or both too!

The steamed yam cake is really soft and a little chewy. And what we love about this is that there are bits of yam pieces in it, which gives an additional layer of yummy goodness to it!

We wiped it off within minutes! yummmy. (so pardon the lack of photos!) Try it and you will know how nice it is :)

Both Picky Girlfriend and Fussy Boyfriend's Rating for Yam cake: 4.25/5

So far we have blogged a few items from this hawker (popiah,  dim sum, claypot rice and now yam cake). What is your favourite? :)

Jia Ji Mei Shi 佳记美食
Chinatown Complex
Blk 335 Smith Street #02-166

联合本记煲饭 Lian He Ben Ji Claypot Rice

It's been a while since our last post and it's been quite a busy month for both Picky Girlfriend and Fussy Boyfriend and this month seems exceptionally fast and it's already end of the month. After our first and only post on claypot rice (gosh, that was back in 2010!), we finally decided to revisit this yummy dish again, this time at Chinatown as we have been there a few times but always ended up eating something else.

We really love the fact that the claypot rice are cooked using charcoal as this gives the rice a more flavoursome taste! And do you ever wonder why the claypots are always wrapped with metal wires? Apparently claypot cracks easily and by doing so will make the structure stronger and less susceptible for cracks.

There are a few types of claypot rice that are available, sausage claypot, chicken claypot and a mix of both worlds! Picky Girlfriend love the former and Fussy Boyfriend the latter so a mixed pot would do wonder for both of us :)

After about 15-20 mins wait, our claypot rice is finally here! We ordered the $10 version which was recommended for 2 pax.

















Our $10 portion. Generous serving of chicken and sausages. Would be more ideal if there are more vege! Other price options include $5/$8/$10/$12/$15/$20

The crux of mixing a claypot rice is the gluey dark soya sauce (a more premium quality) and oil that was provided separately as well. We saw a few other people who separated the ingredients out before mixing the rice, but for us...

















We simply love to mix everything together and Fussy Boyfriend loves the rice to be really dark! :)

















Ready to mix?
























Go!Go! Fussy Boyfriend! Mix it well and we can savour the yummy claypot rice!


 















After some effort, everything is mixed well and we love it! The mixing of the dark soya sauce together with the sausages and chicken is a heavenly mix. The rice was just of the right texture, not too soft and of our liking! The sausages are sweet and gives the rice an extra flavour and the chicken pieces on the other hand are fresh and tender with no extra marination required. What makes this pot of rice stands out is also the use of salted fish pieces which again added another layer of taste to it.

So you have everything in a pot! Sweet, salty and oh not forgetting the special chilli sauce that we dipped the chicken with. Awesome combination :)

Both Picky Girlfriend and Fussy Boyfriend's Rating for Claypot Rice: 4.25/5

The stall also sells some soup as well as other dishes, you may want to add some greens to your already yummy meal to make it a healthier option :)

联合本记煲饭 Lian He Ben Ji Claypot Rice
Chinatown Complex
Blk 335 Smith Street #02-198/199