Review of Citrus by the pool @ Woodlands [Media Invite]

Whenever I asked my friends about food recommendations in Woodland, I was led elsewhere. No doubt that Citrus by the Pool had been established for about 9 years, but I had never come across such a place and that explained my visit here. Citrus By The Pool is a Halal-certified café restaurant located at Woodlands Swimming Complex

Citrus By The Pool

It caught my surprise that their menu was very extensive and had many choices like pasta, western, waffles and even Thai Cuisine! The staff is friendly and the service is good. 

The interior is cosy, spacious and comfortable. Good News for night owls out there as they are open daily till 5 a.m.

Interior

The Yam Mamuang (Thai Mango Salad) got us started on the meal with its harmonious blend of sweet, sour, salty and spicy tastes, adding on with its light and refreshing flavours. The shredded green mango was outstanding for its was not only served with roasted crushed peanuts, chilli and onions drizzled with the sweet and sour sauce but also topped with the fried sliced codfish. 

Yam Mamuang (Thai Mango Salad) - $6.90

What a fusion! The combination of Thai Chilli Crab Sauce and pasta can be served with either chicken or seafood. Flavours of crab with spicy and savoury elements of Thai Cuisine. Yums!

Thai Chilli Crab Pasta  (Chicken / Seafood) - $14 / $15.50

The Stir Fry Garlic Chicken is good for sharing. The succulency of the chicken pieces was made savoury with the bold flavours of garlic. It tasted good alone even without pairing it with jasmine rice.

Stir Fry Garlic Chicken (Gai Tod Kra Tiem) - $9.90

This appetising famous Thai Dish, Tom Yum Seafood Soup is known for its bold & tangy flavours. The delightful and aromatic soup featured a variety of seafood and gave a balance of sweet, and sour with spicy notes. 

Clear Tom Yum Soup (Seafood) - $15.90

A healthy and tasty option that highlights the natural flavours of chicken with free-range poultry. It was delicious and wholesome combining the simplicity of grilling with the quality and flavour of the free-range chicken. Love the Pan Fried Sous Vide Chicken Thigh that carried a crisp on the outer layer and served with their seasonal vegetables coupled with homemade brown sauce.

Grilled Free-Range Chicken - $17.50

This Classic, popular and flavourful Thai Stir Fried noodle dish strike a perfect balance of sweet, salty and tangy flavours. It offers a delightful mix of texture and tastes. 

Prawn Pad Thai - $13.90

The Thai Crispy Fish has always been my favourite from the Thai Menu and Citrus by the pool offers an option pairing it with Thai Chilli, Sweet and Sour Sauce or Dark Soy Sauce.

Thai Crispy Fish with Sweet & Sour Sauce - $29.90

The sweet notes and tanginess had married the crispiness of the deep-fried seabass. Its a delightful & flavourful dish indeed. 

Seabass

The BBQ Squid with Thai Spicy Chili is a popular and delicious Thai Seafood Dish.The combination of smoky and tender grilled squid with its tangy, spicy and refreshing sauce was fantastic. 

BBQ Squid with Thai Spicy Chilli (Pra Meuk Yang) - $9.90

Not many places sell this. The Thai Stuffed Chicken Wings which is also known as "Peek Gai Yad Sai" is a unique Thai Dish. The chicken wings are deboned, stuffed with a delicious mixture and was deep fried to its golden crispy perfection. Its a contrast of crispy chicken skin over a flavourful and savoury filling. The dipping sauce added a touch of sweetness, making this dish a mouthwatering treat.

Thai Stuffed Chicken Wing (Peek Gai Yad Sai) - $8.90

Besides having fusion dishes from their menu, we were impressed by the range of beverages too. Just take a look into their signature ice coffees and my kakis had already shortlisted two.

Their Signature Ice Coffees are Instagram-worthy with alluring colours. 

Oceanic Iced Latte - $9

Want some fruity flavours with coffee? If you are adventurous, try this!

Passionfruit Sparkling Americano - $19

While our stomach was already reaching its limit, we were glad that we still have some space for desserts, their mini milkshakes.

Rainbow Paradise reminded me of my child hood favourite ice cream "Rainbow Paddle Pop". It was topped with some rainbow marshmallows and the milk shake was added with caramel sauce. Gummy was added too and it gave us surprises. 

Rainbow Paradise - $9

We also had the Salted Caramel milk shake that was decorated with a slice of Lotus Biscuit. While we thought it will be sweet, it turns out that the sweetness level was acceptable by all of us.

Salted Caramel - $9.90

We could not resist but were told that their Molten Chocolate Lava Cake was highly recommended. It was handcrafted inhouse and the combination of warm gooey chocolate cake with the creaminess of the scoop of vanilla ice cream was a perfect treat to end our meal. What an indulgence!

Molten Chocolate Lava Cake - $13

Food is priced affordably and the portion is generous. It also can gather big family or groups dining. So if hunger pangs in the night, I will know where to go now.

Thank you Ericia & Citrus by the pool for the invitation.

Citrus By The Pool
Location: Woodlands Swimming Complex, 3 Woodlands Street 13  Singapore 738600
Website

Koma

With so many of my new feeds featuring this Impressive Modern Japanese Dining Eating place in Marina Bay Sands, I'm kind of shaken to visit it. Making reservations was not easy either, it took us a month to have booked a seat from KOMA for a weekend slot.

Koma

KOMA, an original concept from TAO Group, is a Japanese restaurant and sushi bar offering a modern interpretation of Japanese cuisine.  We make our entrance through the distinct 20m passageway into the holding area. These orange arches are reminiscent of the famous rows of Torri Gates of Fushimi Inari Shrine in Kyoto.

Good news for Sake Lovers, this restaurant also comprises both bar and lounge that serves an extensive selection of over 30 types of sake sourced from across Japan.

Holding Area

As we strolled into the restaurant, walking over the traditional Japanese footbridge with the gigantic 2.5m Japanese Bronze Bell hanging, overlooking the reflective pond. The first step into the 230 seat restaurant, including bar and lounge was breathtaking. For all i know, this stunning environment was thoughtfully designed by reowned Amercian from Rockwell Group.

Japanese Food Bridge

The interior was gorgeous and the designs were dramatic. The voluptuous and oversized lanterns were part of the ornaments that gave the restaurant that WOW Factor.

Take my breath away

The soaring high ceiling was adorned with modern Japanese decorations and if you notice, there is a private dining area at the mezzanine and an oversize sushi bar below it.

An overview view from the spiral stairs

Zooming into the semi-private dining area located on the mezzanine floor: it offers both a wide view of the lower floor dining area as well as the beautifully decorated air space created. 

Private Dining Area at the Mezzanine 

This private dining room definitely stands up on its own to provide a different level of environment for the diners' gathering. 

An overview of the Restaurant from the Private Dining Area at the Mezzanine

Glass owls were placed at some parts of KOMA too. These Owls represent good luck and is considered auspicious character in Japanese Culture.

Wide View from the Japanese Foot Bridge

Look at the lovely hand folded cranes, let's make a guess what are they for?

Origami Cranes

Have you guessed them right?

Skipping the conventional use of chopsticks rest, Koma has replaced them by using the hand-folded traditional Japanese origami cranes. 

Unconventional Way of Chopstick Rest

We ordered a 3-course Lunch Set at $68 ++ per pax and since we are in a group of 4, we get to try 4 different kind of items each from the courses.

Appetizers

The Crispy Chicken is a version of Chicken Karaage coated with crispy rice and sprinkled with some truffle oil. The tomato ponzu dipping sauce aids in elevating its taste. These chicken was placed on a bed of crispy rice too that added color contrast on the dish, thus enhancing the presentation of the dish.

Crispy Chicken

The Agedashi Tofu was served with half immersing in umadashi sauce and these 2 blocks of Tofu were stacked with crispy fried eel, topped with grated radish as well as spring onion, not forgetting the Hot Spring Egg that is "swimming" in the sauce too.

Agedashi Tofu & Eel with Hot Spring Egg

Thin strips of beef were served in Yuzu Ponzu, sesame oil and topped with shredded scallion, green chilli, finished off by sprinkling some roasted sesame seeds. Love such simplicity yet addictive to the palates with its zesty taste that excites one for more. 

Wagyu Beef Tataki

Here's what you have from the assortment: Eggplant, cauliflower, sweet potato and shrimp. This tempura was perfectly fried without leaving you any greasiness. Radish and tempura dipping sauce were provided for the pairing.

Assorted Tempura

A LA Carte

We ordered some ala carte orders on top of our usual 3 courses meal.

These Crispy Tokyo Gyoza was made up of chicken, cabbage as well as miso served with a sauce that reminds me of Korean Bean paste. 

Crispy Tokyo Gyoza - $12

It comes in a plate of 5 and slightly charred at the sides of the gyoza skin. A good point was that it was not oily.

Charred Gyoza Skin

Apart from the Gyoza, we ordered skewers from their Robata Grill menu. Generally the skewers were pretty decent. 

Shitake Mushrooms were coated with Kabayaki sauce and sprinkled with bonito flakes while Negima refers to Chicken thigh with Tokyo negi (leeks). The asparagus remained its juiciness with hints of salt and peppery taste. For the Unagi, it was coated with Kabayaki sauce coupled with Japanese sansho as its condiments. Last but not least, the grilled lamb chop was good to go with the cilantro and mint sauce.

Skewers - Shitake $8, Negima $9, Asparagus $9, Unagi $15, Lamb Chop $20

Main Course

All main courses come with rice in our Lunch Set Menu and using the Japanese Rice, this fried rice dish had the presence of aromatic Truffle perfume. The dish was then decorated by the lush greens from the broccoli and brown mushrooms stems.

Truffle Fried Rice

Truffle Fried Rice set was completed with a bowl of Miso Soup.

 

Miso Soup

It won't go wrong ordering their Miso Marinated Black Cod as main dish pairing with the bowl of white steamed rice. The tasty use of burnt Jalapeno vinaigrette accompanied by the refreshing fresh beets and charred edges of the Cod made a delighting dish. 

Miso Marinated Black Cod 2 Pieces

I'm a fish lover and this Pan Seared Barramundi was well served with its top layer of crispy fish skin coupled with Sansho sauce, decked up by a bed of beansprouts and green dragon vegetables. Yums!

Pan Seared Barramundi 

While the last Main Dish we had was the Korean kind of Barbecued Beef Short Rib that was served with korean big head beansprouts. The short ribs were cut into uniform strips and were well marinated.

Barbecued Beef Short Rib

Enjoy the Beef Short Ribs by doing the korean way of wrapping them with the refreshing gem lettuce and big head beansprouts. A dash of kojijan (Korean Fermented Condiment) would make your experience on this dish complete. 

Wrapping In Gem Lettuce

Desserts

The last course of our meal was exciting too while we got flabbergasted by the creation of these desserts.

While the Menu offers 3 standard kinds of desserts, one of our dessert item was repeated.

The Japanese Cheese Cake was light tasting with bottom made up by biscuits crumbs, an indication of the usual old school digestive biscuits. While the top portion was embellished by attractive bright colors from  slices of strawberries not forgetting the accompanying raspberry sorbet and sauce which perked up our last dish!

Japanese Cheese Cake

Impressive creation where everything on the plate is edible including the pot. This dessert is an illustration of the Bonsai plant, made up by molten dark chocolate, sponge cake, a scoop of Vanilla ice cream and crunchy praline. The chocolate was both rich and bitter while the sweetness from scoop of Vanilla ice cream blends in well altogether.

Bonsai

Summing up our meal courses,  Staff of Koma had combined 2 desserts (Lemon Yuzu & Bonsai) onto a plate with their welcome message. If you are wondering how do they expect us to eat the entire lemon, you are tricked by their aesthetic looking dish too.

The Lemon Ponzu was artistically created exactly like a raw lemon. Crack open into the lemon to find luscious lemon mousse and mix them together to the yuzu jam and cacao crumble. The citrus gave a spike to our taste buds and the chilly ice makes the combination wonderful. 

Welcoming to Koma with 2 kinds of Desserts (Lemon Yuzu and Bonsai)

The trip to Koma was spectacular and upon entrance, it gave diners a feel of being instantly transported to Kyoto at the instance. While the place is instagrammable, do take more pictures when you are there. Food is decent and the tweaking of food recipe gives bits of surprise to the diner. If you like little surprises, you will enjoy their food apart from their astounding environment.

If you are celebrating an occasion or bringing your date there, do remember to make reservations in advance. 

Rating: 4 .25 / 5

Koma
Location: Marina Bay Sands , 2 Bayfront Avenue, #B1-67 Singapore 018972
Website

Noodle Bar

Noodle Bar by Tokyo Latte is a Japanese-Western Fusion modern dining place located among the shops at level two of JCube.

Interior is spacious with open kitchen concept. There is communal table suitable for large groups and family dinning as well as bar counter for small group dining.

Noodle Bar

Noodle Bar Interior

Orange Crush was freshly made and pretty refreshing with mint leaves and fruits bits.

Orange Crush - $4.30 & Iced Lemon Tea - $2.80

Pasta was cooked to al dente texture and though the base is cream, the portion of cream was well distributed among the spaghetti. Light in flavours with bacons, mushroom, tomatoes and finely grated Parmesan cheese topped with chopped parsley.

Bacon Carbonara - $8.50

Presentation for the Vongole is similar to the former just that the ingredients was different.

Vongole - $9

We haven't got too much time in the Noodle bar as it was nearing to the closing of Business day. If not for my friend who had introduced me to this place, I would have never explore much deeper among the trendy shops in JCube. Service as an overall is friendly and quick to serve. I will be back again for other dishes.


Rating: 3 / 5

Noodle Bar
Location: JCube,  #02-03, 2 Jurong East Central 1, Singapore 609731

ButterNut

The Stall ButterNut is name after a type of squash that tastes similar to pumpkin with a kind of sweet and nutty taste. ButterNut was recently launched in end of January and located at Taman Jurong Hawker & Food Centre serving Salad, pizza, Western and Fusion Food.

Stall Front

Pizzas

Thin Crust and entirely handmade. I would never have expected such crispy pizza to be found from a Hawker Stall. These pizza are sincerely hand kneaded and freshly prepared, simply worth waiting for! Besides that, there are some pizza that are Vegan friendly, do make a trip down and support the young generation of Hawkers!

A strong wave of Truffle smell hits me as soon I received the plate of pizza. The thin crust pizza's based with Mozzarella cheese, Parmesan Cheese, topped with white button mushroom slices, shimeiji mushrooms and of course drizzled with the aromatic Truffle Oil. This dish is Vegan friendly.

Mushroom Truffle Pizza (Vegan) - $8

Close up on the Mushrooms

Recommended on the menu and selling like pancakes! Base likewise is filled with both Mozzarella and Parmesan Cheese, topped with butternut chunks and chicken slices.

ButterNut Chicken Pizza - $7

This is my alternative choice when the Signature's ButterNut Chicken Pizza runs out.

Bratwurst Chicken Pizza - $6

Thin crust pizza topped with beef pepperoni slices, mozzarella cheese and Parmesan cheese.

Beef Pepperoni Pizza - $6

Stall owners have you at hard, fret not for the vegans! In fact this herb pizza is vegans' hot pick. Thin crust pizza topped with oregano, parsley, mozzarella cheese and Parmesan Cheese.

Herbs Pizza (Vegan) - $6

Carving for some juicy pineapples on your pizza? Order their Hawaiian thin crust Pizza with chicken ham slices, chunks of pineapple, mozzarella cheese and Parmesan cheese.

Hawaiian Pizza - $7

Yummy Peking duck sauce over smoked duck slices with mozzarella cheese as base of the thin crust pizza. Simply love the sweet savoury goodness.

Smoked Duck Pizza - $8

 A recent addition to the menu, Chicken with Mushroom pizza! Fragrant and delicious!

Chicken Mushroom Pizza - $8

Salads

Don't leave the place without a plate of healthy salad either! You can choose to customize your own salad with detailed pricing by the side of the menu board or even try out their preset Salad Menu. I believe you will be back for more. For every salad, you are feel to choose your own dressing with Honey Mustard, Wasabi Soy or Balsamic Vinaigrette. ( Tip: It won't go wrong without their Special Blend Honey Mustard Sauce, Yummy!)

Salmon Salad, also known as the Garden's Catch consists of  Salmon Steak, Romaine, Tri-coloured Fusili, ButterNut, mashed Sweet Potato, Sauteed mixed Shrooms, Chia Seeds. Salmon was very well baked with perfect texture and minimum fishy smell.

Salmon Salad - $9

Perfect!

How about some Roaming Chicken Salad to boost your protein? Uniformly cut slices of chicken laid neatly on top of the bed of vegetables like Romaine, ButterNut, mashed Sweet Potato, Sauteed Mixed Shrooms, Chia Seeds.

Chicken Salad - $7

My Choice of Sauce: Balsamic Vinaigrette & Honey Mustard

Always don't feel comfortable eating Smoked Meat but I'm quite surprised with Mandarin Duck Salad.The Smoked duck was not as salty as I would have expected. The default portion comes with romaine, quinoa, ButterNut, Cherry, Tomatoes, Baby Carrots, Roasted Sesame Seeds. However you can also add on some other items like brown rice. Don't worry, you can also Tweak abit on your salad if you prefer to have some items more in quantity.

Duck Salad - $8

Too please with the colors I had on my plate. It really light up my mood! Portion of  Ebi Prawn Salad comes with fried Ebi Prawns, mixed greens, quinoa, ButterNut, Sauteed mixed shrooms, baby carrots, roasted sesame seeds.

Ebi Prawns Salad

My choice of Sauce: Wasabi Soy

Bar Snacks

Comparing to the usual kind of fries, I always prefer Sweet Potato Fries. Sprinkled with Special Seasoning that tasted of Cinnamon powder, that's a fantastic harmony!

Sweet Potato Fries with Special Seasoning - $4

The next bar snacks that worth a try will be their Garlic Oregano Chicken Wings. The overnight marinate had lift its flavors in the chicken wings. Crispy texture with light garlicky taste in the meat, I guess it will be good to pair with some beer.

Garlic Oregano Chicken Wings - $4.50 (3 Pcs)

Coming back to its Business Name, I'm quite impressed by the taste of the food and the name speaks well for itself. Butternut were well prepared, they were not too hard nor mushy and the main ingredient of salads. In conjunction with the healthy living style that most of us are working forward to, the existence of ButterNut had injected a new excitement to what we are expecting from an old school hawker food. I'm looking forward to the upcoming expansion of their menu.

Rating: 4 / 5

ButterNut
Location: 3 Yung Sheng Road #02-108 Singapore 618499
Operating Hours: Monday & Sunday - Closed
                                Tuesday - Saturday : 11.30 - 14.00
                                                                  18.30 - 21.00