The King Louis Grill & Bar

Enjoy Singapore one and only one castle themed dining experience at The King Louis serving medieval cuisine. Located at 3rd Storey in Vivocity, it is easily accessible (Just beside Diaso) though the castle is guarded by two strong looking armored knights.

The King Louis

"Hail to the kings" was heard as we strolled into their restaurants. The servers put on with much respect making that moment quite a comfortable and welcoming entrance.

Castle Entrance of The King Louis

The place is furnished in wooden furniture and atmosphere was close representing the castle with shields / armors and knights around.

Castle Interior

While in the castle, one get to enjoy the scenic view of the territory through the posters on their walls.

Did you spot the tiger

And here's the King's Menu! Let's welcome the feast!

Menu

While waiting for our Kings' meal. I thought this is pretty interesting with King Louis labels over the original brands of the sauces for both Tomato and Chili Sauce.

Sauces for Meat

One can enjoy a bottomless cup (their freeflow of drinks) at a specific rate but no sharing is allowed. For those who ordered their freeflow, they were given a silver cup to differentiate from the usual ones.

And while waiting, we grabbed ourselves some drinks. The spoon for the Rootbeer float looked quite fanciful.

Apple Juice - $5 (Left) & Rootbeer Float $7(Right)

Since we were dining in a group 8 where majority were guys, we ordered a meat platter as well as a seafood platter.

Knight Gawain meal was indeed carnivorous, as the name suggest everyone to dine as a king. The Roasted beef with black pepper sauce was quite hard and I felt that it was overcooked. The meat platter also came with Garlic Chicken Breast with Herbs and spice, Grilled porkloin with mushroom sauce which were suitable for 4 to 5 pax. These slabs of meat were placed over a bed of oven roasted potatoes, mixed vegetables with butter pumpkin sauce, Mesclun & Corn Salad and Pineapple was skewered as well as green apples drizzled with caramel Cinnamon Sauce. 

Knight Gawain - $94.90

Marinated Boneless Chicken Leg with Onion Sauce looked appetizing with its burnt grilled marks neatly drawn across the slabs of meats. Unlike the roasted beef, the chicken were more tender and juicy.

Marinated Chicken Leg

With slices of green apples poke through the skewers and pineapple as its based, it just could get my eyes off the slimy caramel cinnamon sauce dripping off especially when these fruits looked so outstanding among the carnivorous meal!

Green Apple with Caramel Cinnamon Sauce Dropping off

Next on our Menu was the Queen Matilda, the seafood favourites! We had Grilled Slipper Lobster with Herbs and if you are wondering what exactly were those grilled slipper lobsters, they were none other than the normal crayfishes we had for BBQ.

Pan-seared snapper with wasabi Mayo Sauce, sauteed scallop with Garlic and cream sauce and big oven-baked king prawns with melted mozzarella cheese were also part of its banquet.
Such portion is good to share with 4 to 5 pax too.

Queen Matilda - $168.50

Scallops from Queen Matilda

Having such heavy meals, there was no room left for the desserts. :(  However, it was still a very good experience to dine like the king.

Yummy!

Overall, this is a very good place for group gathering as they have long wooden bench to cater for groups and meat lovers. However, parents might want to take note that there is a big gap on the bench in case that their kids fall into the "hole".

Rating: 3 / 5

The King Louis Grill & Bar
Location: VivoCity, 1 Harbourfront Walk #03-07A Singapore 098585
Website

New Lucky Claypot Rice

If you have been wondering where did the famous Clementi Claypot Rice go to? Here's your answer. They have been shifted into Holland Drive Market and Food Centre! Occupying 2 stalls spaces at  a corner in the Food Centre, New Lucky stall was seemed to be well organised with their spacious surroundings.

New Lucky Claypot Rice

When about 95% of the stalls were closed for the day, they are one of the few stalls opened and  surprisingly filling the empty tables, attracting a large crowd in the Food Centre.

A normal order will take about 40 mins to an hour for food to be served as each pot of rice was cooked upon ordering. Well liked for their charcoal infused taste, these individual earthen pots were first cooked over the gas stove then over the charcoal wood fire at a later part. To reduce waiting time, we had called in advance to reserve our orders. The waiting time was about half the original and they were served with pot cover. When the server opened its lid, steam were seen gushing out and sizzling noises were heard, followed but the strong fragrant from the dish.

It was a pot of plain looking white rice, with sausages, cut chicken pieces on the top layer while mushrooms and salted fish were hidden within.

Claypot Rice before adding Seasonings - $15 (Big)

Oil and black sauce was added by ourselves and fit right with our customized taste.

Black Sauce & Oil

Adding them while evaporation was in progress had tickled our stomach further with the sudden gush of smokey smell. Really whet our appetite for more! For those who enjoyed the crispy burnt rice, there were more than enough of them of them at the bottom of the pot, sticking to it. Add a little force and scrap them all out.

Sizzling Claypot Rice

Sauce and Oil Added

Let's look at how's its being mixed.

Ta-da! The end product!

Scoop your portion and enjoy their chilli

If having just claypot rice alone was just not enough, you can order some other sides and soups to complete the meal. For ourselves, we had Lotus soup and water cress soup. These heavy pots of soups were put to simmer under the heat for hours. They are not oily and a good pairing to the meal.

Lotus Soup - $4

Watercress Soup - $4

Rating: 4 / 5

New Lucky Claypot Rice
Location: Holland Drive Market & Food Centre, 44 Holland Drive, #02-19 Singapore 270044

Lime House

Birthday meal was made special with the first tryout of Caribean Cuisine.  Located at the corner among the competitive rows of dining places, Lime house stands up. The name Lime did really make me wonder how was the type of cuisine related to the fruit.

Lime House

Well, it actually derives from the word "liming", which is actually a pastime in Caribean Culture - hanging out with friends.

Authentic Caribbean Cuisine

Settings was pretty interesting with an intricate design of historic Peranakan decor in such 3 storey high conserved shophouse.

Door Frame

Peranakan Door

There was a Peranakan dark wood door with floral engravings, dividing the ground floor main dining area. Another interest drawing sight was its wall tiles, those pastel-colored and floral designs put me in a deeper thought - How did the Peranakan relate with Caribbean cultures? These fusion add characters to the entire dining atmosphere.

Dining Area

Though menu was not extensive, it good enough as I was intrigued by the choice of exotic food on their menu. The server was very friendly and attentive, assisting us in elaborating some of the dishes.

Menu

We started with the soup of the day which was baked sweet potato soup. The sweet flavoured soup was accompanied by 2 quarter pieces of flat bread which somehow remind me of the chinese fried fritters "Ham Ji Peng" skin. If I was not told that it was sweet potato, I could have mistaken for pumpkin soup instead.

Soup of the day - $8

 We had another starter, slipper lobster cocktail. The appetizer comes with half avocado placed in the middle of the plate served with tiny pieces of slipper lobsters, mango and pineapple in salsa by the side.

Lobster Cocktail - $15

For the mains, we had baby back ribs. Pork ribs were delicate and tender glazed with their own Trinidad BBQ Sauce and sides include potato chump and grilled vegetables.

Baby Back Ribs - $28

I had their special menu, Seabass in Paillote. In comes in a pouch where the fish was infused with the flavors of tomato, capers, garlic, and lemon. Gravy was more on the spicy side, packed with coconut milk flavours, taste wise, one can relate the taste to our local "laksa".

Seabass in Paillote - $28

Seabass

For the sides, we had fried plantain or we called in kerata (a familar term we use locally). In layman terms, its fried banana chunks.

Fried Plantain - $6

It was a really good experience to have such a cuisine in Singapore without having the trouble to fly over 30 hours just to enjoy one. Now that I found a new place for Liming, I would not hesitate to recommend my friends here. However a meal for 2 would cost about hundred bucks.


Rating: 3 / 5

Lime House
Location: 2 Jiak Chuan Road Singapore 089260

Pondok Makan Indonesia

The plates and plates of Gado Gado as well as Tahu Goreng caught my eyes as the helper of Pondok Makan Indonesia served these Indonesian dishes to their customers.

Pondok Makan Indonesia

Gado Gado, the Indonesia style of salad is make up of boiled vegetables, eggs, beansprouts, potatoes and mixed in the aromatic peanuts gravy. It comes with 2 sizes and the bigger portion would cost $4.

Peanut gravy had adequately filled the smaller portion of Gado Gado topped with some pieces of prawn crackers. The crackers had a very strong stench from the prawns which may not be acceptable by some of us.

Gado Gado - $3 (Small)

For its taste, I felt that overall it did give me a flashback of what I had in Batam sometimes back. I'm glad that it did not taste too much of our localized Gado Gado which usually had a stronger and sweeter taste.

Rating: 3.5 / 5

Pondok Makan Indonesia
Location: Albert Centre Market & Food Centre, 270 Queen Street, #01-123 s180270

Siraj - Famous Waterloo St Indian Rojak

The location of Siraj is rather prominent as they were located at the corner of Albert Centre Market and Food Centre. I was introduced to Siraj from a friend who told me that Siraj is actually the Famous Indian Rojak from Waterloo Street and he had heard about it from the "Lost and Found" Television Program sometimes back.

Siraj - Famous Waterloo St Indian Rojak

We stopped and grabbed some bite before continuing our meetup session on a lovely sunny Saturday afternoon.  Like the usual Indian Rojak Stalls, the fried flour made items were many and came in attractive colors. There was a crowd over at their stall and patrons were waiting for their turn to pick up the assortment. These selected items were them placed into the deep fryer at high temperature and cut into smaller pieces, ready to be served with cucumbers, onions and green chillis. Gravy was hot but diluted.

Indian Rojak

Kambing Soup tasted quite diluted and was a disappointment. One look at it, I was somehow turned off by the oily layer. However, the meat was tender but still as an overall, the taste was lacking.

Mutton Soup - $5

Overall, I would say that their Indian rojak was more than ordinary and honestly speaking, I have expected something more, perhaps comparable to Habib's Rojak of West Coast or Al mahboob Rojak in Tampines.



Rating: 2.5 / 5

Siraj
Location: Albert Centre Market & Food Centre, 270 Queen Street #01-120 Singapore 180270

Old Street Bak Kut Teh.You Tiao.Soya Milk

As we travelled down to the basement on Westgate's Escalator, our eyes was fixed onto Old Street Bak Kut Teh as the interior design was rustic with wooden chairs and tables as well as the olden days kind of tiles with old school lamps hanging above.

Old Street Bak Kut Teh . You Tiao . Soya Milk

The environment looked pretty old school with wooden planks making up its walls and ceilings.

Famous Old Street

Even the wallpapers were part of the nostalgic experience when we stepped into the place.

Wallpapers

Sauce counter is located in the middle of the dining area and diners can help themselves with black sauce, chilli, oil and even sesame sauce.

Environment and sauce counter

We were rather lost when we stepped into the shop and none attended to us. Our blur faces and actions were caught by one of the helpers and she came approaching us and asked if it was our first time in the shop. 

We were somehow amazed when we drew opened the drawer and found an ipad as the menu. In fact, all of the tables were equipped with this electronic menu and of course securely tied to the tables. Menu was comprehensive with types of categories from food, sides to desserts. What's more, there is a promotion section where diners can check out the latest promotions by Old Street.

Ipad Menu

Besides having an such technology savvy menu, their tables were attached with electric stoves.

Electric Stove on the Tables

The Pig's Stomach was thinly sliced into pieces and served with the white Bak Kut Teh Soup. Each piece was thoroughly clean without having any trace of the original pigs' smell.

Pig's Stomach Soup - $7.20

The soup were tasty without much peppery taste and with the prompt service, helpers will walk around the restaurant helping diners in refilling the soup.

Meat of pork ribs were rather defined. The layers of fats and meat were visibly seen from the eyes and these ribs went very well with the dark soy sauce and cut chillis.

Pork Ribs (Part of Set Menu B) - $15

You Tiao were cut and served in the basket. They were also part of the main reason why our bowls of Bak Kut Teh "dried up" so easily. :p

You Tiao  (Part of Set Menu B)

 Dry Bak Kut Teh? I have never even heard of it till I saw that on their menu. Served traditionally  with dark soya coated Bak Kut mixed with ladies fingers in earthen claypot. Presentation was a bit dull but overall, the taste is still not bad, at least I find it quite special.

Dry Bak Kut Teh (Small) - $9.10

Having Dou Hua after Bak Kut Teh made me feel rather funny. However, I will say that this dessert was definitely the traditional Dou Hua and not any other kind of pudding. It was smooth and delicate, a gentle scoop would have them torn apart. The sugar syrup added was not too sweet and perfect compliment to such plain bowl of dessert.

Dou Hua (Part of Set Menu B)

Well, its glad to know that we have one specialized restaurant selling Bak Kut Teh in the Mall. For those who enjoy BKT, it will be a good place to dine in the West.

Rating: 3 / 5

Old Street Bak Kut Teh
Location: Westgate, 3 Gateway Drive #B1-25 Singapore 608532

You Huak Restaurant 友发餐室

If you have eaten White Been Hoon, you will probably hear of Sembawang's famous White Bee Hoon which is located among the shop houses opposite Sembawang Shopping Centre.

You Huak Restaurant serves Zi Char food beside the well known White Bee Hoon You Huak.

You Huak Restaurant

The interior dining was spacious and neat packed with customers eagerly waiting for their plate of Bee Hoon and items ordered.

Interior

Payment of drinks is due when it was served and was separated from the food order. We had Ai yu, ice lemon tea and barley for drinks and desserts.

Desserts and Drinks, Ai Yu Jelly, Ice Lemon Tea and Barley - $5

The favour was same as what I had tried in malaysia just that the Ai Yu Jelly was a tad miserable. Other than that the taste striked a good balance of sweet and sour, very soothing to the throat.

Ai Yu Jelly

Recommended by the lady helper, we ordered one of their popular dishes, the Indonesia fried Chicken Wing. It came 3 in a plate, which breakdown to $2 per piece. Served while they were piping hot and came accentuate with hints of ginger. A look closer and you will notice the fine strands of shredded ginger attached to its golden brown chicken skin. I'm glad that it was not too oily. Though it looked dry outside, as a whole it was tasty. This plain looking dish has some sliced green Japanese cucumber when served.

Indonesia Fried Chicken Wing  (Small) - $6 (3 Pieces)

This is what most of us are here for! The first spoonful of bee hoon left me a "Hmmmm" feeling but not so much of the Wow factor.

The stock was delectable and was rich with seafood taste, I still can remember its sweetness and its generous serving of seafood with eggs scraps over the plate. Though it was already moist, I will recommend that if you can take some spice, remember to drench more chilli on your Bee Hoon as their chilli was quite "powerful".

Seafood White Beehoon (Medium) - $8

Onion Omelette was rather oily. However, if the amount of oil is too little, such golden brown yellow  color of the egg is hard to be achieved. Though it was fluffy, I would still prefer a greater amount of onions to be added.

Onion Omelete (Small) - $6

Though the place was a bit far out from the MRT stations, there are actually free shuttles bus available from Yishun, Sembawang to SSC (Sembawang Shopping Centre). In my opinion, the White Bee Hoon is indeed worth a try.
 

Rating: 3.5 / 5

You Huak Restaurant 友发餐室

Location: 22 Jalan Tampang (Opp Sembawang Shopping Centre)
Telphone: 98434699
Operating Hours: 11.30am - 10.30pm (Closed on Wednesday)