Trattoria Italian Kitchen

Trattoria Italian kitchen is located at a strategic place as it is located at the ground floor of 313 Somerset diagonally opposite the MRT exit. Layout and design of the dining place was tailored to an Italian environment whereby Italy flag was seen hanging and the 3 main colors of Italy Flag was also part of Trattoria Business Icon.

Trattoria Italian Kitchen

Alfresco Dining Concept was adopted here and the area was near to the common walkways in the mall, I would say those who visit Somerset 313 will never fail to pass by this corner especially when it is a little distance away from the escalator. For those who enjoy the crowd, this place is bustling. However if you want somewhere quiet for a chat, it's not that ideal as I had to raised my voice in my conversation.

Alfresco Dining

The menu of Trattoria was rather creative as they tied a booklet with a white chopping board as it base. The Italian menu was quite understandable as the menu has English elaborations on the dishes available. Though so, it took us quite sometimes to order as I'm still very "green" to italian main dish except for pizzas.

Unique Menu

Beverages served were relatively fast thus allowing us to make ourselves comfortable and settle down for some good chats while waiting for the mains.

Sanpellegrino - Limonata - $5.90

While my friend had a cup of coffee.

Illy Cappucino - $5.50

 The Calamari rings we had as starters were not too bad just that the color was abit far more than expected. The fresh squid rings were coated in their in-house batter, deep fried and served with tartar sauce, a perfect choice as Antipasti while waiting for the mains.

Calamari Frutti - $13.90

 
Home made oven baked lasagna layered with beef ragu and bechamel sauce. Passable taste but not to die for.

Baked Lasagna with Bolognese and Béchame - $19.90

The main was a disaster for me, regretted totally in ordering such dish. I had a "tough" fight with the chicken for the whole meal with my fork and knife. Perhaps the only portion I like was its top in Tomato and Cheese only while the rest was below par. I'm simply shocked with the kind of standard, meat was very tough and some portions were too crispy to be bitten.

Grilled Chicken Breast with mixed grilled vegetables and garlic oil dressing - $21.90

The experienced we had in terms of service received was not up to standards. Servers were rather rude. Initially we had two tables to ourselves but in the midst of enjoying our conversation and dinner, the server walked up and interrupted mentioning that the table will be taken away in a abrupt manner without any apologies. Attentiveness is also lacking in area.

There are alot of room for improvement on their service and food.

Rating: 2.5 / 5

Trattoria Italian Kitchen
Location: 313@Somerset, 313 Orchard Road #01-16/18 Singapore 238895
Website

West Co'z Cafe

West Co'z Cafe is probably one of the most crowded places in West Coast Plaza during dinner times or even over lunch times. Located at one corner of 3rd level strategically located just beside the escalator, it is one of the favourite family dinner spot.

West Co'z Cafe

 When we reached there, it was already full house and we were asked to leave our phone number down so that if there was any table available, they will give us a ring. To give some assurance, the helper mentioned that a minimum of 20 minutes was required.

L Shape Dining area

We chose set menu B with 4 person dining which cost $73.80 and it comes with complimentary drinks and white rice. However there were only limited drinks option available.

Complimentary Drinks with the set

Starting with its popular dish, the curry fish head where every table would have such dish. Its rich in flavor. Fish meat is fresh and tender. Ingredients consist of long beans, lady's fingers and tau pok. However we find that for such pot to be shared among 4 of us, its a tad little.

Curry Fish Head

Sedap! Surprisingly the kangkong tastes good. Juicy and crunchy with the sambal sauce.

Sambal Kankong

 Braised Beancurd with different kinds of vegetables added to the dish.

Braised Beancurd

Sweet tasting golden brown fried chicken in the claypot mixed with some onion. The dish was great perhaps the only let down was that the meat was too little.

Claypot Golden Chicken

I enjoy eating prawns in oats but I'm not very used to "pre-process" prawns that was already "deshelled" and have the semi translucent look with bouncy bite.

Oats Prawn

 The bittergourd soup was an ala carte add on. It was flavourful with sliced fish, egg, tomato, fish cakes and bittergourd. The soup goes very well with the dinner.

Bittergourd Soup (Large) - $12 (Ala Carte)

Pricing is relatively fine taken into consideration that it was dining in air conditioned place. For payment of bill, dont bother to get them walk over to your table. Just walk up to the cashier and pay there. Unless you have time to spare. If not, it will quite some times for them to come to you especially during the peak hours.


Rating: 3 / 5

West Co'z Cafe
Location: West Coast Plaza, 154 West Coast Road #02-23 Singapore 127371

Zam Zam Singapore

When we were talking about Nasi Bryani and Murtabak, a number of my friends had suggested that I should give Zam Zam a try. Zam Zam, probably being one of the best known Muslim Restaurant in Singapore is located in North Bridge Road just opposite Sultan Mosque.

Zam Zam Restaurant

 This institution has stood more than a century serving legendary Indian-Muslim Dishes in the 2 Storey High Shop house.

1st Level of Zam Zam

As it was a hot Saturday afternoon and we were directed to the 2nd Floor of Zam Zam via the narrow aisles of the stairs to enjoy its air-conditioned environment. There were no physical Menu that served right in front of our eyes but rather all the availabilities were well advertised by the side of the walls.

Environment was cooling with few units of Air Con mounted on the wall blowing constantly towards our direction.

2nd Storey of Zam Zam

 To start off, we had our cups of Teh O Limau and Ice Limau while settling down and waiting for the mains to come.Personally, I find that the level of sweetness was abit over for me.

Drinks - $3 for 2

Just like most Muslim / Indian Eateries, a slip is given for the total dishes ordered.

Order Slip

With a long history and recommendations by word of mouth, high expectations for Zam Zam are inevitable. I had ordered their Mutton Murtabak and indeed there were slight differences from the usual ones I had. The layer was crispy with minced mutton stuffed in between, mixed with chopped onions.

Mutton Murtabak - $6

Personally, I find that the Murtabak I had was ordinary and nothing to rave about. They were of course not too chewy and not too doughy type, carrying the main characteristics of what should be from their cuisine.

For those who are more adventurous, they have Bambi (Deer) Murtabak and you may want to try them out.

Closer look on the Mutton Murtabak

The other must tried recommended by the menu was their Briyani. Basmati rice was soft and fluffy with not much of dryness. They are perfect on the go with the fish curry to accompanied with and I'm enjoying every grain of it.

Chicken Briyani - $6.50

Beside enjoying the long grains on the plate, I'm quite please with the big size chicken coated in orange red curry sauce. The meat was tender and fresh. If you are a small eater, it is best to share the dish.

Chicken

Though I find that they may not be the best in Singapore, I still think that for such long history in the food heritage of Singapore, this is a Must Go for foodies. Or if you have some calories to spare, do try them out.

For service rendered,  the servers were rather friendly and food were all served efficiently.

Rating: 3 / 5

Zam Zam Singapore
Location: 697/699 North Bridge Road Singapore 198677

Omakase Burger

Omakase when translated from Japanese literally means "Chef's Choice" or "its up to you". Serving customers in their best with ingredients made from the highest quality and preparing in the best way they knew.

I came to be aware of Omakase burger when a colleague of mine asked if I had tried before, thus through word of mouth, I decided to pay them a visit at the grandstand since I havent been there, killing 2 birds in a stone.

Upon reaching the restaurant, I was quite shock to see that they were actually published on the quite a number of media articles before such as The Straits Times, Epicure magazine, appetite magazine etc.

Facade of Omakase Burger

Menu was rather straight forward, with the mains as burgers and chicken.

Menu

Such common practice by more restaurants nowadays using the beeper to given an indication when food is ready for collection and Omakase Burger is seen adopting such technology too.

Beeper

While food required to be waited for quite sometime, we can get our drinks instantly from the counter. Look at the machine, its just a state of an art technology with orange juice freshly squashed in front of our eyes without any sugar added just within a minute. I was thinking that the helpers was real lucky to have a fuss free experience making juices out of those thick skin oranges.

I remember seeing such machines in one of the Airports of an European country and I'm quite surprise to see them  here.

Orange Juice Squasher

Needless to say, the orange juice I had was fresh and though I had ordered the bigger cup, it was still somehow not enough for me. And its not cheap at all. And the lemonade we had was only half a bottle portion and came with a cup of ice. It was refreshingly sour but I like it. They were home-made and fresh kept in store daily using a good blend of limes, lemons and secret ingredients.

Lemonade and Orange Juice - $4.60 & $5.80

While waiting for our food, we saw other tables with sides like enormous onions rings and truffle fries and we decided to order the latter. These cripsy fries were tossed in their white and black truffle blend with grated Italian black truffles. Yum yum!

Truffle Fries - $7.30

Oven baked parmesan chicken is one of their speciality. Under the layer of baked breaded chicken, there was a layer of cheese coating leaving a good impression on such dish. Though it was baked, the meat was juicy and flavourful. This meal  is served with baked rasin roll with butter spread and requires about 20 minutes of waiting time.

Baked Chicken - $15.90

For the real burger lover, the restaurant recommendations - The Ultimate Burger. The burger is complete with bacons, mushrooms and onions with their 100% USDA choice-grade premium cuts. Their patties were self made daily - grind, blend and hand form. This is to ensure the freshness of their burgers.

Ultimate Cheese Burger - $18.50

Look at the melted American cheese, delicious!

Close up

Having tried a number of burger joints, there is no doubt about Omakase Freshness and quality. However I find that the price is a little bit steep as compared to other places where servings are seen bigger. Considering the number of Omakase Burger in Singapore with the accessibility, having such burger will only be once in a blue moon for me.

Rating: 3 / 5

Omakase Burger @ The Grandstand
Location: 200 Turf Club Road #01-05 Bukit Timah, Singapore 287994

Oh's Farm Catering (F&B) Pte Ltd

Thanks Openrice for inviting me to the event and introducing us to Healthy Catering by Oh's Farm Catering. If not for the session, I would not have known that having catering food can be so healthy to start with.

Introducing Oh's Farm Catering

Oh's Farm Catering is rather thoughtful and take care of customer's health serving food in Nutritionist choice and is also ideal for weight watches. Food served are nutrition rich, high in antioxidant, low in fat and sugar with increased vitamins.

A starter for the meal, Mesclun salad in balsamic vinaigrette. They were wrapped with plastic firm to retain its freshness, The greens were crunchy and a good dish to start with.

Mesclun Salad with Roasted Walnut dressed in Balsamic Vinaigrette

Pasta was cooked to al dente with diced chicken and fine slices of capiscum included.

Sauteed Pasta with Chicken and Capsicum

The nature of salmon was well covered by the presence of lemon and garnishing. Baked salmon was served in bite size, sliced to an average thickness, easily handled.

Baked Salmon with Dill Lemon Dressing

Grilled chicken has a semi cripsy top layer of skin coated with texture of pepper corn and honey. The combination is rather new to me and I thought I'm not used to the taste. Overall, the chicken was tender and succulent.

Grilled Chicken with Pepper corn and Honey

Shells of the prawns were all managed by the caterers and I have a fuss free dinner. They were fresh coasted with tomato, Yums!

Tomato Whole Prawns

The dish that I like best is the sauteed asparagus. Juicy and crunchy, easily bitten.

Sauteed Asparagus

As a celery lover, I find that they are lacking of crunch from the celery and it turned out to be a little soggy. However, the mushrooms were cooked to softness with herbs infused to its taste.

Glaze Mushroom with Herbs

Everyone would have thought cheese with eggplant may be high in fat but low fat cheese was used in the dish. Eggplants were not too dry and the cheese flavours was rather light.

Low Fat Cheese Eggplant

Last but not least its cream of mushroom. Not to worry if the milk used is full cream and instead, Oh's Farm uses Fat Free Milk and very ideal ingredient. Chunks of mushroom is found in the cream soup with bay leaf spotted.

Cream of Mushroom

Here's my plate for the night - a little bit of everything!

My Selection

Though dishes will very simple, its main objective is to serve their customers with healthy food. With so many of us having health concerns as our top priorities while dining, Oh;s Farm Catering will be one of the wiser choices out of so many caterers.

Rating: 3 / 5

Oh's Farm Catering (F&B) Pte Ltd
Location: Food Xchange, 8A Admiralty Street #05-07 Singapore 757437 

Hong Kong Street Jen Poo Kee

My colleague had helped us in adding up a little spice to the usual office lunch hours by driving out for lunch. After a period of brainstorming, he finally suggested on the bowl of Fish Meat Noodle Soup and claimed that that is the best out of all lunches we have been.

Upon reaching, the big signboard had caught my attention and immediately I knew he was talking about this instead of those specialized fish soup stall.

Hong Kong Street Signboard

For Cze Char Goers, Hong Kong Street may be of no stranger to most of us and Hong Kong Street Jen Poo Kee is just part of its chain. Their menu is pretty typical of what a Cze Char Stall can offer in most of the coffee shops.

Cze Char Menu

Though we had ordered the fish meat thick bee hoon, it tasted as though we had the XO Version. The strongly infusion of wine had spread around the table when they bowls of it was served. The milky broth with pieces of fried fish meat had given the kind of suspense before we tucked into our meals.

Big slices of ginger were thin and topped the dish. Its dull and brown edges colored had left a trace that those gingers were not just merely place into the soup and boiled but was somehow fried before hand before lending us such a welcome scent.

Fish Meat Noodle - $5

I used the spoon to have the meat revealed. They were thick chunks of them covered under the soup. They were slightly fried but not into those its crispiness, allowing us to have both the softness from those white meat and a little crisp from the side.

View of fish chunk

Besides having ginger, noodles and fish making up the bowl, vegetables stalks were included too.

Another view of the fish meat

Overall I find that the soup is tasty and to my liking. I will be back there again to try out their common Cze Char dishes.

Rating: 3.5 / 5

Hong Kong Street Jen Poo Kee
Location: Blk 721 Clementi West St 2 Singapore 720721