d'Good Cafe

I came to know of d'Good Cafe from the attention drawing swings that caught my sight as we drove pass Holland Village area on one of the weekends and jotted down that we should visit this place in near future.

d'Good Cafe

d'Good Cafe is located right in the heart of Holland Village in a 3 storey high building. Cafe was whimsically decorated with different concepts in different section (coffee counter, lawn, attic and alfresco) each having their own identity.

Entrance to Coffee Counter

Doggy rummaging through the sack of beans

At the stairways

Cafe can be entered through a stained glass door and up on the flights of stairs leading you to their coffee bar or alternatively you have to take a hidden lift from the ground level of a facial clinic to reach the cafe.

Entrance

On the 2nd Floor there is a coffee counter where orders are being made and collected in industrial theme, featuring cement screed flooring. It is suitable for those who like to have some constant strong whiff from the aroma of coffee beans or having chats over the counter with the barristers.

Coffee Counter

Please do not touch

On the Coffee Bar Counter

Coffee

Retro Bike

Hanging on the bicycle

While at the other section of level 2, you will get to find their lawn featuring wooden swings suitable for couples passing their lovely time overseeing the view through the glass panels.

Lawn

Moving up another level and turning left for their Alfresco Seating or right to the attic.

Turn Left or Turn Right

Alfresco Seating will be great if you enjoy people watching and the lives in Holland Village. Tables and chairs were well set under a white tentage decorated with romantic lighting.

Alfresco Seating

And into the attic which is probably the most preferred hangout session for families especially with kids. The place is child friendly with beanbags, children tables and big teddy bears around as well as wooden rocking reindeer. This cosy area is also suitable for students for studying or even little group project discussion as there are electrical points provided.

Children Table

Wooden Ride

Children Tool

Retro decors

Level 3 Attic

Level 3 Attic

Mocha Frappe was pretty well done with a good balance of both mocha and chocolate added with whipped cream.

Mocha Frappe - $7.50 (Large)

Collected my waffle with gelato once my beeper ringed and had to head all through the stairs for my food and up again. The collection point was rather narrow and one might has to take caution in case of bumping into another person with the food on hands.

Collection Counter

Beeper

I topped up my plain waffle with Strawberry ice cream at additional of $3 and enjoyed them with chocolate syrup. The waffle was rather average with no traits of fluffiness or any crispiness at its edge. However to balance out the score for the dessert, strawberry ice cream tasted quite positive to me. If you are ordering only plain waffles , you have the choice to have it served with butter or maple syrup.

Plain Waffle - $4 + Gelato Strawberry $3

Waffle

d'Good Cafe is definitely a good spot to chill and a place full of live for their interesting decorations and concepts. Although there are still many more cafes to visit in Singapore, I would say that there is high possibly I will be back here again, perhaps for their breakfast.

Rating: 3 / 5

d'Good Cafe
Location: 273 Holland Ave #02-01/02 Singapore 278992
Operating Hours:  Sun-Thu 10am-9pm, Fri & Sat 10am-10pm

Jollibee

I know its It's a little bit late in the trend but every time as I want to try Jollibee, the queue lined up right up the common corridor just turned me off somehow.

Jollibee, being the largest fast food food chain in Philippines is operating a nationwide network of 750 stores with Singapore's first outlet opened on March 2013.

Jollibee

Jollibee

Though it has been a while in Singapore, their queues are still extended beyond the perimeters of the fast food restaurant. We decided that by hook or by crook we have to try them out. Surprisingly the queue moved relatively fast and we reached the counter about 15 - 20 minutes of wait. Like other fast food chains in Singapore, there are a few counters but one stark difference was that there is only one queue available with fast service and I felt that such system in place is much more better.

Ordering Counters

Chocolate Sundae was topped with hot fudge and melted rather quickly due to heat issues but bear in mind that its only that the top part is melted.

Chocolate Sundae - $1.50

Since Jollibee was being raved for its chicken, it's the must order item in our mind. We had the 2 pieces meal that comes with sauce and a packet of white rice. Comparing their chicken to other fast food joint, I would say I prefer theirs to the current standard of their competitors. They were not that oily which is the main reason of my preference. Meat is tender with golden brown fried crispy skin without too having an obvious frozen meat odour.

Value Meal

Value Meal 2 pcs - $6.60

2 Pcs chicken

Instead of having chilli sauce or ketchup for the chicken, they came with a small container of brown sauce, tasted similar to the whipped potato sauce. This takes eating fried chicken to another whole new level with white rice too.

Rice

Brown Sauce

Value Meal with Spaghetti comes with a piece of chicken. Jollibee's spaghetti comes with sweet sauce filled with savoury ham and sausages, loaded with minced beef and topped with a handful of shredded cheese!

Value Meal with Spaghetti - $6.60

Now I finally understand the crowd in Jollibee Restaurant. Having observed the environment, although dining area are big and with lots of seatings, its better to secure seat first before queueing. Culture was somehow different from other fast food restaurants - patrons will still stay awhile on their seats even though they have done with their meal and with others waiting, either chit chatting with friends or doing something else.

Afterall I find that Jollibee's chicken can be considered one of the better ones among the fast food chains in Singapore.

Rating: 3 / 5

Jollibee
Location: Lucky Plaza, 304 Orchard Road Singapore 238863

Zhong Hua La Mian Ban Mian.Fish Soup

It has been a while since this coffee shop was renovated and left a few stalls vacant. We discovered that the stall space was finally occupied by Noodle stall selling La Mian and Ban Mian. Unfortunately one of their neighbouring stalls was seen tearing down their kitchen setup and shifting to somewhere else.

Zhong Hua La Mian

 Zhong Hua La Mian Stall has 22 items on their menu, featuring the usual Ban Mian to Fu Zhou Fishball La Mian and very fried dumplings.

Menu

Standards of noodles tasted pretty common and luckily Ee Mee was thoroughly cooked to soften. Ingredients like minced meat, mushrooms, eggs and spinach were added to the bowl, added with garnishing like fried onions, chopped spring onions as well as Ikan Billis.

Ee Mian - $3.50

Ee Mian

Soup from the steamed Dumpling la mian was clear added with ingredients and garnishing similar to what is in the bowl of Ee Mian. However the soup tasted abit different and bland in taste.

Steamed Dumpling Lamian - $4

Rating: 3 / 5

Zhong Hua La Mian Ban Mian.Fish Soup
Location: Blk 501 West Coast Drive #01-44 Singapore 120501

Fried Hokkien Prawn Noodle

Finally a new appearance of a new stall in Ayer Rajah Food Centre. They have taken over the vacant stall named Western Bar which was left empty for quite some time.

Though their Business Name suggest that they are selling fried Hokkien Prawn Noodle, they do also sell traditional carrot cake in white or black.

Fried Hokkien Prawn Noodle

Having ordered Hokkien Prawn Noodle, it took quite a while before it appeared before me. Amount of moisture was definitely adequate. Though there was no heady scent of prawn favouring in the stock, I find the plate of noodles rather decent without being too overpowering. Natural sweetness from the eggs and Sotong included were fresh and tasty too.

Fried Carrot Cake - $3

Fried Hokkien Prawn Noodle - $3.50

Rating: 3 / 5

Fried Hokkien Prawn Noodle
Location: Ayer Rajah Food Centre, 503 West Coast Drive #01-03 Singapore 120503

Mellben Legend Seafood

Friend and I bought a pair of Mellben Legend Seafood's coupon worth a value of $100 from Groupon website last year and due to their recent renovations, we could only get to have our schedule fix for a lunch appointment early January this year.

Kitchen

The name "Mellben" needs no introduction as they are rather popular among those who love Crabs. Having known them through the reputable outlet in Ang Mo Kio, its hard to say no to their delicious crabs.

Internal Dining

Mellben Legend Seafood is located in Opal Crescent, somewhere near the famous photostudio Serangoon Broadway or rather Tian Wai Tian Fishhead Steamboat Restaurant.

Menu

Orders came first with our cups of Jolly Bee Ice Jelly filled with lime juice and shaved ice. They were served in a big plastic cups with longans as well as Nata decoco, a good way to enjoy the wait with such hot weather.

Ice Jelly - $4 (Per cup)

Our lunch started off well with their tantalizing Signature Beancurd, whetting our appetite for more! Beancrud was well fried to slight crisp on its exterior and velvety in it as we sink our teeth down. It was topped with delectable special sauce with minced meat, garnished by fried onions as well as spring onions. Recommended!

Signature Beancurd - $10 (Small)

Chicken with Wine is also known as "3 cups chicken". The chicken was simmered into the trio combination of chinese wine, sesame oil and soy sauce. They were served in the earthen clay-pot with layers of aluminum foils wrapped over its base. Chicken were boneless, tender and seasonings had well accentuated giving out good favours to the chicken.

Chicken With Wine  - $12 (Small)

We ordered the dish out of curiosity, we was warned that the fried noodle was spicy. It tasted like our local Mee Goreng,tasted sweet & sour with tomato ketchup added, hot flavours like the dried chilli among the noodles with chicken cubes too. Shredded cabbages were placed on the top part of the dish. Frankly speaking, I'm quite happy with its taste.

Signature Noodle - $12 (Medium)

Last dish and we were all ready to get our bare fingers moving for the crustaceans! We ordered the slightly bigger crab to be shared by 3 pax so as to ensure each of us have some good portion of it. As usual, with Mellben's style, the presentation of their Salted Egg Yolk crab made the dish so irresistible.

Though they were still quite hot, holding them with bare fingers had told us we simply could not wait any longer. With salted egg well coated all over their shells and curry leaves accelerating its favors, we quickly dig in like we had not eaten them for years.

Meat was fresh and generous especially on the big fat pincers. Yums! The buttery fragrance of the yolk gave a great satisfaction as we enjoy eating them.

Salted Egg Crab -$90

Compare the pincer with the pliers

Mellben Legend Seafood do live up to their namesake and service was prompt. However there is one tip to share if you do not want to burst your pocket for the crabs, that is do always ask the servers and have a rough gauge on the price base on the crabs' size/weight.


Rating: 4 / 5

Mellben Legend Seafood
Location: 9 Opal Crescent Singapore 328404