Hoshino Coffee

While walking along the shop front of Hoshino Coffee, the mock up Western-Japanese fusion dishes capture my attention with its yummy looking appearance and literally make me drools at the sight. They not only drew our attention but drew us closer to take a look at them.

Hoshino Coffee

Theme with dark brown and black furnishing, the entire place looked grand and English, not any like the usual hipster cafe.

Hoshino Coffee Interior

Decorations of the Japanese Lamps were seen hanging from the ceiling.

Lanterns

Being an odd one out of the group of friends, I had ordered the Ice Fruit Teas while the rest were waiting for their caffeine fix. Ice Fruit Tea was served in a decanter whereby the black tea is infused with assorted fruits like apple, orange, blueberries and even preserved plum. It had also gave me a good idea to start my own kind of infused mix fruit tea.

Iced Fruits Tea - $9.90

Hoshino Coffee is strongly advocate for. The cold coffee was served in elegant metal cup with milk and syrup placed separately. The after taste of the black coffee was not too bitter and does not have the sour taste. It's a pity that when we were ordering, the grinding machine was out of order and we could not have a taste of their famous hot hand drip coffee.

Ice Coffee - $6

We had the Pie Pizza which falls under the Capitol Specials. There was a strong wave of cheesy aroma the moment the plate was placed on the table. Pizza crust was crispy with thin layers like croissant texture, unlike the usual doughy pizza we had. Potatoes wedges with tomato soup dip and salad are part of the dish too.

Mushroom & Chicken Pie Pizza - $15

Tonkatsu Curry Rice may be a very common dish in any Japanese restaurant but Hoshino's Coffee has this dish done up well. The curry was mild with a big weighty piece Tonkatsu was delicious, accompanied by shredded cabbages by the side. Tonkatsu was perfectly done up and fried to its golden brown perfection, crispy battered at its exterior yet retaining its succulency. 

Tonkatsu Curry Rice - $17

If you knows about "fuwa-fuwa" in Japanese, you would have knew that the souffle is actually fluffy as describe in its description. The "cloud" was amazing soft with tomato baked rice beneath when you reveal the Souffle layer. Baked rice packed of buttery fragrance and was delicious with ingredients like mushrooms and ham.

"Fuwa-Fuwa" Hoshino Souffle - $15.80

Another must try will be its Omu Souffle with Tomato Rissoto.

Omu Souffle on Tomato Rissoto with Shrimp & Broccoli - $16.80

Hoshino Spaghetti with eggplant, bacon, shimeji & sausage is another recommendation. Look at the runny egg on the centre, that's how temptations starts! Added with roasted sesame seeds to enhanced the taste on the "cooked to perfect texture"spaghetti just gave another reason not to have this dish skipped.

Hoshino Spaghetti - $14

Pasta were cooked to Al Dente Perfection with ingredients like mushrooms, prawns, seaweed, fish flakes and a scoop of Mentaiko .

Mentaiko Shrimp & Japanese Herb Ohba - $15.50

The texture of spaghetti was near to perfection, still holding its firmness yet not being to hard. A good mixture of pasta in cream base sauce with mushrooms, seaweed grilled and cooked salmon, enjoying two different cooking style of a salmon being served.

Salmon with Wasabi Cream Sauce - $16

Here's a close up of the charred lines for the grilled salmon with wasabi.

Salmon with Wasabi

There services was more misses than hits. The service team was rather new with a handful of trainees and service could have been better if food availability is enough over a weekend. For a place where coffee is strongly advocate for, we was initially told that the coffee machine was spoiled thus we could not order their dripping coffee and took the Iced Coffee as an alternative. To make things worse, only 3 cups of iced coffee was served when we had ordered 5. There then with further probing, we was then told that Ice Coffee was sold out too. *Shrugs*

Rating: 3.25 / 5

Hoshino Coffee
Location: Capitol Piazza, 13 Stamford Road #B2-55 Singapore 178905 

FFL Fresh Fruits Lab

With so many cafes popping up over this few years, how do they actually stand up among others beside the quality of food? FFL (Fresh Fruits Lab) differentiate themselves with a unique theme in their restaurant. Located in the East Region of Singapore,

Facade of FFL 

Artistically theme with laboratory inspired environment with writable black board surface on its wall at the counter.

Black Board Surface

Take a look at the shelving at the side of the Lab and you will find interesting articles in each compartment.

Interior

I have not touched or seen any periodic table since I last had my chemistry lessons. Interestingly you may get to see one portion of their menu that was designed like the periodic table we used in science lesson. However, at a closer look, you will realize that its actually referring to the fruits.

Periodic Table

I like the concept where utensils were served in lab apparatus with fruit juice as welcoming drink held in test tubes as our welcoming drink. IT just reminded me of the school days where we were doing some practical lessons in the science lab. However, not to the extend of putting them into our mouths.

It was a good gesture of FFL to serve complimentary juices for tasting purposes and for those that are health conscious, you can order their fruit juices as an substitute to your soft drinks. As soon as we settled down they have served us with 2 kinds of juices in the test tubes namely: the cucumber orange and orange carrot.

Fruit Juices for Tasting

Besides serving the complimentary juices in test tubes, we were overwhelmed by the drinking water too, served in beakers. Have you ever drink anything from the beaker? For me I have not and that's my first time doing that.

Drinking water in Beaker

Even the utensils were placed in the tray. It felt as though some science experiment is starting soon.

Utensils

The ultimate drink for detox if this is what you are looking for. A mixture of fruit juice using lettuce, cucumber, spinach, lemon and apple, quite refreshing I felt.

Zesty Greens - $8

The hot and the ice mocha has a dollar difference in their pricing.

Ice Mocha - $7

I dont mind having anything messy like this especially when there were so many goodies on the plate. Scrambled eggs were truffle infused and were soft, good to pair along with their toasted english muffin, roasted sweet potatoes, bacon-wrapped pinepple, oxford sausages, roasted tomatoes and fruity salad.

Messy Breakfast - 17

Close up on the eggs

Soft and fluffy pancakes were infused with banana fragrance. It was topped with banana slices on a bed of apple paste. Drizzle them with some maple syrup and enjoy!

Bananalicious - $11

I find that apple and banana on pancakes taste not bad afterall.

Close up on Banana Pancakes

Initially we had ordered the lychee cake but had cancelled it due to that we have no more stomach room for desserts. What a miss!

Cakes Section

The location of FFL may be a little inconvience for some but I would say its not really inaccessible as it is still within walking distance from the MRT Station. As for those who are driving, parking lots are limited along the streets.

Rating: 3 / 5

FFL Fresh Fruits Lab
Location: 351 Changi Road, Kembangan Singapore 419818
Website

Milkcow

Milkcow sells Korean soft serve Ice Cream and this Ice Cream Parlor has a number outlets in Singapore Since January this year.

Milkcow

Interior was pretty cool. Even though with limited seating, interior was decorated in black and white theme. Upon looking at the cute little mascot of theirs, it reminds me of my symbol too on this website.

Interior

Just like many cafes and ice cream stalls, they are manned by the youngsters who are still studying.

No.1 Choice

With Oraganic Milk & Honey as its recommendation, my order was pretty straight forward and without much thinking I ordered such flavour out of so many choices. Softserve was very creamy, out of my expectation and perhaps being oraganic, their ice cream can be reached out too those health conscious consumers.

Honey on the other hand was sweet and went very well with creamy ice cream. :)

Milky Honey - $5.50

Milky Cube was a combination of the Milky Soft Serve Ice-Cream with a good of honeycomb. Grab some and place into your mouth and be stunned by the sugar rush of milk and honey. I cant be any sweeter during that day!

Milky Cube - $5.90

A scoop of sweetness

Richness of the ice cream was great. With so many Ice Cream and Yogurt brands/stalls coming out recently, Milkcow has just given me another choice to have them again.


Rating: 3.25 / 5

Milkcow
Location: The Cathay, 2 Handy Road #01-03 Singapore 229233

Putien

Putien has been around for quite sometimes and is among one of the top Chinese chain restaurants where family tends to gather around for meals. It was mum's birthday and nothing beats having a meal that reminds her of her dialect group, Xing Hua which Putien is absolutely known for.

Putien's Wet Towel

Interior decors flashed out a luxurious and modern Chinese restaurant with ample of seating.

Environment

Family Set at $68 ++ for two was a fuss free option where you can enjoy a value meal with Starters, Main Course, side dishes, Dessert and Fruits.

Starters

Starting with Seaweed with Mini Shrimps where by seaweed were tossed with their quality mini shrimps imported from the South China Sea region. The texture of the seaweed was very inviting and delighting, giving a refreshing kick off to the set of 2.

Seaweed with Mini Shrimps

Braised Bean Curd is one of Putien's specialties and was also a perfect choice for a start as it was soft and full of flavour. It tasted on a mixture of sweet and salty side, friendly to the gums of the folks.

Braised Bean Curd

Out of the 4 main dishes, we had chosen Ma Zu Mee Sua. Symbolizing longevity, their long Mee Sua was handmade traditionally with their unique method. Premium quality ingredients were used in the production of Mee Sua thus even how moist the gravy was, it did not turn them into a soggy dish.

Ma Zu Mee Sua

Crispy pork ribs and water chestnuts had hit the right notes. They were coated with mouth watering sweet & sour sauce. I like it best especially when the chestnuts were so crunchy and pork ribs were notably tender.

Crispy Pork Ribs & Water Chestnuts

Beverages were only served halfway through our dinner. The homemade Barley's sweetness was mild even with winter-melon added. Instead of seeing the whole long pieces of winter melon in the drink, it was being cut into bits form easily for diners. 

Barley with Melon Bits -$3.50 Each (Not in the set)

Specially flew in from the habitat, the “100-Second” Stewed Yellow Croaker was stewed precisely at 100 seconds with ginger. It was a healthy dish in fact on top of being fresh and tender. For 2 pax meal, each of us was served with a fish in the claypot.

"100 Second" Stewed Yellow Croaker

Dessert of the day was fixed by the chef. However we asked if we could change to our choices and they had agreed.

Hot Yam Paste with Ginkgo Nuts was served with the right level of sweetness. Smooth yam paste with a few gingko nuts and with coconut milk in the right amount.

Hot Yam Paste with Ginkgo Nuts

While I got myself a Chilled Lemongrass Jelly with Fruits in which the lemon grass flavours was not too overpowering, in fact the scent was light with tiny bits of Fruits and wobbly jelly.

Chilled Lemongrass Jelly with Fruits

Desserts did not mark an end to our meal but the fruit platter does. A platter with watermelon, dragon fruit and big grape was served chilled with ice by the side.

Fruit Platter

Service as a whole was sincere and friendly. Staff were pretty on the ball and responsive. After taxes together with drinks included, it cost about $88 for 2 pax without the appetizers and wet towel. I don't mind returning to Putien for her food again for occasion.

Rating: 3.5 / 5

Putien
Location: Jurong Point, 1 Jurong West Central 2 #02-34 (JP1) Singapore 648886

Wrap & Roll [Closed]

Having Wrap & Roll has been a thought in my mind a while ever since I visited Star Vista in Bouna Vista. Whenever I enter a vietnamese cuisine restaurant, I can't do without a bowl of their noodle soup for I'm so in love with their Pho.

Environment

Thus, I order their Phở bò, Beef Noodle Soup. The broth was decent and clear with subtle herb taste but it did not have the grabbing taste that I'm looking for.

Beef Noodle Soup - $12.90

Unlike the usual sweetened lemon grass drink I had, Wrap & Roll's had hints of bitterness but its complemented by the sugar sweetness as well as the sour taste from the little lemon wedge.

Lemon Grass Tea

Another not to miss in a Vietnamese dining place will be their dripping coffee. You can order it with or without milk.

One thing I like about Wrap & Roll is its availability of vegetarian food and it makes it easier to dine out with my vegetarian friend. Phở xào rau nấm was vegetarian friendly with Pho being stirred fried and added with ingredients like mushroom and tofu. Portion was alright and was not too oily.

Stir Fried Pho Noodles with Mushrooms and Tofu - $10.90

Replacing the summer rolls will be Cuốn rối, another vegetarian starter that you can share with your friends. Crunchy and fresh with ingredients wrapped securely by rice paper, being a non-vegetarian, I'm pretty happy with the taste. However there is a strong herb smell from the vegetables used in the roll which my vegetarian pal was not totally in favour of that.

Vegetarian Steamed Rice Crepe Rolls - $7.90

Individual Piece

Overall, dining at Wrap & Roll gives you a good introduction to Vietnamese Cuisine and a decent filling meal.

Rating: 3 / 5

Wrap & Roll
Location: The Star Vista, 1 Vista Exchange Green #B1-11 Singapore 138617
Website