Australia Dairy Co.

Australia Dairy Co. is noted as one of the top eateries in Hong Kong despite being notorious for their impatient and low tolerance service level. For those who have not been here, do not mistaken, perhaps such service treatment we have received is all parts and parcel in their service industry. Do you agree?

Pack with locals as well as tourists in snaky queues, it would take about 15 - 20 minutes to get a seat with the quick turnover time. Being in a big group of 7, we have no choice but to split ourselves into 2 groups / tables.

Australia Dairy Co.

It would be good diners can decide and think through what they like to have while queuing to prevent the discomfort later on when you are seated in the restaurant.

Menu

As once you get into the restaurant and seated, you are expected to give an immediate answer for the order when they approach you and if you are not ready, they will sulk and walk away doing other things.

Interior

This is my 2nd visit here even though I felt that atmosphere was not very ideal and very stressful. In short, I feel like having breakfast and rushing elsewhere to catch a train.

Crampy Area

Anyway, for the easier way out, standard menu set is listed and with limited choices. We picked the easier menu and be amazed that our food was served in less than 3 minutes.

Standard Menu

Macaroni was served in plate instead of bowl with thinly shredded ham and soaked in yellow tasty soup. In fact after eating few bowls of Macaroni with ham in Hong Kong, I would say that their preparation was different from the usual stock we had.

Macaroni with Ham 火腿通粉

Scrambled egg was good but on the oily side. Nevertheless the sunny bright yellow color of the egg had amazed us and we wondered how did they get the color? The toast is quite thick and perfect if you place some egg and eat them together.

牛油方包，西煎双蛋

After trying Yee Shun's milk pudding, I told myself these are the not to miss! Texture was like our Soya Bean Jelly that was in trend in the past years and of course taste was light on the milk. If you ask me to compare both, I will say Australia Dairy Co. do have their own style of preparation.

Pudding - 26 HKD

Set meal is completed with either a cup of hot coffee or tea and of course for a non-coffee lover like me, the most I will go for their milk tea!

Beverage

While my dining kakis did a top up on the beverage and make the cup of ice milk tea with little ice cubes.

Additional 2 HKD for Cold

It's kind of stressful to eat with servers consistently clearing away your empty dishes and with people in the queues keep popping their steps into the restaurant to check for empty seats. There is no luxurious time in enjoying the breakfast and we quickly make our way to the cashier after finishing our meal. Perhaps a wait of 20 minutes in the queue and 10 minutes for food?

Chiller beside the counter

Trip was completed by purchasing a glass of their chilled milk! And paper bag was given to hold the glass bottle.

Paper Bag

Well, it definitely feel better to have a "take away" and finishing up the glass of drink without being pressurized by the crowd. If you asked if I will buy that milk again, I will say I will skip it the next round as there is nothing special about it.

Glass of Milk

Rating: 3.5 / 5

Australia Dairy Co.
Location: G/F, 47-49 Parkes Street, Jordan  佐敦白加士街47-49號地下

Hing Kee Restaurant 興記菜館

One of our pals was claiming that he had not eaten any authentic Cantonese style Claypot rice since his 1st trip in Hong Kong and during the our last dinner of the trip, we had finally visited a place in Yau Ma Tei to ease all cravings. To be frank, I have never tasted Claypot rice in Hong Kong too, yes! Not even once in any of my trips.

Our search lead us to Temple Street and just like a typical night street, the place was filled of make-shift stalls selling clothing and all kinds of apparatus.

There were large posters near the shop to warn patrons against their imposers. In fact, competition was very fierce as the servers next door came to us and tout, trying to mislead us into their restaurant and even told us they are of the same. Unscrupulous!

Hing Kee Restaurant

Luckily we were told by other patrons that they were not the authentic and we went ahead with Hing Kee Staff and there she brought us to the entrance near the back alley and walking up into a frail wooden stairways that I felt may collapse any time. Hing Kee's Claypot Rice popularity is evident as they have a few shops and it was fully packed.

I could not have imagine that there were about 20 more patrons in that squeezy and rundown dining area. Cartons of food ingredients were stacked leaning against the wall and movements was limited in such way that our back is at close proximity to the wall or the back of the patron. Given this in Singapore, I would say such setup will never be approved by SCDF.

Media Article

Besides claypot rice, they are also serving other Chinese cook dishes. Menu contains 3 languages, Mandarin, English and Japanese.

Aisles were narrow and I felt my life was at their mercy - Beware of service crew carrying big trays of hot and heavy claypot swinging above your head if you were sitting at the aisles just like me.

Another stunning scenario that you will probably not see in Singapore was that these service crews actually placed their whole tray of scalding hot claypot on the floor while waiting for the other crew to distribute around. I wonder what will happen if NEA see this in Singapore?

Menu with Shop locations along the street

While waiting for the pot of rice to be ready we had these oysters cake to fill our stomachs. Though a layer of grease paper was placed at the bottom to adsorb the excess oil, before the oil can be fully absorbed by that piece of paper, they were already down into our hungry stomachs.

Deep Fried Oyster Cake - 70 HKD (Big) 

Forget about the additional calories as these fried oyster cake were worth all, just eat. The ratio of egg and batter used was well proportion and with ingredients like prawns, spring onions and of course oysters. Oyster cake comes in small and big sizes with the smaller ones cost 35 HKD. They were very crispy and if you love oysters, they were quite generous on the servings.

Yummy!

Finally, after about 20-30 minutes of wait, the charcoal cooked clay pot rice was served! Each serving was small and good for sharing between 1-2 pax.

Charcoal Cooked Claypot Rice

The knob-less stainless steel cover was removed, revealing the plain rice with pieces of chicken and chinese style sausage. This is the most authentic flavour of the claypot rice.Though under the charcoal fire, their chicken remain tender and juicy. As for the sausage, it was crunchy and with juices spurting out once you bite on them.

Chicken with Rice Pot 滑鸡腊肠煲仔饭- 39 HKD

To obtain a better claypot rice eating experience, we placed in the desire amount of dark sauce and give them a good consistency taste by stirring.

We could not find any more dishes more appropriate to order but at least ordering the greens will kind of make us feel healthier. These healthier choice were simply stirred fried with minced garlic and were perfect pairing to the pot of rices with its crunchy stems.

Kale 芥蘭 - 30 HKD

With so many of us ordering chicken and sausage claypot rice, I decided to be more adventurous and ordered something out of the ordinary - The Eel claypot rice. It was kind of disappointing with a few pieces of eel and whole pot of rice. Just too boring and wrong choice for me.

Eel Claypot Rice 白鳝煲仔饭 - 63 HKD

When we done with our dinner and down via the narrow stairways, we had a peep into the kitchen. I was speechless by their way of preparation the oyster cake that we had earlier. It was sinfully deep fried and for any healthy souls who caught this sight could most probably feel discomfort by the amount of oil used. Also just by standing there for about 1 minute you will already feel like a walking oyster cake with all the oil mist clinging onto the clothing.

Oyster Cake in Hot Oil

Afterall, it was a good experience for me as we seldom get to see this happening in Singapore. As a whole experience, their rice was skillfully cooked and hearty. However, I'm still not very use to the Cantonese Style of Claypot Rice and find it an average fare. I prefer the few popular ones back home instead.

Hing Kee Restaurant 興記菜館
Location: 15 Temple Street Yau Ma Tei Kowloon Hong Kong

Ippudo Express 一风堂

By now, Ippudo should need no further introduction as they are one of the popular chain ramen stalls in Singapore. Apart from the full scale restaurant they have in the malls, this express setup in the departure hall of Changi Airport Terminal 3 has a concept that caters to diner for quicker dining option without compromising its quality.

Ippudo Express

We had our express order via the counter just before our long haul flight to Europe. I had a hot bowl of Mentai Tonkotsu Ramen. Disposable bowls and chopsticks were used and its very convenient to both diner as well as the business owner. Stock was as flavourful with ramen cooked right to its perfect texture and amount of roe given was absolutely generous. With sesame boasting its fragrance in its soup, I do like about the shreds of black fungus included and also the pieces of half soaked Wakame (Seaweed) in their stock.

Mentai Tonkotsu - $10.90

The guy who was worried that the portion might be too little had his portion upgraded with more Chasu and Ajitama (Japanese Soft Boil Egg). No doubts about their quality and I'm simply in love with the melt-in-your-mouth charsu. The stock was enhanced with a slice of butter and was not too dilute nor thick. Ingredients includes corn kernels as well as shredded scallions.

Miso Butter Tonkotsu - $8.90 + $2 Ajitama + $2 Chasu

For those who will be missing Asia food for a while, Ippudo Express is an excellent choice during your departure to other countries.

Rating: 3.5 / 5

Ippudo Express
Location: Changi Airport, Terminal 3 (Departure/Transit Lounge South), 65 Airport Blvd #02-K3 SIngapore 819663

Amazonia Bistro [Invited Tasting]

Looking at the number of Children Gyms, indoors playground and Activities Centre coming up close to us, I always envy how fortunate the kids are these days to have such facilities readily built for them and to look back in my time, we never got any chance to even step into one.

The trip to Amazonia had somehow rekindle the fun times of my childhood and the happy looks of cute little toddlers/children running around in the centre had never failed to brighten up my day.

Amazonia is conveniently located at Level 3 of Great world City, ajacent to V.Hive Furniture.

Amazonia Family Fun Centre

The idea of incorporating a Bistro to the Fun Centre was definitely a very good step forward for such activities centre in terms of the market requirements nowadays. Further more, the Jungle Themed bistro is a good place for parents to rest and relax under the shades while watching their children enjoying their fun time.

Jungle Theme Bistro 

The 400 square metres gym is equipped with an 8 meter high slide shown in the middle of the picture and completed with tunnels, suspension bridges, ball pit and even trampoline to excite children from ages 3 to 12 years.

Jungle Play Gym

Turn the session into an interactive one by joining your toddler in the Soft Play Section.

Soft Play

Parents can enjoy from a selection of pasta, sandwiches, local delights or even light snacks with their kids.

Menu

Beverage

Cooling and refreshing Apple Juice which tasted similar to one of the brands from the Supermarket but in a diluted form. A slice of apple is also included in the drink.

Apple Juice - $5

Appetizers

Starting our appetizer with the Chef Recommended Ceasar Avocado Salad which includes refreshing crunchy Romaine lettuce, sliced Avocado, olives, cherry tomato, hard boiled eggs, grated cheese, bacon bits, garlic croutons and grilled chicken breast in Ceasar Dressing. Such appetizer is light and hearty in preparing to welcome the main courses.

Ceasar Salad with Avocado - $13.80

Main Courses

Another recommendation from the Chef is none other than the popular food known in Asia, Nasi Goreng (Fried Rice). Color presentation of the food alluring besides the food items on plate.

Being truly Asian, you will get to see familiar items on the plate like mild spicy Nasi Goreng, fried chicken drumstick, chicken satay, sunny side up egg, keropok and Ah-Char. Satay was undeniably good in its tender meat and tasty marinate which made us could not resist, thus requesting for separate Satay helpings.

While the drumsticks were huge and dressed in its glistering "suit", its meat was quite tough and we had took some time to battle with it.

Chef Nasi Goreng - $12.70 (Serving Portion is for illustration)

2 Pieces of marinated tiger prawn was grilled in garlic sweet and spicy sauce. Together with the spicy kick of the Sambal Chilli, it was very tasty and definitely spelled out the characteristics of our local delicacy with banana leaf as base. On top of having the prawns, freshly cooked vegetables were served with steam rice too.

Spicy Garlic Tiger Prawns - $15.20

Could you resist such temptations?

Beautifully Grilled Prawns

Desserts

Here comes the sweet treat after finishing the mains. Chocolate Fondant topped with vanilla ice-cream is a perfect closure to the meal. The ice cream was adorn with mint leaves and the dessert was surrounded by button chocolates and chocolate fudge on the plate. Cake was moist and with rich semi sweet chocolate fondant in it. Yummy!

Chocolate Fondant with Ice Cream

Amazonia Bistro is not limited to the kids as they have also extended their invitation to nearby office working class for an Office Express Lunch from 12-3pm with games to destress themselves.

Personally, I enjoyed the most from the space ball room. Room was painted with their special glow in the dark artwork. illustrating a wonderful space environment with a resident alien watching over its territory.

Space Jam Room

Room was equipped with 8 hydraulic driven cannons and an electronic scoreboard that will reflect the scores instantly once you hit the target / enemy. Come on, let's shoot the enemy with the softballs!

Glow in the Dark

You can also get a party experience in Amazonia for your kid's birthday. They have 2 theme party rooms, one for the boy and the other for the girls holding up to as many as 40 children. Scheduled with interesting games and activities, Amazonia will leave a good memory on your child's special day.

Take a look at the Amazonia a racing car theme room all prepared for the boys.

Kids Theme Party Room - Guys

Whereas for little girls, they can enjoy themselves as princesses in the castle and get to dine on the beautiful pink carriages. Envy not?

Kids Theme Party Room for Girls

Do take note that there are designated party hours slots to follow, so book in advance to avoid disappointment.

Disposable Utensils

Last but not least, a 3D Glow Golf indoor 9 putting course suitable for children age 4 and above, also applicable for family fun .

3D Glow Golf Putters

Similar to the Space Jam, environment is dark with glowing artwork. You will get to see moving props in theme like Pirates, Sea Creatures and Dinosaur.

Dinosaur 

I'm pretty amazed by the props, fun and amount of space used in designing the entire entertainment centre.

Bright Octopus

With the bright and colorful ambiance, I simply could not resist to play a few rounds of golf. Having fun is of no age limit, so let your hair down and have fun!

Pirates

Lights up! After golfing, please remember to return your sticks here.

Grab your stick here!

Come this July, they will be marking their 5th Anniversary. With such successful concept in Singapore, Amazonia has spreaded it wings into Jarkata, Indonesia which has 4 times the space of current location in Singapore. Other than kids party and school group's learning journey, they are open to corporate group dynamics, events like team building, thus if you think that Amazonia is only for kids, its not so in this case!

Thanks OpenRice for the Invitation.


Rating: 3 / 5

Amazonia Bistro
Location: Great World City, 1 Kim Seng Promenade #03-08 Singapore 237994

I Am Legend [Invited Tasting]

I Am Legend is housed in the food court of The Big Box at level 3. With The Big Box as Singapore's largest mega Warehouse Retail Mall, enjoy shopping and dining there as you will feel spacious with great ceiling height.

I Am Legend

No doubt Seafood Aglio Olio was the first dish served out of the kitchen, its assortment of seafood had drawn a closer attention on us. They are just never too stingy with the prawns, sotong (squids) and baby scallops used. The dish came to us in watery form which was an unusual sight as compared with the past Aglio Olio we had elsewhere. Nevertheless, it had a good spicy taste that perks up the dish.

Seafood Aglio Olio - $11.90

For those with low spicy tolerance, do remember to make your friendly request to reduce the level of spice.

Featuring its Spaghetti 

I Am Legend threw me a surprise with this item on its menu. Pretty well grilled eggplant that still retain the moist and sponginess even after going through the heat. Presentation looked unappealing with hints that it might be soaking up most of the oil which deters healthy eaters from having them. Though mozzarella Cheese with pesto sauce were part of this make, i still find the dish lackuster.

Grilled Aubergine - Price TBA

The truffle fries could not make justice to its price tag. There were little or none truffle fragrance since it was served. This finger food was plain usual leaving the only highlight with shaved Parmesan cheese topping up the fries.

Truffle Fries - $8.90

The pleasing rich look of the the Salted Egg Yolk was tempting enough for salted egg yolk lover like me.In fact, this dish will permanently be in the menu from 29th February. Chef personally explained that he made use of quality salted eggs from China, Vietnam and Taiwan. He had also added that these eggs were fermented for 3 days as a preparation to the dish.

A generous amount of creamy salted egg coated prawns together with consistent texture of spaghetti was stomach warming. The use of curry leaves and bird-eye cut chilli had spiced up a little for the pasta. It's decent enough and of course there are better ones out there.

Salted Egg Yolk Pasta - $15.90

For those who shared that thought of not ordering grilled fish from the Western Stall in Food Court, its time to make a change. Yes, it might be a little cumbersome to deal with fish bones but its all worth the trouble. Looking at the creased on its skin and its awesome taste from the brown savoury sauce, they were good to satiate your appetite. Having squeezed lemon juice to reduce the fishy taste, the grilled fish was perfect in its tangy, sweet taste coupled with a few slices of pineapple.

Grilled Fish - $15.90

Making the table of us happy will be their Fish & Chips from the Dory Fish. With their home-brand Tatar Sauce that was a tad spicy to balance out the greasiness on these 3 big pieces of Fish remained good enough to keep the smiles on our faces. The battered layer was crispy and not too thick which led to a direct good bite from the golden layer into its chunky meat pieces while the sides like the fries & coleslaw were just ordinary.

Fish & Chips - $10.90

The smell from the charred mutton chops had already gave the dish away without us further guessing the items on the plate. These mutton chops were marinated before hand and one can really taste the "herby" flavours in it. Lamb chop is quite a heaty dish to me and I have to limit my intakes of this dish after all the Chinese new year goodies especially when the dipping sauce is black pepper. Though, it looked overcooked, the color of the lamb chop was not equivalent to the toughness of the meat. It remained as tender as what mutton chop is. Replacing the original sides with onions rings was seen as a good alternative as they were no typical flour batter without much taste of onions. Over here, its definite that you get to bite on the real onions no matter which piece you choose!

Mutton Chop

Hits and Misses, given such Western Fusion Food sold in Food Court, standards were not bad and pricing is relatively cheaper, moreover serving is hearty. Since the actual launch of the dishes is on 29 Feb, they still have time to adjust and perfect the dishes. Do give this "Legend" your support!

Last but not least, thanks OpenRice for the invitation.

Rating: 3 / 5

I Am Legend
Location: Big Box Warehouse Retail Mall, 1 Venture Avenue level 3 Singapore 608521