The Mustard Incident

C says:

The Mustard Incident is a gourmet hot dog joint that opened recently in the newly renovated Tangs basement, opposite Krispy Kreme. Seating is limited, with just one small 2-seater and a U-shaped counter for dining-in. I guess they assume that hot dogs are generally on-the-go food.

You may want to be seated for some of their creations, though. Some, like the Coney Dog and the Frankenstein, have a chilli topping that makes it pretty messy, but oh so delicious. The Coney Dog is a beef sausage with bean-less (yay) chilli and topped with diced white onion. The Frankenstein is, literally, half a beef sausage and half a pork sausage held together with bacon (hence the name), chilli again, hot sauce and sautéed onions.

I had the Frankenstein and A had the Coney Dog. Both were very good – I especially like the sausages, which have a good snap to casings. I liked mine because the sautéed onions took the edge of the raw ones; A liked his precisely because of the raw onions.

They have seasonal flavours too, like a turkey, ham and cranberry one over the holidays, as well as some limited edition flavours like a Sauerkraut and a Breakfast dog. If both are still available when we’re next in the vicinity, they’ll be our next picks.

A says:

I was a bit apprehensive at first given the $10 price, but these are seriously good hot dogs and totally worth it. The staff is friendly as well. The only problem with the place is the cramped counter eating area. Can't be helped I guess, but this is a definite go-to for a good dog.

The Mustard Incident
310 Orchard Road
Tangs Basement
Tel: 6836-3647
Mon – Thurs & Sat: 10.30 am to 9.30 pm
Fri: 10.30 am to 11 pm
Sun: 11 am to 8.30 pm

Guzman Y Gomez (GYG)

C says:

Our friend KH seems to have achieved the impossible. First, with Two Fat Men he managed to get A to voluntarily drive all the way to East, and for Thai food, no less.

Now, with Guzman Y Gomez, he's managed to convert even me, a die-hard non-lover of Mexican food, into craving their burritos.

KH decided to bring GYG, a popular Mexican chain in Australia, to South East Asia after tasting some of their offerings on one of his trips to Sydney. They launched their first outlet in Singapore, at Asia Square, with a Free Burrito Day. No catch, no hidden terms. Literally, a free full-sized burrito of your choice as your reward for joining the queue.

The turnout was staggering, and they handled it like pros. The queues were insanely long, but they were such a well-oiled machine that the wait was no longer than 10 minutes. I was so impressed with the quality that A and I decided to go back again to do a proper review.

Unless you have a large appetite or are particularly hungry, the full-sized burrito is very filling and will pretty much guarantee a food coma after. The mini burrito may look small, but is more than sufficient for lunch. I had the mini with spicy grilled chicken, guacamole and brown rice - the chicken was tender, nicely grilled and just spicy enough to have some kick.

A tried a trio of tacos, and the great thing about GYG is that you're not forced to have 3 of the same filling. We therefore got a chance to try the steak, slow roasted beef, and the fish.

All 3 were delicious, and I would be hard pressed to pick my favourite filling. The steak was tender, the slow roasted beef packed a ton of flavour, and the fish (they use barramundi) was light and flaky.

They use good ingredients (like barramundi instead of the usual dory), and it shows in the quality and taste of the food. Plus, all orders are cooked and assembled only upon order, so they're freshly made and not sitting around waiting to be reheated.

The lines may look intimidating, but don't be deterred. They're as efficient as they were during Free Burrito Day so you barely have to wait at all. I must admit, I had my misgivings, but if they sustain their present quality then I think they're on to a winning formula. Can't wait for more outlets to open, and in the evenings/on weekends please!

A says:

Awesome except I hate beans. *fart fart fart*
Although I recently found out you can get the quesadillas which don't have beans, or request for no beans when it's not mad packed.
I especially like that when you order the tacos, you can pick different flavours. (My favourites are the two beef ones.)
WIN!

Guzman Y Gomez
12 Marina View
#02-11 Asia Square Tower 2 Food Garden
Open Mon - Fri: 10 am - 4 pm
Closed on weekends
www.gyg.com.sg

Nene Chicken

C says:

I've concluded that Korean fried chicken really isn't for me; or if that's too much of a generalisation, then to be specific, I really don't like Nene Chicken's version. It's everything that I don't like in my fried chicken - a thick layer of batter, and slathered in sauce.

They do their fried chicken two ways at Nene - chicken wings, and chicken tenders, which are bite-sized pieces of both white and dark meat. You can then opt for one of a number of sauces, including Freaking Hot, Cheese, Sesame and Green Onion.

We got the chicken tenders with Sesame, and the wings with the Freaking Hot sauce. I didn't like the tenders at all - the sesame sauce was abnormally sweet, and the chicken was far from tender, especially the white meat pieces.

It was a cute touch that they gave us plastic gloves for the wings, but after a couple of wings, diminishing returns kicked in fast. The wings were overly battered and the sauce was thick, sticky and overpowering. For those who can't take heat, the Freaking Hot packs a bit of a punch, though it only kicks in after a while.

Maybe the other flavours are better, but I really don't think I can even bring myself to try any of them.

A says:

Eh, I might go back to try a few other flavour combos just to confirm my "Not recommended" opinion. But even for a person who likes food drenched in sauce, this was really too much. In fact, the only good thing I can say is that you get a lot of meat on the drumlets.

Nene Chicken
1 Vista Exchange Green
#01-24, Star Vista
Open daily: 11 am - 10 pm

Omakase Burger

C says:

Everyone seems to be raving about Omakase Burger, the burger joint that opened recently at the new Grandstand at Turf City, but I must say I wasn't completely blown away. Yes, objectively their burgers are pretty good - their signature element is a smashed beef patty, creating an irregular surface that offers optimum caramelising and formation of a charred crust. But quite a few factors stand in the way of my giving them a unanimous two thumbs up.

Firstly, at $14 and above for just a burger, I expected a sit-down service concept. I was surprised to find that it was fast food style - you stand in line, place your order and get a disc that starts buzzing when your order's done. Everything is self-service, from the condiments to the pickles to your drinks order.

They simply cannot cope with the volume of orders that they're getting, and there aren't enough seats either. You can't place your order without finding a seat first, so you have to wait twice - once to find a table, and again when you join the line to order.

The food takes a while as well - I think we waited around 10 to 15 minutes for our burgers. A had the Ultimate Cheeseburger, which had everything from bacon and cheese, to onions and mushrooms. I just went with the Deluxe Cheeseburger, which comes with mushrooms and onions. At almost $18 and $16 respectively, these were really small. The growing teenage boys who were seated next to us probably finished theirs in about 5 bites.

To be fair, the burgers were pretty tasty. The default doneness is medium, but you can ask for something else - we requested medium rare. The patties were juicy and flavourful, and I liked the crisp charred exterior. I just wish there was more meat. You can pay $5.90 to make any burger a double, but that'll make the Ultimate almost $24, which seems pretty extravagant for what essentially is fast food.

Their fries are decent, but their onion rings are really good. Nice and sweet, with a crisp crust that's not too thick.

They do a pretty good soft serve ice cream for dessert too, which is similar to a Hokkaido milk ice cream.

Overall, I don't deny that the burgers are pretty good, but I still think that their price point is a little too high in the context of the fast food concept.

A says:

Really good burger. Also, really tiny burger. I'd say it's midway between a slider and a regular burger. And given the size, there's really no point loading it with toppings. I'd advise sticking with the basic Omakase Burger. I also recommend the great onion rings and finishing with the soft serve ice cream. Just don't go expecting a huge meal.

Omakase Burger
200 Turf Club Road, #01-05
Tel: 6763-2698
Opening hours:
Mon - Thurs: 11.30 am - 3.30 pm; 5 pm - 9.30 pm
Fri - Sun: 11 am - 10 pm
www.omakaseburger.com

Triple O’s

C says:

We got off work earlier today, so we made it to Triple O's at Asia Square before they could close early again. To be honest we're not familiar with this Canadian chain at all, so we just ordered what appealed to us and hoped for the best.


We ordered one combo meal, and the other burger just a la carte. A had the orignal Triple O burger, which comes with lettuce, tomato and special sauce, and I had the mushroom burger.

The burgers here are around Carl's Jr's price point - about $11 for the burger and $15 for a combo meal. It's definitely better than Macs and BK, but I think Carl's Jr actually makes better, more satisfying burgers. Triple O's are good but the patty, albeit quite flavourful and tasty, is a bit thin and hence dries out a bit.


The combo comes with fries and a soft drink, but for $3 more you can switch to their poutine and signature milk shake. Poutine is Canada's version of chilli cheese fries, consisting of fries topped with cheese and meat gravy. This was good but as expected, became a bit stodgy towards the end.

A had the chocolate milkshake. He wasn't expecting much cos it looked pretty thick in the cup, but it was surprisingly drinkable.

Generally, I found the food good but not great. It certainly won't become my go-to place if I want a good cheap burger, but if we have a burger craving while we're in the vicinity, this will be a convenient place to satisfy it.

A says:

Awesome milkshake. Everything else was pretty good, but definitely not worth the $11 price tag. My advice is to go round to Jewel Coffee to eat, then come here for a milkshake for dessert.

Triple O’s
Asia Square Food Garden
2nd floor, Tower 1
Tel: 6636-0002

Freshness Burger

C says:

We stupidly didn’t try Freshness Burger while we were in Japan, opting instead for Lucky Pierrot when we were in Hokkaido. So we were pretty keen to try Freshness when they opened in Singapore, but weren’t very keen to venture to the new Nex mall at Serangoon Central, so we’ve been waiting patiently for the outlet at Central at Clarke Quay to open. I think it only opened in the last couple of weeks, and we happily found an excuse to be in the area in order to finally try it.

At first glance, prices seem quite low. Then the burgers arrive and you realise why. They’re tiny! Without sides, each person can easily have 2 burgers, in my opinion. With sides, maybe 3 burgers between 2 people.


Our first order consisted of a Freshness Burger, and a Spam Burger, fries and onion rings. The Freshness Burger is a bit like a Mosburger – meat patty, big slice of tomato, onions and a meat sauce. This was ok but I think Mosburger has a more pronounced beefy flavour.


The Spam Burger, however, was sheer heaven. Soft bun, slice of Spam (Lite – I saw the cans), and a runny sunny side up egg. This was almost like a breakfast burger, and being the Spam whore that I am, I enjoyed this thoroughly. The egg yolks oozes all over the burger, mixing with the mayo and giving it an instant sauce. Mmm…

In terms of sides, the fries and onion rings are apparently both from “Hokkaido Farm”. The fries are more like wedges, so they’re quite filling and probably not worth the carbs when there are so many other burger options to try. The onion rings, however, are stellar. Crispy on the outside, soft and sweet inside, you can tell it’s proper onion and not some processed thing.


Clearly that didn’t satisfy us at all, so on our second round we ordered a hot dog, a side of grilled chicken, and one of their desserts – the popover. I think the burgers are better. The hot dog was alright but I prefer the dogs at Superdog. The grilled chicken was a whole grilled teriyaki chicken thigh, which was pretty nice. The popover was a big choux pastry puff, hollow in the centre, and they provided a miniscule amount of whipped cream to go with it. Again, we’ll pass on this next time.

Definitely going back for their Spam burger and the onion rings. Some other burgers on the menu are calling to me too, like the original burger and the bacon omelette burger. The Clarke Quay branch was pretty empty on Monday night, maybe because not many people realise that it's open yet. The branch at Century Square in Tampines is apparently open as well.

A says:

Awesome onion rings. Too bad they give you so few. And while the Freshness Burger is tasty, it’s very light on meat. Oh, and the hot dog sucked.

Stick to Spam Burger and onion rings for a good but very light and pricey meal.

Carl’s Jr

C says:

Quick one. After hearing cousin C wax lyrical about Carl’s Jr’s Thickburgers, we decided to try it for ourselves when we were at Vivocity today. We shared the Portobello Mushroom one, which in my opinion is the best Carl’s Jr burger flavour.


Thank goodness we shared it, and now I know what their tagline “It’s gonna get messy” means. This was absolutely impossible to eat as a burger. I had to do the loser thing and asked for a knife, and ate it deconstructed.

It’s really good cos you get a full-on beefy rush, but personally I’ll stick to the regular Portobello burger in future. At least I can eat it as a proper burger. Oh, their hand cut skin-on fries rock as well. I’d much rather have the burgers here than the lacklustre one that we had at Meatworks.

A says:

It’s really expensive as fast food goes, but definitely worth it for a treat. If you’re not on a diet.

Portuguese egg tarts from... KFC?

C says:

I was stunned, and I must say not a little apprehensive, when I saw the ad heralding Portuguese egg tarts at KFC. Since when are fried chicken and egg tarts an instinctive combination? And what makes KFC think they can pull off a traditional dessert, when so far all their offerings have been of the deep fried rectangular pie variety?


Well, these certainly can’t rival the ones from Macau, but to be fair they don’t purport to try. So I have to give them credit – these actually weren’t half bad. The pastry was a little oily and a bit tough to the bite, but the filling was decent and not too sweet.

They cost $1.30 each, or 6 for $7.50.

A says:

Surprisingly, it didn’t suck. I like the filling but the pastry is very blah.

Wendy’s

C says:

Since Wendy’s opened at Lau Pa Sat this was my first visit, but actually A’s second. After his horrific first time where he waited an hour for his food, we’ve been giving it a wide berth but it was a late night at work for both of us, so we figured it was late enough to give Wendy’s a try.

Even at 9.45 pm there were still a few people in the queue, but we didn't have to wait more than a few minutes. We each had a single ¼ pounder with cheese, shared the fries, and I had a chilli while A had a frosty shake.


The burger was decent; I like that it had a considerably larger patty compared to the bun. But it looked like it was assembled rather haphazardly, and the cheese was cold and not melted into the patty. What saved it was the combination of mayo and ketchup. All in all, it’s decent for what you pay, but if you don’t mind paying slightly more, Carl’s Jr is way better.

I have a big issue with their service though, or rather, lack thereof. This is definitely the reason for the snaking queues at lunchtime – complete inefficiency. When we were there, 2 counters were open, one manned by the store manager and one by an extremely blur-looking staff. There were another 8 to 10 people milling around the kitchen, most of whom were doing nothing besides distract the people who were working.

I placed my order with the blur guy, and since their burgers are “made fresh”, I appreciate that I have to wait for my burger to be made to order. I stood to one side while the blur guy served another customer. My burger materialised from the kitchen shortly after and was placed on a tray in front of the blur guy. I waited a few moments for him to pass it to me. Nothing happened. Waited a bit more while he clowned around with another guy. Still nothing. Finally I had to ask him “Is that my order?” “Yes.” Pause… “Can I have it?!” “Yes”; at which point I had to reach over for the tray myself.

We were still eating at closing time (10 pm), and saw one of them hose down the outside of the glass doors. He clearly wasn’t paying any attention to what he was doing, because he sprayed water onto an innocent passer-by. She took it extremely well, only asking for napkins to wipe herself down, but I was livid on her behalf after already experiencing their nonexistent service.

They really need to get their act together. Their food isn’t so outstanding that I’ll put up with insane queues and shoddy service. In fact, if they keep this up, I really doubt that they’ll have enough repeat customers to support the 35 branches that they are committed to opening in the next decade.

A says:

Given I used to live on the Wendy’s $1 menu as a poor college student in America, I was super psyched when Wendy’s re-opened here.

Sad to say, I’m sorely disappointed.

The ¼ pounder is much better than the ½ pounder I had when they first opened. But still, it’s not that good.

I also had the chocolate milkshake which sucked.

In fact, the only redeeming thing here is the Frosty ice cream. But that will in no way have me coming back.

Especially with the horrible, horrible, horrible service. You can see the manager is trying his best, but everyone is simply incompetent.

I probably won’t be back unless I walk past and it’s totally empty and I’m craving an ice cream.

McGriddles

C says:

I don’t believe I’m actually saying this, but for the first time in a very long while, I had McDonald’s this morning. It’s all D’s fault – she told us that the new McGriddles were really yummy and got us psyched to try them this morning.


These have been available in the US for ages, but have only just reached our shores in the Macs breakfast offering. They’re similar to the McMuffins, but instead of using English muffins to sandwich the egg and sausage, these are like hotcakes with the butter and maple syrup built-in. They’re quite delicious, especially when you bite into the portions with the maple syrup. However, because of their butteriness, they’re also a bit gelak towards the end.

The McCafe cappuccino is pretty good, but the hash browns suck now. They’re way too oily and not worth the calories.

A says:


I like the taste of the “Griddle”. Not enough to make me want to eat the crappy McD’s sausage though. Yuck.

Wham!burger

C says:

Another joint near work, this stall unfortunately only opens from 11 am to 3 pm, so no chance of coming here for a quick dinner. A had it a couple of times and liked it so much that we decided to meet here for lunch one day so I could try it too.


The stall is in the basement of China Square Food Centre; apparently it used to be at Turf City, before it closed for almost two years and reopened at China Square a year ago to the delight of many fans. The owner, Wendy Chin, apparently pursued her singing career during that two-year hiatus, and the stall is closed at night in order for her to continue doing so.



I had the much-lauded beef burger – a small (think fist-sized) but massively thick (slightly over an inch) beef patty, simply dressed with just mayo and some lettuce on a sesame seed bun. When I first cut it I thought the patty would be dry, because there wasn't a hint of pinkness inside, but it was anything but. It was very loosely-formed so still very tender and juicy, extremely well-seasoned, and perfectly seared so that a nice flavourful crust formed on the outside. While it doesn't need any accompaniments, it goes very well with mustard, and the sautéed onions that you can help yourself to separately. A slice of cheese would be great, but I’m not sure if you can order it and how much it’ll cost. I saw a Double Whammy burger on the menu as well – two patties; sounds pretty insane and quite a meat overload. We could possibly share this at dinner (if they only opened), but I think it’s just too much meat for lunch.


A normally orders the beef burger so today he decided to try the chicken one. This was fabulous, and sacrilegious as it may sound, I may actually order this instead of the beef next time. Instead of a chicken patty, this was a whole chicken thigh fillet, marinated with a great satay/curry blend of spices, and again dressed with lettuce and mayo. The chicken was incredibly flavourful, and very tender and juicy. The whole thing tasted like a non-fried version of a Zinger. Delicious.

It’s a bit sinful to have this too often, but every so often I know I won’t be able to resist. Even harder for A to ignore the Wham! call, given that his office is just 3 minutes away.

A says:

George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley in CHOOSE LIFE tshirts and day-glow shorts! Ha! Get that image out of your head.

Anyway, despite the lame name, the Beef and Chicken Burgers RAWK! Onion rings are very good as well. I wonder how the fish burger is. Too bad the opening hours are so short. It would be great for dinner.

Wham!burger
51 Telok Ayer Street
#B1-22, China Square Food Centre
Tel: 90080604 (Wendy Chin)
Opening hours: 11 am to 3 pm. Closed Sunday.

Superdog

C says:

This is our new favourite place to grab a quick bite at VivoCity. It’s a simple fast food joint located in basement 2, serving grilled burgers and hot dogs. On Saturday we tried their hotdogs since they’re called Superdog, after all. I had the Superdog – a German bratwurst with bacon, sliced tomatoes, chopped onions and chili. It was an absolute mess to eat but it was delicious. The bratwurst was juicy and not overly seasoned, the bun was nice and soft and the chili was a nice alternative to ketchup. The onions were a little overpowering though; maybe I’ll try to get them to put sauerkraut instead.

A had the bacon ripper, which is a chicken (or beef) frankfurter grilled until the skin ‘rips’, then wrapped with bacon, topped with relish and mustard. I preferred mine; A preferred his.

We shared an order of chili cheese fries too. The chili was pretty good, but it could’ve been a bit meatier because now it just seemed like a sauce. The fries were great though, perfectly crispy and not excessively salted.

Next time we come, I’m trying a burger. They claim to use 100% chuck steak for their patties – no other meat or other dodgy parts, and that they never freeze their patties. If their burgers are as good as their patties, then this may just overtake Carl’s Jr as our fast food burger joint of choice.

A says:

This is definitely my new favourite fast food joint. They might not have enough service counters (only one operating when we got there) so the wait might be long. At least the girl taking our order wasn’t bad looking and really knew her hot dogs (heh heh). And the hot dogs are really good and I’m definitely going back to try the burger. The fries are nice but the chili was a bit watery and didn’t have enough beef bits.

Update 22 April 2007: I tried one of the normal Chicken Rippers because i had a discount coupon and it sucked. Will stick with the Bacon Ripper even if i have to pay a little more.

Superdog
B2-40, VivoCity

Carl’s Jr

C says:

Just when I thought that I’d be having lots more Carl’s Jr after moving office to One Raffles Quay, the Robinson Road outlet closed down shortly before I moved office to make way for Harry’s @ Raffles Quay. Talk about sucky timing.

Thankfully, Carl’s Jr is one of the many many MANY stores that have opened or are opening at the new Vivo City. Random aside: it’s quite fun to play ‘Guess what brand isn’t at Vivo City”. A and I decided to brave the throngs of people on Hari Raya Puasa and visited Vivo City. Lots of the food outlets aren’t open yet but Carl’s Jr is, and compared to Crystal Jade and the food courts, it was relatively empty so we went for it.

For anyone who hasn’t yet been to Carl’s Jr, do note that it isn’t in the same league as Macs or Burger King, both in terms of quality and price. A burger alone will set you back between $6 and $9, and add another $4 or so to that if you want a combo meal with a drink and fries. The burgers are much bigger though, and the burger patties are far superior – meaty and juicy and, dare I say, better than the dry patties at Uberburger.

I used to like the Guacamole and Bacon burger, but it’s ridiculously messy to eat, with guacamole oozing and dripping everywhere, and can also get a little gelak because of the richness of the guacamole. My latest favourite is the Portobello Mushroom burger, a fairly recent addition to their menu. Think of this as a much better and much higher-end version of the BK Mushroom Swiss. The Carl’s one has either one or two patties, tomato, lettuce, onion, cheese, a delicious mushroom sauce and sliced portobello mushrooms. Delicious! A had their latest burger, a sort-of limited edition “Try Now” promotion called the Pastrami burger, with thinly sliced pastrami slices on top of the beef patty, so it’s essentially two different types of meat. I’ll leave him to tell you about it.

I actually think that the Robinson Road branch served slightly better and juicier burgers but oh well, it’s a moot point now that it’s closed down. Still, as burgers go Carl’s is still pretty good. Just don’t expect fast food prices. Oh, and the servers at the Vivo City branch certainly left a lot to be desired. No “Hi” or “Welcome to Carl’s Jr”, just sullen faces waiting for us to place our order. Quite different from almost all the other stores at Vivo City who are so eager to please because they’ve just opened.

A says:

C’s said everything. Good burgers. Not cheap. Not consistent. Worth a try. Definitely a must for burger lovers.

Also, the pastrami in the Pastrami Burger (Hurry, limited time only!) did overpower the beef patty but I’m not complaining. Almost like having a Reuben.

Note to self: try the cookies and cream shake next time.

Pepper Lunch

C says:

We’ve eaten at the Shaw Centre branch many times but somehow haven’t written about it until now. It’s a ‘fast food’ steak restaurant from Japan, with an innovative way of serving their food on patented hot plates that apparently heat up quickly to 260 degrees Celcius. Meat like steak, hamburger, chicken and salmon is placed on the plate together with some bean sprouts and carrots and a dollop of herb butter. The hot plate is brought sizzling to your table, and you have to literally work against the clock to spread the butter on the meat, flip it to sear the other side, then place it on top of the vegetables to stop it cooking any further on the hot plate. It’s quite a panicky job for someone like me, who would rather eat under- than over-cooked meat, but it’s pretty fun all the same.

Another signature dish is the Beef Pepper Rice. Again it’s served on the hot plate, with a mound of rice surrounded by some sliced beef. You’re supposed to stir up the rice because there’s butter buried inside the rice. When the rice is stirred up and nicely starting to brown on the hot plate, you add a few splashes each of their house sauces – a garlic soy and a honey brown sauce – and stir it all up further. Then you just pick up your spoon and savour the ultimate comfort food. Slowly though, that hot plate really does retain its heat and a burnt mouth is hardly comforting…

Pepper Lunch has added a new ice cream to their menu – a rich creamy soft-serve vanilla topped with a dark caramel sauce. This is really quite divine; the ice cream is decadently smooth and creamy, and the sauce is sweet but not cloyingly so. Perfect way to top off the meal.

In addition to the one at Shaw Centre (in the basement, next to Mosburger and the Isetan Supermarket), there’s also a branch in Takashimaya, and two Pepper Lunch Express outlets, at Dhoby Exchange and Hougang Mall.

A says:

Interesting place. Food’s pretty good but not cheap. What surprised me was that the hamburger actually tasted better than then cut steak.

For a soft serve, the ice cream wasn’t to my taste. Way too thick. Just like regular ice cream. I much prefer the light, fluffy stuff from Ichibantei.

And while it’s styled like a fast food joint, don’t expect the food to come fast when it’s crowded. With a full house, our dishes took over 15mins to arrive. Also, you’re definitely going to smell a bit barbequey after. My advice is to go only if you’re going directly home after.

Mien at Bukit Timah Market Hawker Centre

C says:

A’s friends P and R told us about this stall on the second floor (#02-133) of the Bukit Timah Market Hawker Centre. It’s a hawker centre-style pasta stall with a difference. The menu is written on a blackboard, and food is served on fairly posh white melamine plates. There are 4 generic sauces to choose from – cream, aglio olio, tomato and pesto, but you can also get some variations on those like carbonara and amatriciana.

There’s only 1 type of pasta – spaghetti – and it’s pre-cooked, then just dipped into a vat of hot water with a wire basket a la mee pok style, then the pasta is given a quick stir with your chosen sauce in a wok. Pasta, Asian style.

I had the Aglio Olio with bacon and mushroom, which was very generous with the ingredients. It was a little salty at first bite but I got used to it after a while. A had a cream sauce with mushrooms because they ran out of chicken, and it wasn’t too bad as well. Best part is, pastas are only $3.90. We shared a soup of the day (mushroom) but it was a little bland. It came with some toasted garlic ‘bread’ which was actually some kind of pandan bread so it tasted a little sweet and really didn’t go with the garlic.

Still, the place was interesting and it also reminded us that there are other good stalls in the market that are worth a try. We had an early dinner so we managed to get a car park. When we walked back to the car, the car park was packed, so best to come here earlier.

A says:

The place was crowded and the layout is super cramped. But if you’re looking for some cheap and good (albeit a bit salty) pasta around Bukit Timah, this is probably the place to go. The guy running the place is also pretty articulate and friendly, especially given how harried he is from the many customers and the heat of the fire.

The portions are small though. And I’d skip the blandish soup. You can easily share three portions among two people. Our just order something else from the other stalls. It is a pretty decent hawker centre.

Chippy at Raffles Marketplace

C says:

We finally tried this place for lunch on Saturday. It’s a little stall in the new basement Marketplace of Raffles City, and is supposed to be a traditional British chippy. There are no actual seats – everything is served in little paper bags or cups, and they provide a bench and bar countertop for you to eat. Although it strictly isn’t necessary, because they convenient cut everything into bite-sized pieces that you can easily eat while strolling around, using the satay sticks that they provide.

A and I shared a regular fish and chips, and a cheesy sausage with mashed potato. For the fish and chips, you have an option of 2 sauces – salt and vinegar, and mayonnaise and ketchup. Since we wanted an authentic British fish and chip experience, we opted for the salt and vinegar. The fish is cut into 12 pieces, with each little piece battered and fried separately (i.e. it is not battered as a fillet and subsequently cut, cos then the fish would just flake into bits), and the chips are more like potato wedges also battered and fried. This was actually a lot better than I expected. The fish was liberally doused with malt vinegar, and there was a substantial amount of fish; it wasn’t all batter like I was afraid of. Even the battered potatoes were thick chunks of potato, not processed and tasteless fries. Didn’t taste particularly oily either.

The cheesy sausage was a whole sausage on a stick, and the mashed potato was at the base of the cup, so that you could dunk the sausage into the mash as you ate. The sausage was good, but I found the mashed potatoes to be slightly too salty and processed-tasting.

They also have some crispy curry chicken bites, which I may try next time, and deep fried Mars bars, which sound like a heart attack waiting to happen. A and I would have ordered the Mars bars just for the sake of trying it, if they sold them by the piece. Unfortunately each serving is 4 Mars bar bites (each bite is probably the size of a quarter of a Mars bar), and we just couldn’t bring ourselves to order and be compelled to finish that many.

If anyone dares to try them, do tell us how they are!

A says:

It’s a bit much to have all 12 pieces of fish on your own but the sausage is just nice for a quick meal. I had no problems with the mash, which was just chunky enough so it wasn’t the usual KFC slop.

Standing around and eating is a bit of a turnoff, especially when you have to squeeze with other customers, but I guess it’s all part of the experience. I think it’s great for takeout though (if you eat them before they get too cold and soggy).

Overall, top marks for a quick, affordable (food under $5/pax) meal.

Deli Wheels & New Zealand Natural

C says:

Calling all people working in the Raffles Place area – if you like hot dogs then do support this place. It’s at the basement of Clifford Centre, and it has recently sublet a small section of the restaurant to New Zealand Natural Ice Cream. You can kill two birds with one visit – hot dogs and ice cream. A perfect combination!

Deli Wheels has pork, chicken and veal sausages to choose from, and within those you can get a variety of different flavoured pork and chicken ones. I’m partial towards pork sausages myself, cos I figure if you’re gonna have fundamentally unhealthy food, might as well go the whole hog (no pun intended). A few of the pork choices are – Cheesy, English Brats, Beer Brats (slightly bitter aftertaste), German Brats and Italian. My favourite is the English Brats – it’s classic fat pork sausage with minimal herbs and seasonings. The German Brats isn’t too bad either but it’s a bit softer than the English and lacks the chewiness and bite of the English.

The best thing about this place, and what differentiates it from other hot dog joints, is the condiments counter. You’re served the hot dog naked on a bun, and you get to slather on any and all the toppings you want. And the toppings are proper toppings, not just the perfunctory ketchup and mustard. Here, you have a choice between ketchup, BBQ sauce, honey mustard, curry mustard, wasabi mustard, regular mustard and chilli sauce for the wet toppings, and relish, sauerkraut, chopped onions, jalapeno peppers, capsicums and fried shallots for the dry toppings. The correct order of your ingredients should be – bun, sausage, wet topping, then dry topping.

They have recently diversified and now, in addition to hot dogs they also serve rosti with their sausages, as well as ham and cheese crepes and roast chicken thigh. I haven’t tried the crepe nor the chicken, but I had the rosti on Friday night with a German Brats. It was definitely less messy than the hot dog, but as far as rosti goes, it’s no where near Marche’s standard. I’ll probably stick to their hot dogs from now on.

A says:

Hot dogs and milkshakes – RAWK! Although the hot dogs are a bit too fancy bratwurstsy (not cheapsy wienery) for us simple folk, you can’t beat the toppings and condiments area.

But why doesn’t the New Zealand Natural there serve the Xtreme Shake? Makes no sense that they don’t since they already have a blender and offer normal shakes. Why not just have the nuts and honey as well?

Still, it’s hot dogs and milkshakes. RAWK!