AMK Coffeeshop Char Siew Rice SMACKDOWN - Blk 531 Roast Paradise vs Blk 532 Yat Lok

Just had Char Siew Rice at Yat Lok for lunch and confidentially had similar a couple of days ago at Roast Paradise which form my basis for comparison.

Let me start with saying that both are delicious and more than satisfying.

Both are new relatively players in the area with Roast Paradise operation previously at their famous Old Airport Road Hawker Centre store and Yat Lok (having multiple branches) taking over another old roast meat store.

Roast Paradise 531 Ang Mo Kio Ave 10 Char Siew was charred nicely, very tasty and tender Pricey at $4 per packet/plate for a starting price Long Queue, short hours, open at 11am and close at 4pm Best time to go before 12pm to avoid the queue Often sold out by 2pm  Have Hor fun to go with Char Siew, something different Roast meat is not bad as well Do check if ordering the combo as had been shortchanged before that when I ordered Char Siew/Roast Meat rice, they gave me only Roast Meat, probably mixed up due to long crowd Just added Roast Chicken to their menu as well

Yat Lok Roast Delights 532 Ang Mo Kio Ave 10 Char Siew was nice and fatty, tasty and tender Standard price at $3 per packet/plate, adding other meat was another $0.50 only   Almost no waiting time. While there appears to be quite a few orders, the staff was fast and efficient Good variety of food, they sell Roast meat, Roast duck, Roast Chicken and Soy Sauce Chicken as well for the meat variety  Have Wanton and Shrimp dumpling soup completing the menu list for a full fledged roast meat store as expected

Conclusion: While Roast Paradise is undoubtedly the more famous and popular store, the slightly better quality does not make up for the long waiting time and higher price. I will not especially patronise Roast Paradise and will probably go to Yat Lok for my Roast meat cravings should I need to next time.

No photos as too ad-hoc a post, will make up for it with the next post.

Wow, it's been a while, been reminded of the link for this blog as I go thru my old stuff and decided why not, let's restart on this.

I AM BACK....:)

BBQ Chicken SMACKDOWN - Rivervale Mall vs Greenwich V

BBQ Chicken Rivervale Mall 11, Rivervale Crescent #02-10 Reasonably priced chicken. Menu had a variety but mostly chicken (BBQ chicken... duh!!!) Waiting time was average but it was a lazy Saturday morning so who's complaining Quality of chicken was surprisingly good, had a enjoyable meal considering we weren't harboring any expectations Service was generally ok. The staff could be more informed about their services such as deliveries. The manager had to be called to answer our question about food delivery.  The same music video kept looping the whole time we were there.

BBQ Chicken Greenwich V (Franchised) 1 Seletar Rd #02-07 Reasonably priced chicken. (Price is consistent with the chain)  Menu had a variety but mostly chicken (Same as same chain)  Waiting time seemed interminably long as it was after work and pass dinnertime. Not the best time to have to wait for your food Quality of chicken was not as good as we remembered. The honey chicken strips appetizer we ordered was just fried chicken strips with not much taste of honey.  Staff was extremely busy, watching music video and chatting loudly that is. We couldn't get their attention to get the bill and had to walk up to the cashier counter to pay.

Conclusion: One will expect to have consistent service and quality of food as it's basically the same Korean food chain, however the one in Rivervale Mall wins hands down. Wifey thought it could be because the Rivervale outlet is not a franchised outlet, but I don't really agree and don't want to stereotype against all franchised outlets. What do you think? Let us know if you have been to other franchised outlets and feel the same way vs the non-franchised outlets.

Japanese Buffet Restaurant SMACKDOWN - Kuishin-bo vs Kiseki

Kuishin-bo Great World City #02-41A/42 Fairly expensive for a buffet meal, but which buffet is not expensive these days. There was a good spread of food and one should feel quite full after going through the first round of food sampling. We felt that the quality between dishes is not consistent. Therefore, we recommend sampling in small portions so that you can enjoy a 2nd or 3rd helping of the specific dishes that you really like.  The buffet is topped up fairly fast except for the outdoor grill section. There are cooks cooking away at the outdoor grill but the food is taken away as soon as it's cooked so the waiting time for this is too long for us to be patient with.  In general, the food was interesting and enjoyable. But as the meal wore on, fatique and boredom with the food imposed itself on us.

Kiseki Orchard Central #08-01/02/03 Slightly cheaper as we opted for the lunch buffet. It was a salmon theme buffet.  The spread falls slightly short of Kuishin-bo in terms of the range of food available. But we still felt it was satisfactory.  We enjoyed the quality of the food more. There were a few good selections that kept us going back for more. Feedback from friends is that the food is plentiful but the food did need to be topped up when we were there. Not a big issue since the two dishes were topped up within minutes of finishing.   Very efficient staff for a buffet restaurant. We give them top marks for this since it kept our table uncluttered with empty plates. Perhaps the layout of the restaurant helped as well. We could see the staff  going round in a loop collecting the plates.

Conclusion: If you are taking your mother-in-law to a buffet, we suggest Kiseki as it got the stamp of approval from my mother-in-law. She definitely ate more and enjoyed the Kiseki spread more than Kuishin-bo.

Ang Mo Kio Coffee Shop Steak SMACKDOWN - Astons Express vs Yilmaz Western Food

Astons Express Fu Chan Coffee Shop Ang Mo Kio Ave 8 Relatively cheap compared to restaurant such as Jack's Place etc... (price range of SGD10 plus to SGD20) Fairly good steak, not too far off from what we requested in cooking. Our medium is between medium and medium well Sides are not too bad too but not consistently good. I usually go for fries (yummy with some chilli powder seasoning on top) and mashed potato (can range from heavenly to norm)  We would choose to return to Astons Express over Yilmaz for the value and corresponding quality of the steak and the fries.

Yilmaz Western Food Coffee City Coffee Shop Ang Mo Kio Ave 6 We spent $18 for two. We decided to check out Yilmaz based on an online review that recommended it as the best in Singapore. It's not bad but it was not that fantastic either.  The medium steak was chewy, if you like meat, it's ok. The wife got tired chewing it. More meat for me! The fries were disappointing. They came drowned in the steak gravy and soggy. The mashed potato was uninspiring. Besides fries, the sides include a portion of corn, shredded cabbage and coleslaw. No broccoli.  We also ordered a chicken chop, it was ok. The sauce was interesting. Too bad we tasted more pepper than the flavour of the sauce.

Conclusion: Perhaps Yilmaz used to be good, we don't know. But we'll likely re-visit Astons Express rather than Yilmaz when we are in the area. 

Vienna@United Square

Things we do to be with friends...

Wasn't the smartest of minds which made me decide to have dinner at Vienna, for those who do not know, Vienna at United Square is a international buffet restaurant serving food ranging from Sashimi, Teppanyaki, Sharkfin soup, dimsum, Roast, Fried Rice, Ice Cream etc....

The food was fairly good to say the least, the crowd was full and you have to jostle with aunties and uncles to get to your desired

Would have seriously enjoyed it a lot more if I had not already had a burger at 4pm and stomach wasn't crunching away...

Guess will go back sometime to it, did feel that the food was ok for a buffet but not anytime soon as the price is like 40+ per person.

Address
101 Thomson Road #B1-01
United Square
Singapore 307591

Telephone
(65) 6254 6686 / 6253 1696

Daily Operating Hours are from 11.30am to 9.30pm

http://www.viennabuffet.com/welcome.asp

Claypot Rice @ Geylang Lor 33

Was home early for dinner, expected regular coffeeshop zi char but parents decided to go for claypot at Geylang which we did not have for a couple of months.

Now for Claypot, our regular family place was usually beach road hawker center, this Geylang Claypot was something we found after a relative moved to Geylang a couple of years ago...

I would say the Claypot is not particularly outstanding, it's definitely tons better than any food court claypot and most coffeeshops in SG but the rice was a little on the dry side and the meat on top was a little on the little... but the side dishes (Thai Soft Shell Crab) we usually order was as good as ever.

Do remember to call before going as the usual waiting time is 25 mins, we waited for 3 mins as we were a little early... :p

639, Lorong 33, Geylang, 

Singapore 389570

Opening hours:    

11.30am to 2.30pm (Lunch)

5pm to 12am (Dinner)

CLOSED ON MONDAY