The Ship Restaurant @ Shaw Centre

It was a bad work week (from 05 to 11 July) and i desperately needed a place to eat and share my frustrations!

For a normal week, i eat substantially.

For a bad, stressful week, i gorge indefinitely!!

About The Ship, it came heavily recommended by my friend as a place with pleasant ambience (obviously ship theme), good service and nice, economical food.

For the price paid at such a central location, i thought it's a not bad deal but i personally don't agree that the service was commendable. It was at most satisfactory.

So what did we have to lighten our mood?

Escargots

The escargots here were said to be the BEST in Singapore.

My comment was that they had too strong of a garlic taste and my preference stays with one that has the right balance of cheese, butter and garlic.

That said, I am not an expert on snails though i had a few tries before (can count using my five short and plump fingers).

Pork Loin Chops

One word: normal.

Imported from US, the two pieces of pork were not exceptional and definitely not horrid either!

Chicken Chop

The first time i realised chicken meat can taste so tender! And it's damn tasty can!?!

In my old days, i will never order chicken chop in a restaurant but this chop changed my mindset forever!

Ribeye Steak with Chicken Wings

A piece of steak with the right done-ness i requested: medium!

Usually i will get a piece of steak that's medium in the middle but medium rare at the sides. I don't have such problem with this steak; the medium done-ness was evenly spread out.

That big chunk of cheese (the smell affirmed that) was nowhere near to the blue cheese but it added a special flavouring to an otherwise common steak.

I had to add that the fried chicken wings were a delight to have; crispy skin, not oily and not overly meaty (not exactly an advantage but i was so full by then)!

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All three main courses came in a set with a bowl of soup (and bread), coffee/tea and a dessert.

We had mango pudding for dessert! The texture was more mousse than the jelly-texture pudding i know of and more sourish than sweet!

It was still nice lah!

Price

1/2 Dozen Escargots - S$13.90

Ribeye Steak with Chix Wings (Set) - S$28.90

Chicken Chop (Set) - S$15.90

Pork Loin (Set) - S$15.90

Subject to 7% GST and 10% Service Charge

Location

1, Scotts Road, #04-34,

Shaw Centre (Besides Lido, Shaw House)

Nearest MRT Station: Orchard

Tiles with an Impact

Someone sent me an email with the following set of pictures.

Nightspots selling alcoholic drinks should have these tiles placed to deter drunk drivers although i would prefer something more visually aggressive (like a half mashed up car with an arm hanging from the door etc)!

Hallo!! The target group is drivers who drink and drive lor! Do you think they can read the "fine" prints in that wobbly state?!

This is a really good one!

I can imagine parents writing to the Straits Times forum and complaining on the web that it is too realistic and traumatising!

It's puzzling to see some Singapore residents so uptight with creative notices and advertisements! 

If it captures your attention, it works!

(=^_^=)

Thai Food @ Nakhon Kitchen (Kovan)

Sister: There's a very popular Thai restaurant near my father-in-law's house leh.

Me: Is it? Good or not?

Sister: Very nice! Next time we go lah.

Before the "next time" took place, bloody Mediacorp featured Nahkon Kitchen in one of their numerous food shows and the very next time i passed by the Thai restaurant, its popularity had heightened significantly with a freaking long queue!!!

As the equation goes:

Long Queue = Good Food

With this unscientific equation etched on our Singaporeans' heart, the Kon-Tan couple and me decided to try it out last weekend!

For me, it's the second visit (remember, my sister promised me)!

The queue did not disappoint as we queued for more than an hour outside the limited seating dining facility!

Here's the amount of food we had for 3 persons!!!

Green Curry Chicken

It was milky without being too thick and spicy. Good for me but i am not sure if it will be awarded the same testimonial from Ms Hannah Lim, a chilli-crazy person.

The chicken was soaked with the goodness of the green curry and every bite was tender and delicious!

Stir-fried Kangkong Thai Style

Personally, this was like the "malay glory" with a more numbing spiciness. Me didn't like it!

Tom Yam Seafood Soup

Clear base was chosen (there was a thick version and another type with coconut milk) and i found this to be a bit mild.

Initial taste was disappointing as i thought it was plain seafood soup. The kick came shortly after!

Sweet and Sour Pork

Not exactly a pure Thai dish (we know that!).

It was average (had definitely better ones before) but the vegetables were really fresh and crunchy!

Red Fish with Thai Chilli

The meat was too fishy.

Fortunately, the sauce drenched over the fish was good and the fish skin was fried to a crisp!

Pineapple Fried Rice

For a plate without much pineapple, we did not regret making a last minute order for this dish!

It was just too tasty!!!

Boneless Chicken Wings

 We had to order this dish after seeing it on so many tables!

 It was okay. I prefer my chicken wings to be filled with the original content... without the bones.  

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Setting us back by only S$51 for so many dishes, it was definitely a good deal! I shall be back if the wait is not as torturing!

Price

Green Curry Chicken - S$8

Stir Fried Kangkong - S$6

Tom Yam Seafood Soup - S$6

Sweet N Sour Pork - S$6

Red Fish - S$12

Pineapple Fried Rice - S$6

Boneless Chicken (3 pcs) - S$6

No GST, No Service Charge!!!

Location

 Block 212, Hougang Street 21,

#01-341 (drop off at Kovan MRT Station)

Additional Information 

 

Manned by mostly Thais, the restaurant has a wide-open dining concept (with temporary tables set up outside the shop) so don't expect cool air down your sweating neck!

Consolation for the heat?

Iced water is dispensed with no additional charge!

Unbelievable Cake Designs

Countless cakes were consumed since i started working in NUS three years ago! But in no way have i seen one as stunning and as realistic as the ones below!

Fat and Juicy Corns for the vegetarians!!

A crate of steamed crabs! I prefer the bigger sized Sri Lankan crabs though.

Barbequed Set for BBQ lovers!

Tomato Sandwich with Coco Cola and Chips!!

Bigger than the quarter pounder!! Looks like plasticine or something that comes out from a playdoh advertisement!

Wrap! The wrapping looks realistic but the ingredients.....

I love this!

This looks like a sumptuous breakfast!

A perfectly glazed turkey!!! I would like to pull out the fat drumstick!!

Would you bear to eat them!?

I will if i don't have to pay a single cent!

Ice3 Ice Cream Dessert Cafe @ Serangoon Gardens

Superscript 3 is also known as cube so the correct nameology is the simple ice cube (Ice3)! Trust the owners to come out with such a shop name although it is damn easy to remember!

In hot and humid Singapore, ice cubes are a must-have for drinks like root beer!!

Anyway, Ms Tan was craving for some waffles after our dinner at Nakhon Kitchen (potential post for tomorrow) and i recalled an ice cream cafe in Serangoon Gardens, beside the pet shop i used to work in!

Waffle

It's been such a long time since i had such great waffle! Granted, it was not as crispy as i loved but the waffle was so soft and fluffy inside!!!

The cookies and cream ice cream was a nice addition (i am comfortable even with plain vanilla ice cream) but the killer had to be the butterscotch sauce that was warm, not overly sweet and yet left a very sweet feeling in your heart.

All desserts should be like that!!

Don't you think so!?

Mudpie

Most mudpies are chocolate based and super duper rich. Since i am not a chocolate fan, Alcoholic Anonymous was selected.

Judging by this uncommon name, you should have guessed that it's rum and raisin ice cream!!!

Love it for the right balance of rum, thin oreo cookie base, fragrant almond slices, the raisins in and outside the mudpie and the overflowing butterscotch sauce!!

A fitting dessert for a rotten work week!

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My memory told me that the crepes were pretty good too!! Shall try it next time! When i have another bad day at work! :P

Location

11 Kensington Park Road

Serangoon Garden Estate

Very near to the all time favourite hawker centre; Chomp Chomp!

Price

 I vaguely remember the waffle with ice cream is S$8.90 and alcoholic anonymous mudpie is S$10.90.

10% Service Charge.
No GST.

Ramen Santouka @ The Central (Clarke Quay)

This is again another ramen post!

Have you ever faced a situation where you want to order a dish yet you don't want some of the ingredients (lettuce, mushrooms etc)?

The above mentioned situation will not be applicable because in Ramen Santouka, they will serve you the noodles (in soup) separately!

Yes, you can choose to add or not to add the tasteless bamboo shoots, slimy black fungi etc!!

It's your god damn choice!

At least the above is applicable for the ramen i had!

Since the pork cheeks ramen seemed really popular (Mr Kon enjoyed it), the four of us ordered pork cheeks ramen with different soup base (shoyu, miso, shio and spicy)!

Frankly, the shoyu (soy sauce) one was so savoury, it's like all the essences of meat had seeped into the broth!

Mine (shio aka salt) was surprisingly tasty, resulting in a nearly clean bowl but the other two (miso and spicy) bases were just too normal.

Springiness is a must for all noodles!!! The one here was bouncy enough although it cannot be compared to the fantastic one i had in Ippudo!!

Before taking a bite of the roasted pork cheeks, i was thinking how disgusting that was! In front of the ladies, however, i had to hide my displeasure and show my manliness!!

The meat was juicy and tender without the oily feeling i expected from the fats surrounding the sides.

However, when i took the fourth piece, there was a sense of too much meat (jelak!!) and the feeling of disgust surfaced again!

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I might be back for the other ramen Ramen Santouka offered and to take nicer pictures!!

I forgot to bring my Nikon DSLR this time!!

=(

Price
One of the most expensive ramen i had, at between S$19.00-20.00 (depends on the soup base).

Location

6, Eu Tong Sen Street,
 #02-76, The Central

The restaurant is not situated in a good location so happy finding if you are ever craving for a bite of the pork cheeks!

Additional Information

Be prepared to queue later in the evening!! When i exited the restaurant at 8.15pm, there was a queue of at least 18 people!

As you can see above, the dining area is really limited!

Service was appalling (with particular reference to one specific waitress).

She was quite irritated since we were not very forthcoming with our orders (our first time mah).

And finally, to chase us away (due to the long queue outside), she resorted to ask sweetly if we need additional side orders when she was already showing her condescending attitude before that!

That's really some kind of service!