Seoul Garden Hot Pot - Somerset

Location: 8 Grange Road, #B1-08 Cathay Cineleisure Orchard S239695

Opening Hours: 12pm – 10:30pm

I didn't know that Seoul Garden started a Hotpot chain until my friends brought me there. We shared out hot pots to try out everything. Great news for all my Muslim friends - Seoul Garden Hotpot is certified Halal.

Kimchi Mandu Hotpot - $10.90

Choose between two kind of soup bases - Kimchi/ Miso

We picked Kimchi. Generous amount of mandus to be found. Filled with chopped prawns and minced chicken. The kimchi broth is pretty rich, not those diluted soup from some shabby food stalls.

Kimchi Chicken Hotpot - $11.90 + $1 (Upgrade to Kimgaru rice)

Okay seriously guys, just give that $1 already. The Kimgaru rice is addictive. Fragrance of the sesame oil and seaweed makes the rice appetizing. Usually I would have some leftover rice but these are so good I finished it all.

Chicken slices are tender. Other ingredients include mushrooms, zucchini and glass noodles. 

Kimchi Bokkeum Bap - $11.90 + + $1 (Upgrade to Kimgaru rice)

Okay the final verdict is Kimgaru rice is a must try here. Bokkeum Bap was filled with seaweed and kimchi and chicken.

Baby octopus, Nakji - $4.90

It tasted like the usual nakji but not as sweet as those sold in the sushi section of Fairprice. Very small plate of banchan. Not very worth it in my opinion.

Cold cinnamon tea - $3.30

At first the cinnamon taste was too strong for me. The ginger made it slightly spicy. 

However after eating the hot pot, my tongue was numb and I can't feel anything so it turned out fine. Still, it is not a pleasant cup of tea.

Seoul Garden Hot Pot is not that fantastic but they serve decent food and provide fast service. It is a shame they don't serve free flow banchan (side dishes) No queue here during dinner time on a weekend so it is a good place to pop by when everywhere else is crowded.

Ah Yat Abalone Restaurant - Bugis

Location: Hotel Grand Pacific #01-06, 101 Victoria Street, 188018 (Opposite of Bras Basah complex)

My friend and I bought the Groupon deal which cost $45 for 2 pax (Weekday Lunch buffet) inclusive of GST.  (but excludes the order of peanuts, towel and Chinese tea) 

Important things to take note: 

1) Leftover food is chargeable at $5 per 100g and no takeaways are allowed.

2) Reservation is required 

3) Groupon mobile verification is required before the start of buffet

3) Additional payment of $10 nett for peanuts, towel and Chinese tea even if you don't want it.

When we arrived at the place, we were guided to the upper level of the restaurant for the buffet.

Buffet starts 11.15am - 3pm (last order at 2.30pm) We arrived at 11.30am on a Wednesday in the restaurant and there weren't a soul to be found. (except the servers) The crowd started pouring in later around 1230pm.

Peanuts, a pot of tea and wet towels. ( We chose Pu Er Tea)

After all the charges, it cost $27.50 nett per pax for a weekday lunch buffet. We chose from the list of items available on the green sheet and passed it to the server.

Century Egg and Pork Congee

Starting with a bowl of hot porridge to warm up the stomach. This is a small bowl, like those soup bowls from the hawker centres. It is actually better that one not to have all the carbs filling up the stomach. Pretty average tasting though.

Deep-fried Crispy Dumpling with Salad

One of my favourites. Big juicy prawns with hot crispy skin dipped in mayonnaise. Highly recommended.

"Ah Yat" Steamed Shrimp Dumpling

This taste like the usual Har Gow I always have. Big prawns.

Steamed Crystal Dumpling With Chives

The glutinous skin is a little too thick for me but still hot and juicy. Love the chives.

Steamed Custard and Salted Egg Buns

This is a must try. Very rich and well balanced salted egg custard. Not too sweet nor salty and the buns are soft and fluffy. Sadly, I only ate one basket of buns because it fills me up too much.

Steamed Dumpling in Chilli Oil

Loved these babies. The chilli oil is good.

Steamed BBQ Pork Bun - Char Siew Bao

Ordinary Char Siew Bao with thick skin. Very filling.

Baked Mini Egg Tart

The crust is too thick, soft and tasteless. Egg custard filling tasted more like sugar. A big nono for me. 

Steamed Rice Sheet Roll with Shrimp - Chee Cheong Fun

I think Ah Yat really serves good prawns. Anything with prawn in it is good here. Smooth Chee Cheong Fun with appetizing sauce.

Steamed Fish Roe Siew Mai

Finally a decent Siew Mai with real filling! I really dislike Siew Mai with minced up fillings with unidentifiable taste. Fresh chunks of prawn and pork within so it is really worth the try.

Steamed Pork Ribs With Black Bean Sauce

Pork ribs are served with chunks of yam. 

Steamed ShangHai Dumpling

This basket of Xiao Long Bao is disappointing. The pork filling is mushy and watery. Why would you place a slice of carrot under it? Maybe it is just me but I tasted better from Canton Paradise so this is not that fantastic at all.

To sum it up, I think the dim sum buffet is value for money only if you can eat a lot to make your $27.50 worthwhile. Servers are pretty friendly and efficient. (maybe because we were the first) I'll definitely recommend trying the Deep-fried Crispy Dumpling, Salted Egg Custard Bun and Steamed Fish Roe Siew Mai.

Chiso Zanmai - Clarke Quay

I went to Chiso Zanmai on a Monday afternoon with some of my friends. 

6 Eu Tong Sen St, 059817 (The Central #02-17)

Located at Soho 1, at the end of a corner. It can be a little hard to find but it is pretty close to Goods of Desire on the second level.

Adults: $14.99++

Free flow drinks $1.99++ 

We spent $20 nett per person for a lunch buffet from 12-3pm. I would recommend a weekday lunch because it is cheaper than the dinner buffet and there isn't much of a crowd.

The place is huge. The food counters serves a variety of cooked and raw food. 

The drinks bar serves free flow instant coffee, tea and soft drinks.

There aren't exactly a lot of variety of sushi but nonetheless delicious.

Got some chicken and eggs for the hot pot.

There are also free flow pork and beef shabu shabu available.

Okonomiyaki, Potato Croquettes and Vegetable Tempura. I would recommend the potato croquettes. Very creamy potatoes and crisp batter!

The cooked food available are pretty ordinary so I would recommend you guys to eat more from the hot pot!

Ramen and Udon noodles are available.

If you love spicy broth, go for the Tom Yum soup base. It just makes all the ingredients 10 times more delicious. Tom Yum ramen is great!

Each person is entitled to a $5 portion worth of sashimi (Around 6 slices with kelp  so remember to collect it near the cotton candy area.

Time for some dessert. Soft serve ice cream is available with toppings like raisins, marsh mallows, cornflakes and syrups like chocolate and caramel. 

*I tried putting soft serve in root beer and it was awesome! 

You can also find mochi, chocolate brownies, cheese cakes, fruits and other sweet treats.

Make your own cotton candy time.

Check out this cool cotton candy machine!

I read a lot of reviews that the variety of the food is limited but for me it is a great deal considering that it is $20 for so much food! I definitely think I ate more than $20 worth of food and I will be back for a second visit.

Just Acia @ Dhoby Ghaut Exchange

Dining at Just Acia with friends today.

Set meal - Basically you get to choose a main dish and then have an option to add $5.90 for free flow drinks and ice cream. 

Aglio Teriyaki Chicken Spaghetti - $9.20

This is a pretty weird combination. The aglio olio is buttery and salted while the teriyaki chicken with sauce is sweet. Personally I don't think they go well together so I ate them separately. I think the chef added way too much garlic. After eating all the spaghetti, there is still half a tablespoon of garlic on the side. Pretty decent aglio olio but not the best I've tasted.

Teriyaki chicken was a little overcooked.

Chawanmushi - additional $1.20 (with any set meal)

The egg was really smooth. There is nothing much in here, only the slice of fish cake on top as you can see with another cube of chicken to be found in the egg. However, for $1.20, there is nothing to complain about as the price is really low to begin with.

Free flow soft serve ice cream (from dispenser)

Tasted like Mcdonald's vanilla ice cream.

Free flow ice cream (scoop it yourself) - Jackfruit, Taro, Lime Shermet, Blueberry vanilla (Clockwise, starting from the left)

The jackfruit and blueberry vanilla were a little sweet. I really like the Taro flavour - yam fragrance when it melts. Lime sorbet was very refreshing and not too sour. There are more flavours there but I didn't try it all.


All in all, I think Just Acia offers a wide variety of meal such as Western, Japanese, Korean, Thai and weird fusion to choose from. There are a lot of seats available so it is pretty good when you are meeting up with a large group of friends.

Saizeriya @ The Cathay

It had been 4 years since I last visited Saizeriya. Getting older. Compared to my visit 4 years ago, the portion seemed to shrink a significant bit.

Mushroom soup - $2.90

Really thick and rich mushroom soup with lots of mushroom bits in it. Thankfully the portion is just right so it does not get too cloying. I would love it if they serve this with a small piece of garlic bread.

Free flow drink bar - $2.80

I tried some latte, Schweppes and ice milo. Definite nono for instant coffee. Get the soft drinks instead.

4 "Wings" - $3.95

Somehow the spacing made the portion looks pathetic. Juicy and oily at the same time. The skin was a little crispy. Come to think about it, $1 for a joint of a wing is very expensive. I felt cheated.

Pepper Chicken Steak - $6.90

My main dish. Portion was tiny. Comes with a chicken chop, some corn and three potato wedges. I believe the dipping sauce is brown sauce mixed with vinegar. (I hope my taste buds were right) Chicken is juicy. The dipping sauce was a saver as it made the dish tasted better if not, a little bland. A side note: I really don't like corn.

Oven Grilled Escargots - $5.90

Escargots were a little oily and buttery. The texture is in between a scallop and cockle. It was pretty nice and I finished it in 30 seconds. 

I always find that Saizeriya is a value for money place to dine in but now it seems like it is not the case anymore. However, I really like that they now have a bell on the table to page the staff when we are ready to order so we do not have to wave like idiots to get their attention. 

Decent food (pathetic portion), clean environment and I love the drink bar.

Amirah's Grill @ Bugis

My very first time trying out Mediterranean food in a restaurant. I usually get my kebab along the streets. This place is located in one of the night spots in Singapore. Pretty lively here with a lot of foreigners and locals to be seen chilling. 

Amirah Grill's is located along the Bussorah Street. A 10-15 minutes walk from the Bugis MRT station, exit B. 

Address: No. 14 Bussorah Street, Singapore (199435)

For more information, you can check out their website. There is a map available on their site to locate their restaurant.

Turkish Kebab Set - $21.90

The rice is well cooked, not too moist nor too dry. The aroma of the spices filled my mouth as I chewed on the grains. Chicken Kebab was tender and juicy. However, the gravy was a tad too watery and the chicken tasted a little bland for me. I was hoping for a stronger flavour to them.  Carrots and cauliflower were the usual stir fry.

The portion looks small but it is definitely filling. Overall it tasted good.

Sharwama - $14.90 

It is my first time trying a beef Sharwama with hummus dip and some french fries. I absolutely love hummus - I think it goes well with everything, especially fries. The beef was a little too dry and hard to chew. I don't know how it is supposed to taste like maybe it was meant to be like that, I don't know.

 Cairo Fresh Lemon Juice - $4.60

Fancy name but it just tasted like lemonade to me.

Amirah's Grill is a double storey restaurant so we had some fun exploring upstairs. You can see they served buffet but the food seemed a little cold so we decided not to have them. 

Nice ambiance, great for family and friends gathering.

Slouching on the couch and staring at the ceiling. It was so cosy I nearly fell asleep.

Looking down on the streets.

Overall, I think Amirah's Grill serves decent food so if you like to have some Mediterranean food, you can give it a go. Excellent ambiance, a good place to chill on a friday night. Prices are slightly expensive but value for money for the exoticness of food and great ambience. Food took a while to serve, around 10-20 minutes. (Depending on the crowd ) 

PS: If possible, get your seats on level 2 as the air-con is cooler and it is more cosy upstairs.