Seriously Playing With Food

(Ratings: On a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 = Worst and 10 = Best)
Overall: 8
Ambience & Setting: 8
Food & Beverage: 7
Service: 6
Value for Money: 8
Spent about SGD $22 per person.





Visited Slappy Cakes for Valentine's Day dinner 2014. This American born franchise is known for it varied pancake flavours, and letting diners create and cook their own pancakes, bringing a fun and playful element to the dining experience.

Ambience at Slappy Cakes is modern casual, with colours of white, black, wood and yellow complementing each other. The floor space is thoughtfully laid out, offering a good view of the semi open kitchen. Quirky pictures are grouped along the wall, drawing the eye to its focal points.

Service at Slappy Cakes is decent. Staff are friendly, but my experience was slightly marred when they forgot an order. However, they are able to offer advice on how to cook the pancakes, which is essential seeing as diners will have to eat their own creations.

Slappy Cakes offers 5 different flavour pancake batters, and up to 32 varieties of toppings, both sweet and savoury. And because you get to cook your own designs, I find it incredibly fun to dine here. Prices are decent, with each batter costing SGD $8.50, served in a 230 milliliter bottle. This makes approximately 6 mid-sized round pancakes. Slappy Cakes also offers an all-day brunch menu.

Ingredients

With 32 varieties of pancake toppings, there is a lot of different combinations you can try. Pancake toppings are usually diced to make it easier to spread. Or you could simply eat them on its own.

Toppings Brie Cheese, Banana, Bacon

Unlike the pancake toppings, an add-on to a main dish is served whole. I loved the well grilled ham and pork sausage, which go well with either bread or potatoes.

Ham

Sausage Pork And Spatula

The Peanut Butter Batter has a slightly fragrant peanut aroma, and a slight nutty taste. However, it's not too obvious after being cooked through into a Peanut Butter Pancake.

Peanut Butter Batter

Peanut Butter Pancake

The refreshing Lavender Lemonade is infused with fragrant lavender essence.

Lavender Lemonade 01

Lavender Lemonade 02

Make your own designs with pancake batter!

Ring

Chicken

Cooking Pancake

Loved the Mushroom Scramble, which features juicy mushrooms cooked into scrambled eggs, infusing it with an earthy aroma. Complements with perfectly roasted potatoes and toasted bread, though I think it's slightly too much starch for a dish.

Mushroom Scramble 01

Mushroom Scramble 02

2D1N Soju Bang
44 Tanjong Pagar Road

https://www.facebook.com/pages/2D1N-Soju-Bang-Korean-Restaurant/159388730808269


Authentic Korean Food, But Terrible Ventilation

(Ratings: On a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 = Worst and 10 = Best)
Overall: 7
Ambience & Setting: 3
Food & Beverage: 7
Service: 6
Value for Money: 6
Spent about SGD $20 per person.


.....


Among the oldest Korean barbecue restaurants in Singapore, 2D1N Soju Bang is still going strong, offering authentic Korean food at really affordable prices. Notorious for their terrible ambience, 2D1N Soju Bang still manages to pull in the younger crowds, with queues of over an hour during peak periods.

2D1N Soju Bang is famously poorly ventilated. The buffet area upstairs is worst, with smells sticking to your clothes. 2D1N Soju Bang knows that not much can be done, because of its shophouse location, and thus offers Fabreeze at the door. The ala-carte area downstairs is much nicer, and has some wall decorations. 2D1N Soju Bang is showing signs of aging, furniture is wearing down, and the place doesn't look sparkly clean.

Service at 2D1N Soju Bang is decent. There isn't much service at the buffet upstairs, as most of it is self-service, but tables are cleared quickly. The ala-carte area downstairs has some service, but it's rather average and functional, not memorable.

The cheap prices of food at 2D1N Soju Bang is the main draw, with ala-carte costing less than SGD $18 per person, and the buffet costing about SGD $20 ++ per person. Plus, the food is of above average quality; in particular, the meats are well marinated, and the vegetables are fresh. The selection of banchan side dishes is pretty varied. Good, tasty food, but the terrible ambience will make me think twice about visiting again.


.....


The buffet area upstairs revolves around a good selection of tasty, well marinated meats, and fresh vegetables. But the ventilation is extremely poor, and smells stick to every article of clothing.

BBQ

Food Trays 01

Food Trays 02

Garlic Bacon Fat

The ala-carte area downstairs has slightly better ventilation, as the kitchen is away from the dining area. But the interior shows signs of aging. Faux fur help to cushion the hard wooden benches, and tables are large and spacious.

2D1N Soju Bang Dining Area

2D1N Soju Bang Furniture

2D1N Soju Bang Weird Photoshop

Sake Girl 01

Sake Girl 02

A complimentary bottle of water is provided for every diner. And the Korean Hite Beer is a light, golden pilsner, with slight sweetness and taste of wheat.

Beer Hite And Dasani Water

A varied selection of banchan side dishes is provided with every main dish ordered. These are very well prepared and tasty, but be careful not to fill up on it before your main meal arrives!

Sigeumchi Namul / Boiled Spinach

Beuseus Namul / Boiled Mushrooms

Kimchi Baechu / Kimchi Pickled Cabbage

Kimchi Oi Sobaegi / Kimchi Pickled Cucumber

Gwail Saelleodeu / Fruit Salad

Eomuk Bokkeum / Stir-Fried Fish Cake

Fermented Soy Bean Paste

Watermelon

Sticky White Rice

Gaji Namul / Steamed Eggplant

Gamja Jorim / Braised Potatoes

The Bibimbap (SGD $15) has a generous portion of meat, rice and vegetables. Mix it together with the egg and some sauce for maximum flavour. Healthy and filling.

Bibimbap / Mixed Rice 01

Bibimbap / Mixed Rice 02

The Godeungeo-Gui / Fried Saba Fish (SGD $20 Full / $10 Half) is lovely and fresh, meaty, yet the flesh comes off easily. Partially deboned, the skin the crisp and savoury, while the dipping sauce of soy lends a salty aroma. Very good!

Godeungeo-Gui / Fried Saba Fish 01

Godeungeo-Gui / Fried Saba Fish 02

The Dak-Bulgogi / Marinated Chicken Hot Plate (SGD $12) has tender, juicy, warm chicken meat, that is totally covered in the lovely sweet and spicy marinade. Very good dish, but not the best Dak-Bulgogi / Marinated Chicken Hot Plate I've had.

Dak-Bulgogi / Marinated Chicken Hot Plate 01

Dak-Bulgogi / Marinated Chicken Hot Plate 02

I loved the Kkanpunggi / Spicy Fried Chicken (SGD $25)! Large, generous portion suitable for sharing between 3 - 4 people, the chicken is large and meaty, but still moist. The exterior is savoury and crisp, and the sweet and spicy sauce coats the meat well. Excellent with rice, good on its own!

Kkanpunggi / Spicy Fried Chicken 01

Kkanpunggi / Spicy Fried Chicken 02

.....

Zi Char - F.P.C. Seafood
267 Tampines Street 21 #01-47


Cheap And Good Hidden Find

(Ratings: On a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 = Worst and 10 = Best)
Overall: 8
Ambience & Setting: 6
Food & Beverage: 8
Service: 7
Value for Money: 8
Spent about SGD $13 per person.


.....


Finally had the first ever dinner with her immediate family and extended family, on 13 February 2014, 08:15pm. Because her parents wanted to buy me a meal. And also my second and last taste of yu sheng for Chinese New Year of 2014.

Located deep in the heartlands of Tampines, F.P.C. Seafood is a small, family-run stall dishing out tasty and affordable Chinese Zi Char dishes. Because of its location in 267 Tampines Street 21, F.P.C. Seafood is mostly known to residents of the area, and it's virtually impossible to chance upon the area unless you were specifically looking for F.P.C. Seafood.

Ambience at F.P.C. Seafood is similar to a typical coffeeshop. The interior is clean, brightly lit, and cooled with ceiling fans. But the floor space is very small, able to take at most 3 big families or 7 small families dining at the same time. The open concept does mean that the interior is well ventilated and free of cooking smells.

Service at F.P.C. Seafood is friendly and casual, but efficient in serving. The family runs the kitchen and front of house, and the menu is extensive and varied. However, there isn't any pictures in the menu, but there are English translations.

Food at F.P.C. Seafood is generally very tasty, and prices per dish are cheap. The ingredients used are fresh, and portions are on the bigger side. We shared a total of 10 dishes between 15 people, total cost was less than SGD $200. Excellent value for money, and the meal was delicious! Will highly recommend F.P.C. Seafood, especially if you're in the area!


.....


Small, and hidden in the heartlands, you can only spot this place if you happen to walk by.

F.P.C. Seafood Interior

F.P.C. Seafood Opening Hours, Thu - Tue 11am - 9.30pm, Closed Wed

The Baby Bok Choy In Oyster Sauce was fresh and crisp, very well cooked and tasty! Rarely get this kind of quality in a simple vegetable dish!

Baby Bok Choy In Oyster Sauce

Loved the unique spin of Oatmeal Chicken, the chicken was fried well, warm and moist inside, slightly crisp outside. The oatmeal gave a some crunch, while the chili gave it some heat. Excellent!

Oatmeal Chicken

Oatmeal Chicken Again

The Vermicelli Soup tastes exactly like sharks fin soup, but without any seafood of any kind. Instead, egg, mushrooms and vermicelli make this thick yet savoury soup hearty and filling. Very tasty and yummy!

Vermicelli Soup

Vermicelli Soup Again

The Pork Rib King was meaty and moist, evenly coated with sauce. The sauce itself is just the right balance of sweet and savoury, without overpowering the natural taste of the meat.

Pork Rib King

The Ma Po Tofu was the weakest dish I tried here, just decent at best. It wasn't as spicy as it could have been, and while the tofu was fresh, the accompanying sauce was weak.

Ma Po Tofu

The Cai Xin In Oyster Sauce was extremely fresh and tasty. Even the stalks of this Chinese Kale dish were firm and crunchy, showing signs of excellent skill with the wok.

Cai Xin In Oyster Sauce

While I felt that the Fu Yong Omelette was slightly oily, the egg was fluffy and the vegetables within were fresh. Simple dish but executed well, perfect with a bit of chili!

Fu Yong Omelette

The Ginger And Onion Beef is among the most tender beef meat I've ever had, with just a slight satisfying chew that releases the moist juice within. Fragrant and savoury, very good.

Ginger And Onion Beef

The Special Yam Ring, so called, because I think it looks more like a pancake, is topped with a liberal amount of fresh vegetables like celery, red and green bell peppers / capsicum, mushrooms, onions and a few slices of chicken. The yam itself is excellent, savoury and soft inside, and slightly crisp outside. Highly recommended!

Special Yam Ring

.....