All-In-One Convienence Store, Cafe & Bar

(Ratings: On a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 = Worst and 10 = Best)
Overall: 9
Ambience & Setting: 9
Food & Beverage: 8
Service: 9
Value for Money: 9
Spent about SGD $15 per person.





The Grocer By Sterling is a integrated service provider by Sterling Trends & Concepts Pte Ltd, located in the rather ulu Media Circle road in Normanton Park area. Because of its concept, The Grocer By Sterling is easily the only convienence store located anywhere near this area, and provides a wide range of services.

Such services provided by The Grocer By Sterling include dry cleaning and laundry, sale of phone cards, a small minimart / convienence store with snacks, amenities, and drinks. The Grocer By Sterling also has an integrated cafe and bar, with a snooker / pool table. This makes the ambience here outstanding, almost like dining in a premium supermarket, and you can even choose indoor or outdoor seating! Brightly lit, furniture is semi comfortable and functional, generally quite quiet because there aren't many people.

Staff at The Grocer By Sterling are friendly, though there usually is only 1 or 2 of them at any time. Still, they are able to make recommendations on the various options from the decent sized menu. Food is prepared nearly from scratch, which means a short waiting time of 15 - 20 minutes before you're served. Trust me though, the food is definitely worth the wait!

The Grocer By Sterling offers a variety of cuisine here, mainly Asian cuisine such as Chinese, Singaporean, Filipino and Thai, as well as Western cuisine such as American, Italian and British. There is a good range of tasty main dishes and bar snack, with portion sizes being above average. Prices at The Grocer By Sterling are extremely affordable, costing less than SGD $10 per dish!





A mini convienence store with an attached cafe and bar, along with a snooker / pool table make this place great for chilling.

The Grocer By Sterling Signage

The Grocer By Sterling Minimart

The Grocer By Sterling Pool Table

Beer Ryan And The Beaster Bunny (SGD $8.50) is a seasonal Denmark saison beer that has a deep straw colour with a cloudy body, aroma of lemon, cloves and bread, with a light, sweet, fruity taste of pear and grapes, with a smooth and clean finish.

Beer Ryan And The Beaster Bunny 01

Beer Ryan And The Beaster Bunny 02

Beer Ryan And The Beaster Bunny 03

Beer Ryan And The Beaster Bunny 04

Beer Yin (SGD $8.50) is a stand-alone Denmark beer / stout, that can also be combined with another brew to create a whole new taste. Beer Yin has an opaque black colour, aroma of espresso and prunes, with a taste of coffee, black cherry, spiced pear, and hints of a herbal infusion. Rather interesting stout, with a slick texture.

Beer Yin

Beer Dead Pony Club (SGD $12.50) is a California, America, style pale ale with an amber colour and creamy foam head, aroma of lemon, orange and grapefruit. Tastes of citrus and melons, sweet with a smooth feel, medium body and quite enjoyable.

Beer Dead Pony Club 01

Beer Dead Pony Club 02

Beer Mongozo Mango (SGD $7.50) takes its name from the Chokwe tribe of Zambia, which means "To Your Health!". A fruity and sweet tropical brew with a prominent mango taste, this straw coloured beer has a sweet, slick texture like velvet, and a sugary finish that lingers on the palate.

Beer Mongozo Mango 01

Beer Mongozo Mango 02

I loved the Sweet Potato Fries (SGD $7) here! Thick cut, cooked perfectly till crisp outside, yet still soft inside, with a intense sweet potato flavour, this is a great bar snack. Good enough even without any extra sauce!

Sweet Potato Fries 01

Sweet Potato Fries 02

The Adobo (SGD $8) is considered the national dish of the Philippines. This Filipino creation consists of onions, pork loin and pork belly, marinated in garlic, soy sauce, and vinegar, served with potatoes and an egg. The Adobo is excellent, well balanced salty, savoury and sour taste without being overpowering. The meat is beautifully lean and tender, and the potatoes and egg just soft enough. All porcine fans should try this at least once in their life!

Adobo 01

Adobo 02

Adobo 03

Another dish from the Philippines, the Sinigang (SGD $8) is a braised pork belly soup / broth, with onions, eggplant, garlic, orka, tomato, white daikon radish, water spinach / kang kong. The signature sour and savoury flavour of the soup comes from tamarind. The Sinigang here is pretty good, with tender meat and fresh vegetable, but the balance is slightly off, being more salty than sour.

Sinigang 01

Sinigang 02

Sinigang 03

The have 3 flavour of Muffins here, Apple Raisin Muffins in a green wrapper, Chocolate Chip Muffins in a purple wrapper, and Almond Raisin Muffins in a white wrapper.

Muffins

Tom Yum Kungfu
16 Circular Road

56 Serangoon Garden Way

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Tom-Yum-Kungfu/121731524552605


Above Average, Affordable Thai Mookata

(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: 9
Spent about SGD $22 per person.


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Tom Yum Kungfu is a Thai inspired casual restaurant, focusing on serving authentic and affordable Thai cuisine. Known for their generous portioned dishes at decent prices, Tom Yum Kungfu usually draw crowds during peak dining hours, and queuing is a norm.

Decor at Tom Yum Kungfu is post-modern yet retro, with Andy Warhol inspired pictures, and mulit-coloured light bulbs. Overall ambience at Tom Yum Kungfu is noisy, poorly ventilated, yet comfortable and open.

Because Tom Yum Kungfu tends to operate mostly in semi coffee shop settings, Tom Yum Kungfu staff tend to be brusque / to the point. Service is generally fast and efficient, albeit loud and without finesse. Expect heartland style service.

The menu at Tom Yum Kungfu is diverse in range. Focusing on Thai speciality dishes, Tom Yum Kungfu mostly serves ala-carte, communal / sharing portions. They are also known for their Thai style combination steamboat and grill, also known as Mookata.

Prices at Tom Yum Kungfu, in comparison to other Thai restaurants, is generally cheaper and more affordable. Even their Mookata is slightly cheaper than other places. Expect to pay between SGD $15 - $25 per person, for Thai food which is tasty, is served in large portions, and is good value for money.


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The crowded, noisy, and great smelling restaurant draws attention with its colourful decor, tasty smell of grilling meats, and long queues.

Tom Yum Kungfu Exterior

Tom Yum Kungfu Interior

As a specialist in Thai Mookata / steamboat combination barbecue / hotpot, the menu has decent range, but food is ala-carte, not buffet style. Prices are pretty affordable though.

Tom Yum Kungfu Thai Mookata Menu 01

Tom Yum Kungfu Thai Mookata Menu 02

Tom Yum Kungfu Thai Mookata Menu 03

Tom Yum Kungfu Thai Mookata Menu 04

Tom Yum Kungfu Thai Mookata Menu 05

Thai Iced Tea & Lemongrass Tea, prefect cooling and refreshing drinks after a hot meal!

Thai Iced Tea & Lemongrass Tea

The duo Thai Dipping Chili Sauce & Seafood Sauce enhance your meal... use the tangy Seafood Sauce for dipping any seafood items or vegetables, while the spicy Thai Chili Sauce is great with grilled meats.

Thai Dipping Chili Sauce & Seafood Sauce

Mookata is an all-in-one steamboat and grill, with the soup / broth in a shallow trough below, and a curved grill top above. The idea is that during grilling, the meat and seafood juices will flow down and flavour the soup! The Mookata Pot here uses good quality charcoal, and comes with some aromatics like corn and cabbage. The original soup stock is MSG free, and starts quite bland, but gets more robust after cooking.

Mookata Pot

This place has no buffet, only ala-carte sets... but the Mookata Set Large (SGD $44.90) is good enough for 3 - 4 people, plus there is no GST! All sets are served with sliced pork belly, pork loin, prawns, scallops, fish cake, and a vegetable basket. I love that the food here is completely fresh, and properly handled by staff!

Mookata Set Large

The Mookata Vegetable Basket is served with kang kong / water spinach, cabbage, golden mushrooms, pea sprouts / dou miao, baby bok choy / chinese cabbage / xiao bai cai, bean skin, and cellophane noodles.

Mookata Vegetable Basket

We ordered extra ala-carte Mookata Chicken, and Mookata Squid. Both ingredients are very fresh, the chicken was slightly fatty though. Portions are generous.

Mookata Chicken

Mookata Squid

So appetizing seeing the Mookata Cooking!

Mookata Cooking

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The Scoop Place
6 Changi Business Park Avenue 1
#01-25 UE BizHub East

https://www.facebook.com/TheScoopPlace


Creative Adult Ice Cream

(Ratings: On a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 = Worst and 10 = Best)
Overall: 8
Ambience & Setting: 6
Food & Beverage: 9
Service: 8
Value for Money: 9
Spent about SGD $5 per person.





The Scoop Place is a tiny artisinal ice cream parlour in Changi Business Hub, known for their Adult ice cream. Why adult? Because they combine various alcohols with fruity ice cream flavours!

The Scoop Place does have a dine in area, albeit rather small. Furniture is small, but functional, and the open concept lends a sense of space. There is some quirky decor, but the main attraction is their 2 displays of ice cream flavours.

Service at The Scoop Place tends to be friendly and personal. Most of the staff are young part time students, who fulfill orders rather quickly. There is some waiting time if you order waffles though, a good 10 - 15 minutes.

The Scoop Place generally has about 10 - 15 ice cream flavours available daily. They have a wider range of alcohol infused ice cream flavours than most other major brands! I also like that the texture of their ice cream is rather hardy, and doesn't melt too easily.





The Brandy Apricot Ice Cream Cone (SGD $3.90), with the flavours of brandy combined with the sweetness of apricot. A rather tropical tasting ice cream, this goes down a treat!

Brandy Apricot Ice Cream Cone

The Mango Coconut Lime Ice Cream (SGD $3.70), besides its straightforward name, actually has quite a complex taste. The sweet mango hits you at the forefront, then gives way to the taste of coconut in the middle, which lingers till near the end. There is a slight hint of sour tangyness of the lime throughout, but is more pronounced at the end. Creative flavour, rather interesting taste, definitely a must-try!

Mango Coconut Lime Ice Cream 01

Mango Coconut Lime Ice Cream 02

The Lavender Vanilla Ice Cream Cone (SGD $3) has a slight hint of the fragrant essence of lavender, but the vanilla flavour is somewhat muted. The texture also feels somewhat closer to milk than vanilla. Decent though.

Lavender Vanilla Ice Cream Cone

The Pandan Milo Ice Cream (SGD $3) is an odd idea, but surprisingly tasty! The fragrant essence of pandan / screwpine leaves lend a floral aroma, while the milo imparts a light chocolate flavour. Better than we thought it'll be, and worth a try!

Pandan Milo Ice Cream 01

Pandan Milo Ice Cream 02

The combination of 2 strong flavours in the Coffee Guinness (SGD $3.90) is punchy, but complements each other well. Like a shot of energy, the coffee is aromatic, mixed with the slight bitterness of the Guinness stout. You'll be wide awake for awhile after this!

Coffee Guinness Ice Cream

The Strawberry Rose (SGD $3) has that fragrant aroma of floral essence from the rose infused ice cream. The taste of strawberries is pleasant, not overwhelming. Nicely balanced without being cliche!

Strawberry Rose Ice Cream

The unique Osmanthus Apricot (SGD $3.70) has chunks of sweet apricot studded within the ice cream, which complements the mild fragrance of the osmanthus. Rather delicate in flavour, this experimental ice cream is well executed.

Osmanthus Apricot Ice Cream

The Maple Almond (SGD $3.70) has a strong nutty flavour from the almonds, somewhat overwhelming the much more delicate flavour of maple syrup. There's quite a generous portion of chopped almonds as well. Decent enough.

Maple Almond Ice Cream

The Frangelico Hazelnut (SGD $3.90) has a sweet, nutty flavour, almost delicate in nature. You first get the taste of the frangelico liqueur, followed by the delicate, floral nutty flavour. Studded with caramelised hazelnuts, which lend a crunch to texture, as well as a burst of sweetness. Unique!

Frangelico Hazelnut Ice Cream

Loved the deep, rich flavour of the Chocolate With Marshmallow (SGD $3). Studded with sweet gooey bits of marshmallow, which complements the almost floral essence of the rich chocolate. Excellent!

Chocolate With Marshmallow Ice Cream

The Freshest, Sweetest Strudels

(Ratings: On a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 = Worst and 10 = Best)
Overall: 8
Ambience & Setting: 6
Food & Beverage: 9
Service: 7
Value for Money: 8
Spent about SGD $5 per person.





In 2000, Ritz Apple Strudel & Pastry brought the Austria classic apple strudel dessert to the shores of Singapore. Known for their freshly made desserts, Ritz Apple Strudel & Pastry focuses mainly on desserts for takeaway, rather than dining in.

Thus, ambience at Ritz Apple Strudel & Pastry is often the bare minimum, with some functional furniture, but not much decor or lighting to speak of. The main attraction is their large, brightly lit display, with all their wares within.

Service is also very quick, staff normally attend to you immediately, and orders are fulfilled in a matter of minutes. Ritz Apple Strudel & Pastry also offers a delivery service, from their 9 outlets islandwide.

Besides the classic apple strudel, Ritz Apple Strudel & Pastry is also known for their light and sweet custard puffs, and eclairs. Prices at Ritz Apple Strudel & Pastry are reasonable and affordable, and portions are nicely sized.





The classic Austria style Apple Strudel (SGD $4.50), with sweet flaky puff pastry that just shatters when cut, with a filling of light, sweet yellow custard, and fresh cubes of apples. Excellent!

Apple Strudel

Artease Artists Tease Teas

(Ratings: On a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 = Worst and 10 = Best)
Overall: 8
Ambience & Setting: 7
Food & Beverage: 8
Service: 7
Value for Money: 9
Spent about SGD $12 per person.





Artease promises a uniquely Singaporean cafe experience, serving up artisinal, great tasting, unique yet playful sandwiches, cakes and teas. Founded in 2009, Artease has since grown to become a franchise, yet still maintains the high quality of food it started with.

Bucking the trend of location, Artease outlets tend to be located away from major shopping malls, usually close to a heartland housing estate. Despite the name, there is very little art within Artease. With a minimalist concept, clean lines, natural lighting, and functional and modern looking furniture, Artease also draws eyes with its attractive sandwich poster and eye catching display of cakes.

Artease is semi self-service, with ordering and payment made at the counter, and staff serving your orders to your table. I find staff to be friendly, knowledgeable and able to make recommendations on the menu, as well as offering suggestions on various combination meal / sets. I also love that you can choose your own sugar level for tea / coffee, although I feel that 25% sugar is usually sufficient for me.

Artease has a limited scope of menu, mostly focusing on sandwiches, cakes, and teas / coffee. As an artisinal tea cafe, you'll get flavours of tea at Artease that you won't get anywhere else, at a much more competitive (lower) price than most major coffee brands. This alone is reason enough to visit Artease, but even better, they make their own cakes in-house, with just as much creativity in flavour and concept.





Find happiness at Artease? Sure!

Artease Happiness

Tea Cup

The Yuzu Green Tea (SGD $4) has the smooth, elegant taste of green tea, with the zesty citrus zing of yuzu pulp. Slightly sweet, refreshing, and floral. Very good!

Yuzu Green Tea

The unique Cinnamon Milk Tea (SGD $4) has the sweet essence of cinnamon sugar, with the smooth texture of milk tea. I like the lingering sweet note on the palate, and the fragrant aroma wafting from the mug.

Cinnamon Milk Tea

The Salted Caramel Milk Tea (SGD $4) is perfectly balanced in taste. Not overly salty and not overly sweet, I can taste the layers of salted caramel apart from the smooth milk tea. Very good!

Salted Caramel Milk Tea

Loved the aromatic floral essence of the Wolfberry And Red Date Tea (SGD $3.50), with just the right balance of sweetness without being overpowering. Smooth and clean taste, but it got a little hard to drink near the end because of the herbs and red date slices at the bottom of the cup.

Wolfberry And Red Date Tea

The Sandwich Grilled Cheese & Apple Cinnamon (SGD $4.50) combines the best of sweet and savoury, with perfectly caramelised apples, infused with sweet cinnamon sugar, and melty grilled cheese in a perfectly toasted sandwich. Lovely, either as a snack, dessert, or light bite.

Sandwich Grilled Cheese & Apple Cinnamon 01

Sandwich Grilled Cheese & Apple Cinnamon 02

The Sandwich Grilled Cheese & Ham (SGD $4.50) is a classic comfort food, done well. The cheese just melts off the perfectly toasted sandwich, forming gooey strings that pull away. The ham is a thin slice, but lends the savoury taste to the overall dish. Excellent!

Sandwich Grilled Cheese & Ham 01

Sandwich Grilled Cheese & Ham 02

Sandwich Grilled Cheese & Ham 03

I like that I can taste the distinct layers of flavour in the Sandwich Grilled Cheese & Honey Mustard Chicken (SGD $4.50), with the sour tang of mustard, to the savoury slices of moist chicken meat, to the warm grilled cheese. Very good sandwich!

Sandwich Grilled Cheese & Honey Mustard Chicken 01

Sandwich Grilled Cheese & Honey Mustard Chicken 02

Love the zesty zing of the Lemon Bar (SGD $2.50), with its intense sour citrus taste of lemon. The consistency is similar to fudge, but not as sweet, and a lemon infused biscuit crumb base that is almost similar in texture.

Lemon Bar

The Blueberry Tofu Cheesecake (SGD $5) is an in-house speciality at the Serangoon Central outlet. The texture is very light, much lighter and less rich than a regular cheesecake. But you can still taste the cheese, and the blueberries add a burst of fruity flavour. Very good!

Blueberry Tofu Cheesecake

The Salted Caramel Brownie (SGD $4) has the rich, deep taste of chocolate brownie. The texture of the cake is dense with a sticky, crumbly consistency, and the salted caramel appears to be a thin layer spread across the top. Pretty good brownie on its own, but the addition of such a little layer of salted caramel doesn't enhance the taste much. Might be better if the salted caramel were infused into the brownie instead.

Salted Caramel Brownie

The Apple Crumble Bar (SGD $4) has the spot on flavour of caramelised apple pie! The crumble has a satisfying crunch, while the caramelised apple is nicely sweet. I only thought that the single layer of apple slices was too thin, would be better with a slightly thicker layer of apples.

Apple Crumble Bar