All Natural Gelato & Sorbet

(Ratings: On a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 = Worst and 10 = Best)
Overall: 7
Ambience & Setting: 4
Food & Beverage: 7
Service: 7
Value for Money: 8
Spent about SGD $6 per person.





Ge!ato is a franchise Italian ice cream / gelato shop that focuses on all natural, no additives, no preservatives gelato and sorbets. As a result, the colour of their gelato tends to be more muted / dull, as compared to other brands, but the proof is in the taste of their gelato.

Ge!ato doesn't have much ambience, as they mostly do takeaway. The most attractive part of their stall is their colouful signage, often standing out admist other stalls. Their gelato is on display, but looks-wise, they lose out to other ice cream brands for the unattractive, dull colours, and lack of decor.

Service at Ge!ato is friendly and efficient. Staff fulfill orders rather quickly, even with long queues. Range of flavours at Ge!ato tend to be quite small, revolving mostly around fruit flavours, and prices per scoop tend to be comparable to elsewhere, at SGD $5.50 for a single scoop.

Ge!ato actually wins out on taste here, as their gelato tends to be on the heavy side, packing a lot of taste. This means even a small scoop is very satisfying, as you feel like you've eaten a lot. Very rich and creamy in texture, but not overly sweet, the heaviness means you should have some water / non-sweet drinks on standby.





The colouful signage in the shape of a cow stand out, even from far.

Ge!ato Signage

The Rosa Cone is a work of ice cream art, with a core flavour making up the center, and another flavour acting as the petals. Very pretty!

The Peanut Butter Gelato has a sweet, slightly nutty peanut taste, with a very smooth texture. The Avocado Gula Melaka Gelato has a creamy texture, with a blended layer of avocado taste and sweet palm sugar / gula melaka taste, distinct yet works well together!

Rosa Cone With Peanut Butter Gelato & Avocado Gula Melaka Gelato 01

Rosa Cone With Peanut Butter Gelato & Avocado Gula Melaka Gelato 02

Fuss Free French Food - (Say It Quickly 3 Times)

(Ratings: On a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 = Worst and 10 = Best)
Overall: 7
Ambience & Setting: 6
Food & Beverage: 8
Service: 7
Value for Money: 8
Spent about SGD $15 per person.





Inspired by the France / French phrase 'C'est Bon', or 'It's Good', Saybons was founded in 2007, the first store in Singapore to provide fast, casual French food at affordable prices. Today, Saybons is still pulling in the crowds with its range of wholesome, tasty food, including their signature sweet & savoury crepes, tartines, and hand made soups.

Ambience at Saybons, as befitting its concept, is fuss free and clean. Simple furniture is packed into a small seating area, and while functional, is not meant for long, leisurely dining, but on-the-go, quick, eat and leave dining. I like that Saybons is brightly lit though, and that their menu is displayed outside the shops.

Saybons is semi self-service. Ordering and payment is done at the counter, but if staff are free, they will serve orders to your table. I like that staff are friendly and able to make recommendations, as well as efficient in clearing empty plates. They also make it a point to repeat your order to you, which is not commonly done at other fast-food kiosks like this.

Food at Saybons is generally tasty and wholesome. Ingredients used are fresh, and emphasis is placed on hand-made products, fresh daily. Prices are reasonably affordable for their France / French food, averaging about SGD $15 or so per person for a good meal. Saybons menu is mostly focused on sweet crepes, savoury crepes, soup / broth, tartines, salads and freshly baked breads.





The Saybons Buzzer signals when your order is reday for collection, but more importantly, serves as a good distraction with its Learn To Speak French tips!

Saybons Buzzer

The Tartine Tomato, Mozzarella, Basil (SGD $7.50) features fresh crisp bread, made into an open face sandwich with juicy fresh cherry tomatoes, grilled perfectly. Love the burst of juice and rich cherry tomato taste when bit! The mozzarella cheese lends a touch of earthy taste, while the basil lends a hint of freshness. Very good!

Tartine Tomato, Mozzarella, Basil

The Tartine Smoked Salmon, Egg Mayo, Arugula, Dill (SGD $8.50) features soft, savoury smoked salmon on an open face sandwich with crisp bread. The egg mayo has a dash of pepper, livening the flavour, while the arugula and dill lend a fresh, earthy taste, and some crunch.

Tartine Smoked Salmon, Egg Mayo, Arugula, Dill

The Soup Wild Mushroom (SGD $4.20 Regular) has a semi-rich, creamy texture, and nice mushroom flavour. But I was slightly let down by the lack of mushroom chunks within, the soup / broth was smooth overall. Still, pretty tasty, and a good choice to have!

Soup Wild Mushroom

The Soup Fresh Tomato (SGD $3.80) is definitely fresh, which is important. The richness of the tomato is evident, and the flavour is warm, comforting, and hearty. Very good! Perhaps too much though, as drinking this in large portions makes it rather one-note, would be better if some herbs were added. I added some pepper towards the end to change up the flavour slightly.

Soup Fresh Tomato

The Soup Seafood Bisque (SGD $4.50) is a thick broth, strong with the flavour of crustaceans and smells of the ocean. Very good, hearty and filling soup, despite there not being any actual chunks of seafood within.

Soup Seafood Bisque

The Soup Broccoli Cheddar (SGD $3.90) is actually quite nice. I wasn't prepared to like it, due to the strong, pungent, leafy taste of typical broccoli soups, but the version here is light, not too strong. The addition of cheddar helps to cut through the vegetable taste. Above average overall, and like all other soups here, contains no chunky bits.

Soup Broccoli Cheddar

The Soup Pumpkin (SGD $4) has a fragrant and light aroma, with a fresh, decent, though somewhat muted taste of pumpkin, due to its delicate nature. The texture is slightly thicker than all the other soups.

Soup Pumpkin

Bread is freshly baked daily here, and most, like the Bread Sundried Tomato Butter & Herb Butter, are excellent! You can taste the distinct flavour of each layer, and the bread itself is crisp, great for soaking up soups!

Bread Sundried Tomato Butter & Herb Butter

The Dijon Potato Salad (SGD $3.60) features chunks of potato in a dijon mustard and mayonnaise sauce, topped with spring onions and sliced chicken ham. Clean taste, where you can taste the various ingredients in layers. Above average side dish.

Dijon Potato Salad

I loved the Escargot Garlic Herb (SGD $9), with a half dozen, deshelled fresh snails, cooked perfectly, neither too hard or too soft. The garlic herb butter sauce infuses each mouthful with a fragrant, savoury aroma.

Escargot Garlic Herb

Only available at breakfast, the French Stacked Crepes (SGD $6) features 2 perfectly cooked French style crepes, with a crisp crust and a soft, pancake like middle. Served with slices of strawberries and bananas, and doused with maple syrup, this is a sweet yet satisfying start. Only drawback is that it looks slightly messy on the plate.

French Stacked Crepes 01

French Stacked Crepes 02

The Crepe / Crepes here, regardless of savoury or sweet, are always served in takeaway, handheld style.

Crepe

The Crepe Apple Delight (SGD $4.30) is a delicious sweet dessert crepe, with slices of fresh apples, sprinkled with a generous amount of cinnamon sugar, which mixes with the sweetness of the apples to give a lovely caramel flavour. The addition of shaved almonds lends a contrasting crunch of texture.

Crepe Apple Delight 01

Crepe Apple Delight 02

The Crepe Ham, Egg Cheese (SGD $5.80) is a worthwhile savoury crepe to order if you're hungry. The sticky, gooey melted cheese is filling, and the slices of chicken ham and fluffy omelette / scrambled eggs within are perfectly done. Satisfying at all times of the day, or particularly for brunch.

Crepe Ham, Egg Cheese 01

Crepe Ham, Egg Cheese 02

Awesome Drinks, Terrible Food

(Ratings: On a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 = Worst and 10 = Best)
Overall: 3
Ambience & Setting: 6
Food & Beverage: 2 (Food), 8 (Drinks)
Service: 8
Value for Money: 1
Spent about SGD $50 per person.





Established in 2000, AdstraGold Microbrewery is a beer brewing pub and restaurant specialising in hot stone grills. My friends were excited about the drinks at AdstraGold Microbrewery, and although multiple online reviews have warned about the poor, inconsistent quality of food, we decided to dine here.

Ambience at AdstraGold Microbrewery is decent. Furniture is well laid out and comfortable, with enough space for dishes. The main drawback is the dim lighting, tacky photographs and menu which look like it's stuck in the 80s, along with the tacky website. But I like that they have a huge projector screen to show various sporting events.

Service at AdstraGold Microbrewery is very good. Staff are friendly, attentive and efficient, able to make recommendations on the beer, and rather knowledgable about the beer brewing process. They also checked on our meal and asked for feedback, which because of our extreme displeasure with the food, got an earful from some of our diners.

Food at AdstraGold Microbrewery is terrible and overpriced, easily among the worst I've eaten. Portions are small, seafood isn't fresh, prices are double of other restaurants, and taste is lacking. It seems that due to low turnover, cooking oil is reused, leaving a bad taste in the mouth.

Drinks at AdstraGold Microbrewery though, are very good. They have their own in-house range of beers, some of which have won awards. I noticed most of their visitors actually only came for drinks, and didn't order any food. I'll follow suit next time, if I ever come back. But very likely, I'm never returning to this place, as I can get their beer elsewhere.





The dimliy lit interior boasts quite a number of seats, most of which are empty because nobody dines here, they only get drinks. The large projector screen was showing a tennis match when we visited. Beer is brewed in-house, and their craft beer equipment features energy conserving systems.

AdstraGold Microbrewery Beer Brewery

AdstraGold Microbrewery Beer Brewing Canisters

AdstraGold Microbrewery Bar

AdstraGold Microbrewery Seating

The Beer AdstraGold Red Ale (SGD $10.90) is a BeerFest 2010 bronze award winning beer, with a dark amber colour, taste of roast barley and a light, mellow texture. Very drinkable, goes down smooth, with a slight hint of lingering bitterness. Very affordable too, highly recommended!

Beer AdstraGold Red Ale 01

Beer AdstraGold Red Ale 02

The King Seafood Platter With Dory Fish, Calamari, Mussles, Prawns (SGD $39.90) is supposed to be for 6 - 8 people to share. What turned up is barely enough for 3 people, and looks like an appetizer! The seafood isn't fresh, and the cooking oil is reused, with a nasty aftertaste. For this price elsewhere, I could get a large platter of seafood that is fresh and tasty. Avoid this!

King Seafood Platter With Dory Fish, Calamari, Mussles, Prawns 01

King Seafood Platter With Dory Fish, Calamari, Mussles, Prawns 02

The Bratwurst Pork With Sauerkraut (SGD $15.90) is actually quite good, proving it's hard to mess up sausages if you can grill well. The pork bratwurst is meaty and juicy, and the sauerkraut is nicely sour and tangy. Good!

Bratwurst Pork With Sauerkraut

The Premium Fish & Chips (SGD $19.90) is supposed to be the star signature dish here. But the beer batter, while flavourful, wasn't crisp, and the texture was limp. The fish was decent, seemingly frozen, not very fresh. The chips were good, thick cut, English style chips with a light sprinkling of salt. But for this price, the portion is smaller than what I can get from elsewhere, as they didn't include any salad. Adding on a salad costs more! Obviously, this place need to provide more training for the chef, or find a better chef, since the signature dish is so weak.

Premium Fish & Chips 01

Premium Fish & Chips 02

The Baby Lamb Rack (SGD $48.90) is a rip off. I will say that the salad is fresh, tasty and well marinated with balsamic vinegar. The chips are good as well. But the lamb rack is tiny, with barely any meat, and tasted very gamey. I told my friend I'll pay her to eat it... she refused.

Baby Lamb Rack 01

Baby Lamb Rack 02

The Pizza Mushroom Ham Olives (SGD $19.90) is decent. I like the thin crust, and the tasty tomato sauce base, and the portion for price is just right. Good as a bar snack, or for 1 person. The topping is quite generous, each slices has a nice amount of olives, ham, and mushrooms, though the mushrooms are the canned variety.

Pizza Mushroom Ham Olives

Tasty Korean Snacks

(Ratings: On a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 = Worst and 10 = Best)
Overall: 7
Ambience & Setting: 4
Food & Beverage: 7
Service: 7
Value for Money: 7
Spent about SGD $9 per person.





Kkul Dak is a Korean inspired street food stall that operates out of a kiosk. Established in Singapore in July 2013, Kkul Dak has a limited, focused menu, choosing to specialise in the Korean Honey Chicken Ball, and the Royal Ddukbokki / Tteokbokki.

There is little to no ambience at Kkul Dak, as it's a takeaway kiosk, with no seating. The main attraction is their food and mixing bowls on display, along with their brightly coloured signs and large, tasty looking pictures.

Service at Kkul Dak is pretty good. Staff are friendly and efficient, fulfilling orders very quickly, even when there is a queue. Don't expect too much conversation though.

Food at Kkul Dak revolves around the Korean Honey Chicken Ball, a tasty, savoury chunk of chicken, marinated in sweet Korean honey, and coated with a choice of sauce. The other thing that Kkul Dak does well is their Korean rice cakes, such as the Royal Ddukbokki / Tteokbokki, which is stir fried with chicken, bell peppers / capsicum, and bulgogi and soy sauce.





The Kkul Dak Spicy Honey Chicken Ball (SGD $4.50 Regular) is served stacked in a cup, and even the small size has quite a number of the honey chicken balls. It comes with Korean rice cakes and potato tots.

Kkul Dak Spicy Honey Chicken Ball 01

Kkul Dak Spicy Honey Chicken Ball 02

Kkul Dak Spicy Honey Chicken Ball 03

The Royal Tteokbokki (SGD $4.50 Regular) is an olden style Korean stir fry recipe, originally served in the Korean Royal Court. Korean soft rice cylinder cakes are stir fried with bell peppers / capsicum, chicken, mushrooms, then garnished with sesame seeds. The version here is a pretty good representation, but not very authentic.

Royal Tteokbokki 01

Royal Tteokbokki 02

Home Made Muffins, Cakes & Cookies

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





Froz Bakery is a small, family run bakery, located in a quiet corner of Tampines Street 44. Known for their tasty, home made fresh daily muffins and cheesecakes, Froz Bakery has recently expanded their menu to include several in-house drink concoctions, as well as home made traditional cookies.

While it's positioned as a bakery, Froz Bakery is also a mini-cafe, with very limited seating of no more than 8 people. Most people buy takeaway here, with only some students actually dining here. Furniture is in the open area outside the void deck corridor, and is the cheap, semi-disposable kind.

Froz Bakery has friendly service, mostly from the owners. Orders are fulfilled quickly, and they normally recommend items they freshly made / baked. If you do choose to dine here, they sometimes ask you to collect your order, and sometimes they serve it to you, depending on their mood.

Froz Bakery has decent, above average muffins and cheesecakes. The menu offers a good range of pastries and drinks, but beyond these desserts and snacks, Froz Bakery doesn't have any main courses or proper meals. Prices are very affordable even for students, a half dozen box of muffins cost SGD $11 or so.





Can't miss the outlet, located right at the corner of the block.

Froz Bakery Facade

Froz Bakery Contact

Froz Bakery Box

They offer a good range of Muffins (SGD $1.30 Per Muffin), all made fresh daily. In the evenings, they typically offer discounts to clear all their products for the day.

Assorted Muffins

Muffins

The Muffin Apple Lemon With Cinnamon has a nice coating of sweet, floral cinnamon sugar atop the slices of fresh apple. The muffin itself has a nice flavour, sweet with a slightly sour, tangy taste from the lemon. The crunch of the apple lends some texture. Good!

Muffin Apple Lemon With Cinnamon

I felt the Muffin Wild Blueberry was the weakest item I tried here. While the blueberries are fresh, they were only a few of them, not enough to flavour the whole muffin. The muffin itself is decent, with a standard vanilla flavour, being neither terrible nor outstanding, just average.

Muffin Wild Blueberry

The speciality Muffin Banana Walnut was probably the best item I tried, with a flavourful coarse banana muffin topped with a generous amount of crunchy walnut chunks. Very tasty!

Muffin Banana Walnut

I felt the Muffin Chocolate & Hazelnut could have been better. The topping of chocolate glaze is thick, rich, and sweet, and the 3 hazelnuts lend some crunch. The muffin itself is the plain vanilla version, would be better if they baked some of the yummy chocolate glaze into the middle to create a semi lava cake muffin.

Muffin Chocolate & Hazelnut

The Muffin Double Cookies & Cream was among the better items here, with the oreo cookie crumbs mixed into the muffin batter, studding the entire muffin with the distinct chocolate oreo crunch. Very good!

Muffin Double Cookies & Cream