The Handburger @ Raffles City

From the name, thought it's some DIY burger place. The hands they are referring to are theirs, which are used to whip up gourmet burgers.

The burger was served on a wooden platter where you can just use your hand to grab the burger and eat. Knife and fork are available for those who still prefer to keep their hands clean.

We got the recommended super combo - The works @$17.80
The Works include almost everything - crispy bacon, onion rings, sunny side up egg, sauteed pesto mushroom, cheddar cheese and grilled grass-fed prime beef. All these are definitely more than a handful. Their caramelized onion bun was quite nice too.

The Works
Rating: 3.75/5 

Happy lamburger @$17.80

Grass-fed lamb patty, sunny side up egg and feta cheese. Did not really like it as the lamb is a bit "gamey".

The Lamburger
Rating: 3.5/5

The burgers come with a choice of side - chunky fries, mushroom soup or salad. Their sides were quite good - fries were crispy and tasty while the mushroom soup was thick and creamy. The soup will definitely be of standard as handburger is under the same group as The Soup Spoon and Soup Broth Asia.

Service was a bit slow. Setting is more of a high-end food court than restaurant.

The HandBurger
Raffles City Shopping Centre
#B1-65/66
Singapore 179103
Tel: +65 6334 4577

Opening Hours

Sun - Thur : 11:30am - 10pm

Fri & Sat   : 11:30am - 10:30pm

http://thehandburger.com/

50% off Cheap and Nice Traditional Dim Sum @ Kam boat, Shaw Centre

Kam Boat offer traditional Cantonese Dim Sum. This is not a place where you will find delicate and exquisite dim sum but tasty simple home-made style dim sum with sentimental appeal to some.

They offer 50% discount for 9 types of Dim Sum, the Dim Sum on offer may differ from month to month. Below are some we have tried.

Steam Pumpkin Dumpling - $3.80 before 50% off
quite unique combination of savory and sweet from the pumpkin.

Steam Pumpkin Dumpling
Rating: 4.25/5

Steamed Chicken Feet - $3.80 before 50% off
Something I will always order. Like the relaxing feel of slowly chewing the chicken feet

Chicken Feet
Rating: 3.75/5

Steamed Pork & Shrimps Dumpling (Siew Mai) - $4.50 before 50% off
although the Siew Mai come in different sizes and heights but they taste just as good as those in up-market restaurant, especially the pork and shrimp filling.

Siew Mai
Rating: 4/5

Glutinous Rice Roll "Teochew" Style - $4 before 50% off
Very traditional snack, something we won't ordered if its not on discount. Thanks for the offer, else we will have missed this fragrance oily rice with peanuts, nice simplicity!

Glutinous Rice Roll
Rating: 4/5

Steamed Carrot Cake - $3.30 before 50% off
Loved this down-to-earth steamed carrot cake with waxed meat in a bowl, sprinkled with spring onions and shallots accompanied with some light sauce.

Steamed Carrot Cake
Rating: 4.25/5

Besides the discounted dim sum, we also ordered the Curry Pig Skin & Fish Ball @$7
Have been wanting to try the Curry Fish Balls as it is always shown in Hong Kong drama series. The fried fish ball is very springy and the fried pig skin absorbed the curry, quite nice. Be careful that this fried curry fish ball dish is quite spicy, which we don't usually expect for Hong Kong cuisine.

Curry Pig Skin & Fish Ball
Rating: 4/5

Setting is typical mid-range chinese restaurant with both square and round tables for different group size and a window to showcase the roast stuffs.

Service is "home-style" as well. "Big sisters" will ensure that you get your food and your tea is refilled. They will also tell you directly that you've ordered too much and remind that packing is not allowed for discounted items.

Kam Boat Chinese Cuisine
1 Scotts Road,
#05-14 Shaw Centre, Singapore
Tel: +65 6732 4675
Opening Hours
Daily: 11.30am–3pm, 6pm–11pm
http://www.kamboat.com.sg/

Yet another review for 
Hong Kong Yam-Cha, Lunch Deal, Recommendation for cheap & good, value for money Dim Sum, Hong Kong Chinese Cuisine, Snack on Promotion or offer, Not to be missed deal, Traditional Dian Xin, nice food at orchard :)

3 course Fine Dining @ Parsley & Thyme

Another food deal try-out session, this time it is at a newly opened restaurant Parsley & Thyme, in a shophouse along Kampong Bahru Road.
Cozy modern setting, everything is slick and looks brand new.  The background jazz music and the tealight create a rest & relax ambiance.

Parsley and Thyme

They serve European and Mediterranean-inspired dishes.  Our 3-course set meal @$25 nett include the following

Appetizer - Tartare of Norwegian Salmon on a Salad with Beetroot and Raspberry Dressing
Like the chopped fresh raw salmon with chopped onions tartare topped with nicely roasted tomato. Not the usual combination for salad, it came with pumpkin seeds and beetroot.  Taste quite nice, but it gets a bit too complicated if you combine everything in a mouthful.

Salmon Tartare
Rating: 3.75/5

Main Course - Char-Grilled Hereford Sirloin Steak with Seasonal Vegetables, Potato Gratin and Semi-Dried Tomato/Garlic Butter
It was a very generous portion of beef, much much bigger size then the usual steak offered elsewhere. Really appreciate it especially when this meal is on special discount where other merchants will usually tried to reduce the meal portion to reduce cost.

Like the charred flavour of the outer layer and the pinky, tender and juicy beef within. Its definitely different from those dry chunk of beef served in those budget cafe.


The semi dried tomato and garlic butter really adds the "oomph" to the dish - flavorful garlic butter with a tinge of sourness to balance the oily butter. It came as a beautiful paste-like on top of the beef. But once it start melting and turn to liquid oil, it gets kind of overwhelming and the sense of guilt sink in. A bit "jelat" when I am almost full. Would have ordered a cup of tea to ease the greasiness if I had known early that the Highlanders cafe few shops away was already closed.


Roast potatoes instead of potato Gratin was served.  The potatoes go well with the butter - combination of Carbohydrates and fats is always so yummy. Loved the vegetables that is served with the beef, its flavorfully sauteed/grilled, but a bit oily.

Char-Grilled Hereford Sirloin Steak
Rating: 4/5 

Dessert - Chocolate Fudge Petite Four with Chocolate Mousse and Sour Cherry Coulis
To end the meal with such sweet and heavy dessert is a bit overwhelming for me. Would be able to better appreciate the rich chocolatey Petite and coffee mousse with a cup of tea without sugar. The Sour Cherry Coulis was quite unique, sweet with liquor fragrance on first bites and trace of sourness as you chew further.

Dessert
Rating: 3.5/5

The service was relatively good and prompt given that there is only 3 staffs (1 chef-cum-boss Dennis, 1 sous-chef-cum-waitress and 1 waitress) to serve 12 guests that night.  Our glasses were refilled frequently and the waitress also make the effort to see the guest out after the meal.

For review on deal, refer http://monsoondeal.blogspot.com/2012/01/3-course-fine-dining-menu-at-parsley.html
SAVOUR HAPPINESS! Enjoy 50% off 3-Course Fine Dining Menu at Parsley & Thyme! ONLY $25 nett for Salmon Tartare + Char-grilled Sirloin Steak + Dark Chocolate Fudge Cake with White Chocolate Mousse!


61 Kampong Bahru Road
#01-01 Outram MRT Station
Singapore 169368
Tel : 6226 2801

Opening hours
Monday - Sunday :
12pm to 3pm
6pm to 9.45pm (Last order)

Saybons @ Plaza Singapura

We went for a tea break at Saybons - a french cuisine fast food. Although its suppose to be "fast" food, it still took them quite some time for the crepe. Almost finish the soup before the crepe is ready.

Creme de Champignons
The mushroom soup was quite thick, smooth and you can taste the mushroom flavour. Not too heavy or overpowering with cream. It was served in a cup instead of a bowl with soup spoon, you can just drink it directly from the cup like coffee. 

According to Saybons, mushroom soup is high in Vitamin B and potassium, good excuse for us to drink more.

Mushroom Soup
Rating: 3.75/5

Mushroom and Cheese Crepe
Was expecting the crepe to be crispy but it was actually a bit soft. It was served in a paper holder so that you can easily hold and eat it with one hand.
Ordered a savoury Mushroom and cheese crepe. Mushroom and cheese are best friends, nothing could go wrong for this combination. Loved the generous portion of cheese in the filling, how it stick together and it being chewy.

Mushroom Cheese Crepe
Rating: 3.75/5

Escargots

Not knowing what is good, we ordered the half dozen combination. The escargot was very oily and the garlic toast bread was just nice to absorb the extra bit of oil. The escargot though cooked with substantial amount of oily is still a bit dry, maybe due to overcooking. 

Anyway, we do have our fun trying out the various flavours!

- Garlic Herb

- Tomato Relish 

- Pesto Parmesan

- Mushroom Dexelle

- Blue Cheese

- French Onion

Escargots
Rating: 3.5/5

68 Orchard Road

#B2-32 Plaza Singapura

Singapore

Tel: +65 6884 9018

Tori Katsu Burger @Freshness Burger

We've got some vouchers so that we can buy a Tori-Katsu Burger at a very cheap price of $1.90 which is 50% Off (worth $3.80).

Like the simple, relax and quiet setting of the cafe. It is not so crowded as those fast food chains. Appreciate the small little effort of adding some life by placing some little flowers on the table.

Dining Area

Their Tori-Katsu burger is as what the restaurant name suggests - FRESH!

It was a simple burger - soft fresh bread with nicely fried juicy breaded chicken cutlet top with a generous portion of mayonnaise accompanied with fresh crunchy lettuce.

Simple but fresh and nice

Quite nice! will visit the restaurant if I hunger for a burger.

Refer to their website for details

6 Eu Tong Sen Street,
#01-30 The Central @ Clarke Quay, Singapore
Tel: +65 6222 2528

http://www.freshnessburger.com.sg/

Sun with Moon Japanese Dinning and Cafe 2 - Wheelock Place

We were trying to recall what weekday lunch deals were available in Orchard and we ended up in Sun with Moon for their value for money weekday lunch special.

Weekday Lunch Special

We ordered a Sushi & Sashimi Set @$16.80, which comes with soup, standard set of Sashimi and Sushi, drink and a choice of 1 side dish - Chicken Teriyaki, Tempura Mori, Tofu Kinoko Nabe or Tori Karaage.

Sashimi and Sushi Lunch Set with Chicken Teriyaki

The lunch set also comes with a drink, I've order a Ice Lemon Tea.

Ice Lemon Tea

Salmon Sashimi, 3 salmon sushi - salmon belly, salmon with lemon, aburi salmon with chilli and Rainbow roll (avocado mango roll).

Sushi and Sashimi set
Rating: 4/5

Teriyaki chicken - Quite a big portion and quite tender. However it seems to look nicer then it taste, the chicken could have been better if it had been marinated to taste.

Chicken Teriyaki
Rating: 3.5/5

My lunch partner ordered Tori Karaage for the choice of side dish. It was quite crispy but the meat is still a bit bland. Maybe I just happened to prefer stronger taste food that day.

Tori Karaage
Rating: 3.5/5

We've ordered their speciality Tofu Cheesecake @$6.50 to end the meal. Usually it comes with a birdcage, but it came with a candle today for our birthday celebration! Loved its texture and smoothness, it is not too rich or "gelat" as normal cheese cake and it is a no-guilt cheesecake because of its lower calories.

Would have been perfect if the Tofu Cheesecake was complimentary.

Tofu Cheesecake
Rating: 4/5

For customers with a bigger appetite, rice is available upon request free of charge. Quite a nice gesture from the restaurant.

For other lunch set, refer to my previous visit http://monsoontravel.blogspot.com/2012/01/sun-with-moon-japanese-dinning-and-cafe_06.html

501 Orchard Road
#03-15/16/17 Wheelock Place
Singapore 238880
Tel: 6733 6636
http://www.sunwithmoon.com.sg/

5 Course European Meal @ Friends, Jelita

Bought a voucher for a 5 course European meal at $19 @ Friends. The location is a bit inaccessible if you do not have a car. So maybe can try to arrange a group gathering with friends with cars :) 


Quiet and nice setting at the dinning Area.

Dinning Area

Below is the menu for the deal. Quite a number of options but I still prefer to top up $6++ for the mushroom soup and Ribeye beef. 

Set Menu

Starter - Chilled Angel Hair & Lump Fish Caviar
The angel hair pasta tossed with konbu, chives, white truffle oil and served on a chilled plate. This cold starter is quite unique, fragrance of truffle oil that is not overpowering and the ingredients and caviar really enhanced the angel hair.
Yummy!

Chilled Angel Hair & Lump Fish Caviar
Rating: 4/5

Soup - Wild Forest Mushroom Soup
Top up $1 to upgrade to mushroom soup, served with light cream and truffle essence. It was quite nice and you can taste chunks of mushroom as well. A pity that its only a small cup (small coffee cup).

Wild Mushroom Soup
Rating: 4/5

Main Course 

Grilled Ribeye Steak (250gm)
Top up $5 for the steak. Its quite tender and juicy. Its worth the extra $.

Ribeye Steak
Rating: 4/5

Or Pan Fried Pork Loin Masala

Or Breadcrumb Fish Fillet served with Ratatouille Pesto sauce

Daily Dessert of the Day - Cheesecake and Regular Coffee / Tea
It was quite creamy and tasty, goes well with a cup of tea. But it is very small in size (like the size of a small kid's palm) and the guys can actually gobble down in just one mouthful.

Cheesecake
Rating: 3.5/5

Deal review available at http://monsoondeal.blogspot.com/2012/01/5-course-european-meal-friends-jelita.html


Friends Restaurant
Jelita Cold Storage Jelita Building
293 Holland Road Level 2
Singapore 278628 (private parking available)
Tel: +65 6463 1011
http://www.friendsfoodandwine.com/

Yu Kee Duck @ Liang Seah Street, Bugis

Yu Kee is Famous for their duck and yam rice. Their supposedly 60 years old family stew sauce is used to make the duck tender and give it a rich and aromatic flavor. The sauce is not too overpowering where you only taste the strong herbal like the ducks in other restaurant.

Yu Kee had also extended their sauce for beancurd, peanuts, pork skin and intestine. Besides their delicious yam rice, they also serve kway chap and kway teow which are quite nice as well. They also offered a few set menu which offers a little bit of everything. Have order set B today at a cheap price of $5.50.

They also have two special chilli sauce - one similar to sambal with ikan bilis that enhance the flavor while the other slightly tangy garlic chili sauce give a refreshing taste to the food.

Old coffee shop setting nearby a busy road. If you prefer air-con environment, can try the other outlets at air-conditioned foodcourts.

kway teow

Set B - Duck, Pork Skin, Beancurd

Rating: 4/5

516 Yu Kee Food Court
516 North Bridge Road
Liang Seah Street, Bugis
Http://www.yukee.com.sg/

Nice Dinner at Putien 莆田（兴化）菜馆- Nex

Have been wanting to try this restaurant which is famous for Xinghua (Jiangsu) simple dishes. It turned out to be a really nice dinner, will definitely be back again! :)


Their speciality are small dishes. As the starters and side dishes are of fixed size, for small groups you might not be able to taste much variety without overeating.

Great that this dinner is for 6 adults + 2 kids, so we can order to our heart content. We were overwhelmed with all the different choices from the main and winter menu and ended up ordering quite a number starters and side dishes as they look so appetising.

Winter Menu
Chicken and Chinese Sausage roll 腊肠鸡卷 @$9.90
Chinese sausage is wrapped with tender kampong chicken thigh meat - a very unique combination that blend the fragrant fatty sausage into fresh chicken.  If you always find Chinese sausage too oily, this dish will definitely you a different perspective. Yummy!
The presentation was nice too, arranged as a blooming flower.

Chicken and Chinese Sausage roll 腊肠鸡卷
Rating: 4.5

Crystal Pig’s Trotters 水晶猪蹄冻 @$7.90
The Pig Trotters Jelly taste quite similiar to the Shark's Jelly (without the fishy smell) that you can buy from hawker stalls selling fish soup. To make this, trotters were stewed for hours and the collagen will turned to be jelly-form with refrigeration.  This dish was served cold and it was supposed to be smooth enough to slurp down our throat. Remember to mix it with the sauce before you eat, else it can taste a bit bland.

Crystal Pig’s Trotters 水晶猪蹄冻
Rating: 3.5

Side Dishes
Drunken Cockle 一品醉蚶 @$9.90
This is one of their famous side dish. Its not really new to me as I had tried something similar at a zichar store at Commonwealth. The drunken cockles were served cold, topped with a generous amount of minced garlic, some sliced chilli and spring onion with wine marinade (Hua diao?).  Don't worry about the garlic being too overpowering, in fact the combination enhanced the bloody clams and make it refreshingly good.

Drunken Cockle 一品醉蚶
Rating: 4.25/5

Braised Pork Intestine 九转小肠 @$13.90
One intestine was wrapped within another intestine which is within another intestine, forming multiple-layers intestine.  Didn't really count if there were actually 9 layers of intestines there, but its definitely a nice chewy dish with savoury braised sauce bursting out while you chew.

Braised Pork Intestine 九转小肠
Rating: 4/5

Stir-fried Yam 酥炒芋头 - M @$16.90
Can't really decide if this is a dessert or savoury dish.  Fried Yam cubes were sweet, crispy, caramelized sugar on the outside while savoury fluffy on the inside. Quite special and nice.

Stir-fried Yam 酥炒芋头
Rating: 4/5

Homemade Beancurd 自制滑豆腐 - L @$17.90
The homemade beancurd is fragrant and silky smooth, just like "tau hui".  Simple but excellence!

Homemade Beancurd 自制滑豆腐
Rating: 4.25/5

PUTIEN sweet and sour pork with Lychees 莆田荔枝肉 - L @$23.90
Didn't really taste the lychee. But the sweet and sour pork was quite well executed, crispy pork with tangy sweet tomato sauce. Not too sweet or sour and the meat is not dry.

PUTIEN sweet and sour pork with Lychees 莆田荔枝肉
Rating: 4/5

Fried "Hing Wa" Bee Hoon 兴化米粉 - L @$23.90
We loved this signature dish as well. Bee Hoon is a speciality product of "Hing Wa" 兴化, it is thin as hair and white as snow.  The fried bee hoon was soft and taste good as it absorb the flavors of the ingredient/stock and its not oily.  The simple baked seaweed also enhance its taste. Nice!

Fried "Hing Wa" Bee Hoon 兴化米粉
Rating: 4.25/5

Plain water is chargeable at $0.60.  There was a 1-for-1 promotion for fruit juice jug, we ordered 2 jugs of soursop and it turn out to be quite sweet.

Total bill was $175.80. Not cheap but a yummy and memorable dinner.  Will definitely be back for the Chicken and Chinese Sausage roll!

23 Serangoon Central
#02-18/19
Singapore 556083
Tel: (65) 6634 7833
Lunch: 11.30am - 3pm (Last order: 2.30pm)
Dinner: 5.30pm - 10pm (Last order: 9.30pm)

Sun with Moon Japanese Dinning and Cafe - Wheelock Place

Happened to pass by Sun with Moon Dining and Cafe at Wheelock place, without hesitation, we entered the restaurant despite we are kinda full after a heavy brunch. Had missed Sun with Moon food for a long time after the branch at Central had moved/closed.

Was quite disappointed when we can't find the pan fried Beef and foie Gras in the menu.  Checked with the waitress and found that the dish is only available in dinner menu and it had been converted to teppanyaki at a lower cost.

To satisfy our desire for variety, we order a Shokado Bento lunch Set to share.

Sashimi

Rating: 4/5

Fresh sashimi served on ice.  Amaebi with heads was tender and smooth, wasabi enhanced the prawn paste in the head making it flavourful.

Sushi 

Rating: 4/5

3 salmon, 1 mango and 1 avocado sushi.  Aburi Salmon with roe - slightly burnt on the outside, fresh and soft on the inside plus the salty sea taste of fish roe give a mouthful of different taste.

Tempura 

Rating 3.5/5

The dish was a bit oily without the raddish mash, however, the tempura prawn is still taste  fresh and nice.

Grilled Saba, Unagi egg roll, Tori Karaage  

Rating: 4/5

Tori Karaage was dry and disappointing. But the Unagi egg roll was a perfect match, thick fragrance unagi sauce complement the soft and smooth egg.

Braised port 

Rating: 3.5/5

Fatty 3-layer pork doesn't taste greasy, but still prefer the softer and richer taste of Chinese braised 3-layer pork (东坡肉).

Pan fried Beef 

Rating: 4/5

Slightly charred on the outside and  with a hint of pale pink inside, best to taste it  while its hot!

Udon

Rating: 3.5/5

Hot udon soup with tempura flakes, a nice comfort food that complement the sushi.

Matcha Ice Cream with Red Bean 

Rating: 3/5

The Bento set end with a dessert - Japanese green tea ice cream with red bean.


501 Orchard Road
#03-15/16/17 Wheelock Place
Singapore 238880
Tel: 6733 6636
http://www.sunwithmoon.com.sg/