Mata Thai

It's always a big headache when it comes to deciding on a lunch venue every sunday.

Every week, we send our parents to a market in Ang Mo Kio to do their weekly marketing. Apparently they are so used to buying from the AMK wet markets for the past 30 years that they insist on going back there despite moving into  Sengkang 12 years back. 

Each time mummy is done with her marketing, the next question my dad will pose:

" Where are we going for lunch now?"

We will look at each other, shrug our shoulders and start brain storming for a place where we can go.

It's a headache as we didn't want to repeat the usual places, and my dad's only hobby is finding good food, especially new ones to try out. However, he is not very receptive to foreign food. We always want to bring him to somewhere new, but results can either be :

1) He is extremely excited and overjoyed

2) He frowns and gets disappointed

We hate to see the latter, hence we always want to make sure the choice is one that makes him happy.

It's not easy at all. But we will keep on trying..........

We made a 2pm facial and massage appointment at My Village for the old folks and ourselves. Thus, lunch has to be somewhere not too far from Serangoon Gardens. Sister suggested a Thai food restaurant in Bishan which she just tried with her husband lately. Off we go!

The place is very quiet considering the fact that it's 12.30pm already. This place is located in the rows of HDB shophouses, with beauty salons and the POSB bank branch being their neighbours. A mere 3 mins walk from the Bishan MRT station and bus interchange, you can't miss this place if you head towards the 2 storeys NTUC Fairprice supermarket and the POSB bank.

The Colorful Menu

Deep Fried Prawn Cakes - $8

We looked like the first few customers for the day, so we assume the prawn cakes were fried using fresh frying oil, and hence the beautiful golden brown patties! The crust is lightly battered, and you can bite into a mouthful of prawn! Very satisfying!

Prawn omelette- $8

One of the nicest omelette we have seen in terms of appearance. Its nicely fried with the right shade of brown and yellow. Being pretty generous with the prawns is another plus! 

Roasted Chicken - $12

Not very much like our oriental-styled roast chicken, this Thai-style roasted chicken is real crispy on the outside. A layer of sweet brown sauce was poured over the roasted chicken, giving it another unique flavour. The only complaint is that the meat is pretty dry. Not a bad replacement though, if you are sick of ordering the usual pandan chicken served in every Thai food stall.

Fish Head Curry- $10

We specially ordered this dish to go along with the dry dishes ordered above. And best of all, they are running a promotion now! The Fish Head Curry is currently $10, instead of $18!

The fish is fresh, curry looks creamy, but the taste is good. However, it wasn't spicy at all. Suitable for those who can't take very spicy food. Portion is just nice for 2-3 persons provided you order other dishes to go along with it. What more can you ask for in a $10 Fish Head curry?

Thai Iced Milk Tea- $1.50

Quite an authentic Thai iced milk tea, but it can't beat the ones in Tawadang Microbrewery. 

No Service Charge, No GST! Quite an economical lunch for 4!


You may be curious to know my dad's comment? 
"Pretty good food, can eat can eat......"




Mata Thai is located at:
Block 508 Bishan Street 11
#01-390
Singapore 570508.


Tel: 92762629

L'etoile Cafe

Setting up a cafe has been on everyone's dream somehow in some part of our lives. Instead of slogging in the offices, who wouldn't like the idea of having one's own cafe, serving small bites, coffee & tea, and lazing in them? I had mine since years ago. But how many actually took action, and put in efforts into setting up one? 

With the countless cafes popping out in this food scene over the years, not many enjoyed an eternal lifespan. Chris Tea House was one good one which was closed (not because of poor business, but because of the owner's decision). To enter into this 'cafe competition', good food and drinks are no longer the only criteria. Themed interiors, quirky ideas, originality, media publicity etc are just some areas in which you need to be unique in before you get a share in this pie.

L'etoile Cafe at Owen road has certainly met many of these. Hidden in the midst of old hardware shophouses, this cafe definitely left an impression in those looking for it for the first time. For the clueless foodies, I can only comment that L'etoile is located somewhere near to the famous Ng Ah Sio Bak Kut Teh. Got an impression now?

The exterior

When I first reached this place, my thought was " Such a pretty cafe"! Makes me dying to check it out!

It was a Saturday afternoon. Before I entered, I saw a few outdoor customers reading newspapers, sipping L'etoile coffee, with their dogs sitting next to them. What a nice afternoon to laze in!

Corner selling some cute accessories

Stepping into L'etoile, a bright and clean environment welcomes you. This French-themed Japanese cafe makes one eager and curious to venture in. The first floor was packed (they have less than 10 tables on on level one). We walked all the way, bypassing bookshelves and some unique furniture and found a carpeted staircase leading up to the second floor.

L'etoile Cafe- The Upstairs

The eclectic interior with different pieces of vintage furniture and soft music playing in the background, Oh my! What an interesting place to hang out! The big windows allow ample light to fill the cafe, yet not too glaring with their French-themed lace curtains. 

Table by the windows

One of the largest seats around for bigger groups

The staff do not allocate tables. We were free to choose any available tables that we like. Since we will be having food, we opted for a dinner table, rather than those sofa seats with low coffee tables. 

Bird Cage hand-drawn on the wall

Many couples and small groups of friends gathered here just to read some books, surf the net with their laptops and simply just hanging out, looking like they are gonna be there for a least a couple of hours. I can't agree better. A few book shelves filled with books ranging from motivational books, novels, to recipe books are provided for reading free-of-charge! Its such an inviting cafe, cosy and comfortable, you just feel like lazing here for an afternoon. 

You may now ask: How about the food and drinks?

Let's take a look at the menu.

The Menu

They certainly have a good range of food, ranging from the weekend English breakfast sets to main dishes like Fish & Chips, to Pasta and even Vietnamese Beef Pho. Prices are steeper than before I heard.  

Fish & Chips- $15.90

I wasn't very adventurous with the food options since I haven hear much reviews about the food served here. Ordered the safest choice- Fish & Chips. Surprising, it is much better than an average Fish & Chips! The white fish was fresh and thick, and the crust being very light! Fried to such a nice golden color, not many can resist having a bite at it! Its definitely a 9/10 rating!

Nutella French Crepes

Instead of ordering the cakes, I decided to try their French crepes. 

They serve their French Crepes in 3 ways: 

1. Butter & Sugar ($6)

2. Strawberry Jam ($6.50)

3. Nutella ($6.90)

Being a Nutella fan, option 3 was a natural choice! 

Two Sweet French crepes were served with grapes and apples. The choice of fruits being served was a bit strange to me since the apple may brown after being in the open for some time, and the combination of local fruits on a french crepe looks kinda mismatched too. 

Earl Grey Tea

Loved the way they put the 2 retro biscuits beside the cup! 

Ice Mocha

It cost us $38 for the 2 drinks, 1 main dish and the dessert. 

Prices are not steep but not exactly that cheap after all.

However, for the efforts in putting up such a nice cosy cafe (Best thing is the staff are polite and attentive, and they don't make you feel like "you have stayed too long, its time to go" kind of attitude despite most customers ordering only a drink and cake, and hanging there for hours......

I would definitely come again, and I bet the next catch-up sessions with the BFFS should be done here!

More pictures before I end it off here!

Lemon Meringue Cupcakes

Chocolate Swiss Roll

L'etoile Cafe is located at:

160 Owen Road

Singapore 281953.

Opening hours:

Tuesdays to Sundays:

9am till 8pm

Singapore Food Trail @ The Flyer

There are countless Hawker centers and Food courts over this little island. Some particularly stands out, credit to 1 or 2 famous food stalls rooted in them. Queues are also common for stalls that are famous. Attempts to bring together these famous food stalls all over Singapore into one place were common dining concepts. Food Republic @ Wisma Atria & Suntec are one example. The Singapore Food Trail @ The Flyer is another.

The Singapore Food Trail @ The Flyer stands out not only because they house a couple of famous hawker stalls in Singapore. To me, it's more of their nostalgic feel and 60's decor that has won my attention. It is a concept dining attraction, set in the Singapore food street scenes in the 1960's.

As a Singaporean, we probably know where most of our famous and yummy Chicken rice, Hokkien mee, Bak kut teh, Char kuay teow, Popiah, are located etc etc..... Hopping around this small island for these good food is no hassle at all. I definitely do not mind traveling to the stall I fancy. Therefore, putting several famous food stalls together in one place does not mean a lot to me, especially when the standards at these stalls rarely match those in their original outlet. 

Nonetheless, the Singapore Food Trail made a good effort to do up the entire place, making it such a nice and retro one to dine in. To be frank, I came here 70% for Photo-taking, 30% for the food. 

A huge retro movie poster

Goreng Pisang stall from Changi Village

Popiah Stall

A classic Kachang Puteh stall

Old School "Bird Nest" drink

Newton Hokkien Mee

Newton Hokkien Mee from the stall above

Waited in queue for about 20 minutes before this plate of Hokkien Mee lands in my hands. Like I said previously, standards in these "branches" cannot beat the ones in their original stall. The noodles here are pretty dry and I would prefer if they have a better mix of beehoon and mee. Can barely find much beehoon in this plate.

Rong Chen Bak Kut Teh, Stewed pork trotters & rice

Guess what? Not every stall in the food trail sells food! This shop found at a corner of food trail displays a wide range of very retro goods! Got me real excited looking at them! They are for sale too! 

Everything so retro!

Store selling a wide range of very Retro stuff!

Anyone still keeps the A&W glass?

Manual Ice Shaver for making the Ice Balls in the 50's

Retro Hot flasks & the classic Iron that probably weighs a few kgs!

Old abacus, telephone, typewriter and casette player

Coffee corner

Kopi Uncle

Spotted the milk cans for takeaways?

Soft drinks in glass bottles

The indoor seating area

The food trail is probably attracting more of tourists who flock to the Singapore Flyer than our locals. It's convenient whereby a tourist who is on a short holiday here gets a ride to see Singapore skyline on the Flyer, as well as tuck into some local hawker delights at the same time, without the hassle to travel the entire island hunting them. 

With so many stalls in here, you probably have a hard time deciding which to go for!

Singapore Food Trail is located at:
30 Raffles Avenue
Singapore 039803.


Monday to Thursday: 10.30am till 10.30pm
Fridays to Sundays   : 10.30am till 11.30pm

Relish Gardens: Whole Day Brunch

While sleeping in over the weekend sounds like an ideal thing to do, waking up at noon, head out for a good brunch sounds even Perfect to kick start a great weekend! If you happen to stay in the North-east, Relish Gardens by Wild Rockets is where you probably should head to after washing up.

Tucked in a corner at Level two @ My Village in Serangoon Gardens, Relish Gardens is quiet up to about Noon. The high ceilings and floor-to-ceiling big windows allow a nice amount of sunlight to brighten up the place, ideal for reading the newspapers over your brunch and cuppa coffee. Decor is simple yet cosy. We like the place the first time we stepped in!

A big chalk board greets upon entering Relish Gardens

The simple yet cosy decor

Its always the 2 of us, and we can rarely order more than 2 main dishes. Many times I couldn't finish even one portion by myself. Let's take a look at the Menu and see what's good!

Relish Menu

Finally decided to order 3 items from the Menu.

Home-Styled Mushroom Cream Soup

Had a bit of a shock when the soup arrived on the table. (PS: We only ordered 1 for sharing)

The bowl was pretty big but it was only half filled! Nonetheless, the soup smells and tastes great! 

Not too creamy, and pretty generous with the mushrooms they used for this soup! We kind of finished it in less than 2 minutes!

The Classic Egg Benedict

Nothing very special about the egg benedict served here, as we have had better ones elsewhere. Generous with their bacons though.... with nicely poached eggs.

Char Siew Pork Open Foccacia Burger

This Eastern-Western dish caught my eyes when I went through the menu with pretty small prints.

I love Char Siew, and putting Char Siew on Foccacia definitely makes me vote for this dish to be ordered!

The char siew soft-bone pork is super tender, with lots of gravy, making it absolutely appetizing!

The portion is not too big, just nice for one to fill their waking stomach. 

Cakes for the day

The cakes look good! But by the time we finished all our food, we couldn't take in any more desserts. 

Its a pity. We make sure we make room for them the next time we come!

Though we only ordered 3 dishes, we left the restaurant feeling real full! Instead of heading straight back to the car, we decided to do some grocery shopping at the NTUC Finest Supermarket at the basement of My Village. 

We should probably try the Weekday Set Lunch on another day! 

Relish Gardens @ My Village, Serangoon Gardens is located at:
1 Maju Avenue, #02-07
My Village, Serangoon Gardens
Singapore 556679.


Weekdays:
Lunch: 12noon till 3pm
Dinner: 6.30pm till 11pm
Weekends:
Whole Day Brunch: 1130am till 930pm.


Reservation: 6634 3422