Food More by Sheng Siong - Serangoon North

SERANGOON NORTH - FOOD MORE BY SHENG SIONG

- WINDMILL (FENG CHE) YONG TAU FOO -

The soup was a little saltish but otherwise tasteless. 

The fish paste wasn't quite fresh.

The items were at S$0.50 each (minimum S$3.00), but the serving size was a little on the stingy side.

(5/10)

- WINDMILL (FENG CHE) WU XIANG XIA BING -

It wasn't very tasty, with the fried items oily and soggy. 
The chilli sauce failed to make the dish more appetising.

(4/10)

- YU YUAN MIAN (NOODLES STORE) -

Mushroom Minced Meat Noodles

The serving was rather generous. 
However, the noodles failed to impress - they were dry and sticky with little sauce and flavour.

S$3.00
(6/10)

Fishball Noodles

Once again, the portion served was rather generous.
The fishballs were firm and chewy.
However, the noodles were limp and soggy.

S$2.60
(6/10)

SAKURA International Buffet - Tampines

TAMPINES - SAFRA - SAKURA INTERNATIONAL BUFFET

We arrived at about 8 pm on a Saturday night. There was a long queue!
We were ushered in after a table was hastily cleared.
What a mess! The place was packed, the tables placed closely to each other with little walking space - making it difficult to move about. The floor was slippery, sticky and had spilled sauces.

Anyway, we headed for the drinks station first. 
There was quite a variety of soft drinks, sweetened beverages and a coffee machine (one had broken down). 
They have Lipton tea bags for tea lovers. 
Once again, the place was a mess with spilled drinks, scattered ice and generally a small place with a large crowd and barely any order.

The Sushi & Sashimi Counter

 Imagine my disappointment when I saw this. 
My favourite Inari sushi was gone and never refilled. No fish roe sushi either :(
The remainder of the sushi didn't look appetising at all! :(

Thankfully there were still some salmon and squid sashimi left, along with a miserable amount of tuna. 
Octopus had run out and was not refilled.

I was also vastly disappointed when I saw that the ginger slices had barely any left. 
I love my sushi with generous servings of wasabi and pickled ginger :(



The salmon was OK, though not as fresh as other salmon sashimi I have tried before.
The tuna was horrible! It wasn't fresh and had a stale taste. Yuck.
The squid wasn't crisp and chewy as it should be! Instead, it was mushy :(
The wasabi wasn't fresh either. 
It had lost its bite and I had to heap enormous portions of it without the soy sauce to experience some of it's spiciness.

My partner managed to grab the last inari sushi! 

The rice was pretty tasty, but other than that the sushi weren't good. 

Skimpy fillings that weren't very tasty. What a let down :(

Cold Dishes Counter

ARGGGHHH!! WHERE ARE THE EDAMAMES?? I LOVE THE EDAMAMES!! :'(
And nooo! Barely any Baby Octopus left! I love them too!! :'(((

I scrapped off the last remaining octopus, took some cold jellyfish and headed back to the table.

My lovely marinated octopus which were supposed to be sweet and crunchy were SOFT AND SALTISH D:
The jellyfish was marinated well, but it wasn't cold and crunchy either - it was soft and mushy.
Maybe it was due to the previous disappointments, but the octopus and jellyfish were the worst I had ever eaten.

Seafood Counter

FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF-
I LOVE SEAFOOD :'((((
The Crabs were all GONE. One last scallop remains. A few mussels remain...
Nooooooooooooooooo-

Sigh.

The seafood wasn't up to standard either.
The mussels were not fresh - mushy and saltish.
The scallop was saltish too?
The prawns were very saltish?
Aren't these supposed to be fresh seafood?
I've eaten at many buffets, but this is the first time I've come across saltish 'fresh seafood'.

My favourite sections - sashimi and seafood - were pretty disappointing.
Oh well, at least there's a salad bar.
After so much saltish seafood, a nice platter of salad would be delightful...

Salad Bar

 ...

I spy a single lettuce leaf?
Everything else was empty, with some scraps of shredded carrots, sweet corn and legumes.
I decided to skip this section entirely...

 Next up we have the grilled food which you have to pre-order with your table clips.

Grilled Mushrooms

The mushrooms were not bad. They were soft and slightly saltish. 

Chicken Satay

Mutton Satay

The satays were probably the best dish here. The sauces were tasty.
As for the other grilled items such as salmon and beef, the meat were rather tough and the seasoning too saltish.

I didn't bother taking photographs for the cooked food section.
Most of the trays were empty with only the leftover sauces remaining. 
The cooked broccoli only had one stem left! 
The Dim Sum items and soups were still available.
The Kueh Pie Tee section was thankfully still available, though they had run out of coriander toppings.



There's a reason why the Kueh Pie Tee and Dim Sum sections were still filled.

As you can see, the Kueh Pie Tee shells had softened already and broke easily when I filled it.
The chilli sauce was so saltish??
It didn't taste good with the sparse coriander leaves and saltish chilli.

For some reason, the Dim Sum items were cold despite being kept in a bamboo steamer.
The skin was tough and unappetising and the fillings bland.

For the fried food, only some prawn tempura and chicken wings remained. 
The rest such as fish balls and vegetable tempura were still aplenty.

 Perhaps they were left out in the open for too long, but the prawn tempuras were soft and soggy, instead of being crispy.
The chicken wings were not crispy either.

Desserts

We tried some of their remaining tarts and cakes. 
They were HARD and unappetising.

Fruits

We skipped the 'fruits' section altogether.

Overall, for the price we paid (about S$30++ per person), the quality and quantity were terrible.

To be fair, we came pretty late at around 8 pm. 
However, the staff at the entrance should have had the decency to warn us that we would only be eating the leftovers and that the food would not be replenished.

Perhaps the place was understaffed, as the plates were cleared infrequently, leading to stacks of plates all over the table. 
Spills should have been cleaned quickly to prevent customers from stepping on them and smearing them all over the place.

Separate tongs should have been provided for different items. 
Instead, tongs were used interchangeable and were strewn haphazardly.

I can only conclude that this was the WORST buffet I have ever been to.

Overall [3/10]

• Food [3/10]
• Ambience [3/10]
• Service [3/10]
• Value [2/10]

SAKURA International Buffet Restaurant

PUTIEN - Vivocity

HABOURFRONT - VIVOCITY - PUTIEN

The restaurant had a nice ambience and tasteful decor. 
The service crew were friendly and polite too.
One complaint though - the same piano refrain was repeated ad nauseam in the background.

We ordered a set menu for two, with some additional dishes.

Pickles

A nice little appetiser served right at the start.

Chrysanthemum Tea

We requested the tea to be less sweet, so that the fragrance of the chrysanthemum isn't overwhelmed by the sugar. 
It was light and refreshing - a good way to cleanse the palate between dishes.

Bamboo Herbal Prawn

Mmm! The prawns were big and juicy~ 
The soup was a little saltish though, but the herbal taste made it flavourful.

(7/10)

PUTIEN Lor Mee

The noodle texture was rubbery like ramen. 
Broth was quite tasty, and the noodles were served generously with seafood.

(8/10)

Deep Fried Tenggiri Fish

The fish was fried well. 
It wasn't too oily, the flesh wasn't too tough and the skin was crisp.
Nothing special, but still tasty!

(8/10)

PUTIEN Sweet & Sour Pork with Lychees

Not bad. Once again, nothing special but it still tastes great!
The lychee didn't seem to make this dish any more different from the standard sweet & sour pork 
(besides the addition of the lychee, that is).

(8/10)

PUTIEN "Jian Bao"

This item is available for a limited time only, with a minimum of 4 pieces per order.
The skin was thin and doughy. The inside of the Bao was filled with a juicy meat mixture.
Honestly, it's like a large version of the Xiao Long Bao!
However, instead of dipping this in vinegar, you have a special sauce - which really made it quite tasty!

(8/10)

Stir-Fried Kailan with Beancurd Skin

Not bad. The beancurd skin was chewy and juicy from all the oyster sauce it absorbed.

(8/10)

Fried Heng Hwa Bee Hoon

This seems to be one of their signature dish. 
It wasn't too oily, but the noodles were a little too dry for our liking. 
Tasted alright though! It was served with seafood.

(7/10) 

Steamed Bamboo Clam with Minced Garlic

This is from their special menu featuring bamboo clams.
Delicious! The clams were well-cooked - they weren't too tough or rubbery.
The light drizzle of soy sauce and the generous heaps of minced garlic made it really tasty!
My only gripe would be that some of the clams weren't washed properly - there were bits of sand.

(8/10)

White Fungus with Lotus Seed

A sweet and light finish to the meal.

(7/10)

Overall [9/10]

• Food [8/10]
• Ambience [9/10]
• Service [9/10]
• Value [8/10] - Spent about S$30 per person. The serving size was quite large!

PUTIEN

QQrice - Novena

NOVENA - SQUARE 2 - QQRICE

They were having 10% off for the Rice Rolls so I decided to try it out.

Choose from 5 different types of rice - Brown, Mixed Grain, Wheat Germ Brown, Purple and Supreme Combination.

After that, you get to stuff your roll with 5 fillings from a nice variety. 
They have a vegetarian section too! 
Some examples of their fillings are tuna, mock meat, crabsticks, bakkwa, seaweed chicken, kidney beans, broccoli, coleslaw, shimeji mushrooms and many more! 
Some fillings are marked as premium, meaning you'll have to pay S$0.30 more for them.

This can be a rather healthy meal if you choose your fillings wisely. 
The rice itself is full of nutrition, and you have the option to pack the roll with vegetables and healthy meat.

Purple Rice

 I decided to give the purple rice a try since it looked interesting! 
The roll is about palm-sized and the rice is firmly packed.
It makes a great takeaway since it can be easily eaten on the go. 
The store has tables and chairs for dine-ins too.
The roll was still warm when I unwrapped it.

Purple Rice stuffed with 5 Different Fillings

I chose from the vegetarian section for my fillings. 
My choice includes - cucumbers, seaweed, spicy radish, mushrooms and vegetarian floss.
The cucumbers and floss gave it a nice crunch.
The seaweed and radish were flavourful.
The purple rice tasted somewhat like brown rice.
Overall, the warm rice wrapped around a mixture of tasty and crunchy ingredients made the meal an enjoyable one!

[9/10]
S$4.00 (after discount) 


I found out later that there's an optional choice of adding a sauce. 
The lady at the counter told me nothing of this though!

Healthy Rice Porridge with 3 Toppings

I decided to give their porridge (breakfast item) a go. 
The porridge was made from Mixed Grain. I could see pieces of barley in the porridge.
I chose long beans, peanuts and mock duck meat for the toppings.

The porridge was thick and sticky, and the grains were rather chewy.
There was a strong taste of ginger, which I disliked. I find that ginger only complements meat-based porridge well (such as pork porridge). Unlike the strong meaty flavour found in meat-based porridges, this one was rather bland by itself, so the ginger taste stood out.

Thankfully, the mock duck meat and the sweet peanuts gave the bland porridge more flavour, while the long beans gave a more crunchy texture to the otherwise sticky porridge.

[4/10]
S$3.60

QQrice

Longhouse Food Centre

UPPER THOMSON - LONGHOUSE FOOD CENTRE - BEST WESTERN • PASTA AND GRILL

 The store had a good crowd around 6pm on a weekday. 
Thankfully, the service was very fast, so the line moved quickly. 

Each main course comes with a Soup of the Day, which costs S$2.00 if ordered separately. 
We placed our orders, and were served the soup first as a starter while waiting for the main course.

The Soup of the Day was Cream of Mushroom. It was rather saltish. (6/10)

Each main course was served with fries, coleslaw and tomato and cucumber slices. 
The fries were soggy and saltish.

Chicken Chop

 The chicken tasted alright, though the skin was slightly saltish. 

(7/10)
S$5.50

Chicken Cutlet with Cream of Mushroom

 The chicken was rock hard. Best to avoid this.

(3/10)
S$5.50

Grilled Fish

  The fish meat was soft and the grilled skin was seasoned just right. Tasty! 

(8/10)
S$6.50

UPPER THOMSON - LONGHOUSE FOOD CENTRE - LUCY PANG YONG TAU FOO

 We also ordered a bowl of Yong Tau Foo for vegetables.



The soup was clear and had a slight yellow bean taste. 
It wasn't too sweet, saltish or oily.
The vegetables and fish paste were fresh.
Not bad!

(8/10)
S$0.60 per piece. Minimum S$3.60.

Chuan Wang Fu Spicy Hot Pot

SERANGOON - CHUAN WANG FU SPICY HOT POT

9 Teck Chye Terrace

It's the store at the end.

Condiments

Your standard fare of condiments.
The peanut paste was alright. It is one of the best condiments to accompany the numbing spiciness of the Ma-La soup base. 
Some restaurants serve thicker versions which richness is more satisfying.
It's a shame that they do not have minced garlic. 
Instead there's garlic paste which does not give you the same powerful bite of raw garlic.

Yuan-Yang Soup Base

Nothing special about the chicken stock. 
The Ma-La base however was sufficiently spicy and numbing; some restaurants may be lacking in either department.

Appetisers

 The sauces in these cold dishes can be rather tasty!

Their selection of food is pretty standard.
Seafood - Fish meat and cuttlefish were normal. Prawns are abysmally small. Mussels and clams were not fresh.
Fishballs - Soft and lovely.
Meatballs - Seems to be handmade. Tasted OK.
Meat - Unfortunately for pork, they only serve the fatty version. Beef and mutton were lean. Chicken was alright.

  

Vegetables - Bamboo, standard variety of mushrooms and vegetables. 
It's quite disappointing that they did not serve Tang Oh, which is my favourite vegetable for steamboat.
Noodles - Only vermicelli, dan dan and potato noodles. We tried the dan dan noodles - they were alright.
Dessert - We tried their mango pudding. It was silky and sweet - quite tasty!

Overall [7/10]

• Food [7/10]
• Ambience [7/10] - Cramped.
• Service [7/10] - The staff try to attend to you as quickly as possible. However many items that we ordered did not turn up. 
• Value [6/10] - Spent about S$26++ per person. Quite costly for such a simple fare. 

Chuan Wang Fu Spicy Hot Pot

Starbucks (Mt. Elizabeth Novena)

NOVENA - MT ELIZABETH - STARBUCKS

BBQ Pulled Chicken Ciabatta

The nachos were crunchy. The texture of the bread was not up to standard. 

The chicken filling was tasty though. 

[7/10]

S$12.00

Cranberry & Walnut Charcoal Roll

The roll had a lovely dense and smooth texture. 

It was generously filled with cranberries and walnut pieces, with crunchy sunflower seeds sprinkled on top. 

I passed on the option to include jam.

[9/10]

S$3.90

Caffè Latte

Spearmint Green Tea

I couldn't quite tell the difference between this and peppermint tea.

Starbucks