Orchard Hotel Singapore

This staycation at the Orchard Hotel also happened in July of 2015, a week after our St. Regis hotel staycation hehe. I was going through a rough phase at work that time so my brother was like in Singapore almost every week for a few times haha.

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The St. Regis Hotel, Singapore

Super late post. This happened in  July of 2015 when my Mom and her friend came to Singapore for a holiday when their trip to Korea was cancelled due to the MERS virus that time.

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California Pizza Kitchen, Forum Shopping Mall (2)

I remember giving CPK a bad review in my first post about the restaurant, click here. I don't remember eating here again since that time and that was several years ago. Since they are part of the Entertainer app, we ate here again in January of this year and I must say the food and the service has greatly improved.

In fact, I used to eat quite often at CPK back in the Philippines as they used to be very famous there. I don't know anymore if they are still at Glorietta Mall in Makati.
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Pool Grill, Singapore Marriott Hotel

This happened in September of last year. Sorry for the blurry photo but the view from the Pool Grill was very nice.
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Wild Honey, Mandarin Gallery & Scotts Square

I've been to Wild Honey twice. The first time was a few years ago and the second was just recently. It is very high end for an all-day breakfast sort of place so I cannot afford to eat here all the time haha.
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Eighteen Chefs, Cathay Cineleisure

This happened sometime April of last year (found these photos on my phone when I was cleaning up old files).

This restaurant is pretty special as the founder is an ex-convict. "Eighteen" is the name of the gang that his father once belonged to, thus the name of the restaurant.
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Four Fingers Crispy Chicken, Ion Orchard

They seriously make good great business... there is almost always a queue...

Wow, it's been quite a while since I last did a restaurant review. I normally eat the usual food on a daily basis so nothing special enough to share on this blog...

Until I met Four Fingers! :-P

I did a little bit of research (a.k.a. googling) but I still can't seem to figure out if Four Fingers is a Singaporean company (it seems like it though). Their website says 4Fingers represent 4 friends who started this fast-food "phenomenon" in Singapore when they were inspired by eateries in New York City selling korean-style fried chicken.

Now don't get confused as Four Fingers is totally different from BonChon Chicken. And I've tried the BonChon Chicken in Bugis+ and it pales in comparison to Four Fingers. Really!
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Coffee Club, Orchard Road

After watching "Transformers" a few weeks ago, we had a late night snack at Coffee Club in Orchard. We were going to join this 12-week weight loss challenge the next day (refer to Fitness Blog #7) so we wanted to have our "last good meal" haha, excuses excuses.


We were pleasantly surprised to find out the place is actually 24 hours open and boy were they packed.

Calorie-laden vanilla milkshake to kickstart an even more caloric meal haha :P

Jhun had this salad as he didn't want to join in on the pig-out.. What a party pooper haha.

My supposed "really huge" chicken sandwich. This is probably one of the worst sandwiches I've ever tasted. The chicken was so processed it didn't taste like chicken anymore, it was like a huge chicken ball shaped like a patty. Terrible. The chicken nuggets at McDonalds is better.

Rudz had the Alfredo Pasta. I just had a taste of this and it was just ok.

Vish had the Spaghetti Bolognese. I think this was the most decent out of all the dishes though it wasn't anything special.

(From L-R, Aihz, Vish, Mark, Rudz, Jhun and Moses)

Coffee Club was very disappointing. Aside from the fact the wait staff could barely speak english. I don't think I'm ever coming back, unless I'm going to have coffee and dessert. I guess they should really just stick to serving coffee as what their name implies.

My rating for Coffee Club-

Ambiance - 4.0
Food - 2.0
Service - 2.5
Presentation - 3.5
Price- 2.0

OVERALL - 2.8

323 Orchard Road

Singapore 238892

(65) 6736 2081

Open 24 Hours

http://www.coffeeclubworld.com/

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Me, Myself & I Weekend

Saturday night I was bored at home so I decided to go to town and walk around. I wanted to get a haircut but the Salon I wanted to try at Plaza Singapura was already closed when I got there at 8pm.

So I just trooped to Da Paolo Gastronomia in Paragon to try out their beef pie or pasta. I haven't had dinner and I sure was hungry haha. Too bad they had no more beef pie so I had the lasagna instead. I sat down at one of the benches along Orchard and ate my lasagna. It was very good, though a bit sour and too beefy tasting. Maybe a little sweet cheese could have done the trick.

Anyway, I just took in the sights and ambiance of Orchard. Sometimes I find it therapeutic to be alone as it makes you ponder and think about your life. Cheesy huh. But seriously, it made me realize how lucky I am. This past week was hell for me at work. Seriously, I have never been so stressed and agitated by work. This "alone time" made me connect with myself again.

I also wanted to get in some exercise so I walked from Plaza Singapura to Far East then dropped by Cold Storage to buy my weekly grocery. Then I walked all the way to City Hall MRT lugging along my grocery bags. By the time I got to the MRT it was 11.30pm and I sure was tired but happy to have squeezed in some exercise.


Today I finally got my haircut at a neighborhood salon. Then for dinner, Aileen and I cooked Spinach Fettucine with cheese beef sausages, cheddar cheese, button mushrooms and green olive pesto. I actually promised to cook a meal for Aileen & Bill since they have been cooking so much lately and I wanted to return the favor from getting free meals haha.

I intially planned to stir in some mint in the pasta but Aileen said it might ruin the taste so we came up with this brilliant idea of making Mint Iced Tea. I never realized what a big difference the mint would make to the iced tea, it was so refreshing!

So that was my weekend. Tomorrow is the start of another work week. Ugh. Next weekend, March 1-3, I'll be going to Tioman Island to Malaysia with Zach. A much needed break that I am so looking forward to. I'm crossing my fingers that Salang Beach in Tioman looks exactly how it looks like in pictures, or even better.

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Da Paolo Gastronomia , Paragon Place

After lunch at East Coast Rd, we headed to Orchard Road since I had to go to Lucky Plaza to do some chores. Walking around sure burns those calories so we had to load up, hahaha. We were only intending to grab some drinks at Marketplace when we chanced upon this glorious place in Paragon.

I wandered around while waiting for Zach to buy his drink and spotted this shop. And boy was I happy I wandered around! I define De Paolo Gastronomia as a gourmet delicatessen (from the German word "delikat Essen"- ‘fine foods’) since they serve prepared food in the form of cold cuts, meat, pasta & pastry, that are not the usual finds.

I really felt like a kid with eyes wide-open amazed at the wonderful selection, hahaha. There were so many good food that I wanted to try and I swear to high heavens the next time I get hungry, this is where I will go!

Zach chose the "Salmon Pizza" (S$7.00) with generous dill sauce topping. Woooowwww is all I can say. The salmon covered most of the pizza and it was perfect with the dill, added a bit saltiness.

My only rant is that I find the pizza a bit overcooked (as seen in photo above) as the crust was already slightly burnt. Zach loved it though, he says the crispier the better.

I chose the "Lemon Curd Chocolate Cake" (S$8.00). This was more like a mousse actually instead of a cake. The lemon curd was very little and I think they should have added more of it to balance out the sweetness. It was too sweet we weren't able to finish it.

No rating since this isn't exactly a restaurant. BUT, I saw in their website that they actually have restaurants under the "De Paolo" group of companies, now that I have to check out.

Paragon Place
290 Orchard Road #B1-20
Singapore 238859
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Shokudo - Streets of Japan, The Heeren Shops

After a tiring but fun day at the Zoo, we had dinner at the Heeren Shops at the Orchard. It actually took us a while to decide where to eat but since we saw Shokudo is already open at the Heeren, we (or shall I say, I) decided to eat there.

Shokudo reminds me of the now closed "Streetlife" in Manila, where you get a card to charge all your food purchases and pay for them upon check-out. The difference is that Shokudo is an all-japanese dining experience (and prices are a bit more expensive).

For appetizer, we had "Chicken Teriyaki Salad" (around S$8, I lost the receipt). Quite pricey for a salad but good nonetheless. I just wish the dressing tasted more asian - you know that honey, soy sauce & sesame oil kind of dressing. Plus, I wish they used better greens, iceberg lettuce is not exactly worth 8 dollars (plus taxes and service charge).

Zach had the "Seafood Hotpot Soup" (around S$9). I really liked this soup! It was mildly spicy and there was a lot of seafood - clams, shrimp, squid and salmon. Moreover, it was good for 2 people.

I had the "Japanese-style Salmon & Onion Omelette" (around S$6). This one I realllyyy loved! The japanese mayo plus those dry stuff on top (can someone tell what it is?) really complement the omelette. Plus there was a lot of salmon stuffing.

For dessert, we had this japanese ice-concocted creation (around S$8), hehe sorry I forgot the name. The red beans were really tender but a bit too sweet. The green tea ice cream was really yummy. A perfect way to cap off a yummy japanese meal.

All in all, I enjoyed Shokudo. I love the idea of having a charge card and choosing from a wide array of Japanese food. Plus the ambiance added to the experience. Zach didn't like the food, but he is such a choosy eater he will only generally eat malay and indian food so his rating doesn't count hehehe.

The only thing I don't like is that the waiters are too eager to clear your table (as anywhere in Singapore). I'm sure their intention is to keep your table clean but a part of me is saying management told them to do that to drop you a hint to get up and vacate your table for others to use.

Here is my rating for Shokudo:

Ambiance - 5.0
Service - 4.0
Food - 4.5
Presentation - 5.0
Value for Money - 4.0
OVERALL - 4.5

Shokudo Streets of Japan
260 Orchard Road
#B1-01 The Heeren
Singapore 238855

"Live, Love & Eat!"

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California Pizza Kitchen, Forum Shopping Mall Orchard Road

Friday night. Time for another sumptuous meal. Hehe. So like our usual dilemma, we didn't know what we wanted to eat.We were considering of going to Holland Village to avail of the 1-for-1 voucher at an Italian restaurant but we didn't know how to get there from Orchard road.

So I dug deep into my tummy to think what was I craving for...

Tortilla Chips! So all the way from Plaza Singapura we walked to the other end of Orchard to CPK. It was probably a good 2 km walk - perfect to work up an appetite. (As if I have to.. haha)


Now CPK has been one of my favorites even way back in Manila. Whenever my budget permits, I would go to CPK for a reward meal. I even celebrated my first bday in Singapore in CPK. Naturally, I was expecting another glorious meal.

For starters, we ordered "Spinach Artichoke Dip" ($13.90) - Menu says "Served hot with blue & white corn tortilla chips".

This is where everything started to go downhill. The tortilla chips were NOT hot at all. Not even warm. In fact, they tasted old. So old it wasn't crispy at all. I really wanted to complain. But it's not really my habit to complain when I eat out. If it won't kill me, I'll just let it go. Besides, I really didn't want to spoil my mood, even if my appetite was already spoiled.

Next we had "The Original BBQ Chicken Chopped Salad" ($16.90) - Chopped lettuce, black beans, sweet corn, jicama, cilantro, basil, crispy corn tortilla strips and Monterey Jack cheese tossed together in our herb ranch dressing. Topped with chopped BBQ chicken breast, diced tomatoes and green onions.

I'm glad this tasted great - as always. A good save from the pathetic tortillas. My only comment was the mediocre piece of lime. C'mon, if you're going to give me a piece of lime that's smaller than my thumb, might as well not give it to me at all. Seriously, when I squeezed it, there were more seeds that came out than lime juice.

sorry. forgot the digicam again.

Lastly, we had "Original BBQ Chicken Pizza" ($19.90) - CPK's most popular pizza, introduced in their restaurant in Beverly Hills in 1985. Barbecue sauce, smoked Gouda and Mozzarella cheeses, BBQ Chicken, sliced red onions and cilantro.

Now I specifically remember saying we want it Neapolitan style - thin crust and crispy. I don't know how the waiter or the cook can miss a word such as "Neapolitan", if I said "crispy" or "thin" they probably could have missed it. But Neapolitan?!

In short, our pizza was soft and soggy. I should have just eaten gardenia bread with toppings if i wanted a soggy pizza.

All in all, I was pissed. Of all the times I ate at CPK, they decided to screw up this one time. The one time where I will feature them in my blog for the very first time.

Eversince I've been reading Waiter Rant (look for the link in "My Reads"), I've been extra careful not to piss off a waiter. Unless you want spit on your food. Plus, I always make it a point to say "Please" and "Thank You" - which I always do anyways.

One thing I am proud of is that my parents taught me to always "Smile", say "Please" and "Thank You", on top of knowing how to say "I'm Sorry".

But no apologies to CPK. Here is my disappointed rating:

Ambiance - 3.5
Service - 1.5
Food - 1.5
Presentation - 3
Value for Money - 2.5
OVERALL - 2.4

ADDRESS#01-42, 583 Orchard Road, Forum The Shopping Mall
RESERVATIONS 68360110/63399883(delivery)

"Live, Love & Eat!"

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