You Men HK Roast, Food Republic, Capitol Piazza, Singapore
Posted by gavin in Restaurants, Travel on February 25, 2018
I’d visited a place called Ah Yat Kitchen in the food court of the Capitol Piazza several times so, being in the area, I decided to go there again. However the name and menu have changed over the past year.
The food at Ah Yat Kitchen was Hong Kong dumpling. You Men is all about roasted meats.
Being caught a little unawares by the menu change (I’d gone in looking for dumplings and pork buns) I quickly chose a Char Siew and Wanton Noodle Soup for the princely sum of SG$5.80.
I waited around 5 minutes while my dish was prepared and then eagerly devoured what turned out to be a pretty decent soup. The wantons were cooked just right, and the addition of the barbecued pork turned a good snack into a great snack.
A decent, fast, cheap feed.
Zheng Swee Kee, Singapore
Posted by gavin in Restaurants, Travel on February 21, 2018
This is pretty much my go to place for excellent Chinese food when I’m in Singapore.
After checking into the Swissotel and grabbing a Singtel SIM card at Raffles City I headed past Raffles (which is currently being renovated) to Zheng Swee Kee within 2 hours of landing in Singapore.
I ended up eating here for 2 meals during this trip.
As per my previous review, Zheng Swee Kee is a traditional Hainanese chicken rice restaurant on Seah Street which is a bit of a food and drink street.
You can sit inside, or you can sit in the nominally smoking outside area on Seah St.
The bottles of Tiger beer are still $9. Good to see inflation isn’t making getting a drink in the broiling sun too expensive.
The way it works here is that you order your food and drink. When they are delivered you pay for them right away. So you’ll pay your $9 for your beer as soon as that arrives, and then you’ll pay for your food separately when that arrives.
The dishes come in 3 sizes – small, medium and large. A medium dish is a meal for one. Additionally a large bowl of rice is SGD$0.80.
On my first visit I opted for Beef with Ginger and Onion. A very tasty dish. Takes about 10 minutes to be cooked so you know it’s fresh. No bain-marie here!
A couple of days later, after a busy day (read that as far too many beers :)) and just wanting something to line the stomach (to absorb all the beer) I headed here just after 7pm. The place wasn’t overly busy and I got a seat at one of the outside tables and ordered 2 small dishes – a Beef with Ginger and Onion, and a Sweet and Sour Pork.
Within half an hour I had a full stomach of excellent food which would ensure that I woke up the next morning in a healthy state.
I cannot recommend this place any more highly – just go there!
Pier One Sydney Harbour, Sydney, Australia
Posted by gavin in Hotels, Restaurants, Travel on February 18, 2018
This is a little out of the way gem of a hotel on Sydney Harbour. This hotel is built on one of Sydney’s old piers and uses the rustic form of the pier in the design of the building.
The rooms are on the largish side and with soaring ceilings. My room had a huge beam as a central feaure that supported the upper floor of the original pier along with the intricate metal work that connected the beams together. It looked pretty impressive I must say.
Outside the front door of the hotel is the south supporting column of the Sydney Hardbour Bridge along with the extensive stone work that supports the approach road of the bridge.
Foodwise I couldn’t be bothered leaving the hotel and I had 4 meals at the hotel restaurant, The Gantry.
The dinner menu was small but had quality.
On my first evening I had the pheasant, and on the second the wagyu steak – both cooked to perfection. I would eat these dishes any day!
I also had breakfast at the hotel each morning as there was a special on that gave me free breakfast with the corporate rate.
My only beef with the restaurant is the consistent errors they made on the bills! When eating in the hotel I always have the total put on my hotel bill, makes it easier for me as I only have one bill to worry about at the end.
What were the problems?
Even though I charged my dinners to my room account I found out that they had added a credit card surcharge to the dinner bills before they added it to my room account. I noticed something was wrong when I was checking out as the restaurant bills weren’t round numbers. If I hadn’t noticed I would have been paying a credit charge surcharge twice for my dinners, and also paying a credit card surcharge on the credit card surcharge.
Secondly, even though I showed the discount card for the free breakfast to the wait staff they didn’t record it and still charged me for breakfast. I also bought this up at checkout and the charges were removed.
So a great hotel, a splendid restaurant menu…. just make sure you check your bill before you checkout so you don’t pay more than you should.
Alfredo’s Restaurant, Sydney, Australia
Posted by gavin in Restaurants, Travel on February 14, 2018
In the laneway next to the Sydney Harbour Marriott is Alfredo’s Restaurant.
The quality of the food here is superb.
I ordered the bruschetta which tasted fresh and refreshing on soft fluffy bread – a great starter dish.
For my main I ordered the large pheasant ravioli which would have to be one of the best dishes I’ve eaten this year – I could have ordered a second one it was just so good.
For desert I had to order the tiramisu, as I try to do in most Italian restaurants, and it too was perfect.
Foodwise, a great restaurant.
What wasn’t so good was the service. Rather than look after their customers the staff just chatted away between themselves, or started cleaning around the bar area totally ignoring that customer were waiting to be served.
While the food was spectacular the quality of the service was probably bad enough that I won’t be returning.
On this day- 1983: US troops invade GrenadaAmerican forces seize control of the Caribbean island of Grenada less than a week after a left-wing coup in which the prime minister, Maurice Bishop, was killed.
- 1964: President Kaunda takes power in ZambiaZambia is the ninth African state to gain independence from the British crown.
- 1984: Europe grants emergency aid for EthiopiaThe EEC is donating £1.8 million to help combat the famine in Ethiopia.
- 1976: Queen opens National Theatre in LondonThe Queen has officially opened the National Theatre on the South Bank in London after years of delays.
- 2001: Crime rates lowest for 20 yearsBritish Crime Survey reveals the chances of being a victim of crime are lowest for 20 years.
- 1983: US troops invade Grenada
