Food – Page 7 – Bradley's Old Fashioned Weblog

Haagen-Dazs Boutique Ice Cream Stores in Singapore

February 27, 2010September 4, 2021 Bradley Farless9 Comments

Singapore was the first place I got to sit down at a fancy restaurant that was designed just for the purpose of serving ice cream, like the Haagen-Dazs restaurants that are so common here in Singapore.

There are, of course, places like this in the US, but they’re mostly in major cities like New York City. I wasn’t aware of them, so I never went to visit one. I thought the ice cream you get in the grocery store was only available in the grocery store.

Two cones from the Marble Slab Creamery in Columbus, Georgia.

There were ice cream places I went to like Baskin Robbins, Brewster’s and Marble Slab Creamery, but these places are set up as fast food ice cream parlors. The seats, if there were any at all, are the hard plastic kind that encourage you to enjoy your ice cream, but to do it quickly and make room for the next person.

Since I’ve never been to a Haagen-Dazs restaurant in the US I have no basis for comparison but the experience here was a good one. The seats were cushioned and comfortable, the table we chose was low-set, and the dishes and silverware were good quality. The ice cream was served with presentation in mind too. So, eating Haagen-Dazs ice cream in Singapore can be a very luxury experience.

Unfortunately, it comes with a luxury price tag as well. The two plates shown in this post came up to around 42 SGD (about 29 USD) and I remember being stunned at the bill. In the US you can get a half-gallon of premium ice cream for about 13 or 14 bucks. Or at least you could the last time I was there. I’m finding out that a lot of foods I took for granted as being cheap in the US are a lot more expensive abroad. I think it has a lot to do with how the corn industry is subsidized by the government in the US. Ya, that’s kind of a weird stretch, right? Watch Food Inc. and you’ll understand what I’m talking about.

Anyway, it’s still a nice way to pamper yourself from time to time, if you have the money to spend.

Pastamania at Downtown East – GREAT Service

February 16, 2010September 4, 2021 Bradley Farless2 Comments

This is just a short note I wanted to write to praise the customer service at Pastamania at Downtown East.

Tonight, we went up there to have dinner and there was a problem with the pizza I ordered. Within a few minutes the manager came out, addressed the situation, apologized for the inconvenience and made sure that a replacement dish was made.

To follow up on that, he came back to let me know the pizza would be out in a few minutes and apologized again for the problem.

I was happy and impressed with the level of attention that was given to our problem.

When the replacement pizza came we finished our meal and then got up and walked out of the restaurant.

Surprisingly, we hadn’t gone more than five feet out the door when I heard the manager calling after us and running to catch up with us. He said the problem with the food shouldn’t have happened, apologized for the extra time we had to wait, and that he hoped we’d be coming back in the future. Additionally, he gave us a voucher for a free pizza.

That’s what I’m talking about! This manager has a great personality and does his job well. Pastamania in general has always had a great attitude in regard to customer service. You can see it in how every cashier, waiter / waitress, and manager handles themselves. Well, at the Tampines and Pasir Ris branch at least.

Despite there being something wrong with the dish I ordered, I’ll definitely be going back to the same location again. Good service is worth repeat business.

The Truth About The McDonald’s Prosperity Burger

February 10, 2010 Bradley Farless2 Comments

When we went to the airport over the weekend we left the house kinda late, but our flight was delayed so we had time to get something to eat. There’s a McDonald’s in the Budget Terminal, so we took a look at the menu and decided to try the Prosperity Burger. I’ve never seen it anywhere else and it’s only put on the menu around Chinese New Year. This will be our last CNY in Singapore so it made sense to try it at least once.

Well, it wasn’t as good as I’d hoped but it had a nice taste to it. I think I enjoyed the curly fries more than the burger though.

The “truth” I mentioned about this burger is that they do in fact sell it in the US. Well, they sell the patty anyway. The Prosperity Burger is nothing but a McRib sandwich with black pepper sauce instead of barbecue sauce. So… good job at marketing, but bad job at creating a unique product.

The other “truth” about this burger meal is that it’s a serious gut bomb. It felt like I had a lead weight in my stomach for the rest of the day. Maybe we just weren’t prepared for the amount of grease involved in that kind of meal anymore.

I’ve heard some of my family and friends say they wouldn’t mind seeing those curly fries at McDonald’s in the US. They make me miss Arby’s.

California Pizza Kitchen at KLCC Suria Mall

February 10, 2010April 9, 2023 Bradley Farless2 Comments

While we were in Kuala Lumpur over the weekend we decided to go down to KLCC to look around and have dinner. We weren’t sure what we wanted to eat but as we were looking at the electronic store guide I saw that there was a California Pizza Kitchen in the mall.

Neither of us had ever eaten there before so we gave it a try, with mixed results.

The ambience is very, very nice. The place has a clean, uncluttered, modern look that was refreshing and relaxing. Also, the service staff was incredibly friendly and helpful. No complaints there.

The food wasn’t too bad, I guess, but what bothered me about it is that everything was incredibly oily.

The first thing we ordered was an appetizer. I think it was called an ‘avocado turkey bacon roll’ or something along those lines. It’s the first item on the menu under appetizers. It was described as a fusion between Eastern and Western flavors and was basically a cheesy, gooey, extra greasy egg roll.

While eating the thing the hot grease was running out of the roll all over my fingers and forming a small puddle on my plate. That’s a definite no go. Also, the taste of the oil was a bit overpowering, to the point that I couldn’t even distinguish the taste of the avocado.

In fact, in this second photo you can actually see the grease dripping from it.

Shortly after finishing the appetizer the pizza showed up. We got a thin crust ‘Sicilian’ pizza. Thin crust pizzas are usually less greasy than full crust pizzas. Unfortunately that’s not the case with CPK’s thin crusts. It was oily as well. We went ahead and finished the pizza, but after the second slice I could’ve walked away from it.

My wife and I have changed our eating habits over the last year and we’re consuming less and less oily foods. It’s better for us, and less oily foods taste better anyway. I was reminded again of how good Trattoria’s pizzas are in that 313 @ Somerset mall in Singapore. CPK’s offering wasn’t even in the same league and cost nearly the same price.

Photos From The Kitchen

January 31, 2010 Bradley Farless1 Comment

It’s amazing what you can manage with a simple, handheld camera sometimes. My wife was in the kitchen preparing a Filipino dish called sinigang and I happened to have my camera out, taking photos of the Chinese New Year decorations around the house, so I snapped some photos of some of the ingredients:

A leafy green. I’m not sure what it’s called, but it’s not bad tasting. It seems like there are a lot of leafy green vegetables in the supermarkets here with a lot of different names that all taste more or less the same. I like them, so my wife usually adds plenty.

This is radish. In the US I always associated the word radish with the small veggie that has a red tinted skin and a powerful bite, that go on salad. Here, radishes also come in large, root looking form and have a blander taste. I love it when it’s cooked in sinigang so my wife adds extra.

An onion. I’m not sure where the blue tint on the wood came from, but it looks nice right?

The same onion along with fresh garlic.

After taking those photos I filled a cup with ice. We’ve had an ice tray that we bought at Ikea for about two years. It makes ice in the shape of hearts. I realized I’d never taken a photo of it, so here’s an icy heart:

And here’s an icy heart melting in Grass Power, a local wheat grass drink:

McCafe Drinks

January 31, 2010September 4, 2021 Bradley Farless4 Comments

Last year in June I purchased a drink at McCafe for the first time. It was the outlet in Pasir Ris’s White Sands mall. I ordered a double chocolate frappe and it was the most horrible drink I’d ever had. It was watery and bland. It didn’t taste of coffee or chocolate. It mostly just tasted of ice. The best part of the drink was the whipped cream on top.

Well, maybe it was the outlet or maybe things have improved with the quality of their drinks. Lately, while waiting to catch a movie at Downtown East, my wife have been getting drinks and sitting in the McCafe there to chat, read and kill time. When I go there I get an iced latte. It’s my favorite ‘fancy’ drink. Out of the three times I’ve bought that drink there I’ve had two hits and a miss. The one time the drink wasn’t good was because the girl gave me a glass of iced milk instead of a latte. Seriously. You couldn’t tell there was coffee in it at all. Thankfully, though, when I brought it to their attention they fixed the drink.

Anyhow, the quality of the drinks has gone up. I guess my original assessment isn’t valid anymore, because I’m loving the fact that I can get reasonably priced coffee there that’s good now.

The presentation is nice too:

Mobile Photo 26-Jan-2010 AM 12 30 32 — My wife’s cappuccino.

Mobile Photo 26-Jan-2010 AM 12 31 01 — My iced latte.

Aoba Ramen

January 24, 2010September 4, 2021 Bradley Farless4 Comments

Manpuku at Tampines 1 has a stall called Aoba Ramen (I think) that sells some really kick-ass dishes. I hadn’t noticed it before, probably because I always associate ramen with that cheap, instant stuff I’m used to seeing in grocery stores. After reading some blogs about Japan though, I stopped to give it serious consideration and decided to try it out.

My wife and I both fixated on the shoyu ramen that had pieces of pork set on top of it. It was a great choice! I didn’t have my camera on me so I snapped some photos with my iPhone.

We also got a side order of gyoza with our ramen. I think there was a discounted price that day so we decided to give them a try. They were also very good.

We finished the meal off by trying the green tea ice cream, which was listed as ‘macha’ ice cream. It has a unique taste and is pretty good. I think the taste would get old if I ate it too often. It can also play games with your stomach, so be careful of that.

Looking at the picture of the ramen, blurry as it is, makes me hungry. I think I’ll try to convince my wife that we should go back there soon.

Singapore’s First Wendy’s Is Great, But Why Lau Pa Sat?

January 19, 2010 Bradley Farless3 Comments

We’ve known Wendy’s was here in Singapore for quite a few weeks but we just never took the time to get out to it. The reason is that it’s not situated in a very easy to get to area. It’s way out in Lau Pa Sat. First off, that’s a good distance away from where most anyone lives, and it’s not a major thoroughfare like Orchard Road either. It’s sitting off by itself, near Raffles MRT station. It’s not easy to find if you’re not familiar with the area and it’s not a place you can stop to eat at while window shopping.

If you look at this map, you can see that it’s not even close to the MRT station. Zoom out twice and you’ll see Raffles MRT a bit north of the location. The reason this is bad is that this is the first Wendy’s in Singapore. It has to make a name for itself, and it’s not going to be able to do that effectively where it’s located. Besides the fact that it’s hard to get to, it’s been stuck in with a landmark food court that sells local dishes. That makes it a hard choice, even if you went there specifically intending to go to Wendy’s. My wife and I almost passed on it to eat the satay that was being served right next to it. This restaurant would fare a lot better in a mall at the least, and on Orchard Road somewhere for sure. I suppose what it does have going for it is that a lot of foreigners likely work in the surrounding area, but even so it could have been better situated.

That aside, it was nice to see that familiar Wendy’s logo. When I lived in the US I rarely ate there. I just didn’t care for the burgers that much and I still don’t, more so than ever after watching Food Inc. So, in the US I would usually pass them up for Arby’s or Subway or Chinese or Mexican. You get the point. If this were the first Wendy’s in a US town I wouldn’t have even cared. But, since I’m an American in a foreign country it was worth the trip just to have a small taste of home.

Despite the location, many people were making their way out there to eat. The line stayed consistently long the entire time we were there.

And also despite my desire for a small taste of home, I wound up loading two trays with my order for my wife and I. My wife was downtown already and couldn’t wait so she got started with a cup of chili and a salad. When I got there, I ordered some additional food. Like I said, I never did care for the burgers so I didn’t bother to order one. Instead I opted for the Grilled Chicken Ceaser Salad, which was good. We also got a cup of chili, a chili cheese baked potato, sour cream and chives baked potato, two small Frosties and a medium Coke. It’s more filling than it sounds. It was all great, especially the chili. I was surprised at how well it was priced, considering how much meat was in it. I think it was only 3.50. Or maybe 2.50.

It’s well worth the effort of finding it and I’m sure we’ll be making another trip soon to enjoy the chili and Frosties again.

Chow Kit Wet Market, Kuala Lumpur (Pictures)

January 16, 2010April 9, 2023 Bradley Farless4 Comments

Just down the steps from the Chow Kit monorail station.

The busy Chow Kit wet market.

This photo was also taken in the Chow Kit wet market. The man is using a machine to shred coconut meat.

A neighborhood in the Chow Kit area. The houses seem to be arranged in such a way that some don’t front the street at all. You can see the blue house in the background which only has access to the road using a driveway.

Chow Kit street cats.

I took this photo from a bus when we were on our way back from the Batu Caves. Mangay’s. I just thought it was an interesting sign. We saw a McCurry and a McBath along the same road.

I’m still very much looking forward to the next time we’ll get to visit Kuala Lumpur. I miss the food and the excitement there.

New Year’s Dinner at ‘New York, New York’ at CityLink Mall

December 31, 2009 Bradley Farless2 Comments

We were running behind when it came time for the fireworks show so we had to haul ass down to the Esplanade area without stopping on the way for dinner. Luckily, there’s a ‘New York, New York’ restaurant in CityLink Mall, which you walk through to get to the Esplanade area.

The last time we ate at ‘New York, New York’ it was the DownTown East location and it left something to be desired. I guess it was just what we chose to eat that time though, because our New Year’s Eve dinner was EXCELLENT.

We started off with an appetizer of dry-spiced spare ribs.

Then we moved on to our main course! We both had fajitas. My wife had beef and I got the chicken and beef combo (pictured above). They tasted great, and they even came with guacamole. I hadn’t had guacamole in quite a while so that was a nice treat and the strips of beef tasted great!

Unfortunately we let our eyes get bigger than our stomachs and we weren’t able to finish everything, but hey, it was New Year’s Eve so what the hell? Gotta be a little decadent sometimes right?

The place was packed. We had to wait on a table when we got there. Even so, we managed to get in and out in about an hour. At 10:15 PM we started heading for the Esplanade. It was madness. You’ll see it in the next post. I’m just waiting on the video to finish uploading to YouTube. I recorded the entire fireworks show so it’s taking a bit of time.