Today, we are checking out western joint Skirt and Dirt burgers at Tiong Bahru market. They are located at the rustic Tiong Bahru historical street on the second floor of the hawker centre complex.
Skirt and Dirt burgers store front at Tiong Bahru Market.
Their menu selections are simple, there are five burgers on the menu ranging from beef, pork, fish and chicken burgers. There is a selection of sides which can be paired as a set meal or via extras as a side.
A beef burger skirt
Furthermore, Skirt and Dirt trademark dish are their beef burgers, particularly their Cheese Skirt Burger ($6.80). Their signature skirt burger is a beef burger topped with a giant “skirt” between the buns. Also, the burger buns are Planta margarine buttered and lightly toasted sesame buns.
Their signature burger Skirt burger ($6.80). Look at how wide it is!
Also, the skirt does taste tad like a cheese infused pizza bread core, it is flavourful and particularly crispy essentially along the edges. If oversized objects to your liking, this is the burger for you, as it sticks out quite a fair bit. Eating this burger using cutlery is recommended.
Top skirt
Fries and salad
Great fish
Moreover, I found Skirt and Dirt offers really great value burgers. Also, their next Beef is their S&B burger. Not rocket science and a plain old vanilla as a beef burger can get, and sets you back $5.80.
Big bad wolf pork burger ($6.80)
Additionally, for porkys, the Big bad wolf pork and bacon burger ($6.80) is a recommendation on the list. It is probably their most American burger you can get here with grilled bacon sandwiched between melted cheese, radish and lettuce.
Got bacon?
Tropical Fish burger
Furthermore, their Fish crisp burger ($5.80) is a peculiar one. You get a thick juic battered fish patty, cooked “fish and chips” style sandwiched between buns. It is large, though not as crazily large as Hammie’s Fish burgers at Commonwealth Crescent Food Centre.
Skirt and Dirt burgers Fish crisp burger ($5.80). The fish cutlet is large, juicy and cooked nicely hot between buns and tropical salsa.
Also, it is one topped with an interesting blend of tropical salsa. If I could make it up, the salsa does have a hit of diced pineapple, mangoes and tomato. The fish cutlet is thick and juicy-hot, a joy which melts in your mouth when you bit into its crispy outer core batter.
Wrapping up their burger offerings is their Chicken Katsu burger, and their most affordable burger at $4.80 a pop during weekday lunches. Also, it goes at $5.80 on weekends. The Katsu burger is essentially a fried chicken cutlet burger topped with lettuce and melted cheese.
Go for their set meals
Additionally, you can top up your burger as a meal for an additional $2 fee which comes with 2 additional sides. You have a choice between a salad, Cajun fries or soup. However, there are no drinks included in the set. But you be fine the many drinks and dessert stores here in the market.
Burger set meal for $2 extra which comes with two sides. A great value offering.
Moreover, their Cajun fries are criss-cut fries sprinkled with Cajun powder, tad like those we saw at few western restaurants we had before, like the Beast and popularized with the new defunct Botak Jones over a decade ago. Also, an additional interesting staple would be their Dirt Fries, though I wasn’t able to try it on my visit. Payment via credit cards are accepted via Favepay or Grabpay.
All in all, Skirt and Dirt burgers Tiong Bahru market offers a great value proposition to great and interesting burgers of decent quality. They are worth checking out when you are the old Tiong Bahru market district.
Verdict:
Must Go! | Actually pretty Good | Worth Trying | Shortlist Optionally | Should Avoid
Skirt and Dirt burgers Locality Map
Unit #02-66 Tiong Bahru market
30 Seng Poh Rd,
Singapore 168898
Opening Hours: 11am–7:30pm
Closed on Mondays
Today on automotive rants, let’s check out the BMW 3-series with a run through of some hidden quirks and features of BMW’s bestselling sports sedan. It ranges from daily usability tips, shortcuts on how to operate this rather digital car, especially the automatic functions. I had provided a brief summary of 5 tips I shortlisted in this article below as well as a video. Check out these BMW 3-Series 5 tips in a short video below.
Quirky engine compartment space
First off is a quirky space void in the engine compartment space. It can be found in this case on the right hand side of the engine compartment on the right hand drive model. Access is hidden under a service plastic lid which you can undo with a twist lock. I can guess this is probably where the hybrid circuitry would sit in the 330e.
Quirky engine compartment space.
Also, this spot is adjacent to where the side charging port of the plug in hybrid version of the 3-series is located. Notably, on the other end is where the car’s fluid reservoir is located. Is it also accessible via a similar plastic shroud cover.
Automatic Boot trunk control tips
Furthermore, another tip is that regarding the automatic boot. If you have your car specified with the automatic tailgate which comes with the BMW comfort package. This is great for convenience especially when opening the boot hands-free. Additionally, there are many ways to open and close your automatic trunk on the 3-series.
Open and close your boot via one of the many options, including the key fob, and though you can only unlock the car from your phone app.
The most immediate choice would be of course to simply open the trunk using the trunk release handle button at the rear outside the car, where the boot lid will just do its own thing and open. Interestingly, the trunk release is an electronic button and not a mechanical release. Hence, you can press it mid-way when opening to stop it at any height.
Ever wonder what this other button does? It closes and locks you car in one button.
Also, pressing the exterior handle button or the boot interior close button again overwrites the opening and closes the boot. Furthermore, this both open (and even closing) can be done while inside the car from Driver’s seat, in addition, to using the car’s keyfob remote boot button. Here, pressing once invokes to boot open/close. Pressing another time stops and holds the boot in the current location. And pressing-hold the boot button again closes it remotely. How cool is that.
Keyfob and accessibility tricks
Wind up or ventilate the car on a hot day by winding down all windows from one button on the keyfob.
Moreover, you can control some additional window functions form the car’s keyfob on top of simply locking/unlocking the doors. When the car is locked, holding the lock button winds up all windows and closes the sunroof if they are open. The opposite is true too, say if you wish to ventilate the car on a hot day by winding down all windows.
You can shortcut almost every menu on the iDrive 7 menu mapped to quick access number buttons on the console.
Lastly, the final tips involve getting to your iDrive menus quicker via re-programmable iDrive shortcuts. Do check out the video above for more in-depth run-through and hand-ons the features mentioned. All in all, hope you enjoy the 5 tips I have for now of the BMW 3-Series. Cheers.
West coast plaza is a heartland mall located in the west coast area along 154 West Coast Road. You might know the mall by its old name Ginza Plaza. Lets check it today with a casual walk through and exploration.
Lets check out West Coast plaza with a walk through. It’s a rustic mall in the west coast.
A rustic and quiet community mall
The mall spans over three floors and is also home to residential condo behind the mall. Notably, the mall is operated and run by the Far East Organization. The real estate group also operates malls like Lucky plaza, Far east shopping and plaza at Orchard road. However, unlike these malls at Orchard which most would come to know as a remittance and domestic helper’s hangout choice. In contrary, West coast plaza have tad bit more of a cozy family-friendly feel.
The mall spans over three floors and is also home to residential condo behind the mall.
It is tad like one of those rustic malls I enjoy visit away from the overcrowded buzz like JEM and NEX malls. Also this mall is right up the alley to the likes of Tanglin mall where we previously checked out the JEN buffet, as well as great world city at Kim Seng. However, do not expect Fraser or Capital land operated malls level of exciting tenant curation of stores on offer here.
The front entrance West Coast plaza where a cafe reside, pretty plain in white.
Notably, the main atrium of the mall is rather devoid, with an open space for two cafes. It looks rather bland, even by today’s mall standards.
West Coast plaza cold storage, an anchor tenant here.
Functionality is pretty much the works here. The essentials without the fat. Moreover, Anchor tenants here includes supermarket chain Cold Storage, as well as a Daiso store.
There is a $2 Daiso store here too, a Singapore staple.
A checked past
Notably, Ginza plaza had quite a bit of a notorious history not known to many. It had an unfortunate incident of a gas explosion at the mall before it’s opening day in the early 90s on Aug 1992. SCDF called it an explosion with persons injured which left 61 injured and 3 dead.
The mall exterior at night.
Notably, the mall was named after the high-end commercial and shopping district in Tokyo. Ginza plaza mall was conceived to be a Japanese expatriate hot spot, but with limited success. Still it’s hard to picture that the mall had already been around for over 30 years. The mall closed for a major renovation on March 2007 costing $26M.
Today, the mall has a modern atrium style open layout. Notably, when Ginza plaza first opened, it had a more cozy feeling. I remembered the mall in the 90s has small atrium water features and bridges on the ground floor with lush vegetation. Now, all these are gone and replaced with a more maintenance-friendly open tiled walkways we see here today.
A community focus
In addition, walking around, there are a couple of family entertainment venues. This includes a gaming arcade on the upper floors, enrichment teaching centers, and a couple of outlet apparel stores on the ground floor.
Some of the small family-run stores here. Including this toy store.
Notably, some are shuttered possibly from the pandemic. Furthermore, there are notably small family run stores, like a Lego shop called Toysland, as well as a sports equipment store.
You find some big name franchises here, such as a Starbucks and coffee bean shops.
Additionally, food-wise the Coffeebean and Starbucks can be found here too, as well as a fast food outlet Burger king and Long John silvers too. Also, there is a food court on the upper floor which appears to be shuttled for good.
There is an empty food court on the upper 3rd floor closed for good.
All in all, that wraps up my short and rather opportunistic exploration of West coast plaza when I was in the neighborhood. There is just some vibe about old rustic quiet malls I enjoy visiting. Still, it is not a mall you would go all the way out to visit, but rather you would accidentally chance upon when you are in the area, then you’d be glad it is there.
The Betterfield steakhouse is a small cozy restaurant tucked in the Central business district along Robinsons Road. They serve an offerings of burgers and steaks. Let’s check them out with a dinner dine-in.
Welcome to the Betterfield!
A steak and burger place
The establishment is not large, a bar floor to ceiling drinks storage greets you at heart of the restaurant cum pub. Seating is offered via a mix of tabled and high tabled seating. Let’s dwell straight into what is on offer.
Entrance
Restaurant bar
Burgers on offer
Menu offerings revolve mainly around simple burgers and al-la crate western grill dishes. Their burger offerings are affordably well-priced in the $20 range. Starting off is their Crispy Panko chicken burger ($20). It is essentially a chicken cutlet burger- fried chicken thigh with garlic aioli with fresh spinach sitting between a pair of toasted bread buns. It is juicy, and not overly drippy too or dry too. A good middle ground.
Crispy panko chicken burger ($20).
Next up on their burger arsenal is their Pulled Duck Burger (also $20). It comprises of shredded Duck confit similarly found in their duck and pasta dish. You duck sits on a bed of lightly toasted burger buns and lettuce topped with Thai chilli sauce with spinach. Both burgers all comes served with fries and salad tossed in seasoning vinegar as sides.
Pulled Duck Burger ($20). It is a flavorful contraption of a burger, loaded with tangy chili sauce which is not that spicy.
Also, I found their burgers well-done for the price, and the money is in the toppings, less the more conventional buns and fries which are nothing to scream home about. Additionally, if you can’t get enough of their truffle fries, you can opt for their side of Ultimate truffle fries ($12).
Truffle fries, regular fries topped with generous servings of Truffle ($12).
Still, The Betterfield had managed to pull together quality in the areas which matter, putting forward a value proposition rivaling those offered by other burger joints in the price range, like Fat Boys Burgers and Wolfgang Zwiener, but better than those offered by Simple burgers and Burger Frites. Also, if you desire something more filling, there are also 4 pasta options priced in the $20 to $25 range.
Truffle creme pasta, essentially pasta topped with Truffle ($20).
Try their steaks
In addition to their burgers is their steak highlights. Per-dish recommendations includes their 200g Ribeye steak ($24) or if you desire something tad more premium, their Aged Ribeye beef steak ($38) is one worth considering.
Notably, this price range is similar to that offered by iSteaks, but with a smaller menu offerings. Their aged steak is seasoned with a smokey taste, while their regular ribeye has a more “vanilla default” beef flavour you expect from freshly prepared medium-rare steaks which has minimal external fat.
Combination Beef Platter ($100)
Moreover, if you are in a group, or undecided on what beef to enjoy, their Combination Beef Platter ($100) gets a recommendation. It is tad a steak taster or sort with a combination of thinly sliced ribeye, aged ribeye, wagyu, served with truffle mustard and mesclun salad with Maldon sea salt.
Your combination steak platter ($100) is flame grilled in front of you.
Here, the steaks come in a variety of aged levels, which the staff will gladly explain to you upon servings. There is also a fiery spectacle of your steak platter is flame grilled in front of you. Portion-wise, it can feed about 3 pax with a couple of additional sides (or burger mains in my case). Quality is good, though I would had appreciate more portions, and variety of sauces like the steaks we tried previously on our dine-in at Redeye Smokehouse.
Flame seared on your table before serving.
Additionally, non-steak options includes their Duck Confit. It’s a $22 confit of duck leg, served with Berry compote, potatoes mushrooms and spinach. Their duck confit has a pleasant touch of being well-cooked soft without being dry. The portions may not fill you up fully though, especially if you are a big eater.
Duck confi (S22)
In addition, there is free-flow of plain water, a great welcome. Wrapping up with drinks are a menu selection of teas, coffees and cocktails priced around the $20 mark. Interestingly, there are no toilets in the restaurant here and is a 5 minute walk away tucked in a separate mall.
They used to operate at Bras Basah
Notably, the Betterfield used to operate at Bras basah area in the 261 Waterloo St in-town when we last visited them almost 5 years ago. Today, they are sited on the ground floor of Crown at Robinson just opposite along Robinsons street. Also, the area is notably very quiet past office hours. Still it is within walking distance to the nearest hotspot, Lau Pat Sat market which we checked out the Food Folks outlets recently.
Furthermore, interestingly Betterfield had been around all these years, under a sister branch known as Steakville. Also, following this Covid-19 circuit breaker restrictions, the staff indicated that there could be consolidation of restaurants to one location potentially as a virtual kitchen, or even offering a “cook at your home” service.
All in all, it is nice to see The Betterfield back as the steak house we come to know it as. Though the steak scene had gotten more crowded since we last visited them. The place is good for quality steaks but don’t expect the portions to go with it. They are open till 10pm daily.
Verdict:
Must Go! | Actually pretty Good | Worth Trying | Shortlist Optionally | Should Avoid
The Betterfield Locality Map
140 Robinson Rd,
#01-02 Crown at Robinson,
Singapore 068907
Opening Hours: 12pm to 10pm daily
Hua Ting Restaurant is an upmarket Chinese restaurant located in Orchard Road. You might remember Orchard hotel for their international buffet we visited previously, known for their Boston lobsters and similarly run by the Grand Copthorne hotel group. Let’s check out their oriental Huating restaurant offerings with a dine in today.
Huating restaurant main dining area on the second floor of Orchard Hotel.
Moreover, Hua Ting restaurant is located at the second floor of the Orchard hotel tucked on the near outskirts of the shopping district. Moreover, the am looking at is Hua Ting’s 8 course meal is brought to you by their award winning in-house Chef Lap Fei. This culinary spectacle is served via split shift from 11.30am to 2:30pm for lunch time duration, and 6 to 10pm for dinner slots.
Welcome to Hua ting
Table setting
Hotel lobby
A curated 8 course
Let’s get on with the servings. Furthermore, for starters is a platter of an assortment of cold items. Items includes Chilled Asparagus Lettuce, Enoki Mushroom, Truffle, stuffed bean curd, crab Roe, smoked duck and hand roll.
Appetizer with Chilled Asparagus Lettuce, Enoki Mushroom, Truffle, stuffed bean curd, crab Roe, smoked duck and hand roll.
The best item here would be the smoked duck roll, it is pre-wrapped and loaded with juicy sauce and tender duck meat. The stuffed bean curd and lettuce does seem rather out of place, but still completes the appetizer and first course.
Bird nest soup, a great alternative to Shark’s Fin.
Additionally, the move to more sustainable soup options (instead of shark’s fin) includes Braised bird nest with egg white. The soup has an eggy texture and is stewed together with chicken stock. It brings about a rather rich tasty broth which is surprisingly clear and smooth to the throat.
A seafood focus
A number of dishes have a seafood focus. One is their Wok-fired scallops, asparagus with homemade X.O sauces. It is tad a puny dish which would probably disappoint on quantity gluttons like myself, but pleases in terms of the flavour and taste of the dish. The asparagus is crunchy and is lightly fried with seasoned chilli giving it a small punch in taste.
Wok-fired scallops, asparagus greens with homemade X.O sauces.
Also, the same can be also said for their next dish, the Pan-fired halibut fillet and soy sauce. The fish is lightly seared on one side while creamy and juicy on the inside. Interestingly, it comes with a leafy green leaf which surprisingly fresh and therapeutically crunchy. Not with the guilt that you are eating the dish decoration.
Pan-fired halibut fish fillet, it is quite a joyful dish with interesting crunchy greens.
In addition, eye catching and quality dishes includes their South African abalone and wild mushrooms. It sits on top of a bed of stuffed bean curd gluten. It is one of the nicest looking dishes and the abalone is chewy and infused with an adequate amount of sauce without being too overwhelming. Also, the abalone is thick yet chewy
It is fine dining after all
Wrapping up your main dishes is their Stewed noodles with Boston lobster. These small lobsters are a recognisable trademark in Grand Copthorne hotel group restaurants, such as the Food Capital at Riverside. This dish is also a noodle dish which is tad underwhelming if you are expecting more vegetables than noodles. But that is what you get with course-menu fine dining.
Mini lobsters with stewed noodles. It’s tiny, and so is fine dining!
The last 2 courses are merged into a dessert dish comprising of Chilled Guava and Chilled Hibiscus Jelly and red bean pastry. It is served together on an elongated dessert plate. The Hibiscus Jelly and red bean desserts are hand-made with the pastry still warm when served on a long plate.
Huating multi desserts dish with pastries and a guava drink.
Also, the chilled guava is more of a thick jelly drink with cubes of fruit like soursop papaya within. I was expecting bit more for the dessert, like bowls of sweet jelly or red bean, but I guess this is a different take on traditional Chinese desserts.
Best dined with 1-1 specials
This 8 course set meal at Hua Ting Restaurant costs $108 per person. I will strongly recommend to dine using 1-1 offers which the frequently restaurant runs in partnership with several local banks. With a 1-1 discount, henceforth, we are looking at a value offering of about $60 per head for this 8 course meal which is pretty good value for the quality and service offered. It is definitely one of the more affordable offerings here in the restaurant.
Final Thoughts
All in all, Huating is a fine restaurant offering rather great quality fine-dining with a good ambience to boot, and when paired with dining deals offers an irresistible value offering with quality which is hard to beat.
Verdict:
Must Go! | Actually pretty Good | Worth Trying | Shortlist Optionally | Should Avoid
Picanhas Steakhouse is a premium halal steakhouse serving up rump steaks and rice beef bowls at rather affordable rates. They are located at a shophouse along Club Street near Maxwell and Chinatown districts. Let’s see what’s on offer.
Picanhas Steakhouse located at a shop house along Club Street. It is quite a buzzing night spot.
Interestingly, “Picanhas” is brazillian for the type of beef cut of meat the restaurant uses. It is tad like sirloin steak but is otherwise notably fattier. It is also known by its trade name “Rump steak” or the Queen of steak.
Bar
Interior dining
Popcorn
Furthermore, dining at Picanhas involves a mix and match of sides and sauces form their two main menu staples. The restaurant is typical of a shophouse, with a narrow width with a mix of air-conditioned indoor and outdoor roadside seating. A long bar and kitchen runs the entire restaurant interior.
Two of kind, in a variety of combinations
Also, Picanhas Menu selections are simple. You have a choice of 2 mains, a steak hotplate platter called the queen of steak ($21) or a rice bowl called the Picanhas Don ($16). The rice “Don” suggests an otherwise Japanese take on “Steak with rice”.
Picanhas Rice Don ($16), served with 100 grams of their signature rump steak.
But this place is no Yoshinoya, particularly in the quality department. Their $21 queen of steak gets you 200 grams of their premium signature steak fresh and not from frozen. It is a fair price if you can stomach the additional fat content of rump steaks. The steak is served on a sizzling hotplate doused with Binchotan butter.
Picanhas Steakhouse signature best seller, their Queen of steak ($21). Done to a wellness of your liking. I would recommend Medium-Rare.
Moreover, their steaks are juicy, but does not melt in your mouth like the steak we had a Bread street kitchen. Still, it is flavourful for the price though it can be tad too salty. Being a rump steak, it can also be tad too oily and overwhelming for some diners.
The rump steaks are well marinated and juicy.
In addition, their rice (don) gets you 100 grams of their trademarked steak with fried garlic, caramelized onions, pickled cabbage and topped with an onsen egg. Their rice is also purplish in colour, tad like olive rice, or otherwise also known as “black rice”. It is an interesting touch out of the ordinary.
The steak don “black rice” is a nice premium touch on an otherwise staple rice ingredient.
Sauces and sides
Moreover, you get to top up with meal with a choice of 4 sides costing $7 each. Bummer that no sides are included with your mains. Though pricey, the price is typical of sides in this restaurant segment. Options comprises of Spinach, Mushroom, Potatoes and Couscous. I would recommend their Potato and mushroom staples for both your carbohydrate fix and their mushrooms are plain interesting.
Sides and sauces, they cost $7 and $2 extra a pop respectively, lets take closer look at them.
Additionally, menu specials are also available on request, which can range from burgers or new main courses not otherwise found on the daily. Occasionally, the restaurant runs off-menu specials, like a $39.90 steak burger on offer during the day of my visit.
I recommend their potato side ($7), it pairs well as a carbohydrate staple and fills you up if you have the rump steak as your main course.
Additionally paired with your mains are three types of sauces. Sauce recommendations includes Wasabi cream, Chimichurri and Sze Chuan (all $2 extra each). Go for the Wasabi I say. Additional premium optional sides which you can do without includes their French Foie Gras, a fatty duck liver at $11, or their Hokkaido scallops, a premium seafood selection.
Sweet desserts?
Additionally, what’s for drinks and desserts? Wrapping up your meal is one selection of sweet dessert, called the Sweet dreams dessert ($8). Mocktails are priced at $12 each or alcohol-free wine at $12 a cup or $48 per bottle available in red or white. Soda water sets you back $7, while premium still/sparkling water is served at $3 a cup, there is no tap water, oh bummer.
Sweet sweet dessert, yup you only have one choice, their Sweet dreams ice cream dessert topped with flake toppings ($8).
The relatively low price point for what you get here at Picanhas does make it an attractive proposition for the budget conscious, especially who yearn for a taste of the premium steak. But I find you do not get the value per gram offered by Mangiamo at Albert court or iSteaks at the price.
All in all, if you crave rump steaks, Picanhas Steakhouse is one of the most affordable places to savour it in a rather chill and upbeat environment which is club street. As a package with drinks, Picanhas is not a bad dinner place. However, the lack of menu options does limit its revisit value, and unless if fatty steaks are of your craving, there are actually more value alternatives with better quality out there.
Verdict:
Must Go! | Actually pretty Good | Worth Trying | Shortlist Optionally | Should Avoid
Let’s check out the Mizuno wave creation 20 road running shoes. Mizuno is a brand not widely known in the running world, given the likes of prominent brands such as Asics, Nike, Adidas and even new balance. They had been in the market for decades producing quality running shoes I adore. The wave creation is one such pair of running shoes. It sits on the upper segment of Mizuno’s running shoe range and has a legend as one of their best engineered running shoes. Let’s take a look at it today.
Lets check out the Mizuno wave creation 20 in the flesh!
External Shoe Design impressions
Furthermore, on external impressions, you could tell that Mizuno tried a different approach in looks, but there are still limitations on how you can stray from a shoe which is already well-designed.
Rear of the shoe with a rather non-intrusive, yet refreshed design.
Also, the Mizuno wave creation 20 is available on 5 colours, with a design which follows a constant and understated design philosophy seem through much of the Mizuno wave creation series. Also, the distinguishable main unique feature of the wave creation is the hollow heel area. This composes of a hybrid plastic, foam heel and mid-sole with hard-wearing non-marking rubber glued onto the bottom. The shoes is not vastly different from previous generations on the external visual point of view.
Wave creation trademark infinity wave bridge on the heel of the shoe offering great cushioning which lasts good distances over 20km.
Available in Kint variants
In the earlier days, Mizuno’s line-up was more simplified. Now, the wave creation 20 is offered in regular in-tongue and kint feet boxes. Both variants come with shoe laces and are similarly priced. We see kint shoes widely employed in slip in running shoes, such as those built for Triatlons.
Wave knit tongue with a much tighter and snug shoe fit.
Moreover, the kint edition is something less conventional, though it is worth noting that the kint fit is snug but without feeling tightly uncomfortable. It does reduces the need for even shoe laces.
Moreover, the front of the shoe is made of lightweight mesh material. It does give the shoe a premium and breathable. The toe box is wide and fit greats for runners with wide feet.
Great on pavements and tarmac
On first impressions, the shoe has bounce and a high rate of return. This is especially on concrete surfaces and smooth tarmac. Also, the wave creation has excellent vertical and horizontal stability. The mid-section is taunt and has a good firmness which makes every heel strike predictable and adds to a confident run.
Also, the shoe is fitted well for neutral to under-pronaters like myself. Under-pronation is where you tend to land on the outer edges of your feet with each foot strike. Cushioning on running tracks reduces this effectiveness and it is advised to run on concrete pavements and tarmac.
Great energy recovery
Using the New Balance NB 565 I previously review as a base benchmark and alternating between each pair on my regular bi-weekly 12 km runs, I was able to get an average increased running pace of up to 1km/hr. I could attribute this to a greater energy return to the runner. In turn, you could prolong the onset of fatigue with a good pair of shoes with a well-fitted mid-sole.
The show offers great energy return and works best on hard surfaces. The knit fit is great even without laces, which can be an after thought now.
Having ran a couple of marathons on past Mizuno wave creations itself. I can vouch for the cushioning effectiveness even past the 20-30km mark. It does reduce the pounding and fatigue you get after the run.
Building on renowned reliability
The Wave Creation is a shoe I wore for marathons with a good track records as my main running shoe. The bottom sole has rubber feet and are non-marking, but the soles does screech on concrete surfaces. Also, it is worth noting these rubber soles never peel, delaminate or come off, unlike that commonly seen on Nike and New Balance shoes.
Notably, I wore my previous Wave creation past its 600km useful lifespan well into the 2000km range as a casual shoe after decommissioning. This is definitely a nod into the quality Mizuno puts into making their running shoes which is visible here.
Look out for past year bargains
Furthermore, when new, the Mizuno wave creation typically costs in $250 SGD range. Also, it is worth noting that last season shoes (a year old) typically costs about $100 cheaper. For instance, I got this pair for $140 plus shipping on Amazon just before the 21 was released.
Amazon listing
Under sole
Good flex
The sub $250 price point makes the wave creation comparable to the likes of the premium Asics DS trainer and Nike Bowerman series. Interestingly, for the record, Amazon offer different prices on the colour choices. I found the cheapest colour the black and grey variants. While you pay a premium for more conventional brighter, blue and red colours. Hence, if you are fine with less popular colour selections, you can command an additional discount of the price too.
All in all, Mizuno had built on a tried and tested platform, with much of the improvements are under the skin. As a sports shoe, this 20th generation of the shoe, which goes easily into my top 3 recommendations of running shoes for long distance. While the improvements are usually under the skin, it delivers as one of the best universal and compliant running shoes I would wholeheartedly endorse.
Mizuno wave creation 20- Pros
Great energy return, lowers fatigue
Retains compliant cushioning after long distances.
Lets check out Linksys new Velop MX4200 Tri-Band Mesh WiFi 6 System today with an in-depth benchmark review. The Linksys MX4200 Router is a smart one, with the ability to extend its reach within your home via additional of accompanying multiple “Mesh” units. Lets see what’s on offer.
A trio of Linksys MX4200 routers, perfect to extend Wi-Fi6 AX to every corner of your home.
Exterior
At first impressions the MX4200 has a sleek modern external design. It is not-intrusive and does not stick up like a thumb. Though it is nothing home to scream home about in the design department. Visually, it goes well in your home deco on a table or a book shelf as a modern connected device.
Check out the MX4200 with an unboxing and first impressions video below.
Also, the device has 3 gigabit LAN ports, a single gigabit WAN, a USB3 port tucked in the rear, and a DC inlet jack with its own included power adapter.
The rear of the Linksys MX4200 router with all gigabit 1x WAN and 4x LAN ports.
Availability and pricing
We first saw the Linksys MX4200 router through Starhub’s exclusive partnership with Linsksys, where you can get the mesh router bundled with Starhub’s home fiber internet plans. Moreover, you can purchase the router through regular retail channels too. Also, one unit cost S$399 (~ US$249.99), while the Velop MX8400 (2pack) costs S$799. It is a much better value offering than the previous Linksys MX10 Velop AX.
The MX4200 3 access point pack, suitable for large installations.
Additionally, the three pack we see here (MX12600) in the review will set you back in the S$1099 range. All variants comes with a 3 year warranty. Notably, these both value packs are available at Challenger and their online store hachi.tech only, with Challenger ValueClub members eligible for promo discounts on the MX8400 and MX12600 at time of writing.
Inside the 3 pack Linksys MX12600 pack which we shall we looking into today.
Additionally, out of the box, each router comes with an auto sensing 100-240v wall adapter delivering 12v up to 3 amps, 36W charger. On my power wattage consumption measurements, a Single MX4200 Access point (AP) consumes 10.3 Watts from the wall in use. 2 units AP in mesh mode consumes up to 18.5W, and up to 29.5W with 3 AP mesh units. Also, the MX4200 is cross-compatible with other Linksys products like the MX5300, which you can use to compliment and extend your existing network (including Wi-Fi 5 networks).
Introducing WiFi 6
So, what exactly is WiFi 6? WiFi 6 (802.11ax) is the Wi-fi alliance latest incarnation of the wireless standard we synonymous with everyday connected-life. Terms like Wi-fi 802.11 may ring a bell or two, but there are differing standards with each iteration, with fast speeds offered with newer generations. Having said that, the newest WiFi 6 is capable of a theoretical maximum throughput speed up to 9.6Gbps. 9.6Gbps allows you to transfer a 1GB file in under a second. This is an improvement compared to 3.5 Gbps on WiFi 5 and up to 600Mbps on WiFi 4.
Also, Wi-Fi 6 builds off of the 802.11ac standard for wireless network transmissions. WiFi 6 promises faster throughput speeds, less bandwidth congestion, and WiFi spectrum efficiency. Also, these speeds are achieved through band optimisation done by moving from the 2.4Ghz band to the less-crowded 5Ghz wireless bands.
Setting up the MX4200
Linksys Mobile App: Setting up your Linksys MX4200 router via the Linksys App is easy and straight forward.
I found the setup easy and painless. It is done through the web GUI interface on your browser (192.168.1.1), or the Linksys mobile app you can grab on your mobile from the App store for both iOS and Android phones. The startup wizards sets you up on your basic core network parameters, such as your passwords and Wireless SSIDs.
One touch setup
To join a new AP to your network, you just simply turn on your device and it goes automatically into “pairing mode”. The router’s single indicator LED at the top pulses blue and turns purple during setup mode and goes blue-steady when connected and well.
The various LED states of the mesh router Red (do disconnected), Purple (ready for setup) and blue (Connected).
Also, the setup is automatically done through a one-click (literally) wizard. Gone is the need to manually join a router manually to your LAN, de-conflict IPs and SSIDs. New meshes automatically reads your network settings and re-broadcast on your same pre-configured SSIDs.
The Linksys MX4200 webgui is an alternate method to manage your device, to those who are more familiar with it. The webgui is also where more advanced features like NAT and Port forwarding can be adjusted too.
Using the on-board speed test, the router was able to achieve sub-940Mbps bidirectional, or within 6%-ish on a gigabit connection through internet WAN from a 1Gbps fiber internet backbone. This sets the basis for subsequent speed tests to come.
Near 1Gbps speeds achievable via WAN in this speedtest, so internet speeds won’t be a bottleneck.
Similar Speedtest using the App
Device management page
Connected steady blue
However, despite being one-touch, the initial setup does take some time (up to 10 minutes per device on average). On some occasions, I had re-try the router setup about 2-3 times before it eventually connected. Despite this, the process was largely painless and great for non-technical folks. There is also WPS one-touch setup too as an option.
The Linksys MX4200 controls are simple, with a WPS simple one-touch functionality too.
Linksys Management App
Furthermore, Linksys’s mobile app allows you to configure router access, quality settings as well as monitor your network health and connected devices. Also, you also get the usual bells and whistles of NAT, port forwarding, bandwidth (Quality of service) prioritization, family controls and custom DHCP settings.
Linksys Mobile App: Managing your network and APs via the Linksys App after setting up your router.
Also, we start to see these mobile management apps being the norm in the industry. It is similar to what we saw in the D-link D-Fend router previously, as well as Ubiquiti line of Uni-fi products.
On the cyber security end, the MX4200 offers a simple rule-based Stateful Packet Inspection (SPI) via firewall rules. However, there is no deep packet inspection, which is expected of the MX4200 price range. This is despite the industry starting to see these features introduced into home routers, like those we see by Ubiquiti with their Dream machine routers.
Testing true wireless transfer speeds
Wireless benchmarks are conducted using Totusoft LAN Speed Test v4.4. Measurements are done at varying distances and obstacles from the router. Examples include concrete walls and walls with structural rebar which attenuates wireless performance.
Also, an accurate test-case for Wi-fi AX speeds is peer to peer on LAN. Say, if you have a home entertainment PC/NAS with an AX Wi-fi 6 adapter. Also, a directly-connected USB 3.1 Gen-1 SSD (5Gbps ~625MB/s) to the router’s USB port theoretically allows you to serve data within the advertised 1.2- 2.5Gbps AX range without bottlenecks. This allows you to truly maximise the main selling point of the Linksys MX4200 router Wi-fi AX capabilities.
Wi-fi 6 Performance
The chart below shows the maximum wireless LAN speeds with respect to distance from the AP. Ranging from 1meter range (beside the AP), to 3m, 5m and 15 meter distances. This is done in single, 2 AP and 3 AP mesh configurations allowing me to scatter the nodes around my test venue to find the best wireless performance.
Also, my Wi-Fi 6 tests yielded a peak wireless LAN transfer rate of 971.31Mbps. This corresponds to a commendable sustained actual file data transfer speed of 97.86-108.67MB/s. Notably, these speeds are very close to a wired gigabit connection, making it a ideal wired replacement. Also, do note this ideal-case benchmark conducted on peer to peer Wi-fi 6 AX devices on LAN right beside the router, and is not dependent on internet WAN speeds.
Realistic maximum speeds on Wi-Fi 6 to Wi-Fi 6 device transfer are in the range of 640Mbps. With 3 APs, I was able to achieve sustained sub-600Mbps speeds 5 meters away even in demanding environments with lots of concrete wall attenuation and indoor reflections.
Network speed tapers sharply with 2 AP past 5 meters, and from 15 meters in 3 AP mesh to a low sub-100Mbps when you are over 15 meters away. This due to the attenuation on indoor “noisy” surfaces and concrete rebar you get on ultra high frequency 5Ghz band.
Benefits of mesh
From the results, the MX4200 is a fine example of maturing Wi-FI standards offering an alternative to wired gigabit internet. We had come a long way with 54Mbps Wireless-G on the Linksys WRT54G days to Wireless N, B, AC and the current AX. Though Wi-Fi6 might offer slightly faster speeds than WiFi 5, WiFi 6 is more likely to maintain top speeds in busier environments.
I was able to achieve gigabit speeds wirelessly using a Wi-FI 6 enabled smartphone. Setting up the router was tad a breeze too.
Interestingly, I found that in single AP mode, the router has a tendency to run in 802.11AC mode with real speeds up to 300Mbps. I half suspect that in Single mesh mode, the router is running in AX 2.4Ghz, which caps the speeds up in the theoretical 600Mbps range.
However, adding a second AX4200 to the mix pushes the base measured network speeds up to 971.31Mbps, which is the 5Ghz performance range (theoretically up to 2400Mbps). This corresponds with a sustained download speed of 97.86-108.67MB/s- as fast a wired gigabit ethernet.
Despite much tweaking and optimizing my network, I was not able to hit the advertised ‘theoretical magical’ 2,400Mbps speeds, even half that on a 3 node AP mesh setup. A quick check with Linksys verified that my sub-970Mbps AX speeds are indeed a realistic wireless speed on 5GHz-2 AX, where real speeds are actually half the theoretical value.
Having said that, going past the 15 meter mark does push the limited of what attenuation have on the ultra-high frequency 5Ghz spectrum. This is so especially indoor where performance greatly tapers to a crawl of 12-14Mb/s LAN and internet transfer rates.
Wireless performance largely depends on router placement
Additionally, from my tests, I found that router location is the biggest factor affecting bandwidth performance. In an indoor environment, the router is more location-sensitive than wireless standard or band-type. I found a “star” layout between nodes offers the best LAN speed performance.
A multi-unit router setup for is ideal for large homes, though most 2-3 bedroom apartments would be fine with 2 APs tops.
Also, with a multi-AP overlapping mesh setup, your wireless client device may not automatically switch to the fastest AP. This is what I call “overlap confusion”. It happens if your the existing, but slower connected AP still have a reasonable quality of service which your device will remain connected to despite having another stronger AP present. Unless you force a re-connection to the strongest connection available in the room, you may not get the best wireless performance if your Access Points have too much overlap.
Hence, I was able to draw four conclusions for the test:
Two mesh routers boosts overall sustained wireless speed to 1Gbps range, more than twice the speeds from just one router.
The location and strategic position of your AP/routers matters more than the number of APs.
Two mesh routers is sufficient for most users and flat/apartments up to 3-4 bedrooms.
APs should be placed as far from each other to reduce “overlap confusion”.
Gigabit WAN bottleneck
Also, as devices gets faster, and to fully utilise the AX 2,400Mbps speeds, it would be sensible for Linksys to consider 2.5G ports Ethernet connectivity for their future routers, instead of the gigabit WAN and LAN ports. Otherwise, your internet speeds on the MX4200 would be bottlenecked up to a maximum of 1GBps. Alternatively, the next incremental innovation I would love to see is to introduce the option of link aggregation through dual-WAN, to rectify this bottleneck.
Still, the MX4200 with a 3 AP setup offers a compelling setup which truly allows you to replace physical Ethernet wired cabling. However, all your connected devices (phone, laptop) need to be on the Wi-Fi 6 ecosystem to reap its benefits. Also, most home consumer devices these days still mostly utilises older wireless versions and gigabit Ethernet (e.g. Home NASes and desktops).
Well-matched to Singapore’s ISPs hardware
Until home 2.5G and 10G Ethernet becomes mainstream, the MX4200 gigabit-level Ethernet and wireless performances compliments the current 1 Gigabit infrastructure offered by Singapore’s Internet service providers (ISPs).
Though 2Gbps residential fiber had been on offer for years (such as those offered by Singtel, Starhub and Viewquest), this is usually bottle necked, and delivered via two separate 1Gbps lines via gigabit-only ISP ONT equipment/routers and not via a single 2Gbps pipe to your client end-point. Hence you won’t be expecting true-2Gbps surfing speeds anytime soon. Until 2.5Gbps ISP ONTs infrastructure is mainstream for residential fiber, Singapore 2Gbps home fiber plans today is still tad a gimmick.
Closing thoughts
All in all, the Linksys MX4200 offers solid future-proof home networking device at an affordable price point. It’s AX wireless performance is a viable alternative to wiring up your home for gigabit ethernet. Linksys had delivered with a good value product with an incredibility ease of setup, and a low entry price point, with the option for future expansion by incrementally (and painlessly) adding more nodes. Who knows what would be installed for us next?
Linksys MX4200 router Pros
Easy to setup
High expandability via multiple Mesh Nodes
Cross-compatibility with other Velop routers
Low power consumption
Stylish design with small footprint
Cons
No 2.5Gbps ports/link aggregation
No deep packet inspection
Adding multiple routers can get really expensive quickly
Sun café is a hotel restaurant and coffee house located at the Hotel Grand Pacific along Victoria street. Notably, they sit beside Bras Basah complex and the National Library where we visited the Nature X Nature exhibition recently. The hotel restaurant is running a rather value for money (and ridiculously cheap, in a good way) Peranakan Buffet for their lunch and dinner sessions with a 1-1 special (more on this later). It is quite a gastronomical affair. Let’s see what’s on offer with Sun Cafe Peranakan Buffet with a dine-in.
Check out the spread, a Peranakan gastronomical affair at the Sun Cafe Peranakan Buffet.
A Peranakan a-la-carte feast
Sun café has on offer a snippet of what Nyonya cuisine is, affordable offered via a home-style cooking and setting. Moreover, given COVID-19 restrictions, the buffet is an a-la-carte one, where you order from over 30 selections using an order sheet “Dim sum style” and service staff will serve your orders right to your tables.
Tahu Goreng.
To start off with appetizers I would recommend to try their Tahu Goreng, Fried Ngoh Hiang and Ikan Goreng. They go as mains themselves despite being called Appetizers. Their Nyonya Achor is a mixed bunch, but I would pass on that unless if Achor (pickled vegetables) are your thing. Otherwise the go for the Tahu Goreng and Ikan Goreng without a doubt.
Ikan Goreng (fried fish) is a crispy treat, and it is juicy on the inside without being too dry.
Also you can specify how many Ikan Goreng fish you wish. A standard 1 serving comprise of 3 fish. The fish is lightly fried and crispy on the outside yet nice steamed and juicy on the inside.
Poultry and Meats Mains
There are several rendang and curry dishes to choose, comprising of meats, vegetables and seafood.
I would recommend their Beef Rendang, Chicken curry and Fried chicken as good starters. Then you can work your way. More interesting selections includes their Pork Ribs with pineapple curry and Babi Pongteh with mushrooms, which is essentially pork belly stewed with mushroom.
Free flow of Char Quay Teow, a sinful gastronomical affair. Served with chili sand lime.
On staple dishes, Char Quay Teow are available too, though you can request out of menu plates of rice servings at no additional cost. Their Laska is highly recommended as a side dish too.
You can’t get enough of their homemade Nyonya Laksa. Served in a small serving bowls.
Furthermore, vegetables offerings are much of a general affair with curated Nyonya Chap Chye and Sambal Binjal. More leafy offerings I recommend would be their Sautee Greens with Oyster sauce, Broccoli with Mushroom and French Beans with sliver fish. It is lighter and balances out the oilier meat dishes. Also, the vegetables are fresh and of good quality. They complement the meat and rice dishes well.
Broccoli with Mushroom and French Beans with sliver fish.
Seafood and soups
Additionally, wrapping up with the buffet seafood sections includes I would recommend their Assam Pedas Fish and Fried fish with Tow Chew. Their prawns selection, though fresh is already quite overwhelming with the Sambal offerings.
Curry Chicken
Sambal prawns
Wheatgrass drink
Also on offer are two types of soup with Pig stomach soup and Fish Maw Soup. I found the booth soups pleasing and paired well with the Nyoya cuisine, especially washing down curries. Also, you should try their home-made wheatgrass drink. It is very refreshing, especially after a curry and rending loaded dinner.
There is also free flow of keropok (Prawn crackers).
In addition, a trick I discovered on the order sheet you can choose to specify 1 standard serving from the kitchen, or if you wish to have a larger serving, you can specify the number of pax (e.g. 3-4 pax) on your order sheet. The restaurant service staff will verify with you your orders when you pass it to them. Furthermore, if you wish to try everything on their buffet, you could consider alternating your order sheets by splitting your orders between multiple orders instead of ordering all of them at a go.
Small Nyonya Desserts
Lastly, what good way to wash all your Nyonya goodness with Nyonya Desserts such as Nyonya Kueh, Kueh Lapis.
Nyonya dessert goodness with such as rainbow Nyonya Kueh and Kueh Lapis to name afew.
I have not much to complain about the small selection of desserts, as you are probably too full to have anything much more after your mains anyway. You have a choice of 6 items on their dessert selections.
Desserts with the simple Fresh fruits platter.
Still, I would recommend their Sago Gula Melaka and Bubur Cha Cha if you have space. Otherwise, their Fresh Fruits platter is a viable alternative. You get small servings of oranges and watermelon on-plate.
Sago Gula Melaka and Bubur Cha Cha, more of the traditional style Nyonya desserts for the go, if you still have space for it!
A buffet under $30 a head?
Moreover, the buffet costs $38 SGD per head for lunch and $45 for dinner. This excludes 10% service charge and 7% GST. It costs $2 more per head on weekends.
The interior dining area of Sun Cafe in the Grand Pacific hotel.
Additionally, the main draw is that you get an even better value at run a 1 for 1 special for major Singapore cards DBS, OCBC and UOB cards. Hence, for a weekend $47/pax rate costs about $165.96 all-inclusive for a 6 pax which boils down to an average 1-1 rate of $27.66/pax for the entire buffet. This sub $30 price point is extremely value for money for the quantity and quality offered. Most hotels I would know could easily charge twice the price for similar offerings.
Final Thoughts
All in all, dining at Sun café is also an enjoyable one. Waiter service is prompt friendly and quick, served by a waiter trio comprising of middle-aged old-timers who are really warm and friendly.
Main lobby of the hotel.
This, coupled with a quiet setting, Sun café is quite a gem of an eatery which is not crowded or rowdy even on weekends. Also, during my 2 visits at the establishment, the restaurant was at most a third to half full. Notably, the Hotel grand pacific which Sun café is situated in was used as a tourist quarantine hotel over the past year, with the last of the quarantine guest checked out the past month.
Exterior of Hotel Grand Pacific, in the heart of the city district.
Wrapping up, the buffet is quite a gastronomical experience with a simple but very effective menu. Though you do need a good stomach to able to stomach the spicy Nyonya everything in one dinner sitting. Also, it has a hint of home-cooked goodness in it which is not oversold.
Though the menu offerings are not as flavourful as the Peranakan dishes we had at Violet Oon National Gallery restaurant, Sun Cafe Peranakan Buffet quality and menu simplicity for the price is really hard to beat. If homely Nyonya crusine is what you are after, Sun Café at Victoria Street is one worthy of your shortlist.
Verdict:
Must Go! | Actually pretty Good | Worth Trying | Shortlist Optionally | Should Avoid
Sun Cafe Peranakan Buffet Locality Map
Sun café Hotel Grand Pacific
1 Victoria Street,
Singapore 188018
Opening Hours daily: 12pm- 2:30pm, 6:30pm- 10pm
Let’s check out the Thai-style Boat noodles at the BKK Boat noodles Bistro And Bar. At its core, BKK boat noodles is an authentic recreation of Thailand street side food.
The place located on the road facing side of ORTO recreational park in Yishun. It is directly connected to the pedestrians’ walkway along the MRT viaduct. Parking free, but do expect to hunt for lots on peak weekend periods.
At its core, boat noodles is an authentic recreation of Thailand street side food. Complete with the outdoor seating (and humidity), a rather disorganized table arrangement with no particular packing arrangements coupled with blaring ambient music.
Entrance
Bubble tea
Seating areas
Moreover, part of the premises used to be operated by a prawn fishing area. The establishment reside by one of the ponds. I think that justifies BKK unique selling proposition. Also, and I can guess if you had street side boat noodles in Thailand, the experience is similar. Well maybe minus the occasional smell of street side vehicles exhaust and blaring horns, otherwise it is as authentic as it can get.
By the pond
Bubble tea store
Got tea
80 cents per Boat noodle
A visit to BKK Boat noodles is often without bowls and bowls of the trademarked tiny 80 cent boat noodles.
The main selling draw here at BKK are their tiny bowls of Boat noodles. Moreover, each bowl of noodles costs 80 cents. It is tiny and you can easily down it with two to three bites if you are a hungry. Additionally, their noodle selection is offered through two choices of noodles (glass and wheat noodles), meats (beef, pork, offal or prawns) and soup bases (herb or tom yum flavors).
Vermicelli noodle with beef, one of the two noodle options available.
Furthermore, you get two choices of soup bases, namely Herb and Tomyam. Also, I found their tom yam soups tad watered down. This is good for those who can’t take spicy foods. Though I would recommend their herb soups. It is flavourful and pretty rich without being too overwhelming. Moreover, a visit here is not without having trying an assortment of combinations of their noodles.
Tom yum with pork slices. It is not spicy and great for those with low spice tolerance.
A recommendation is to order a variety mix of dishes. Their prawn dishes are served with one large prawn, the same is so for liver. Also, it even has the authentic musky smell you typical find in street side eateries in Thailand.
Single prawn
Liver gizzard
Single meatballs
Be expected to down a few bowls
Additionally, being open till late at 3am, couple with the small portions does makes BKK boat noodles both a dinner and supper place. Though I would find it more suited as a supper place by nature of the small portions. It allows you to control your intake a bowl at a time.
Bowls from kitchen
Lots of tiny bowls
Menu choices
You place your order via an order sheet. A typical sizable serving per person meal comprises of 4 to 5 bowls. Hence a typical meal with about 4 bowls per person sets you back an affordable $16 or about an affordable $4 per head. Exclusive of GST. Also, BKK also offers regular meal “medium” ($7.80) or “super bowls” ($20.80) instead of the small boat noodles. The super bowl includes all toppings. This is as opposed to ordering multiple bowls but reduces the variety you can have at a seating.
Vermicelli in herb.
Also, there is a bubble tea store operated by a minor tenant within the same premises. Menu options cost in the $5 range per cup for milk tea with pearls. However, do avoid peak weekends. Queues can be seen snaking up to 50m from the restaurant entrance on peak Friday and Saturdays.
All in all, I would find the establishment worth crediting to the dining experience for a best mix of ambience, crowds and food offerings. BKK Boat noodles Bistro and Bar is largely chaotic, true to how it is in Thailand. If you crave and authentic boat noodle experience, there is quite no other place fitting in urbanized Singapore to effectively and (hygienically cleanly) serve street side style boat noodles to the masses.
Verdict:
Must Go! | Actually pretty Good | Worth Trying | Shortlist Optionally | Should Avoid
BKK Boat noodles Bistro And Bar at ORTO Locality Map
81 Lorong Chencharu, 01-09A ORTO,
#01-09A Next to ORTO Prawning Ponds,
Singapore 769198
Opening hours: 5:00pm- 3:00am
Lego is a toy brand synonymous with kids and kid-adults for that matter. It is a household brand most, if not all people would be familiar with at some point of their lives. Lego Store Suntec is a new store opened right here in Suntec city recently and I was there to catch their opening day. Lets see what on offer.
Store front of the new Lego Store at Suntec city.
Notably, unlike traditional Lego stores which are run by the Lego group themselves, Lego stores in Singapore are run by Bricksworld Singapore. They had long been running Lego shops in the country.
Welcome to the store!
Entering the shop, the Lego store has a large life sized mini figure greeting you are the shop entrance. You can find small displays of the current Lego creator series, namely space shuttle and space station sets on display here.
Creator NASA Space shuttle set.
Sets on sale
Additionally, at first impressions, the store is tad on the small side. Also, the store is not large in comparably means of a “flagship” large store. Or at least not as large as the Lego stores we see in Denmark which can span up to a sprawling two floors in a mall.
Space station set
Minifigs
SNES set
But there is a fair curation and mix of sets offer. The store stocks sets which appeals to all ages. They are laid on shelves floor to ceiling and packed to the brim. First off, we have their staple Lego City sets, as well as their current Ninja-go and Monkey king series.
Nintendo sets
Monkey king
Ninja go
In addition, there are sets which appeals to both play and collectors. Other interesting finds includes a Nintendo SNES set. It tad reminds you of the playable mini SNES which Nintendo released several years back.
Creator and city ranges.
Audio visual elements
Lego murals
Creator frames
A place for play (and shopping)
Furthermore, the walls are lined painted in yellow, taking a colour cue from the Lego logo. Also, large portions of the walls are cladded with floor to ceiling Lego murals. There are also wall-lined loose bricks for standard blocks as well as build your own mini figure section.
Wooden minifig
Self-help blocks wall
Photo wall
Moreover, for grown-ups, we have Lego Technic sets, which are more technical mechanical sets, as well as collectors series Starwars sets too. Some of these collector edition sets like the star destroyers are rare sets are said to appreciate in value faster than gold.
Wall of Lego Technic sets.
Interestingly, previously, this is not the first Lego store in Suntec city. They used to be situated at Tower 3 on the 3rd floor beside Toy For us. Now, they are moved to the sector by the Suntec convention center, near the Wolf burgers we previously dined at Pasirbella. Also, it is notable along the same passageway which you can use to enter the Convention center from the esplanade Suntec MRT entrance.
Ferrari Technic set
Echo 1 set
Store area
Strangely, besides an official Lego store, strangely official world-wide Lego VIP membership cards are not accepted here, only those by Bricksworld.
All in all, this Lego store is a nice addition to the Suntec Neighborhood. One much needed given the Covid-19 slowdown. Though it is not the largest store there is here, it is one which has a decent selection of the toys you need.
Nanbantei is a cosy little Japanese restaurant offering you an Authentic slice of Japanese Yakitori culture with a wide selection of skewered meats, seafood, and vegetables. My visit today is at their dine-in outlet branch located on the second floor of Chinatown Point in the heart of the Singapore Chinatown district. Let’s see whats on!
Japanese set meals served at Nanbantei with their signature yakitori.
Moreover, the restaurant is decked in Japanese style light wood with tables seating. On entering the restaurant, you won’t miss the large yakitori BBQ pit sitting at the center of the establishment. Also, here you can see a chef hard at work grilling and assortment on this open grill. It is not smoky in the air-conditioned restaurant either, not like some Korean BBQ places we been before.
Restaurant entrance
Interior ambience
Yakitori Chef
A yakitori place
Nanbantei has a more authentic feel than the &joy Japanese food court we visited previously at Jurong Point with less of a mass market feel. Also, the restaurant has a cozy feel seen in traditional Japanese eateries. It is not surprising to see even Japanese patrons dining here.
Yakitori don ($27) which goes as a set with several nice condiments.
At its core, Nanbantei is a yakitori place which I would cover more in detail on this visit. Yakitori meaning grilled meats on a stick, but there are also vegetables selections to order from their al-la-carte menu. Additionally, you can order them by the stick or what them to go with an assortment of their traditional Japanese dishes, such as rice “Don’s”. Also, their skewer meats are well marinated. The vegetables between are cooked well enough being too dry or charred.
Hence, this leaves their yakitori without having too much of a burnt after-taste. It goes well with warm green tea which I strongly recommend to pair with your meal too.
Try their set meals
Additionally, on offer in their menu are a range of reasonably priced Japanese Don set meals which is great for a self-sufficient meal for 1 pax. These mains of Japanese sticky rice dons topped with sides of your choice.
Nanbantei yakitori Salmon don set ($18.80).
Also, I would recommend their unagi (eel) dons (Unadon Tempura), a Japanese favourite staple. Here, their Eel is lightly grill with a soft inner and a chewy other which is flavorful and infused with a top glazing.
Unadon Tempura ($30), topped with fillets of eel grilled in a style known as kabayaki
Moreover, another set of choice would be their Yakitori don ($27). Here you get 4 skewers topped on sticky rice don bowls. Moreover, your set is served with a bowl of miso soup, tempura (and accompanying tempura dip).
Tempura to go with your Yakitori set meal ($27).
Also, you get a hilariously tiny cheesecake cube as your dessert, and Charmushi (steamed egg) is available at an affordable extra $1 which can be paired with your meal.
Cheesecake
Accompanying salad
Charmushi
Also, it is hard to fault their set meal. Their Tempura is done right, crispy with a selection of prawns, lady’s finger and paired well their clear dipping sauce. You also get small servings of Wasabi and pickled salads complete your meal without being too filling.
Soft beancurd.
Moreover, their grilled salmon set ($18.80) is something worth mention too. The miso soup served is tasty without being too salty. Also, the price range for the quality of food is pretty value for money.
Salmon set ($18.80).
Lastly, free flow of tea is offered at an affordable $1.50 per cup. Also, the local restaurant staff are friendly, prompt and attentive. Your meal is served within a quick 10 minutes after ordering.
All in all, Nanbantei offers a pretty affordable proposition of value for money Japanese dinner sets and Yakitori, coupled with a good assortment of meats and vegetable yakitori.
Verdict:
Must Go! | Actually pretty Good | Worth Trying | Shortlist Optionally | Should Avoid
Nanbantei Yakitori Chinatown Point Locality Map
Unit #02-40 New Bridge Rd,
Chinatown Point,
Singapore 059413
Opening Hours: 11:45am–2:30pm, 5:45–10pm (Split shift)
