Orange Lantern - Good & decent Vietnamese food

We were in Viocity, wanting to go for a Kenko massage as we didn't manage to make it for our slot at LifeSpa - which offers very good massages btw, and we are members there, such easy suckers haha! But Kenko is also very popular so we ended up exploring the Harbourfront centre side for other options and stumbled upon Orange Lantern for dinner.

I've seen it in the CBD area with long Qs before but not tried it, so in we went. It turned out to be a good choice indeed! 

What's Vietnamese food without their signature Pho ($11.90)... right? This was a huge serving and I only managed to finish about half. The other half went to A haha! You can find lots of fresh ingredients floating in the tasty broth, along with a soft supple flat white noodle. I especially loved the beef that was slightly gamey... just my type of meat! My only gripe? The soup wasn't piping hot, more like a wee bit above lukewarm. HOW CAN. TSKK.  

2) Rice set with marinated chicken, Vietnamese steamed egg and sunny side up ($12.90):

What I like about this was that it looked exactly like the picture description... 

Us: "Heng ah, never get cheated!"

 I'm sure you all know what I'm talking about, where some places have food looking so glorious in their pictures but serve it a far cry from them. It's like those days of IRC: you think you are chatting with a pretty girl online but when you turn up for the date and see her face..... 

Haha! I better not get carried away. 

The meat was well marinated, juicy and with just enough salt to taste. Goes well with the fluffy rice. Dip it in the sweet chili accompaniment with some fried egg.. talk about easy comfort food!

3) Deep fried Imperial spring rolls in crispy nets ($7.90):

This atas version of Vietnamese spring rolls was Oh-sooo-good. Little wonder why this was an award winning one. The Singapore Top Signature dish to be exact. (Not sure what it means, but tasty can already haha!) The skins were airy-light and insides chock full of juicy meat & vegetables. Absolutely lovely. We also popped some chili padi into the dip to up the shiokness level, really shiok! I must say it was a little oily but that didn't make it less enjoyable :p

So yummy I had to take more pictures:

Just check out that wonderful crispy fluff surrounding the ingredients:

A close up on one of the many huge beef slices inside my award-winning Pho (same award):

Then the chunky and dense meatball; gives one mouthfuls of carnivorous joy:

Gotta love basil leaves... and I made a boo-boo. I said, "Can I get more lemongrass?" to which both waiter and A went "Huh???" 

Hahaha talk about over reacting :p but it was frankly, quite embarrassing :(

Pretty place, with nicely themed colours:

Do head down for some decent Vietnamese dishes if you are in the area!

The Orange Lantern:

Harbourfront Centre 

1 Maritime Square #01-98

Tel: 62741968

Opening hours :

Daily: 10am-11pm 

Cheers, WLF.

Madam Kwan's @ Vivo, Malaysia famous nasi lemak

We were looking for a good place for dinner last weekend, and walked past Madam Kwan's. 

Boy, what a blessing! 

The restaurant hails from Malaysia (heard the queues can get very crazy, not sure if they can fight with the Hello Kitty ones though ..) 

Spritly Madam Kwan helms the kitchen, but we didn't get to meet her that day.

In we went, and I daresay every item we ordered was delicious.

Must tries are: Otak otak, Fried Chicken, Ikan Bilis Sambal

1. Otak otak ( $15.90)

The serving looked deceivingly small, but we realised each bite was packed densely with fish, spices and juice, so we were very satisfied.

2. Sambal Belachan Kangkong ($10.90)

Fresh, tasty, sweet but there was a tad too much belachan. In fact, the vegetable was almost drowning in it, making it too salty and wet. Alas, this dish would have been perfect if not for belachan overload.

3. Crispy fried chicken drumstick ($7.90)

This was a favourite at the table, with a juicy meat underneath well marinated crispy skin, each bite savoury and deliciously crunchy. It is a tad salty though, so be sure to eat it with lots of rice.

4. Curry chicken ($8.00)

A thick looking sauce covered two fat pieces of breast meat, and I was fooled into thinking that this might be a gelat dish. Upon spooning the gravy into my mouth, I realised it was a rather thin but very tasty sauce, with a fragrant coconut aftertaste that was not overpowering. Good for those who like subtle flavours, I'd say.

5. Curry Laksa ($11.90)

A bit too much curry on the table eh? Greedy us decided to have this soupy dish that was already decadent on its own, as it was filled with chicken meat, taupok and beansprouts. It was a good laksa, with a flavourful milky soup, but best to order it as a main dish though!

6. Sambal ikan bilis ($3.90)

Spicy, tangy, savoury and simply... good on its own. A great accompaniment to the coconut rice! 

7. Coconut rice ($1.00)

It looked plain, but I could smell its fragrance when it was nearing the table, and the rice was grainy and fluffy. Won me over with its lightness as I thought it might overpower the dishes, but it complemented them instead. 

8. Chendol with gula melaka ($4.90)

This was the final act of greed. We were very stuffed by the end of the meal, but when the next table finished this chendol and the WHOLE pot of gula melaka, we had to try it for ourselves. But it turned out so-so, with a pretty normal combination of shaved ice, red beans and green jelly noodles. The gula melaka was very aromatic I must say, and that was the saving grace for the dessert. 

How ouir meal looked like:

Overall, we all left belly happy, although wallet empty. 

Head down soon if you like nasi lemak and want to stuff your face :p

Madam Kwan's

Vivocity

#01-152/154

Tel: 62719989

Opening hours: Daily 1000hrs - 2200hrs

Bangkok Jam - simple & shiok!

Sorry for the loooonnng hiatus peeps; such a dedicated blogger I am... not.

Haha anyway, t'was my 2nd trip back to this spanking bright and loud place in Plaza Singapura, with my loverboy. WHOM WENT TO CHECK HUNGRYGOWHERE TO SEE IF MY RECOMMENDATION WAS CORRECT.

Which, by the way, was the worst insult one can ever give to a Foodie.
I know taste buds are subjective but if a Foodie says it's good, it's good. It did not help that all five reviews were bad, mainly due to lousy service. And they were around the Dec '12 -Feb '13 period. I call them teething issues, which are common for a new place, right or not.

Okay enough ranting. For me, I seem to have an affinity with the place, as I had a pleasant experience on both times. Or maybe cause I am more easygoing.... HAHA.

(Oops sorry, here comes rant part 2) 

But really, some Singaporeans can be so ugly. There was this young couple sitting next to us, (the seats were about an arm's length away) and the guy was bitching about how the waitress walked away while he was paying the bill. Yeah for 1 minute to attend to the next table. During that 1 minute, he went on about how she had hearing problems because he had to ask for the bill twice. Mind you, it was pretty noisy and I had problems hearing my own bf, not to mention the waitress who was standing about 1 metre away. 

And she was still very polite despite his offensive kiam pa face. Seriously, dude, grow up and try working.

Too bad I didn't have a tiara to crown you princess then. Thank goodness they left before our food arrived, if not I might have puked on him.

WHEW. FINALLY.

We ordered:

1) Olive fried rice - must try!

This was fragrant, fluffy and layered with aromatic spices x cashew nuts, making each bite rather delightful. After this dish, le bf said: "Good recommendation". Synne - 1, Augs - 0.

2) Fried chix wings, marinated in fish sauce - good comfort food

I didn't expect the wings to be so small, but the taste overcompensated for their size. Each mini wing was juicy and well marinated, and I love the fact that it was fried with garlic flakes. YUM.

3) Soft shell crab in mellow yellow curry (goes the name, cute right?) - must try?

A question mark because you cannot go wrong with soft shell crabs and good spicy, yet sweet curry but I found the dish a tad too salty, which made me think about the MSG content. Me: "No wonder so nice...." I'd say, go for it, but limit your servings.

4) Tom Yum soup - must try!
Their soup is the clear type, and I find it quite authentic, with fresh and plump seafood. Sorry, the soup was finished before I could snap a picture :p

5) Tom Yum fried rice - mixed feelings

If you like risotto, you might like this. Moist (almost reaching wet), spicy and tasty would be the best way to describe this dish. It almost felt like the chef poured tom yum soup onto the rice and fried it together, with the same fat prawns and spiciness. But I still prefer my rice fluffy so this was a no-go.

I would definitely come back again for my must-tries as I also like the vibe of the place; vibrant, fast paced, noisy, fuss free with efficient service.

Gotta go educate the hungrygowhere site now.

Happy eating peeps!

WLF.