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