Food Attack

Drips Bakery Café/Sakanoue Café’s Matcha Strawberry Field Kakigori ($18.80): Delish matcha espuma and moreish crunchy crumble with bright strawberry sauce at the bottom. The fresh strawberry bits hidden in the middle were a little sour though.

Mister Donut Uji Matcha Pon De Sando & Uji Matcha Pon De Ring ($3/pcs): The matcha milk chocolate coating was a tad sweet though the rice puffs were a nice touch. The earthy matcha cream nestled between the chewy-soft donuthalves fared better in my opinion.

Hvala’s Matcha Mochi Harmony ($9.90): Honey mochi cubes were yummy but the oozy “liquid mochi" was a little difficult to eat as keeping it in the spoon was a challenge. No complaints about their signature M1 matcha gelato and a fresh Tsuki matcha shot.

Snap Coffee’s Blueberry Matcha ($8.50): A fun combo with distinctive and bright berry flavour. It is a surprisingly pleasant alternative to the now standard pairing of strawberry and matcha.

As I am often the designated person to man the grill when it comes to eating out at a restaurant, I will always appreciate BBQ places that help with the grilling. And at Sodeng, the attentive staff provides the tableside grilling. It even serves the meat with the different banchans straight onto your plate or spoon, ensuring the optimal way to enjoy each bite (I felt like a princess cause we got a private room and I could focus on just eating as well as taking photos - what I am best at).

I had opted for the Fresh Plain Duck ($34/ portion) as it came with more ways to eat (pairing with all the sides and pickles on the table) and because the marinated one was spicy (I am weak). Succulent protein with no gaminess at all! Love the boneless pieces of young duck meat with just the simple seasoning of their house-salted fresh peppercorn. However, I like that every bite of grilled duck here takes on a different flavour and yummy profile.

Like the duck, the beef was served in multiple variations! The Woo-Dae Galbi ($45/ portion) ticked all the right boxes for me. Richer and meatier in flavour. Beautifully marbled. Nicely marinated, the bone-in beef ribs also boast a tenderness with the perfect balance of sweetness and savoury. Think delicious bites of seared quality beef with tangy white kimchi, with crunch cabbage, seafood sauce and with melted cheese. So shiok~ [Note that the galbi requires a minimum order of 2 portions but the amount is definitely manageable to finish]

Another satisfying dish, the Traditional Soya Sauce Duck ($30/ half portion), was a superbly savoury number—a surprisingly hearty portion for the price tag. The duck was relatively lean yet pleasantly moist and tender and flavoured well with the braising liquid. The soy sauce base prepared with galangal and dang gui was not very herbaceous, in my opinion, so it doesn’t come off as a typical herbal braised duck.

Offering elevated zi char favourites, Lo Hey HK Seafood serves quite an impressive array of dishes (even my picky family gave their stamp of approval, though begrudgingly).

We started with the Wok Fried Black Pepper Angus Beef Tenderloin with Potatoes ($36.80). Served in a sizzling hotplate, the beef chunks were really succulent. The juicy meat was not overcooked at all and was evenly coated with their house-made black pepper sauce—Savoury, aromatic and with a tinge of heat; just perfect with a steaming bowl of rice. The addition of the potatoes was a great idea as it soaked up a fair bit of flavour from the other ingredients—a unanimous hit at the table.

Gelato Messina Singapore's Tau Huay & Coco Lychee Gelato

$10 for ✌️scoops

Lightly sweetened tofu gelato: weirdly similar to a soy pudding flavour, a familiar local taste

Coconut milk gelato with lychee: crowd-pleasing, refreshing, tropical combo and wins my mom’s compliment of “not too sweet”

Strawberry Matcha Cloud Latte ($9) - The initial sips with the frothy matcha cream were yummy (earthy and thick) though after stirring in the strawberry milk and jam/puree, it got a tad too sweet for me. The taste of strawberries also kinda overpowers the matcha but it's a nice cup nonetheless as the elements blend well together.

Honey Pear Chrysanthemum ($9.20) - Another Rise Bakehouse Heritage special, this pretty slice was delicate and fairly refreshing. Stacked with sweet pear bits, the soft honeyed sponge was mildly floral too - a nice, balanced and light teatime/ after-meal snack.

Singapore Chicken Satay ($15.90) - Don’t sleep on this! It may not be the best I have ever eaten but the skewers were more than decent. Very succulent, nicely seasoned and has lovely charred edges. The peanut sauce was delish too, not overly sweet and of a nice consistency. Love the moreish crackers on the side as well, great for finishing the sauce.