Fat Papas (Northpoint City)

Wimpy Beef Burger $15 + upgrade to Beef Chilli Cheese Fries $2

You may probably be thinking of Fat Boys when you read the post title "Fat Papas". Well, this is quite normal. Fat Papas is in a way related to Fat Boys. In fact, it is the Halal version of Fat Boys. 

If you are wondering why Fat Papas logo is so familiar, well, you are not alone too. The logo looks like Sheikh Haikel right? Well, it is Sheikh Haikel, the popular Singporean rapper and comedian! He is the one who pitched the idea of a Halal version of Fat Boys to the Bernice Tay, the owner of Fat Boys, who agreed in the joint venture after seven years, as certain recipes had to be tweaked. 

Menu

Menu

Fat Papas' offer a variety of burgers, beef ribs, steaks, pastas and milkshakes. You can even build you own burger (BYOB)!

Wimpy Beef Burger $15 + upgrade to Beef Chilli Cheese Fries $2

We ordered Fat Boy's signature dish, Wimpy Beef Burger $15 which consisted of beef patty, turkey bacon, fried egg, melted aged cheddar cheese and bbq sauce on a sesame seed bun. The burger was quite delicious. The beef patty itself was soft, moist and tender, and did not fall apart apart easily. Also, the turkey bacon was not hard and salty. 

We also topped up $2 to upgrade our fries to Beef Chilli Cheese Fries. The only issue I had with this was that the amount of sauce should have covered all the fries as it complemented the fries so well and made them so addictive! 

Country Fried Steak $19.80

One cannot walk away from Fat Papas without trying the Country Fried Steak $19.80. It is Sheikh Haikel's favourite dish at Fat Boys.

The Country Fried Steak consisted of a piece of thin breaded steak coated with cheese bechamel sauce and served on a bed of whipped potato. Though the fried steak was thin, it was huge and so crisp. This dish is best shared among at least two persons. The fried steak though decently executed would have been quite ordinary if not for the cheese bechamel sauce. This is a must try! 

Fat Papas (Northpoint City)

#01-150 Northpoint City South Wing

930 Yishun Avenue 2

Singapore 769098

Opening Hours: Daily 12pm to 11pm

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Jack's Place (Woodlands Civic Centre)

 NZ Ribeye Steak with Mushroom Brown Sauce 

Jack's Place is one of my favorite restaurant for a decent and affordable steak set lunch. I have been patronising Jack's Place for a long time, since the 1990s. 

Jack's Place was started by a Chinese man (i.e. Mr Say Lip Hai) from Hainan island. He joined the British Army as a cookboy and learnt how to cook steak and Yorkshire pudding. With the skills, he opened his first restaurant called Cola Restaurant in 1967 at Sembawang. This was the very outlet which I used to visit. Today, it has evolved to include several concept restaurants such as Eatzi Gourmet, Seafood Harvest, Brewbaker's, Hoshigaoka and Jack's Place under the JP Pepperdine Group.

Daily Set Lunch Menu

The reason why I always visit during lunch time instead of dinner time is because of their daily set lunch which is available day from 11am to 3pm. The Set Lunch is affordable as it comes along with Wholemeal Garlic Bread, Soup of the Day, Day's Dessert and Coffee / Tea.

They have revamped their menu and the N.Z. Ribeye Steak with Brown Sauce (which used  to cost $16) has been removed from the Executive Set Lunch and placed under Main Course instead with a different sauce.

I visited on a Monday and ordered the N.Z. Ribeye Steak with Brown Sauce (by replacing the Onion Demi Glazed with brown sauce at no extra cost). Price wise, it is now $19.90.

Wholemeal Garlic Bread, Lobster Bisque and Cream of Potato Soup

They now use Wholemeal Bread for their Garlic Bread to promote healthy living. As for the soup of the day, it was the Cream of Potato Soup. It was surprisingly delicious. 

We upgraded one of our soup to Lobster Bisque by adding $2.30. Ever since I tried the Lobster Bisque Soup, I could not resist the temptation to order it again. Great soup, rich in flavour and great balance in taste. In addition, there were several chunks of lobster meat in the soup. The Lobster Bisque Soup is one of Jack's Place house specialty.

Curly Truffle Fries Topped with Parmesan Cheese $8.80

The Curly Truffle Fries Topped with Parmesan Cheese $8.80 is a new dish that was introduced recently when they revamped the menu. The fries were essentially fried curly fries with truffle oil and topped with parmesan cheese. It was delicious and not overly oily. It was a tad too salty towards the end. 

 NZ Ribeye Steak with Mushroom Brown Sauce 

The NZ Ribeye Steak arrived on a sizzling hotplate along side with carrots, baby corn, french beans, onions and baked potato. The brown sauce on top complement the steak perfectly. I love the brown sauce! so much that we would always request for extra serving of the brown sauce (kudos to Jack's Place for not charging extra for such request). Anyone knows how I can make the brown sauce?

The baked potato deserves a mention too. It was well baked, not dry not powdery. Topped with Sour Cream Sauce, Chicken bits and Spring Onions, it was yummy!

Day's Dessert and Coffee & Tea

They should bring back the desserts which they served in the past such as the cakes or tarts. The current dessert that they serves are terrible.

In summary, other than the desserts, this is still my favourite restaurant for an affordable yet good steak. Definitely will be back for more!

Jack's Place (Woodlands Civic Centre)

#02-05/06 Woodlands Civic Centre

Tel: +65 6363 4803 

Opening Hours: Daily 11am to 1030pm

Website

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Dazzling Cafe Sky 蜜糖土司專賣店 (Taiwan, Taichung)

Vanilla Ice Cream Waffle 200 TWD (S$8.70) 

Dazzling Cafe is a popular cafe chain in Taiwan known for their Shibuya Honey Toast. Did you know the Dazzling Group first started out as a clothing and jewelry boutique called Dazzling Fashion before embarking on the Food and Beverage journey.

We went to Dazzling Cafe Sky in Taichung which is located in Shin Kong Mitsukoshi department store.

We visited on a weekday afternoon at around 2.30pm. We were surprised to learn that the cafe was fully booked (all the air conditioned seats). Yes, at 2.30pm! Ridiculous right? It is a weekday, don't people need to work!

This whole area (indoor) was booked. Even the empty tables..as they were reserved by customers for the sitting at 3pm. We understand that those dining indoors had a 90-minute time limit., even then it was still fully booked. That is how popular Dazzling Cafe is!

The only place left is alfresco dining outside. But that means dining under the sun. These groups of customers were like us, they did not make any reservations.

After weighing our options, we decided to dine under the sun as this cafe was so popular and back then there was no plans to open the cafe in Singapore. It was quite warm but we still went for it =D

This is the menu.

Part of the drinks menu.

Soup, salad and appetizer menu.

The honey toast and waffle menu.

Fresh Tropical Fruit Tea (Pot) (cold) 160 TWD (S$7)

Each person was required to order a drink regardless of how much food is ordered. We ordered the Fresh Tropical Fruit Tea (Pot) (cold) TWD (S$7).

Fresh Tropical Fruit Tea (Pot) 160 TWD (S$7)

Each individual cup was filled with sliced fruits (apple, orange, grape and strawberry) and ice.

Fresh Tropical Fruit Tea (Pot) 160 TWD (S$7)

We all loved the Fresh Tropical Fruit Tea. It was light and refreshing. It kept us cooled and sane despite having to sit under the sun.

Dazzling Cocoa (35% Cocoa) 140 TWD (S$6.10)

This is the Dazzling Cocoa (35% Cocoa) 140 TWD (S$6.10). I had expected it to be better, but it was just too thin for my liking.

Truffle French Fries 210 TWD (S$9.10)

The Truffle French Fries 210 TWD (S$9.10) was delicious. The fries were straight cut (thick fries). They were hot, crisp and  full of truffle aroma. We all loved this dish and polished it off quickly.

Vanilla Ice Cream Waffle 200 TWD (S$8.70) 

Although we were here mainly for the dessert; Shibuya Honey Toast, we decided to also try their Vanilla Ice Cream Waffle 200 TWD (S$8.70). The ice cream was served at the side. The shape of the waffle was unique and it was crispy on the outside and soft on the inside.

Hazelnut Chocolate Honey Toast 290 TWD (S$12.60)

Now this is the what we really came for, all the way from Singapore! Tada~ Hazelnut Chocolate Honey Toast 290 TWD (S$12.60). The two pictures did this no justice. It taste way better than it looks. We were very weary that the ice cream was melting very quickly in the heat hence the hastily taken photos.

Hazelnut Chocolate Honey Toast 290 TWD (S$12.60)

The Hazelnut Chocolate Honey Toast consisted of thick honey toast, vanilla ice cream and hazelnut sauce. The bread was perfectly flavored and toast. If you thought that the exterior was delicious, wait till you get to the interior. The toast cubes in the interior had hazelnut bits in them. And when you pop one into your mouth, the hazelnut flavour just seems to explodes out. The taste is totally out of the world. It made the trip worth it especially sunning ourselves outside and sweating for a good one hour for this. This is a must try! 

You have got to visit Dazzling Cafe in Taiwan! One of our member in this group has tried the outlet in Singapore and was disappointed. It was different from what she had in Taiwan. 

Dazzling Cafe Sky 蜜糖土司專賣店 (Taiwan, Taichung)
Shin Kong Mitsukoshi 台中新光三越  
Tai Zhong Gang Rd. Sec.2, No.111 3F 台中港路二段111號3樓 
Tel: 04 2251 8036
Opening Hours: Sun to Thur 11am - 930pm
                           Fri & Sat 11am - 10pm
Website

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Skinny Pizza (Plaza Singapura)

The English Breakfast Pizza $24

Skinny Pizza is a restaurant chain specialising in thin crust pizza. Owned by the Spa Espirt Group, it first started in 2008 and currently has a total of 5 outlets in Singapore.

There was a short queue when we visited its outlet at Plaza Singapura on a Friday evening.  

We ordered 3 sides since doing so would cost just $18. We ordered the Truffle Fries, Grilled Prawns with Cauliflower Couscous and 1/4 Metre Pork Sausage.

Truffle Fries $9 (a la carte price)

For the first side, we chose the Truffle Fries $9. As it name suggests, it was essentially fries with salt and truffle oil. It arrived piping hot and crisp. With a hint of truffle on every single piece of fries, this was so irresistible. This is something that I will always order when I am at Skinny Pizza. 

Grilled Prawns with Cauliflower Couscous $9 (a la carte price)

For the second side, we ordered the Grilled Prawns with Cauliflower Couscous $9. The cauliflower couscous; fine shredded cauliflower was good. Wish that they had given more of it. Other than that the rest of the items were a let down.

1/4 Metre Pork Sausage $8 (a la carte price)

As for the 3rd side, we chose the 1/4 Metre Pork Sausage $8. It was served on top of a bed of rocket salad. We all agreed that this was the worst side. The pork sausage tasted weird and was too salty. Luckily for me, I love rocket salad and ate the sausage along with it to mask the taste. 

Squid Ink Pizza $29

Squid Ink Pizza $29 is another dish that I always order whenever I am at Skinny Pizza. This is my favourite and is probably the best pizza at Skinny Pizza! A must order!

It consist of prawns, squids, tomato salsa, onion, rocket salad, basil and parsley on squid ink crust (hence the crust is black in colour!). Grilled to perfection, this pizza tasted way better than it looks! The thin, crispy pizza base; a specialty of Skinny Pizza was executed perfectly! With its fresh ingredients, this tasted so good that I stopped the efficient waiter who wanted to clear the pan away as I had yet to scrap off whatever ingredients still left on the pan.

The English Breakfast Pizza $24 was a pizza with bacon, sunny side egg, roasted tomato, mushroom, rocket salad, basil and parsley. The crust was again thin and crispy. As the waiter cuts the pizza into serving slices, watch the egg yolk ooze out. A word of caution would be to eat this as soon as possible. This is because the egg yolk would soft the crust and make it soggy. Otherwise, this pizza also tasted quite good. 

Overall, the pizzas at Skinny Pizza was very well executed. As for the sides, if I had a choice, I would order all 3 sides as Truffle Fries (not sure if they allowed). 

Skinny Pizza (Plaza Singapura)

#03-79/83 Plaza Singapura

68 Orchard Rd

Singapore 238839

Tel: 6884 8381

Opening Hours: Daily 11am to 10pm

Website


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Other branches
Skinny Pizza (100AM)
#01-03/04
100 Tras Street
Singapore 079027
Tel: 6444 2136

Skinny Pizza (Raffles City)
#B1-63/64 Raffles City
252 North Bridge Road
Singapore 179103
Tel: 6333 5069

Skinny Pizza (Westgate)
#01-03 Westgate
3 Gateway Link
Singapore 608532

BeefSteak Nam Son (Vietnam, Ho Chi Minh)

BeefSteak Nam Son also known as "Nam Sơn" among the locals is a no frills Vietnamese restaurant. I understand the locals love coming to this restaurant for breakfast and some visit as early as 6am or 630am!

BeefSteak Nam Son as its name suggests specialises in serving Vietnamese style western food; beefsteak (Bít tết). It has 2 branches. The branch that we went to was located along the Nguyễn Thị Minh Khai (main road).

After seeing the signboard, we turned in and found ourselves in a long alley filled with rows of motorcycles. At the end of the alley, we reached the entrance of the restaurant.

Entering the restaurant, we were greeted by rows of dark wooden tables and white plastic chairs that were arranged systematically to maximise the space. The above photo shows part of the outdoor dining area. There was also an indoor dining area with the same type of tables and chairs. In terms of furnishing, it was simple and basic. Although there was no air conditioners, the restaurant had high ceiling with many ceiling and wall fans. Hence, it was well-ventilated.

We were surprised to see that the restaurant was full when we arrived at 9am for breakfast as it had such a large sitting capacity. Despite the crowd, we were able to find a table shortly at the indoor dining area.

Menu 

The menu with most of main and side dishes. This should be for foreigners as it was translated in English language.

Menu

On the other side, it was the beverage menu. We noticed that most of their customers seems to be regulars as they did not need a menu and ordered on the spot. It was fairly easy ordering as they had many staff who were able to multitask. You could order through anyone (e.g. the person who is clearing or serving the food.

The condiments (chilli sauce, fish sauce, pepper) on every table.

Daily Homemade Passion Fruit with Ice (Chanh dây) 25,000 VND (S$1.50)

This was the Daily Homemade Passion Fruit with Ice (Chanh dây) 25,000 VND (S$1.50).

Baguette (Bánh Mì), Salad, Cucumber and carrot mixed with olive oil (Món Chua), French Fries (Khoai tây chiên) 

Although the restaurant was full, shortly after we ordered, these [Baguette (Bánh Mì), Cucumber and carrot mixed with olive oil (Món Chua), French Fries (Khoai tây chiên)] were served at our table!

The Baguette (Bánh Mì) and Salad were complimentary dishes. The Baguette deserves a mention. It was very well executed and it was so good that we requested for more after our main dishes came! (You can request for unlimited replenishment of Baguette)

French Fries (Khoai tây chiên) 15,000 VND (S$0.90)

We ordered French Fries (Khoai tây chiên) 15,000 VND (S$0.90) for sharing. Although it was average, this was a good side dish was soaking up all the sauce in the hotplate of meat!

Ostrich Steak (Bít tết Đà Điểu) 90,000 VND (S$5.40)

The partner ordered the Ostrich Steak (Bít tết Đà Điểu) 90,000 VND (S$5.40) which was served with a sunny side up egg on a hotplate.

Nam Son Specialty Combination of Steak, Sunny Side Up Egg, Meatball and Pate (Beefsteak Thập Cẩm) 60,000 VND (S$3.60)

I ordered the Nam Son Specialty Combination of Steak, Sunny Side Up Egg, Meatball and Pate (Beefsteak Thập Cẩm) 60,000 VND (S$3.60) which was also served on a sizzling hotplate which splattered the oil and sauces out. The serving was generous as the cut of the meat was fairly large. We followed what the local did and shredded our Baguette into small pieces and dipped them into the sauces and also spread pate on it.

If you are wondering what pate is, it is actually minced pork liver.

Never underestimate the influence of western breakfast in Vietnam. It was so crowded when we visited and majority of the crowd was locals except for another foreign couple. Despite the crowd, the service was prompt and efficient! In addition, the food was unique. This is worth a visit if you are interested in trying what the locals eat.  

BeefSteak Nam Sơn (Vietnam, Ho Chi Minh)

200 Bis Nguyễn Thị Minh Khai, 

District 1,  Ho Chi Minh

Tel: +84 (08) 3930 3917
Opening Hours: Daily 6am to 10pm

Website

BeefSteak Nam Sơn (another branch)
157 Nam Ky Khoi Nghia
District 3, Ho Chi Minh
Opening Hours: Daily 6am to 10pm

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Arnold's Fried Chicken (Yishun 10 Cinema Cineplex)

I was thrilled when I heard that Arnold's Fried Chicken was opening an outlet in Yishun. The last time I last ate Arnold's Fried Chicken was in early 2012 at City Plaza. With this new outlet, it will be so much more convenient. Arnold's Fried Chicken specialises in serving fried chicken, has been around for more than 25 years and is one of the first Singapore fast food joint to be certified Halal.

Arnold's Fried Chicken in Yishun is located at Yishun 10 Cinema Cineplex (just next to North Point), 5 minutes away from Yishun MRT station. We visited on a Friday evening and there was a queue (around 20 persons) outside which stretched to Wendy's. Nevertheless, we decided to queue after all there was just 20 persons in front of us. Guess how long we queue? You would not believe it... Read on to find out the answer. 

Menu

The menu which looked so much more colourful and appetising compared to their old menu! Easy to read too. Good job! 

The answer to how long we queue: we waited for a total of 1hr 20mins from the point we started queuing to the point we received our food. There was virtually 3 queues in total. 

The first queue was to queue to get a chance to reach the counter to order the food (without making payment). Once you manage to order, you will be given a queue number where you would be placed in a second queue; to wait for a table. When your queue number is called, you would make payment and then be give a buzzer which would activate (shake) to inform customers that their orders were ready. This was third queue. 

2 Piece Meal $6.60

Good news for those who prefer the 2 Piece Meal. It cost only $6.60, a 20 cents (3%) increase compared to 2012.

2 Piece Meal $6.60

The 2 Piece Meal consisted of 2 pieces of crispy fried chicken served with mashed potatoes (normally comes with fries, but we switched to mashed potato) and coleslaw. 

Half Spring Chicken Set $7.10 and a Root Beer (Reg) $2.10

I ordered the Half Spring Chicken Set $7.10 and a Root Beer (Reg) $2.10. The price of the Half Spring Chicken Set has increased by $1.20 (20%) compared to 2012. I am not sure why there was such a huge disparity in increase in prices for the two sets. I should have just ordered the 2 Piece Meal. 

Half Spring Chicken Set $7.10 

Half Spring Chicken Set comprised of a 1/2 deep fried spring chicken served with potato fries and mashed potato (normally comes with coleslaw, but I switched to mashed potato).

Half Spring Chicken Set $7.10 

The freshly fried chicken was still pipping hot when it was served. It was crisp on the outside and the seasoning of spices and herbs made the skin so sinfully addictive! The meat inside was succulent and well marinated. As seen in the above photo, it was still moist, not dry!

I hope they would review the queue system soon. I want visit Arnold's Fried Chicken again as the chicken was delicious. But the thought of the queue system along with a possible 1 hour 20 minutes wait are the deterrence. If you really want to visit, my suggest is to go during non-peak hour or to just order as takeaway (please note, there is a takeaway counter with a way shorter queue. I believe the waiting time is way shorter as there's only 1 queue). Another area of improvement would be the service - clearing and cleaning of the tables so that the turnover would be faster. On several occasions, we noted that when customers have eaten finish and left the table, the staff tasked with cleaning the tables were chatting away and only started cleaning the tables when instructed by another senior staff who was manning the counter. 

Arnold's Fried Chicken (Yishun 10 Cinema Cineplex)

51 Yishun Central 1 

#01-04 Yishun 10 Cinema Cineplex 

Singapore 768794 

Tel: 6757 7732

Delivery Hotline: 6276 6537

Opening Hours: Daily 1130am to 10pm (last order: 945pm)

Website

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Arnold's Fried Chicken (City Plaza)

810 Geylang Road 

#02-99 City Plaza  

Tel: 6746 2372 

Opening Hours: Daily 1130am to 10pm (last order: 945pm)

Arnold's Fried Chicken (Hougang) 

21 Hougang Street 51 

#01-49 Hougang Green Shopping Mall 

Tel: 6386 9015 

Opening Hours: Daily 1130am to 10pm (last order: 945pm)

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