Sofitel Sydney : The Garden Court Restaurant

Another night in Sydney CBD. It's supposed to be just a normal weekly dinner with Nadine. Coincidently, she won a restaurant gift voucher from her company as the "best-performing employee" of the month earlier that week. So what to do with $500 gift voucher? Spend it somewhere expensive! We just have to pick from one of their partner restaurants. Our choice? Garden Court Restaurant from Sofitel Sydney.

Before going, we already checked their menu online. Needed to make sure that we at least know what they have and if the voucher is enough. lol. It was our first time eating in a fine dining restaurant in Sydney as well.

Rating (out of 5)

Price: -

I won't give a rating for the price because I didn't actually pay for this meal. As I have mentioned, Nadine won a gift voucher from her company. Also, because there was just the two of us, we went all out and just ordered whatever we want. However, I saw online that estimated cost for one person is around $65. Compared to our usual meal, around $15-$30 per person, this price is expensive.

Ambiance: 3

Food is Instagram worthy 😉. However, they used dim lights around the restaurant. Again, we were not able to get pictures with us on it. It did have a cozy feeling.  

Service: 5

Service was great. The staff was very attentive and they were able to cook and serve our order within a reasonable time. They also offered free starters while we wait for the entree.

Food: 5

Love it! The highlight for me was the dessert. We went all out and order all the dessert that we want. I think the staff was a little shocked when we said that we'll order 3 different desserts. This is after finishing the starter, 2 entrees, and main dish (steak and salad). 😆

Home Thai Kitchen : Sydney

What's for Din-din? It's THAI FOOD! ^_^

Since I've finished watching 2 Moons the series, I've been wanting to try "Thai Pink Milk" (Nom-Yen). Hey! It looks yummy (and it's Pink)!

Luckily, my friend Nadine was in the mood to eat out. I searched the net for all Thai Restaurant's in Sydney who has Nom-yen in their Menu. That's hard work I tell you. Not all Thai restaurants have it. I think I've actually only seen two restaurants and one of them is a little far from the city proper.

And the restaurant of choice? Home Thai Kitchen near Townhall Station. 😁

There was already a queue by the time we arrived (around 6 pm). We waited around 20 minutes before we were actually seated. 

Of course, I ordered nom-yen! Along with stir-fry pork belly, bbq ribs and steamed rice.We also had mango sticky-rice and durian with sticky-rice for desserts. BTW: It was my first time tasting Durian. It tastes weird. emoji

Rating (out of 5)

Price: 4

Medium range. It costs us about $70 (P2,800) for 2 people.

Ambiance: 3

Food is Instagram worthy 😉. However, they used dim lights around the restaurant with spotlights around major places (kitchen, stairs, and rails). Hence, we cannot get a good picture with us on it.

Service: 4

Service was great. The staff is very attentive and they were able to cook and serve our order within a reasonable time. The only thing negative about it was that we had to wait a while before we were seated.

Food: 5

Love it! Especially my Thai Pink Milk! My friend said it's too sweet though. I think it's fine because Thai-food is a little spicy. The sweetness of the nom-yen negates/lessens the spiciness. AN: Well, at least that's how I see it. (sweat drop). 

Nando’s : Malaysia

Whenever I go to Malaysia, I always make sure to eat at least once in Nandos. I just love their lemon and herb marinated chicken with mild peri-peri sauce! Also, prices are significantly cheaper compared to SG and other countries. Individual platter with ¼ chicken and 2 side dishes is around 21RM (250 PHP/6 AUD). I frequently order the ¼ lemon and herb chicken with chips, veggie salad, and iced tea. Since we are already in Malaysia for our trip to Legoland, we decided to have our 👍dinner  in here before catching the bus to SG. 

AN: I don’t know why but I think that the food in Nando’s Malaysia tastes different from the one you can get in the Philippines and Australia. They are all under Nando’s but different taste. Is that possible? 😅

Rating (out of 5)

Price: 5

Very affordable!

Ambiance: 4 

Instagram worthy 😉

Service: 5 

Very fast. In my knowledge, they cook/prepare the food once orders are made. It took around 15-20 minutes for our food to arrive. Also, for all the times that I've been here (two location, Nandos KLCC and City Square JB) I didn't have to wait before we were seated. There is always a seat available! 😁

Food: 5

I love it! Chicken was cooked well. You can really taste the flavors and marinate. Special mention for their salad dressing. I forgot what it is called but I think its the best dressing I've tasted.

 

Ajisen Ramen : Singapore

We finally had the chance to try Ajisen Ramen in Changi Point Singapore. 😆

Once you are seated, you can order using the Ipad mini in your table. The Ipad mini is very convenient because then, there is no need to hurry choosing your meal and you can even mix and match the products without confusing the waiter. You can choose from their ala carte to set meals. 

The price is shown on the iPad and a total will be computed. However, this total excludes the service charge of around 10%. You’ll only see the service charge when you see the receipt before payment. Budget is around 80 SGD (P2600) for four people. 

The serving size is quite big for Asian standards. Because there are four of us, we decided to order different side dishes, this way we get to taste more dishes! 

And the Taste test begins… 

The ramen was great. It’s like eating ramen when we were in Japan. The only difference was that they put sweet corn in their ramen. This makes the soup taste a little sweet when you take the soup with the corn. As for the side dishes, we had chicken karaage, tonkatsu, baby octopus and takoyaki. We didn’t like the baby octopus. I can’t actually describe how it taste, but I do know that we didn’t like it. 😅

Rating (out of 5)

Price: 5

Very affordable!

Ambiance: 4 

Instagram worthy 😉

Service: 5 

Very fast and convenient. I think it's mostly due to the iPad provided. 😁

Food: 4

I love it! I've always been fond of Japanese food. I can probably eat ramen and sushi every day! If it wasn't for the baby octopus, I'd definitely give this a rating of 5. 😏  

Chili’s : Singapore

Hello Hello!

Just decided to share some pictures from Chili’s Singapore.

During one of my visits in SG, My cousin took me for dinner at Chili’s. She recommends that I try their unlimited Nachos and Fajita. My response, “why not?!”. And there starts our adventure to Chili’s Tanglin Mall.

We decided to go after work, which is around 9 PM. However, it being a Friday evening, it was packed with people. We had to wait for about 20 minutes before we were seated. There was only the two of us so we can’t really order a lot. As my cousin had recommended Nachos and Fajita, of course, we ordered those two! Along with bottomless coke and a burger for sharing. Nope! No beer or alcoholic drinks for us. My cousin has to work the following morning and I don’t really drink 😓.   I think we did about 3 refills for the nachos, 3 for coke and the most awesome part? We had addition refill of Nachos for take-out (take-away, to go). How cool was that? We paid around 80 SGD for two people (P2640). Might be a little expensive. 😉

BTW: I went to SG  nearing the Christmas season that’s why there were Christmas decorations everywhere. 

Rating (out of 5) 

Price: 3 
A little pricey just for 2 people.

Ambiance: 4 
Instagram worthy 😉 (note: They serve alcoholic drinks so expect that there will be people drinking and catching up. I may be a little noisy.) 

Service: 3 
I'm giving a 3 (overall) just because we had to wait before we were able to find a seat. It was so busy! However, I'll give a 5 for their waiters/attendants because they really make sure that the customers are satisfied.  😁 

Food: 4 
Food is great.

Seizeriya : Singapore

Because Kopitiam doesn’t count as a restaurant. I can say that Seizeriya “is my favorite restaurant in SG!” I always eat here whenever I visit SG. The food tastes good, their staff are friendly and the price is affordable. They also have big servings so you can do sharing. The Budget is about 60SGD for 4 people (P1980). That’s for set meals including salad and drinks. Here are the dishes that we always order. 

Photos were compiled from a couple (or more) of times that we’ve eaten there.

Rating (out of 5)

Price: 5

Very affordable! They also have a set menu. This includes the main dish, salad and drinks.

Ambiance: 5 

Instagram worthy 😉

Service: 5 

Very fast. Everything is cooked once orders are made. Serving time is around 15-20 minutes. 😁

Food: 5

Yummy! 

Ilmi Korean Restaurant : Pampanga

My sister needs to drop by her University to get a few documents for med-school. When she finished, we decided to go to Ilmi Korean Restaurant for lunch. My sister said that they often go there whenever they crave for Korean food.

Ilmi is a restaurant located in Angeles, Pampanga. They offer a variety of Korean dishes including bibimbap, spicy soup and (of course the reason for our trip) unlimited samgyupsal. You can choose between pork or beef.  We opted for their unlimited Pork (because I don’t eat much pork in Australia). Unlimited side dish and ice tea are included as well. All for just P270 each! 😆

Location and Parking: It is located on a busy road with limited parking space (5-6 cars). Luckily we came early!

Price: P270 each. Very cheap for unlimited pork, side dish, and drinks.

Ambiance: When you look outside it doesn’t look appealing. The restaurant only has its name printed in a tarpaulin and located on top of the building. Inside, you can see normal wooden tables with space for the charcoal grill. No exhaust fan as well, get ready to smell like grilled meat after eating. 😅

Taste: I love it! I’ve always loved eating samgyupsal. Korean food really suits my taste. I especially love their baby potato salad and kimchi. ^_^

Service: The service was very fast. There were only a few tables occupied when we arrived and we were seated and served our food immediately. Also, the servers were very attentive. They were very prompt on refilling our pork samgyupsal when we asked for it. 

Note: We went during lunch time on a weekday, that may be the reason why there aren’t a lot of people. 

After 3 refills of pork, 4 for lettuce and 3 for side dish, we left the restaurant with a full stomach and an experience to remember. 

The experience + the price makes this a right choose for lunch. If you’re around the area, do drop by and try their unlimited samgyupsal. You can also choose unlimited beef for P330. 😉