the signage on their wall caught my attention when i was leaving the gym- grills, greens and grains. that's exactly my kind of thing, so i wandered in to check it out, with no intention of eating there that day; just wanted to see if their offerings were interesting enough to warrant a return. turned out that they were giving out free grain bowls as part of their soft launch. now that's an interesting strategy. since it was free, i decided to give it a try.
also because it was free, and i was there pretty late for lunch, they were out of their regular sides. as such, i didn't get to try their usual sides, but i did get to eat some pretty interesting stuff- i think those are the things they usually put in their pita pockets. they had a few choices for the base, most of it grains, so i got the only veggie option. i chose the beef curry over pork belly as protein. for the sides, i got beetroot patties, portobello and alfalfa sprouts, along with sunflower seeds.
i ended up really liking the beetroot patty. its texture resembled that of sweet potato, and they'd put spices in it. the portobello was juicy and awesome as well. the beef curry was okay, but too much tendon in it for my liking. also, i only got two miserable cubes- i'm wondering if that's their usual portion, or was it because it was free?
noticed from the board that they usually offer the grain bowl at $13.80, inclusive of base, one protein, three sides and two toppings. the food that i got to try was good enough to make me want to go back to try again, so i guess their strategy works. will probably pop by again sometime soon to see what they have to offer in terms of sides. also, after googling, i realise that the place is actually opened by cedele! no wonder i liked it.
workspace espresso
marina bay financial centre
#01-08
https://www.facebook.com/workspaceespresso/
having had a really good first experience at omnivore, i was enthusiastic about going back again (it's not easy to find clean eats that are filling, yummy AND at a reasonable price point). i was initially planning to go after the lunch crowd was gone (the raffles lunch crowd is really not to be trifled with) but my friend was suddenly available for lunch, so we met at about one.
just barely managed to snag seats, and joined the snaking queue- markedly different from the previous time i was there. still, it didn't take too long for us to get our hands on the food. this time i'd learnt my lesson and wasn't greedy, taking the regular box ($9.90). topped up $1 for the steak and 50 cents for mushrooms, so it came up to $11.40- not too bad for such a generous serving, with steak to boot. chose sous vide egg and olives as the other toppings, with romaine as the base.
while portion size has remained consistent, the thing that irked me was the doneness of the steak. the previous time i was there, it was a perfect medium rare, juicy and tender with a gorgeous, even pinkness in the centre. this time, however, it was more like well done, with the inside just as cooked as its exterior. pretty disappointing, to say the least. the saving grace was that at least it was still well marinated.
i'd like to chalk up the miss on the steak to the fact that they were overwhelmed by the lunch crowd, so i'll give them another try soon, making sure that i go AFTER the lunch rush. my friend ordered the chicken thigh, which i had previously, commenting that it was good. or perhaps i should just stay safe and stick to the chicken thigh.
omnivore
basement 1
chevron house
one of the things i miss eating, being on whole 30, is chirashi. sashimi cubes over japanese rice- so simple, but nothing quite comes close to it. 30 days without chirashi is no mean feat. when i found that teppei has chirashi with a salad option, i wanted to eat it immediately. came by on a sunday afternoon for a late lunch, so even though seats were limited, we managed to snag a table.
it was a DIY concept, quite different from the other teppei outlets.
i got the M sized bowl to customise, with salad as the base. i picked salmon, baby scallop and two portions of swordfish. one of the rules of whole 30 is no soy sauce, so i asked for no marination (also because i remember from having the regular chirashi at their other outlets that their marination was on the salty side), and no dressing for the salad as well. (the counter staff gave me disbelieving looks. don't judge me!)
even without dressing, it was yummy. never had sashimi without soy sauce, with just wasabi, but it was surprisingly good! the sashimi cubes were chunky and fresh- exactly the way i like it. the salad leaves, however, were pretty cumbersome to eat, as it was in large pieces. i was pleasantly surprised by the addition of wakame to the base- yum.
the M sized portion was a pretty light one, though, maybe because there wasn't rice. i found myself wanting some more food afterwards (also maybe because i came from the gym). it is a good, clean replacement for chirashi though! comparing this to the ones i've had at other teppei outlets... i find myself liking those better. for some reason portions seem more generous there, though my perspective might be slightly skewed because of the difference in base- greens instead of rice might be the reason why.
teppei syokudo
ion orchard
#b4-57
came by for a late dinner after the gym, and was pretty hungry. ion has no shortage of salad places, and for that i'm grateful, but for some reason i really wanted toss & turn, which i remembered liking but haven't had for a while. saw that they had a new item, which was salad with a hot main ($12.80), and that sealed the deal.
did a takeaway and went to eat at food republic just opposite, because my friend didn't feel like salad.
the salad included a base, one hot main, one protein and four other toppings. i picked the pork carnitas as my hot main, which came packed separately. they were out of frittatas, so i got chicken breast as my other protein. an egg, sweet potato, beetroot and a handful of almond flakes completed my salad. it was quite a sizeable and satisfying portion, actually. the pork carnitas, while yummy, hardly qualified as a hot main- it was just room lukewarm. it being termed "hot main" made me have the false impression that it was actually going to be hot. that aside, i was pretty happy with what i got- enough to go back the following week.
this time, instead of the pork carnitas, i decided to try the teriyaki chicken fillet. and because i was there in the late afternoon this time round, they still had the frittata. also had the rosemary potatoes this time- yum! i much preferred the pork carnitas, though- the chicken was way too dry.
cedele has always consistently delivered in terms of their food, which is why i've been going to cedele pretty often. toss & turn is however my favourite outlet out of all the cedele outlets for salad- the variety is much wider, especially with the addition of the hot mains.
toss & turn
ion orchard
#b4-55
http://www.tossnturnsalad.com
was interested to try it after my friend recommended it (the same friend who recommended me omnivore, which i ended up loving), so i came by after the gym. for some reason i was starving, so i decided on the large ($10.50), which came with two proteins instead of the one in the regular box.
it's actually just a stall in the food court, with all the available toppings on display behind the glass counter. order chits were available, but when i grabbed one and was about to fill it in, the guy told me that i could just order over the counter. his explanation was that the items available change regularly.
i was allowed to choose two bases, but because of my whole 30 plan, which means no grains, i was restricted to just the lettuce. too bad, because they had olive rice that looked promising. perhaps next time. they also had pretty interesting protein choices, one of which was the vegetarian option of rosti with egg. i was briefly tempted by it, but because of my meat eating habits i got teriyaki beef and peri peri chicken as my protein, and pumpkin, okra and an egg as toppings.
everything tasted pretty good, especially the pumpkin. it had a special taste that i couldn't place a finger on- reminded me of dried shrimps. was surprised by it initially, but ended up liking it the more i ate. the teriyaki beef was good too, but i was hungry and would've liked a bigger portion.
not too bad for the price, but not quite filling enough for me. i think i need a bigger portion of protein to be full, especially after the gym. i would still rather head on over to omnivore- can't wait to be back there, actually.
サラダハウス sarada hausu
esplanade xchange
#b1-35
finally came back- my last visit was sometime last year. too many things to try, and i've been distracted. i've been back a couple of times after the last blog post, but not after they revamped their menu.
gone are the combos- they used to have options of either a donburi, or a create-your-own meal, where it came with one protein and two sides. now, instead of restricting it to two sides, it comes as add-ons to the proteins. the donburi option is now priced at a $4 add-on. it's not really a price increase for all items- the donburis actually work out to be cheaper, or slightly more expensive depending on the portion of the proteins. if you choose not to go with the donburi option, though, it does work out to be more expensive than it used to be. i was there with a sugar voucher, so i didn't mind, but my meal would've worked out to be $13 without it.
i got the full chicken breast ($6) with teppanyaki mushrooms ($2.50), grilled asparagus ($2.50) and salt baked sweet potatoes ($2).
thankfully, the food was just as good as i remembered, though i remember them to be more generous with the sides. the teppanyaki mushrooms are still my favourite, with the tender sous vide chicken breast as a close second. i usually hate onions, but i loved how they'd cooked it until it was tender and soft, without the sharp and pungent taste i associate with onions.
it is places like these that make clean eating that much easier. i'll have to remember to come back.
wafuken
asia square tower 2 #02-05
http://www.wafuken.com
pasarbella suntec is proving to be quite interesting after all, what with porsena deli, grillo (whose truffle short rib bowl i've yet to try) and now pimp my salad. pimp my salad is by the people behind sarnies, and having had a couple of meals at sarnies (think roast beef sandwich) as well as club meatballs, i had quite a lot of confidence in their new salad concept.
it reminded me of grain traders, actually, but with much more flexibility. instead of plain sides at most salad bars, pimp my salad offers sides with a twist. think roasted carrots with cumin, baby corn with paprika, japanese cucumber with black sesame. you get the idea. even its layout was similar to grain traders', in which everything is laid out in huge ceramic bowls behind a glass counter. fill up an order chit, hand it to the staff, wait for them to ladle the stuff onto a plate (and hope that they give more, please, because i'm a growing girl) and pay at the cashier. pretty fuss free.
it does give a bit too much flexibility in terms of choice, though, forcing me, a rather poor decision maker even on my best days, to have to really think about what i want. no rules, no preselected base or limit to the number of toppings- everything had its price.
in the end, even though i was there for salad, i passed on the greens, because $2 for a salad base? really? comparing that with the sides, which were also mostly $2, i figured that i'd get a better deal with the sides. so in the end i chose smashed sweet potato ($2), grilled thai asparagus ($2), a mix of shimeji and button mushrooms ($2), lamb shoulder ($6) and roast beef ($4) for a total of $16. (extra protein for $4, so i made C who was ordering the roast beef anyway, add on onto her plate before i stole it off.)
i was shocked at the portion of smashed sweet potato they ladled onto my plate. i was expecting perhaps one scoop, but no, they gave at least two heaping scoops. the rest of the sides were less generous in portion- would've liked more of the yummy mushrooms especially. still, even though everything was lukewarm (i'm used to not having hot food, but i can see that some people would mind ie. C) it was pretty awesome. C even commented that she could eat clean, if all clean eating meals entailed such food. that, i think, is the highest compliment anyone could pay.
i loved the lamb shoulder. in fact, i liked it more than the roast beef. it was tender and full of flavour, with just enough fat to not be off-putting. and even though it was a salad, they did put effort into plating it, making it a really pretty dish- we eat with our eyes, too, after all.
it's not cheap, but it's good. i would happily come back here again. i just wish it was easier to get a seat. we were there on a saturday night, not expecting much of a crowd because it was so empty the previous time we went, but were taken aback by the crowd. had to move fast to get a table- and not even a good one at that. it was right at the entrance, on high stools. (but beggars hungry people can't be choosers.) ambience aside, it's a good place, with an abundance of choice. i'll be back for more lamb shoulder.
pimp my salad
pasarbella suntec
#01-455
on the whole 30 plan, and today's day 17 of clean eating. i actually enjoy eating like this (though my friends are more disapproving, since my choices are limited). so it's been days of salads, and it's been good! i've been on the lookout for good salad places (some places are so stingy with portions it makes me wonder if it would kill them to give me just a bit more). my friend recommended me this place, and so i decided to give it a try.
i went at around two plus, way after the lunch crowd had dissipated, so i barely had to wait. the concept is pretty similar to the daily cut, which i am a fan of (just not the prices). fill up an order chit, pay at the cashier, and wait for the food. the offerings are also pretty similar, but at a cheaper price.
i was feeling greedy, so i got the medium box with two proteins. picked the sirloin steak (additional $1) and chicken thigh. got romaine lettuce as the base, with toppings of sous vide egg, aloe vera (!) and button mushrooms (additional 50 cents). it added up to a total of $14.40.
i watched as they built the box, and they were so generous, giving hefty scoops of everything. i was pretty shocked at the portion of the proteins as well- much more than palm-sized. so much so that i half regretted being greedy and was wondering if i could actually finish everything. liked that they cooked the steak on order, rather than pre-cooking it and letting it sit there in hot trays (and thus overcooking it).
the chicken thigh was juicy and tender, as was the steak, which was cooked a perfect medium rare. in fact i loved everything about the box, aside from the aloe vera, which i found to be too sweet and left untouched. i'll probably skip the aloe vera in favour of other toppings next time (probably edamame once i'm off the plan).
in short, this is my favourite salad shop for now. it beats the daily cut hands down. i'll be back for more (but i'll probably get the regular box the next time).
omnivore
basement 1
chevron house
