The Handburger (Raffles City)

The Handburger. Name in such a way because everything here is made with ‘their hands’ and all natural ingredients. I would love to find out and debate if this is really the case. But well, lets not go into that.

Set Menu

Burger Menu

I order the set, The Handburger Original ($7.80), Onion Rings and Iced Lemon Tea. So the set will cost $7.80 + $4.00 + service charge 10% + GST 7%.

Iced Lemon Tea

Onion Rings

The batter coating the onion rings is quite unique, not something that I have eaten else where. Seems to have been some herbs mixed in it if my taste bud is right. Best to have it when it is just served, when it is warm and crispy.

The Handburger Original

The Handburger Original consist of  beef patty, cheddar cheese, sweet onion jam, barbecue sauce, lettuce, tomato and of course the caramelised onion buns that sandwich these ingredients. Quite like the caramelised onion buns, moreover the buns were soft. Moreover, my beef patty was juicy and tender. So unlike those from fast food chains, where the processed beef patty tends to be dry and hard. But whether The Handburger did their burger from scratch such as mincing the beef, that I do not know.

The Burger Dessert $6.50

The Burger Dessert consist of chocolate patty with macadamia nuts, apple cream cheese, strawberries sandwiched by 2 donut buns.  Kudos for the presentation and creativity. It looks nice, colourful and maybe cute. But well, sadly, it did not suit my taste bud. Quite a weird combination. And the donut bun was too hard. For me, I do not really care about presentation, so long as it taste delicious, relatively healthy and affordable or at least value for money.

Overall, The Handburger concept is very similar to Burger Bench Bar. Where they spot a distinct market gap and is addressing it. So kudos to both entities. Even their prices are quite similar on the high end.

Raffles City Outlet
252 North Bridge Road
#B1-77/78 Raffles City Shopping Centre
Tel: 6334 4577|
Opening Hours: Daily 11.30am – 9.30pm

313 Somerset Outlet
313 Orchard Road
#B2-17/18/19 313 @ Somerset
Tel: 6509 621
Opening Hours：Daily 11.30am – 10pm
Website：http://www.thehandburger.com

Waraku Japanese Casual Dining (Marina Square)

Went to Waraku, Japanese Casual Dining. Besides the Japanese Casual Dining, Waraku also owns Pasta De Waraku, Mr Curry and Cafe De Waraku! First visited Waraku Japanese Casual Dining quite a long time ago (1-2years back) and quite like it. After that went to Paste De Waraku and its also nice.

Decided to pay this place (Waraku Japanese Casual Dining) at Marina Square a visit during weekday lunch as there is a lunch menu. Take a look at the lunch menu below. 

Ordered the Ramen Set C, $13.80. It comes with free drink and choice of soup can be pork, shoyu or shio.

Ramen Set C $13.80

Here’s the set. The bowl is way too big. The ramen and soup did not even filled 1/4 of the bowl! No idea why they used such a big bowl, as it totally make the portion look so small/little.

A close up inside the bowl. Can’t help but be disappointed. 1 piece of seaweed, 1 piece of pork the rest is all ramen and soup. Wish that more ingredients were given to accompany the ramen. The pork was lined with fat, not much meat at all. I am not an expert in ramen and japanese soup, but the ramen and soup were not bad, similar standard as Tampopo.

Sushi (comes with set)

My only comment about the sushi is that the rice is not compact. The sushi tends to break off and crumple. I wonder is it because its a set lunch, hence the items are way below the waraku’s standard that I recall. If that is the case, they should just take off the lunch set.

After adding taxes and service charge, the bill for two $13.80 ramen set add up to $32.49.

Waraku Japanese Casual Dining(Marina Square)
6 Raffles Boulevard
Marina Square #01-213
Singapore 039594
Tel: 6883 1123
Website: http://www.waraku.com.sg/index.aspx
Opening hours: 11:30am – 11pm (Last order 10:30pm)

Cafe Cartel (Marina Square)

After 9pm, there is a 50% discount for cakes, drinks and snacks at Cafe Cartel outlets. Happen to be in Marina Square and decided to go Cafe Cartel to have a bite at 915pm. It was a sat, there was a queue even though it was 915pm. Must be the 50% discount.

Had to wait about 1o to 15 minutes before getting a place. Sadly, the table was wet, not sure if the staff there cleaned the table after the previous customer left. It was obvious that they could not cope. Full house, yet there was only 4 staff serving the customers. Ordered a Tiramisu Cheese Cake and Tic-Tac-Toe Platter. Requested for two glasses of warm water which was promptly served.

50% Promo - Tiramisu Cheese Cake $2.80

The Tiramisu Cheese Cake took about 15 minutes to arrive. After tasting it, I was not won over, the cake was cut and left out in the open for sometime. It was not cold and inside, it was very moist/wet.

As for the Tic-Tac-Toe Platter. Had to ask the staff to check my order as we waited very long for it. It was served 40minutes after we ordered… It was ridiculous waiting this long for this ‘snack’

50% Promo - Tic-Tac-Toe Platter $3.10

The Tic-Tac-Toe Platter was just fries, potato wedges and waffle fries. Why did it need 40minutes to cook? Moreover, the fries were cold and soggy. Same for the wedges which were cold. Only the waffle fries were slightly warm. Disappointing, who likes cold soggy food…

There maybe a 50% offer, but if food and service standards get compromised, this offer may as well be withdrew. This is bad for the image of the brand. I wonder is this the same for other outlets.

Cafe Cartel (Marina Square)
6 Raffles Boulevard
#01-208 Marina Square Shopping Centre
Singapore 039594
Phone: 6338 9396
50% discount after 9pm for cakes, drinks and snacks