Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen (The Cathay)

*There is a Groupon voucher for Popeyes now! $3.30 for 2 pieces of Bonafide Chicken. Usual price is $5.50. I just bought it. Have you? (No I am not pay to advertise, just that this is a good lobang to try the chicken)*

I first ate Popeyes in Korea in 2007. I remember that its burger and biscuit (as they were delicious!)

Now is the chance to try Popeyes in Singapore. Went to the one at The Cathay. Somehow I was so used to the menu with Korean words that I do not remember or know what to order. Even the pictures look unfamiliar. In the end, I decided to go for the Two Piece Chicken Combo which consist of  two pieces of chicken, one drink, one side and one biscuit. This would have cost $7.40. But as I changed my drink to Ice Lemon Tea, I had to top up 30cents to $7.70.

Two Piece Chicken Combo $7.70

For the chicken, you have a choice of going for the mild or spicy. I chose the mild one and regretted, should have chosen spicy!

The fried chicken at Popeyes seems to be more crispy than that of KFC. In addition, the batter was thinly. However, I felt that there was not enough fragrant and flavour which could be partly due to my order for mild chicken. Inside, the chicken meat was super tender and juicy! It was not tough, each strand of meat can be teared out easily by hand. I would definitely say Popeyes’ fried chicken seems to be so much better than KFC.

Jam for the biscuit

The biscuit? It was so-so .. average. Nothing fantastic. I remembered the one in Korea was much better, more buttery and fragrant.

Mashed Potato

I am  crazy fan of potato. But the Mashed Potato at Popeyes does not agree with my taste bud. Totally dislike it, should have ordered Cajun Fries instead. Well food is subjective and based on personal preference. Many people have claimed that Popeye’s Mash Potato is superior compared to KFC. For me I would prefer KFC’s version. So it is best to try it yourself and see which is you cup of tea.

Today, Popeyes has 10 outlets in Singapore and is Halal certified. Their outlets are at
• Ang Mo Kio Jubilee Entertainment Centre
• Bedok Point
• Century Square
• Downtown East
• Orchard Xchange
• Punggol East
• Singapore Changi Airport Terminal 3
• Singapore Flyer
• Square 2
• The Cathay

Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen (The Cathay)
2 Handy Road
#B1-21, The Cathay
Tel: 6735 3586
Website: http://www.popeyes.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/PopeyesSGP

Tarafuku Japanese Buffet (313 Somerset)

Tarafuku Japanese Buffet is located at 313 Somerset and is part of the Tampopo Group. If you are thinking Liang Court, Shabu Shabu Black Pig, Tonkatsu Ramen and Matcha Chiffon Cake, you are on the right track!

Price List

Visited the restaurant on a Saturday for dinner. So per person it will be $27.80++. They have increased the price as of 18th Feb 2011. Previously, dinner on a Saturday night would have cost $25.80++.

The place was brightly lit decorated with japanese umbrellas hanging on the ceiling.

There is free flow shabu shabu for dinner only.

Hot pot for shabu shabu.

Thinly sliced, this was good! We ordered several helpings of this.

Selection of raw items to accompany the shabu shabu

Selection of vegetables, mushrooms, meat, fishballs and also prawns for the hot pot. Prawns were fresh! Also, there is miso soup at the extreme left of the picture.

Salad Selections

Very few selections for their salad section. The other half of the counter was for desserts. A must try item here is the potato salad.

Sashimi

They have Sashimi, Tuna and in the middle I think it is yellow tail.

Oddly and disappointedly, there was no alasakan crab! What happened to it? I have no idea, but earlier reviews clearly showed that there was alasakan crab. Ironically, with a price increase this item is missing..

Sushi

Chawanmushi

Chawanmushi was soft and smooth. I would have gone for more helpings of this if not for the fact that it was too salty.

Fried spaghetti and fried rice

Shishamo (middle) was not fresh.

The chicken wings (left) was delicious.

Tasty egg with runny yolk only downside was that it was cold.

Soft Shell Crab

You can order Soft Shell Crab which tastes great when it is hot. Ordered several servings of this.

Tofu

You can also order tofu too. Taste great, ordered extra helpings of this too.

Ramen

Ordered a small bowl of ramen. Can’t remember what ramen this was. It was average.

Dessert Selections

The desserts were average. No Matcha Chiffon Cake, maybe the top right was meant to be a small piece of the matcha chiffon cake. But it pale in comparison to the one I ate at Tampopo.

Ice cream

The green tea ice cream was good. The sesame ice cream (not in picture) was way too strong.

Lots of misses and few hits. The delicious items were the potato salad, chicken wings, shabu shabu and its selection such as prawns. Service wise, the staff were mostly foreigners, it was hard to communicate with them. One of them even took our bill to the next table and despite the person saying that he had a ready paid, the waiter could not understand. Overall, I find it a tad too expensive. Not sure if I will be back. If you do try it, let me know whats nice and also if the alasakan crab are being served.

Tarafuku Japanese Buffet
313 Orchard Road
#B3-31/34, 313 @ Somerset
Tel: 6634 0889
Opening Hours: Daily 11.30am – 10pm
Website: http://www.cfc.com.sg/
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/TARAFUKU/268831277561?sk=info 

The Orange Lobster 龍虾世家

Saw a deal on ‘$9 for $25 Worth of Chinese Cuisine at The Orange Lobster’ on Groupon. Decided to purchase it as it looks so value for money. Was excited and had high expectations for this place. It is located just in town at Orchard Central. So convenient! Called up to make a reservation as it was one of the terms and condition in the deal.

Inside, it was quite posh. Despite our reservations, we were seated outside, directly behind the DBS standup promotion. I requested for a table inside as we did not want to sit along the corridor where the traffic was high, but was told it was full. Half way into our dinner, we saw a couple entering the restaurant. After the meal, we looked in and saw an empty table for two..

Pleasantly surprised to see that small fork and knife has been provided. This would make it so much easier to eat the lobster(if you are ordering).

Braised Peanuts $2

Cold Braised Peanuts while you decide what to order. Peanuts  were soft and fat! Gray was sticky and thick. But it was way too salty. On a side note, feel free to tell the waitress if you do not want this dish so that the $2 will not be added to your bill.

Menu Cover Page

Menu (Lobster)

Promotion for the lobster porridge (Courtesy of Jazz’s Blog)

There was a promotion for the lobster porridge, $17.90 per bowl for 200 grams of lobster. Decided to order this as it was their signature dish.

Lobster Porridge $17.90

Looks so different from the promotion flyer..

Was disappointed by the portion. There was just a small lobster cut into half. Having been to Orchid Live Seafood, I know that the porridge is similar to rice in soup. =) Lots of spring onions were added. The lobster broth was on the salty end. No taste of lobster and from the taste of it, Marmite might have been added. Nothing fantastic about this.

A  picture speaks a thousand words; my half of the lobster.

I can’t help but say that the signature lobster porridge served at Orchid Live Seafood was much better in terms of taste and even the number of lobsters given.

Menu (Poultry)

Saw there was Signature Chicken (immediately thought of Orchid Live Seafood and thought this place was similar to it) and decided to order it.

Signature Chicken (small) $12

The Signature Chicken was salty. What a waste. Pales in comparison when compared to Orchid Live Seafood.

Overall, I was disappointed with the taste, quality, value and even service of the staff that I wrote on their FB Page regarding my experience the moment I reach home. I have not even wrote about my experience with the service staff. Well look at the last part for the screenshot of my post and the management’s reply. Also, felt very thirsty after my meal.To conclude, its unlikely I will be back as I rather go to Orchid Live Seafood. Taste is subjective, so try it yourself, it might be your cup of tea!

The Orange Lobster 龍虾世家
181 Orchard Road
#08-09 Orchard Central
Tel:6756 0311
Opening Hours: Daily 11am – 11pm
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/orangelobster
Blog:  http://longxiazhou.blogspot.com/