I've never been one to enjoy Korean food - not after all the bad experiences with the food court version. So, when Mum suggested we try the food there, you can imagine my initial resistance!

It wasn't too difficult looking for the place. Located on the 3rd floor, half of the restaurant's sitting area overlooked Square2's atrium, giving the place a nice 'open-air' feel.

"Skeptical me" ordered a stone pot rice with chilli marinated chicken ($16) from the menu and Mum ordered the "Ginseng Chicken" daily lunch set ($15++) which included half a chicken, rice, many appetisers, dessert and coffee. I must say that the Ginseng chicken lunch set was really worth every penny.

So our food came and I SO REGRETTED not ordering the ginseng chicken set as the taste of the soup was EXCELLENT bordering on EXQUISITE. It had a earthy homey taste that erased any doubts that THIS WAS A QUALITY SOUP!

My chilli chicken with stone pot rice was quite an experience too! Who knew that Koreans ate such spicy food? Despite my running sinus, I continued eating the spicy meat as the taste of the meat was so well-rounded and never offensively sharp.

Oh...and don't get me started on the rice. The steamed rice that was served just reeked of QUALITY! Each short grain was so plump and tasty that I reckon I could have just eaten that without the accompliment of the spicy chicken.

According to Mrs Son (restaurant owner), the menu reflects the commonly eaten "home food" cooked with the same loving, caring attitude as a mother would prepare for her children.

------------------------

So, after that experience, I returned the next day to order MY OWN ginseng chicken soup set. Like the previous day, every spoonful of the soup was thick with ginseng chicken goodness. Just thinking about it makes me salivate.

This time, Mum ordered a SSAM Bab where one is served with individually portioned vegetable, rice and choice of meat, and then required to use one's hands to stuff that nicely packed rice/veg/meat packet into one's mouth - daintily, if possible.

What can I say??? I'm definitely going back...and looking for Korean friends to take me around in Korea to make up for all the time I ignored this wonderful cuisine.

Driving along MacPherson, I recalled reading about about an Italian restaurant along the road. So instead of the regular "Tian Tian Lai" yong tau foo at the Circuit Road market, we decided to try the food at the "MacPherson Italian Restaurant".

Making use of Singtel's "internet anywhere" on my phone, I managed to google "Macpherson Italian food" to get the address of the place. It's a good thing I called - because, guess what, I had driven right past the place (a common grouse). Ok, so we backtracked, made the U-Turn at Windsor Hotel and tried again.

Looking for parking spots was not easy (we are talking about "legal parking"). But we figured that the people living in the terrace houses behind the restaurant wouldn't mind their front gate being "slightly" blocked since it was a working day.

Looking for the place itself was another challenge worthy of "Amazing Race". The exterior ABSOLUTELY devoid of the usual credit card decals, celebrity photos and all that marketing stuff. In fact, you couldn't even see the interior of the place without opening the door. I actually thought it was a sleazy pub inside those doors.

Upon entering, we were promptly greeted by a Chinese speaking server who seated us and gave us menus. In fact, the menus were pointless. The most reliable menu in the restaurant was the chalkboard menu and the refridgerated counter (where you can see for yourself what salads and desserts they have). Seriously.

Although the server was polite, I found her overbearing with her recommendations and her suggestions that the two of us (both females) ordered a cod fish to share ON TOP OF our pizza and 2 pastas. There's a fine line between being helpful and pushy, and I reckon she was threading on thin ice there.

Anyhow, after much deliberation (quite surprising for the lack of variety), we ordered a Napoli pizza ($12 - tomatoes, anchovies, capers and black olives. With cheese version is the Romana), aglio olio ($14 - not on the menu) and a squid ink pasta with shrimp and scallops with olive oil ($18).

First up was the pizza. It was YUMMY! Thin crust and just so light on the stomach. One of the best thin crust pizzas here, although I would have prefered the pizza topping not to look so "sparsely spread". But it was anchovies I ordered, so too much would have also made the experience "too salty".

Next to come was the Aglio Olio. Served on an "appetiser" sized plate, the portion was well....small. It was as if the owner had slashed BOTH his price and portion by 50%. Food quality and taste wise, there were no complaints AT ALL. The pasta (not home made) was cooked al dente and the flavours were not watered down (ala Pastamania) or haphazaardly stir fried. This was comfort food. Just you and the pasta.

Expecting the same quality and standards for my Squid Ink pasta, I was surprised to see it come "dry" with no sauce apart from the olive oil. The only thing "inky" about the pasta was the home made pasta. Goodness gracious! But I'd never enjoyed my pasta this much. It was a no fuss dish where the star was not the prawn or scallop. For the first time, I could detect the egg and ink ingredients in a pasta. True to its origins as "home made", the pasta, with its rough edges and prematurely shortened strands, was comforting and satisfying. It was a pity though, that the portion was so dainty to the point of "diet-sized".

By the time I was finished with my meal, I was still hungry (Get what I mean about the dainty portions?). So, resisting the urge to order a second portion of squid ink pasta, I ordered a tomato soup with clams ($10) and a "love cake" ($10).

The tomato soup was rich and its flavour heightened by the truffle oil drizzled into it. I could have done without the 4 small clams but to their credit, they had cooked the clams till it just slid off the shell without the use of the fork (except for one of them).

When the love cake was served, it came "flaming" - literally. Doused and lited with alcohol, the "love cake" was an interesting concept. Whenever I asked the service staff or the owner why it was called a "love cake", I never got a proper explanation except for "try it and see".

Honestly, it is a marketing gimmick because you would order it out of curiousity - just like I did. So, here was the "love cake", dug into it and knew why...."love handles". Here was a portion of fat made from chocolate, butter and cream. I'm usually alright with putting fat in my body, but this "love thingy", just wasn't worth it. For $10, it tasted ordinary but better than the rubbish at Bakerzin. Will I try this again? I doubt it.

In fact, I don't think that desserts are his specialty as his tiramisu looked a little dry from the display. But after the "love cake" experience - which is supposedly a "specialty" and perpetually "sold out" (according to that Chinese national service staff, boy, did I get duped again by their flowery language!), I doubt his tiramisu would fare better.

Taking into consideration the location (poor), service (service staff takes orders at an Italian F&B outlet in Singapore in Mandarin only. Certainly a first for me!), food standards and price, I can assuredly say that the owner knows he has a good thing going with his food and he is not about to lower his ROI (return on investment) on each item on the menu just because the new location of this restaurant is in the "heartlands" or "neighbourhood".

To summarise, he may claim he has reduced his food prices, but he has proportionately reduced his food size. Expect to pay more than expected for a "neighbourhood" located eatery. My bill came to $65.

***5 things You MUST KNOW of The Place***
1) Expect to wait for a table if you come during regular peak hours. I went for lunch at 11:30am. Once it hit 1pm, it was packed.

2) The Chinese service staff who is so friendly and courteous, is a VERY GOOD SALES PERSON. Know what you want before you place the order and then don't budge when the upsell starts

3) Parking is a real pain.

4) Looking for the place, is another pain

5) Although the food is good, you'll think twice about returning becaues of the conflicting vibes.

Was on our way to Alexandra Village for lunch when I spotted an eatery called "Joe's Kitchen-Thai Cuisine". The place looked odd- squashed with a beauty parlour, motorcycle repair shop and SKP type plastic wares shop.

So I said, "Mum, there's a thai place at that row of shophouses, want to try?" Mum, being game with exploring new things, said, "Ok. let's take a look".

We literally "took a look" by assessing their photo menu scotch-taped to the glass panels at the front of the eatery. Since it was very hard to tell how good the eatery was from the photo, we decided that the prices were low (risk) enough to try the place once. So we got a table for two.

We ordered:
1) TOM YUM SLICED FISH SOUP($4.50 for small) - Definitely NOT from bottled paste. The soup was served to us in a non-threatening and seemingly chilli-less orange color. But, I tell you, the taste was so authentic! Sour and chilli-spicy at the same time. It was one of the best tom yum soups I had in Singapore (and I'm not even comparing that to the rubbish that some hawkers pass off as "Tom Yum")

2) MANGO SALAD ($6.50) - Again, it was authentic to the "T" but to really bring out the contrast of the "sour/sweet/spicy" flavours, it had some deep fried crunchy "sotong" (cuttlefish) shreds. Really good stuff!

3) FRIED PRAWN CAKE ($2 per piece) - Crispy on the outside, chock-ful of freshly minced prawn meat on the inside. There was no undertones of rancid/overly used oil that I could usually taste in prawn cakes, say at an eatery like Diandin Leluk at Golden Mile Shopping Complex.

4) FRIED FISH CAKE ($1.50 per piece) - Not too chewy, not too musy. It was just nice. It had a "otak" sort of taste but the curry leaves in the fish cake lifted it to the "thai" level. Yum.

5)FRIED STUFFED CHICKEN WING ($2 per piece) - This particular item reminded me of "home cooked food" because in their minced mix that they stuffed the wing with, it had whole kernals of corn. When I see "whole" pieces of "things", I tend to think of the word "generous" - which you can only get at home. The wing was fried just nice. Meat was nice and so was the wing skin....so sinful...

6) FRIED TUNG HOON AKA PHAD WOON SEN ($4.50 for small) - Mum commented that this was better than the ones she had in Bangkok's restaurants. Not only was it tasty, it had non of the oiliness that usually came with frying the Tung Hoon (green bean vermicelli).

7) GLUTINOUS RICE WITH FRESH MANGO ($4.50) - I've got to say this - YUM YUM YUM! I was surprised that the presentation was so professional as I was expecting a lump of rice (hand scooped) drizzled haphazaardly with coconut juice. NOOOOOOO>.......this was not the case. Good to look at as it was good to eat.

As we were so impressed with the food, we ended up talking to the Chef's (who is Joe and also a Thai) wife - Jamie - who informed us that they are very busy on Saturdays and Sundays from 6-8pm. For those who hate crowds (like me), the best time to visit is lunch and dinner times on weekdays and lunch on week ends.

Opening hours: Wednesdays to Mondays (off on Tuesday): 11am - 3pm; 5pm- (I think) 9pm

Don't say I never warn you....

Overall, I'd say, come and try. For the value you get, it's really worth every effort.

Why you must visit:
1) Price is affordable.
2) Portions are generous
3) Food is freshly prepared
4) Can't get more authentically Thai tasting than here
5) Clean and without the Diandin Leluk "smell"
6) Satisfaction - this place....will give that to you...especially when you see the bill

First, you've got to know that I'm not one for ramen. I'm a soba girl. When Baikohken first opened (May 2007) 2 doors + 1 corner away from my office, I thought the long queues formed outside were just people who "want to try something new". Weeks became months and then one day, I decided to just pop in to see what all the fuss was about.

-THE MENU-

Their menu is very simple. In fact, it has a "grid" system in terms of ordering: On one plane, you'll have to decide what type of soup you want: Miso, Shioyu (Soya sauce) and Shio (Salt). In terms of toppings, you get to choose: Vegetables, Char Siew or Char Siew+Veg.

In fact, the beauty of their simple menu is that you can customise your meal. Just finished your gym? Add another egg ($1). Want to build muscles? Add Char Siew ($2) for protein. On a low carbs diet, half your noodle (-$3)

-THE TEST-

I ordered the simplest ramen on the menu....miso ramen (I equate "simple" to "cheapest" = no frills). When I ordered, the lady looked at me and said, "Miss, maybe you want to order the half size instead of the full size". I looked her and thought "Good grief, you underestimate my eating capacity." So I said, "It's ok.I can finish it". Perservering, she continued "there's a lot of vegetables that will make you full". And I replied, "I like vegetables...particularly beansprouts (beansprouts is the vegetable topping for that particular ramen)."

So, I made myself comfortable at the counter seat in front of the open concept cooking station and admired:

1) The cute Jap chef/manager and the way he twirled and swirled the noodles around the hot pot of water and lovingly prepared the miso broth (step 1: put miso in empty serving bowl Step 2: Wait for broth to boil. Scoop a little broth into bowl. Mix with miso. Step 3: Wait for noodles to cook, add more water into bowl. Then put noodles into bowl. Step 4: Add stir-fried beansprouts with minced pork Step 5: Shout out the usual Japanese words "it's ready. So serve it now....QUICK QUICK before it become cold" (loose translation....best taken with a pinch of salt)

2) The powerful exhaust hub over the cooking station that sucked out all the oil fumes and whatever food smell created in the kitchen

Now, the taste test:
I took the spoon and scooped the broth. Bliss. Comfort.Tasty
Picked up some noodles and put it into my mouth. Firm. Not soggy, not under-cooked. Just nice.

Like I said, I'm not a Ramen fan but I sure know what broths should taste like and how "al dente" noodles should be....and this Miso Ramen at Baikohken really really "rocked my boat"!

[Beppu Menkan! Beppu Menkan! Shame on you for passing off your noodles as Ramen...*wagging finger*]

-SECOND VISIT: Shioyu Ramen-

Anyway, needing confirmation that the ramen was authentically Japanese or a "rip off" like Beppu, I brought my friend who had lived in Japan and knew what REAL JAP RAMEN tasted.

This time, we ordered the Shioyu Ramen (Ramen with soya sauce broth)+ Egg (Hardboiled/Stewed) + Char Siew. Again, we took the counter seat to temporarily take ourselves back to Japan and drank our FREE Japanese tea (not the green tea, the other type that tastes of roasted maize-Ocha). Then my friend spotted Gyoza on the menu and ordered that as a starter.

In no time, we were served our bowl (we shared because...ahem....I couldn't finish my "normal sized" bowl of noodles the last time) of Shyio Ramen + Egg + Char Siew. Here's the verdict:

Shioyu Ramen Broth: Perfect. Blended with Broth to bring on a slightly salty flavour to the stock. Friend said, this is good. Better than THAT PLACE AT FAR EAST SQUARE. But honestly, I prefer to the miso version

Shioyu Ramen: You know how some noodle places just can't control the consistency of their noodle "bite". Well, Baikohken's ramen was perfect to the bite. Friend said, "It's authentic"

Egg: One look and you know it is different from your usual stewed egg. The egg yolk is 75% hard and 25% mushy...and I managed to extract as much of the "yolk taste" from that level of "done-ness". I liked it.

Char Siew: According to my friend, the meat was "authentic", "chunky" and "tasty". Not your regular red roasted "Char siew", the ramen version of char siew melts in your mouth and is well marinated.

-MOST RECENT VISIT-

If you are wondering what I think of the Shio version of the ramen broth, it's wonderful. In fact, I rank the different versions of the broth in the order of preference:

1) Miso (strongest differentiated flavour)
2) Shio (enhances flavour of the base broth)
3) Shioyu

TOP 10 THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT THE PLACE:

1) Forget about getting a table during lunch hour on weekdays.
2) Best times to go: Mon-Fri: After 5pm-9:30pm. Weekends + Public Holidays: Lunch @11am-3pm Dinner@5pm-10pm.
3) They are OPEN EVERY DAY
4) The wallpaper photo of an old man in front of a Baikohken shop is the Baikohken boss. The shop in the photo is the original shop in Hokkaido - 40 years ago
5) The chef/manager learnt his skills from the old man himself. From what "cutie" tells me, his learning process is very much like the comedies we watch on Japanese dramas on cooking....a lot of "Teacher Scolds Apprentice" scenes
6) If you are a girl, get the half size bowl
7) To "transport" yourself to Japan, sit at the counter
8) Talking about transportation, you can easily find parking along the roadside and if you can't, park at OCBC and walk across. For those who take public transport, Raffles Place and Clark Quay stations are the nearest. But both require 3-5 minutes walking once you are on sea level.
9) They are open on Chinese New Year! And prices don't change like the way hair saloons raise their prices....
10) Since Jan 1 2008, they registered for GST. So when you order, the prices you see are pre-GST.

Imagine my "udder" delight when I first spotted this hidden find when walking from United Square to the Novena station! I said, "Hey! New ice cream shop! The crepe place closed down!", perhaps a little too happily at the demise of another food business.

As usual, I wanted to know how this ice creamery compared to my regular favourite - Island Creamery. So in I went....to be greeted by 3 smiling and happy "milkmen" (that's what they put on their name card).

I was informed that there were two sections in their ice cream offering: Premium ($3.90 per scoop) and Classic (meaning: Alcohol, therefore more expensive, and Non-Alcohol. $3.10 per scoop). So promptly I concentrated my attention to the Premium section.

As I was not in the mood for waist expansion from cream and sugar calories that day, I informed my kind server - the Chief Milkman - that I wasn't going to order anything that day. But, bless his kind soul, he said "it's okay, how about tasting our ice cream? We are very proud of it".

So I thought, "ok, why not. At least "tasting" is less guilt-inducing than having an entire scoop.". So I proceeded to sample the following that caught my eye:

1) Triple Sec Chocolate.
It was rich and the Triple Sec added a subtle lift to the usually "chocolatey chocolate until cannot chocolate anymore" taste of other ice cream places. In fact, this chocolate ice cream was SO GOOD! that it immediately kicked Awfully Chocolate's Chocolate ice cream out of its 1st place. Its denseness and smooth texture of the ice cream was really something I had to close my eyes to savour, to enjoy every wonderful moment of chocolate bliss.

2) Ameretto Expresso
Ah....almonds. I've always loved the flavour of almonds (even if it is a synthetically created one). I was excited when David the Chief Milkman passed the sample over the counter.

mmmmm....lovely....(release satisfied "sigh" here)....like the TSC, the AE was smooth and rolled very nicely over my tongue, releasing first the Ameretto "bang", then followed closely by the familiar and comforting Expresso flavour. I liked it. Very much.

3) Chempadak
For this "sample", I took it straight off my friend's cup. Unlike me, she felt very "pai seh" walking into the shop and not ordering something.

This extremely pungent fruit lent its famous scent and taste to the ice cream. Unlike the TSC and AE, this fruit blended ice cream was not smooth. It had the distracting "icey" particles in the ice cream that immediately reminded me that their technique for ice cream making was still "not there yet".

When I pointed this out, David informed me that because his ingredients are fresh, it is inevitable that when mixed with ice cream, the fruit would retain its water in the form of "ice". To my surprise, he even told me that his customer actually liked the "ice" in their ice cream....hmmm....

4) Durian
Anyway, to prove his point, David gave me a sample of the Durian ice cream. As he used the fresh version of the fruit, the ice cream immediately effected the "durian" effect. Alas, I didn't like the "ice particles" that gave the "extra crunch". Also, I didn't like the fibre from the durian that gave my teeth extra chewing duties.

Overall, I was a happy happy girl with my new find (just opened 2 weeks ago, ie. since the start of 2008). And I promised David that I would come back again. And again. And again. Till he got himself a regular clientele.

I hate it when local businesses with good products close. I'm going back on the 21 January and I'm looking forward to it. Support Local!

It was girls' night out and we had just finished our BBQ dinner at home. We thought, "oh...there's a new dessert 'bar' at Holland Village". Let's try it!". So four of us trooped over to Holland V.

To be honest, the real reason for going was not to try the desserts. I had been warned about its "out of the world" pricing and really, with places like Canale and Pattissier, the prices were insane to me. I wanted to go to 2:am because....of the seats.

Having been to Siem Reap and chilled daily (while on holidays there) on the Blue Pumpkin's bed/sofa/couch seating with a Kahlua ice cream dessert, I was hoping that I could find a similar experience at 2:am.

Alas, apart from the couch seats and carefully created "cool chill factor", there was nothing much else to shout about...except "MY GOODNESS! SO EXPENSIVE!Thanks (insert name) for the treat!"

This is what we ordered:
1) Tiramisu - Pretty and dainty looking, anaemic to the taste buds. Give me the robust Italian style tiramisu (ala Da Paolo Gastronomia and Pete's place)
2) Twix (cake)- nice but grossly GROSSLY overpriced
3) Chocolate (tart) - perfect to the palatte, sadly found wanting in the price department

Lastly, I liked the effort made by the chef/owner who served one of the desserts and at the same time explain the intricacies of each dessert. Not that the details were lost on me, it's just that the dessert prices totally overwhelmed all the "pluses" of the place.

This place is highly recommended for:
1) People who are on diets (because the prices are so high and portions are so small, you'd think twice about ordering a second helping)
2) People who want to spend their year end bonuses impressing their banker/model/finance whiz/high maintenance girlfriend with their "good taste" and incredible spending power.

Not recommended for:
1) People who truly love their desserts
2) People who want to give their parents a treat (not only will you negative responses from them, they will nag at you for wasting so much money)
3) People who want to buy a birthday cake (imagine: $14 for maybe, 30g of cake. 1kg would cost you $500)

I've walked past this place several times and everytime I passed the place, I could smell fresh naan from the tandoori oven wafting from the open kitchen. So I told myself I had to try it once.

So I did. Went for the buffet lunch today at $20+++ and totally regretted it.

On my preliminary walk-around, my in-built warning system went off as I looked at the spread. Boy, it was not exciting and I got the feeling that the buffet was just "there" for the sake of "being there". In other words, it felt sterile. But I thought I should give them a chance since I had such fond memories of the "free smells" from previous "walk passes".

Alas, I should have heeded my instincts and just walked out of the place. True to my feelings, the food was flat and lacked the "oomph" that a place like Dehli or another buffet at "masala art" at Peninsular Plaza provided.

So here's my review of the food:

1) Served 2 soups - chicken and cream of broccoli. Both were watery and really I didn't bother with it
2) The salad, looked fresh but not inviting
3) CHicken - nicely done. The only thing worth eating there. But not for $20+++ per person
4) Mutton - ingredients were fresh, but....it was boring.


You know what....I won't bother writing the rest. Overall, the food was boring and flat. If you are looking for excitement from Indian food, please don't bother to come here.

I was disappointed. I'm rarely disappointed with Indian restaurants and Go India! has won my award of "most disappointing Indian establishment".

*Sigh*

Once again, it was time for Sunday dinner with the parents.

We got into the car, drove up Bukit Timah Road and as we hit Newton, Mum went "so where are we going for dinner?" Dad goes "I don't know, I'm just driving". So we had a car ride all the way up, past Rochor Canal, past Bugis and then....Dad goes "Let's go to Moi Lum".

Having been there many many times for "normal" dinner, I endeavoured to sway the parents away from ordering the "same ol' same ol".

So here's our order:
1) Corn soup with crab meat "kerng" (thick soup)

This gooey soup tasted alright. It wasn't flat but it wasn't fantastic. Unless you really wanted a "corn soup fix" for the night, I wouldn't recommend this depth-less soup.

2) Deep fried Seafood wrapped in "fish net" (looks like that dim sum dish where prawns and mango and wrapped in some stringy looking pastry)
Prawns fried with asparagus

A new creation that looked interesting on photo but disappointed in reality. There was no contrast of taste when I bit into the roll. When I looked closely at the "filling" inside, I couldn't tell if it was mashed up fish meat only or whether there was other "seafood" mashed up in there.

Furthermore, I found a piece of "looked like raw" piece of fish insde the roll. It didn't taste raw but the texture of the filling was still rubbery (instead of flakey). If this was fish, this was RAW. (Note, I didn't get a tummy ache and neither did the parents, so I guess raw or not, it was still safe to eat)

According to the parents, this dish was boring on its own and the restaurant would do better to create a special sauce on the side to boost it up....yes, a sauce can do wonders at times....like this one.

3) Sliced fish fried with bitter gourd with black bean sauce
This was true to home style cooking and the fish was cut thick. The black bean sauce went very well to bind the fish and the bitter gourd and I found myself rather satisfied with this simple no frills dish.

4) Seafood Hor Fun with gravy

Unlike the other times we've had this dish, our Hor Fun lacked its trade-marked "Wok Hei" and had to rely only on the flavours of the gravy to make the noodle tasty. Still, I like "wok hei" fried noodles and I missed this very much at this tasting

One would think that after 4 single cups of coconut and lime gelato from Swirl over 3 days, I would stay away from gelato till I hit the gym another 10 times. Yes, one would think. But yesterday, I wasn't thinking...

Walked past Haato and thought "Ah, another gelato shop" so I ignored it and went to the Epicentre. Then on my way out of Wheelock, I passed Haato again - but this time, my friend said "hey! Gelato!".

So I thought, "ok, no harm just tasting....can't be good anyway". So I tried the green tea (don't feel like green tea today), the chocolate banana (not bad, interest level picking up), the lychee sorbet (BING! BING! BING! We have a winner!).

I'm a big fan of lychee and the way I rate sorbets is based on how accurate the described flavour is replicated in the sorbet form. And today, I was struck at how strong the lychee taste came across in the seemingly low key gelato. Taking a close look, I even saw strands of lychee fibre (the red color "vein") that reminded me of the lychee fruit.

Throwing the diet and rubbish "hit the gym 10 times before I can have another gelato" into the wind, I ordered the lychee sorbet and chocolate banana and didn't regret it...till today when I had to do 50 minutes of cardio to burn off the sugar.

The chocolate banana gelato was creamier than the usual gelato, but I quite liked the taste of the gelato to not mind the extra fat I was consuming. In fact, the chocolate banana gelato was wiped out before the lychee sorbet (I had two flavours in a double cup).

So there, Haato...great job with the lychee. I like-ee!

Do refer to the Gayatri review for the other comments on this challenge (from the gayatri perspective)

I used to eat here when I was young. When I was young, I didn't know what was service. All I knew was that the moment my butt landed on the chair + 2 minutes, I would have a banana leaf laid in front of me with some Indian waiter bringing my papadams and lime juice, ready to take my order.

Perhaps I'm older and have eaten at other Indian restaurants like Delhi, Muthu's, Gayatri, Jaggis that are along the same road, and my expectations remained the same....only that Apolo has not kept up with its service standards.

As mentioned in the Gayatri review with the same title (almost), I had eaten the two Indian Fish Head Curries over two consecutive days. Each place was different - either in terms of the way it cooked its Fish Head Curry or the service experience. Here's the verdict:

Fish Head Curry - For $18, the portion was the same size as the Gayatri one. In terms of freshness, the chunks of fish flesh was cooked just right and it kept the fresh taste of the fish very well that at one point (when my tongue was in so much pain from the spices) that I ate the flesh without any curry sauce. Yes, the fish meat was nice...that was until I reached the part of the fish where there were bones and I suspect, quite near the stomach area. Then the taste of the fish became laced with bitterness of the fish bile (they must have excited the fish before they bashed the head to kill it)

The fish curry came with ladies fingers ONLY (unlike the Gayatri version that came with brinjals too) and it was undercooked and probably 20% on the "old veg" side.

The spiciness of the fish curry gravy was sharp and gave me many moments of sweaty, runny nosed pain - which only encouraged me to pour more gravy on my rice to relive that spicy kick to my senses.

Service Experience - From my observation, the Apolo service staff are very efficient with their service. They'll sit you down at your table, bring you your menu, ask you what you want to drink, take your order, bring you your banana leaf with one set of cutlery each, serve you rice, scoop the "all you can eat" vegetables onto your leaf, bring you your papadam and then your food order. I observed....5 minutes is all it takes. That is, if they see you in the first place.

When I arrived and took my seat, they said they would be with me in a minute. 2 minutes passed. No one.

I waved. Someone saw me. He gave me "the hand" - WAIT. I waited....I thought it was an Indian restaurant at Race Course Road...they are busy...so it's acceptable. Another 3 minutes passed. No one

I waved in a different direction to attract the attention of the pink shirted manager. He sees me. He gives me "the hand" too! - WAIT he mouthes...I thought...ok, he is the manager. I'll wait. Another 3 minutes passes. No one. (at this point, I notice new customers who get their menus, rice, order and drink....and I look at my empty table....)

I wave again. This time I catch the eye of the waiter who seems to be doing most of the serving on my side of the restaurant. He sees me. He, too, gives me "the hand" -WAIT he mouthes....I think, ok....this is the old guy...I can still be nice here. He has the power to bring me the menu since the pink shirted manager seems pretty good at standing where he is near the order system "looking busy". So I wait.....I wait....I wait....and WAIT A MINUTE! It's more than 5 minutes and I'm watching the old guy attend to other newly seated tables and then it dawned on me....They are never coming....

So I had to walk up to the pink shirt manager to tell him that we had been sitting there waiting for our server to arrive. The Pink Shirt Manager then tells me "I didn't see you...." WHAT THE??????

Anyway, I thought I would let is pass as today could be the day where I'm the 1% customer that encounters bad service at an institution like Apolo...so I let it slide.....till I got my bill.

THE BILL
Apparantly at Apolo, ordering a fish head curry does not include rice and vegetables (unlike Gayatri). Moreover, without asking what rice I wanted, the server gave me Biriyani (which I didn't want but didn't bother changing it since the old man was obviously busy)....and then charged me $3.50 per person for the Biriyani rice which was not my first choice....I prefer white rice.

VERDICT
Do you really want me to recommend Apolo to you after what I went through? Out of 5 stars, I'd rate the overall experience - food and service and value - as 2.5.

Neither fish head curry blew me away because there was something wrong with either the food (the way it is cooked...Gayatri uses coconut milk in a traditionally Southern Indian fish head curry while Apolo does it the non-coconut way) or the service.

I'm quite certain there are other restaurants along Race Course Road that will do the fish head curry just the right way and serve you well without compromises. Just let me know when you find that place