Big O Cafe & Restaurant (Wheelock Place)

Big O? wat does e O stands for? Judging by e names of e cakes i presume orgasm? as in big orgasm? ahhh... kinky... notti notii..... *winks*...So is dining at Big O a big orgasmic experience? Ooooooowwwwwwwwwwwwww....................nope!

Long story short: two gals crazy shopping tired feet hungry tummies.. u get e pic.
Ambience: Hip colorful vibrant... slight deviant from NYDC.. u get e pic.
Menu: More pricey n atas version of NYDC... u get e pic.
Me: plain lazy.. u get e pic. haha.

To start we had quite a few appetizers to share.. we had e cream of mushroom soup.. it's not very good but passable oni.. It's a decent size bowl but e soup lacked e omph factor.. it's not rich nor creamy nor thick enuff verging on a slight watery so nah.. Next is e potato-skins which is e clear winner! Dip e golden fried potato skins into e sour cream? yum! tasty sinful treat!

We also had e prawns.. forgot e exact name but it's fried plump prawns with some tangy orangey sauce beneath.. i kinda liked e prawns coz i'm a prawn-lover (dud!) n e sauce is quite interesting so i tot this dish is quite alrite although my fren gave it e thumbs-down..duno wat's wrong with her coz i totally lurve e sauce!

For mains we had e baby back ribs and bacon-wrapped chicken... The baby back ribs ain't as baby as i tot it would b but definitely not as grown up too if u get wat i mean ie not so small but not tat big either la! ... e meat do fell off e ribs easily but it's not really tender nor moist n is actually quite dry which i was quite surprised given e reviews...it comes either with e rice or baby potatoes which i strongly recommend e rice coz e baby potatoes tasted so stale like it's been left out for days.. spat tat out..

e bacon wrapped chicken on e other hand came with a lovely spinanch mashed potato which is lovely n some gravy.. e bacon-wapped chicken comes in a few pieces n was quite ok... e salty bacon wrapped with e more bland chicken do balance out nicely but i tot e bacon was a tad slight overcooked n also.. too many of it do make u a little "jielat".. e mains were quite disappointing..

The cakes were quite a delight though... We had e indecent obession and e aphrodisiac.. e indecent obsession or e chocolate hazelnut cake was light with a biscuit layer in-between which did not come across as too heavy yet it still has e choc n hazelnut flavour so it's not too bad.. but not as wow as e heart-shaped choc aphrodisiac which is sure to make u have an orgasm! it's soooooooooooooo rich tat it made e indecent obsession pretty decent! e aphrodisiac is defintely for a choc lover as e choc is quite sweet n rich n got thumbs up from my choc-loving fren!

Overall i would not recommend this place at all coz e prices r surprisingly expensive as compared to NYDC.... which is fine except tat e quality or standard of e food is nowhere near its same price range peers n hence makes it so not fine..only thing tat's fine? perhaps e cakes...

Big Orgasm? hardly my dear....

**I would recommend e pork chop as e main as e pork chop is grilled nicely n is quite a big portion. Definitely a better main...

I'm not very impressed with NYDC, so I'm not very sure what made me decide to come eat at its more expensive sister restaurant.

Oh right. The bf. That's usually the case.

Anyway how much you enjoy this restaurant really depends on what you order. I've come here twice; the first was more of a hit and the second, a miss.

The first time, I ordered the penne seafood marinara ($18.90). I was almost blown away by the pasta; it was really delicious. The pasta was cooked al dente, the generous helping of tomato gravy was flavourful and tasty, and the pasta was chockful with fresh squid, crabmeat slices and clams. Yum. This is a dish I definitely can come back to order again.

The second time round however, I ordered the crabmeat linguine ($17.90). What's the difference, you ask? Well, for one, it's just a lot of crabmeat, no squid or clam. For another, it's not a marinara sauce anymore; it's more of an aglio olio style, pan fried. For a third, I didn't find this quite so tasty. I felt like I was eating fried noodles, and the taste was much more subtle. Personally, I don't like subtle tasting food as much. I suspect that my tastebuds have been spoilt or something by too much salty tze char, but the fact remain. I don't like too subtle. And I can't stomach the idea of paying $18 for something that tastes like fried noodles, even if there are bits of crab meat inside.

My bf ordered the baby back ribs ($18.90) the first time he came as well. One thing about the mains here, is that they aren't really American portions. His ribs, in contrast to Billy Bomber's and Hog's Breath, were tiny. Okay, they were a reasonable size, but comparatively, still quite tiny. On the upside, this means that us girls can order a portion without worrying if we can finish. And we don't have to stuff our faces with meat. The ribs were not bad anyway. Meat was tender without being overboiled; gravy was tasty. Worth a second order, methinks.

The second time he came around, he ordered the bacon-wrapped chicken leg. Again, a good choice, albeit a little tiny. It was literally a few pieces of chicken leg wrapped in bacon, and covered in a sauce which I believe to be teriyaki. Okay, none too imaginative, but very delicious nonetheless. I think it didn't fill him up much though; he still seemed hungry thereafter.

As for desserts - personally, now with the whole range of upmarket homemade gelatos and ice-creams around, I would say to skip the ice-creams and sundaes. They are expensive, but I don't find them any better than say, Swensen's. I still can't distinguish a macadamia nut ice-cream from a rum and raisin (except rum and raisins has raisins and is impossibly sweet) and so on. If you can't distinguish your ice-cream flavours, it's probably not a very good kind of ice-cream.

What we go for, is the cakes. Can't help it; you walk by the display of cakes in the counter. What is a hit for us is the Indecent Obsession, the chocolate hazelnut cake ($5.95). Yes, it's really sweet, but there's chocolate and there's chocolate mousse and sponge... well... You get the idea.

What is a miss for me is the Aphrodisiac ($5.95). It sounds great on paper - heart-shaped chocolate truffle cake. And it looks pretty too (the heart-shaped thing). Problem with it, chocolatey taste nonwithstanding, is that it comes across rather dry. You can pair it with ice-cream for another $3.80), but methinks a really good cake is best on its own.

As for service, so far we've had pretty good service each time we go. We get to order promptly, our glasses get refilled quickly, and we get a change of cutlery every time. With a smile too. I like that.

Oh. And the dogs. Who can forget the pictures of the dogs on the wall. Great talking point in between waiting for your dishes. You can decide between which breed you'd prefer to own, and which breed is a little stu... uh, less intelligent than the others.

The usual likes;

a. starters -

i) sauteed mushrooms ; salty just the way i like it
ii) cheese sticks ; soft and limpy so its a no-go

b. main course -

i) BREADED CHICKEN ; big servings but taste is normal
ii) FISH AND CHIPS ; a disappointment as it was not really value for money considering how they only serve one fillet of fish and it was not as tasty as fish & cos so you can roughly imagine how tasty or tasteless it was :/
iii) CRABMEAT PASTA ; it used to be my fave until it started becoming really dry over time so NEXT !
iv ) BABY BACK RIBS ; their must try - soft and tender meat but its quite a small serving most of the time

c. desserts -

i) SPIKE D ; for those who love durian (like me) you will dig this ! durian pudding on the inside with a chocolate exterior :]
ii) INDECENT OBSESSION ; hazelnut chocolate cake yums

im waiting to try the COCONUT cake next - sounds quite interesting but im pretty sure i'll be back for mostly their cakes and not the main courses :/

Service is sadly non existent sometimes; maybe they're understaffed ?