Com Tam Vietnam - Corner of Geylang Rd and Lor 42 Geylang (update: shop has moved to 159/161 Kitchener Road)

UPDATE (13/4/15): One of my readers have just informed me that this shop has moved to 159/161 Kitchener Road.

This place was a great find that we accidentally stumbled upon. We were actually in the area to try a different Vietnamese restaurant which was unfortunately (or fortunately) closed. This is an outdoor coffeeshop type of 'restaurant', so I was a bit skeptical whether it would be nice or not, or whether it would just be chinese food being passed off as Vietnamese food. Anyway, since our tummies were already grumbling, we decided to give it a try.

Well it was well worth it. Portions are decent, taste is quite good and the menu has a large selection to choose from - and no GST and service charge!

This place isn't in the seedy side of Geylang, so even in the evenings you'd feel comfortable going here. And there were also Vietnamese nationals dining there, so they must think it's close enough to what they could get at home? We will definitely be going back to try the other stuff on their menu.

The Menu

The Menu

Specials of the Day - no prices on it tho?

Lorong 42 Geylang. Right opposite is a fresh seafood supplier, they have live oysters and live king crab!

BBQ Pork Chop with Rice and dipping sauce. Look at the size of that pork chop! It was really good and the sauce was really good too. I wonder why the vietnamese shops here don't have broken rice though and the rice plates with the bbq porks never comes with that yummy egg and shredded pork skin that we always get in australia. 

It was glistening....

Beef Pho...very yummy

Deep fried chicken feet with garlic and chilli...this was good, very spicy though. But to be honest...there really wasn't much to eat of the chicken. The ends of the feet though were so crispy that you could even eat the bones.

Crispy Fried Squid. Caelyn loves squid, so we ordered this for her. She polished off most of it by herself. 

Battlestar Gallactica Universal Studios Singapore

Scream!!! Or not...


Last week as Annual Pass holders We were given an preview of the reopening of the Battlestar Gallactica roller coaster ride. The preview was held at night 8-11pm. Hubby had been waiting forever for this ride to reopen.

The rest of the park was closed off and only Sci Fi city was open. It wasn't crowded at all and there was hardly any line at all.

Because we had C with us we both had to take turns. Hubby was first up - main reason obviously being I was scared stiff and needed to work up the courage. I'm not much of a chicken usually, I've been on The Mummy ride and most other roller coasters in other theme parks but this one is said to be the tallest duelling coaster in the world so I wasn't even sure I could brave it.

I watched the coasters go round and round several times each time telling myself it's not so bad....I already knew I wouldn't take the one where your feet dangled (that's the Cylon), thought the other one (the Human) was 'the tamer' one. I thought it looked slower than the other one.

So when it came to my turn to go ride I was so nervous and really almost chickened out. I just kept telling myself that I should just try once. There were little kids on the ride for goodness sakes. Well I completely lost it as soon as we went down the first drop. It was scary as hell and I screamed louder than I thought cos after I got off the ride, wobbly knees aside, my throat was sore! And I was the only one screaming in my row!!!

So in short, if you are a roller coaster fanatic you absolutely must ride this coaster. If you're a little daring just try once.

I'm not sure if I'd dare to go back on...perhaps day time would be less scary and I know wat to expect now so I 'should' be able to keep my eyes open for the whole ride....

The Line Buffet at Shangri La

Update29/5/13: Book your table online and you can get various discounts https://www.shangri-la.com/singapore/shangrila/dining/restaurants/the-line/book-a-table/

There have been many reviews about this place saying how this is the best buffet in Singapore so of course I had to drag hubby along to it...and we also dragged along a few other people. Oh and best thing is kids under 5 eat free. But I suppose others would say the best thing is the freeflow beer, juice, and soft drinks.

There is an unadvertised promotion that gets you 39% off the bill. Just follow this link http://dine.slsrewards.com.sg/sg/en/shops/view/TheLine to make your online reservation. You only get the discount if you book online. Here's the price list: http://www.slsrewards.com.sg/Welcome%20to%20Shangri-La%20Singapore%20The%20Line.aspx

In terms of food there is a large spread catering to every taste. I wished my tummy had enough room to try everything..,but I was simply bursting at the seams. You have to try the mango sorbet though and chocolate macaroons, to die for! And the seafood was also very fresh. The Satay took a while for them to cook though which was a bit disappointing. And I only spotted the cheese spread after we left because it wasn't really displayed out in the open, so not sure if it was meant to be served to diners or not.

Service was also impeccable. The servers were polite and always had a smile on their face. Our dishes were cleared away promptly and every request attended to promptly.

I would definitely return here again but only if they still have the 39% discount :)

Pictures below are a bit dark because the lights were dim.

Fresh Seafood Station.

some strawberry dessert

yummy chocolate macaroon

crabs

Dessert Station

My plate.....a little bit of everything (not even everything)

freshly shucked Oysters. Delicious!

sushi and sashimi

Oysters, Prawns, Alaskan Crab Legs already halved. 

Nando's at Plaza Singapura

Nando's in Singapore is a bit different to what I remember in Australia. Here it's a table service restaurant (which means service charge), and in oz it's a counter service.

The food was ok, I mean it's just BBQ chicken with Peri Peri sauce poured over. And by the way the only place I've seen in Singapore that sells bottled Peri Peri sauce is at Mustafa. I do love their fries though. I love thick cut fries and they also sprinkled some spicy seasoning over the top. I also chose a side of Potato Salad and I was surprised at how delicious it was. I do wish their menu had more pictures though. You can however view their menu online which is great, I love restaurants that post their menus online.

1/4 Chicken with two sides was $13.90++ and I had this nice (overpriced) drink called Madeira Red which was Sprite with Pomegranates $3.90++

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Salim Seafood Restaurant at Johor Bahru, Malaysia

A lot of Singaporeans go to JB to eat 'cheap seafood', I guess we're no different. But we're lucky enough to have locals to show us somewhere different to eat rather than Taman Sentosa (which is where most ppl go to eat seafood as it's closer to the border).

Salim Seafood Restaurant isn't easy to find, it's very remote, the road that leads to it has no street lights, so get there before the sun sets. The 'village' or Kampong is populated by Orang Asli or another words the aboriginals of Malaysia. I thought the Malays were the original people of Malaysia, didn't realise there were aboriginals there too....indeed they had very dark skin and had an uncanny resemblence to Australian Aboriginals. I'm not sure if they own the restaurant too, because it's a Chinese seafood restaurant. Perhaps they take care of the offshore fish/crab nets.

The food was nothing short of spectacular. It was so fresh and delicious and best of all, cheaper than Singapore. Definitely don't come here if you're looking for some clean posh Seafood restaurant, because walking along the planks to your table and realising the water is right underneath us as we can see through the gaps, it is a little scary. But the village style setting is something different and the sea breeze is nice.

Heres the address

Jalan Sungai Danga
81200‎ Johor Bahru‎ Johor
Malaysia

Singapore just opposite

Sea Snails cooked in Garlic (wasn't as good or as big as the Singapore ones). The Fried Chinese Buns were very very nice, soft and pull apart style.

Crab cooked in Salted Egg. The best dish ever. 

Claypot Curried Prawns

Chilli Crab. Not as good as Singapore Chilli Crab.