Big Boys Sizzling - Quality Western Food in Hawker Centre

Big Boys Sizzling caught my attention because someone told me that they are opened by a former chef of Ritz Carlton. They have set up shop at Beauty World Food Centre and is part of the large array of food selection there. So I made this trip to find out more about the food after shedding fats at Bukit Timah Hill.

We asked the chef what were their key highlights and he mentioned to us their best sellers were the steak, cornflake chicken and mentaiko fries. The dish you see here is the Cornflake Chicken with Nacho Cheese Fries ($8.90). The chicken is really fried well. Some people might find the cornflake chicken a little on the dry side but because the exterior is fried till so crispy and the meat fairly juicy I'd say it exceeds expectation for hawker fare. I really like the fries too. I think that the fries batter is similar to what you find at Long John's Silver (my favourite fast food) so if you like Long John's like me, you will enjoy this.

So another friend chose to double his protein and added a dory to go with the cornflake chicken ($11.90). I'll say the fish is pretty normal, in fact I find Dory fish to be not worth the money. Won't recommend ordering it.

Aside from that, there's the Sirloin Steak with Mentaiko fries ($11.40) which according to my friend tastes awesome too. I'll say that the sauces that comes with the fries have successfully made all the fries true to their flavours.

As a whole, it was a pleasurable and indulging meal. For the price, it's definitely value for money. The portions are huge too! Aside from that, I'll say that because the portions are huge, it might be a little 'jelat' for some to finish. I guess the benchmark for good food is really whether I'll be back. Honestly, unless I'm around the area and crave for western, if not I doubt I'll spend there again. While it's definitely competent western fare, I feel it caters to the Beauty World crowd more than anything else. I wish the owner all the best!

Big Boys Sizzling 
144 Upper Bukit Timah Road, #04-25, Beauty World Centre, S588177

Spagtacular - Newly Opened Fusion Pasta in Clark Quay

I visited Spagtacular with a bunch of friends at the invitation of a friend who just opened his pasta cafe.

Spagtacular takes the spot of the now defunct Babao Desserts. They carry a edgy concept with interesting graffiti wall designs and other artworks as part of their decor.

As of now, Spagtacular is in a soft launch and I give credit to their gradual improvements. I've actually dropped by unannounced during their pre-soft launch and the food back then left me hungry and unsatisfied.

You can imagine how impressed I was with their version 2 dishes on my second visit. Talking to the founders, you will learn that the team is figuring out their way as they run the business. What's note-worthy is how open they are to feedback and the food quality really improved tremendously.

Their full menu isn't out, this visit, the light bites we managed to try were the Mini Har Cheong Gai ($10) and Truffle Fries ($10). Personally, I feel there's very little wrong a competent cafe can go with light bites. The ones at Spagtacular definitely were acceptable. If anything, I hope the final menu has a wider selection.

Spagtacular carries classics like the Traditional Carbonara ($10) and Classic Bolognese ($13). Both were adequately flavoured if you mix well before dining. The pastas were cooked till al dente and taste favours those who like their food very heavy and robust in flavour. It worked very well for me.

Here's a glimpse of some of the menu you would be potentially selecting:

Chilli Crab ($15)

Their chilli crab is really suitable for people who loves their chilli fiery spicy. Among my experience having chilli crab pasta, this is one packs a lot more fire than the usual sweet spicy chilli crab sauce most cafe leans towards. Another thumbs up I noted was the generous portion and ingredients which is considered a big steal at their price point.

Classic Al Funghi ($10)

This pasta is another steal given how value for money it is. Unlike some of the plain pastas where you need to top up cash to add ingredients, this one packs a lot of mushroom and the mushroom creaminess is well infused into the pasta. I predict this dish will be a hit among mushroom lovers.

Mummy's Assam ($15)

The first thing I noticed about the Mummy's Assam is the gigantic slab of fish that comes with the dish. There's no mention of it in the copywriting of the menu and the only indication of it was the small fish graphic on the side. I felt this is selling the dish short. The Mummy's Assam will be another hit among spicy lovers when it's adequately tossed before dining. The flavour packed sauce usually sinks to the bottom. I rarely see assam pastas in Singapore, so this will be one of the dishes I'll order if I want to try something new.

Pasta El Pesto ($10)

I was just mentioning about dishes you only get it plain unless you pay more. This is one of them. The flavouring of good pesto is difficult to achieve but I'm impressed they got the flavours pretty on point. Again, I stress to toss well if not you'll be left feeling unimpressed with the initial bites and craving for more towards the end. This is the kind of awesome meals someone on budget working in CBD would like when they join their friends at cafes. Unless.. your friends are the kind that split the bill equally regardless of what you eat!

The Golden Egg ($12)

My personal favourite for the day is the salted egg pasta with lots of chunky chicken and a fried chicken skin. To begin with, salted egg pastas are difficult to find. To find one where the flavours are so robust is even harder. Yes, the salted egg sauce is so generous every bite sends alarm bells to my cholesterol levels. Food indulgence wise, this is heaven for salted egg lovers. The ingredients are very generous and for $12 in Clark Quay, it makes you wonder how much other cafes are marking up.

As a whole, my second visit to Spagtacular has left me very excited about their full launch. This according to the co-founder is happening next month. I'm so looking forward to their full spectrum of menu given the promising pastas I've tried. Oh visitors can also take group, individual, instagram worthy display pic with their artistic photo wall display. It's designed by art students and even the unpainted corners at the side of some walls are apparently art.

Spagtacular
54 South Bridge Road, 058685

(This is not a sponsored article, I paid for my food!)

Crackerjack

Over the radio on 88.3FM, I heard the DJs discussing what to do over weekends and how the typical choice for most people would be movies and eating out. I belong to the camp where I believe there's a lot more to do in Singapore than simply movies. Please don't get me wrong, I love the occasional indulgence in cinemas but I also feel hanging out at cinemas generally has close to no interaction and little creativity. I spent my weekend at Gardens by the Bay with dinosaurs and cherry blossoms. Yes, a little bit holiday deprived but I enjoyed the calm and serenity the flowers gave me.

I had to settle my 2FA at Tanjong Pagar so that I can use my Singpass to pay my taxes, check my CPF and renew my passport. Hence, the trip to Crackerjack! Crackerjack is a new establishment in Tanjong Pagar boasting a wide selection of brunch, lunch, dinner and bar food depending on what time of the day you visit. I was a little disappointed that the weekend brunch menu was different from the weekday lunch menu because I wanted to try the highly raved about Lentil Mushrooms Scotch Eggs. Nevertheless, the brunch menu still provided an appetizing selection to choose from.

I had my mind on the Funnel Cake ($14) even before I stepped foot  into Crackerjack, largely tempted by the drool worthy photos I see online. The funnel cake is basically fried pancake topped with bananas, candied bacon, caramel sauce and amaretto cream. The pancake on its own tasted like fried fritters (youtiao). Being someone who has a penchant for sweet food, I particularly enjoyed the combination of sweet and savoury through the fried pancake with caramel sauce. I felt that the caramelized bananas, bacon blended well with the amaretto cream and pancake, making this dish a generally safe dessert for anyone who loves sweet stuff. While there's no stand-out factor in this dish, I felt that this dish brings comfort for anyone who needs a break from the everyday cooked food and it's an added plus that it looks so camera friendly.

Vain Pot who is always complaining she's fat, chose the Sweet Potato Hash ($14). Basically its made up of breakfast sausage, kale, sweet potato and baked egg. I felt the dish was aromatic and very rich in flavour and taste. Totally my kind of thing. Vain Pot felt that the dish was so-so because she can cook the exact same dish at home. Haha, I need to vet the outcome of her cooking to agree with her. While the dish looks plain and ordinary, and like how some people might feel that brunch food is overpriced, I feel that there's merit in good execution... that's why I bother to pay a premium to dine out.

I tried to be a little more arty farty by giving a new take to the coffee photos. Crackerjack is also known for their coffees. The above coffee is called Breakfast of Champions ($6) which is Espresso with cereal milk. It's definitely a good blend and I like it that I don't need to add additional sugar. I enjoyed the thickness of the cereal milk going well with the bitterness of the espresso. Thumbs up.

I pretty much enjoyed my dining experience at Crackerjack. My biggest gripe is the different menus on weekdays and weekends. I feel this limits the experience for most working adults who don't work around the CBD area, you pretty much will never get to try some stuff. Crackerjack serves some affordable and well executed dishes, albeit the ordinary appearance and ingredients used. I also like that the Tanjong Pagar area is generally not crowded on weekends giving our hectic lives more breathing space to properly relax.

Crackerjack
43 Tanjong Pagar Road  

Arteastiq Signature Teasury

This week is another incredibly busy week at work. I haven't even had time to send my family to the airport. Brother and Mom holidaying in Korea now :) I spent my weekend chilling and catching up with my very good friend at Prive Cafe. While the service, ambiance and drinks are great but the food really needs improvement. Carpark cost $8 for 3 hours. Think I'll only be back when I'm rich enough to play on a yacht.

Since Prive was a disappointing visit, I decided to feature somewhere I went with Supercai a couple of weeks back in our weekday indulgence. Arteastiq Signature Teasury ($48 for 2) makes a decent entry level high tea experience. It's Supercai's first ever high tea so I felt we should start off with somewhere more affordable.

The set comes with 2 specialty teas of our choosing but be warned that it's non-refillable. Alcoholic teas are also excluded. I must say that the quality of the teas are surprisingly refreshing and I kinda like their selection better than TWG teas. The cookies on the side are really good too. Much better than a range of other high teas I've tried.

The bird cage carries the savouries and sweets. The selection is honestly not meant for a full-meal, rather it's more suitable for afternoon snack with a place to chit chat. Supercai was complaining she's still hungry after the meal... whoops.

The Savouries selection consisted of Vol Au Vent, Panini Morsi, Smoked Salmon and Viva Duck. It's delicious and easy to eat. Nothing fancy so if you have been going for higher end high teas please manage your expectations. I'll say the selection here is more suitable for value and an inexpensive introduction to English High-tea.

As for the Sweets, there's matcha cheesecake, pineapple upside down cake, chocolate truffles and macarons. To be honest, it's one of the rare high-teas I finished the sweets portion because it isn't too sweet and filling. I quite enjoyed the experience because I don't have to endure the guilt of wasting food. I really don't like to waste food that doesn't taste horrible.

Summing up my experience at Arteastiq, I would bring friends here to catch up and have some small bites. The ambiance is considerably comfortable. It's surprisingly popular on a weekday. I felt the service has a lot of room for improvement but you pay for what you get. I'll recommend this place if you are looking for somewhere accessible to chillax for 2-3 hours with food and drinks without breaking the bank.

Arteastiq
333A Orchard Road, #04-14/15, Mandarin Gallery
If you need an activity, you can paint there too but you will need to check the available slots and book in advance.