Smokin' Joe Western BBQ - 100% Charcoal grilled meat in Hawker Centre

• Operating Days: Daily
• Operating Time: 1 PM to 10 PM
• Address: Yishun Park Hawker Centre, 51 Yishun Ave, #01-37, S 768867
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Yishun Park Hawker Centre has a number of stalls selling food that I love, which of course, includes Ah Tan. Just today, I’ve found another stall that caught my attention in terms of the technique they used to prepare their food, and also the taste - Smokin’Joe Western BBQ!

At the stall, it stated charcoal grill which I am expecting to see a hot grill bar with rows and rows of sizzling chicken/beef on it. Never did I expect at Smokin’ Joe, Charcoal Oven - a combination of a grill and an oven in a single machine was used to prepare their food. This is so far the first hawker stall I’ve seen that uses a professional oven.

The most popular item on the list is BBQ Boneless Chicken Leg ($7).  There have also the Sashimi Grade Baked Salmon ($14.00) and BBQ Wagyu Ribeye Grade 5 ($32) on the menu as well.

Dishes are mainly prepared using a charcoal grilled oven. 

The smoky flavours arise from the cooking method by using 100% charcoal, the meats are cooked on a charcoal grill and oven.

So once ordered, you will get a pager as all order were made-to-order. The only cons of a charcoal grill are that you will need to wait for a while before the food is served. I waited for about 10 monies before my pager vibrates, which indicates that my order is ready for collection over at the counter.

The charcoal-grilled chicken thigh meat was served on top of a spread of mashed potato, together with a big piece of garlic bread and salad. Just with the first bite of the chicken, I could taste the distinct charred flavour with a subtle smokiness in it.

Succulent and smoky, the lingering flavour clings to your tongue even as you polish off the sizeable portion.

When you order barbequed chicken, you’ll expect it to have the charred taste of barbequing. And that’s exactly what Smokin’ Joe Western BBQ promises and delivers.

The first bite was mind-blowing. 

It was an enjoyable meal and I am interested to try the other dishes, very soon.

For all western food lovers — give them a try! Do share with us your experience after visiting them!

The Assumption Restaurant for Training (The Art) - Fine dining in School

• Operating Days: Mondays to Fridays
• Operating Time: 12 PM to 5 PM (Monday to Thursday), 12 PM to 9.30PM (Friday)
• Address: 30 Cashew Road, S 679697
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Assumption Pathway School (APS) is one of the specialized schools for students in Singapore who are slightly slower in learning as compared to the average students. It is an alternative school for secondary drop-out as well.

The Assumption Restaurant for Training, also known as The ART, is a semi-fine dining restaurant that serves Western and Asian cuisines. It is open for the public to visit and dine. The school provides a working environment for their students in the Hospitality Services, allowing them to put their skills and knowledge into practice. It also creates a platform for students to further enhance their training, especially important to those who are not yet ready to be employed outside due to lack of confidence or request by parents due to their young age. 

So you may wonder, is the food served here are of good quality?

Please be patient with their service as the place is operated by students who are still learning and gaining practical experience from what they have learnt in school.

After 5 mins of walking in the institution, we have arrived at The Art.

They change their menu here at the restaurant on a daily basis. The highly raved porridge buffet is available on the last Friday of the month, and we would love to try it out someday!

We were being served by the students almost immediately when we reached the restaurant. After we sat down, we’ve noticed a few of them were tagged to their mentors/teachers, to guide the students as and when they need. We were served by the students very promptly and they were all generally very courteous. Really thumbs up for their effort!

We waited for about 1-2 minutes before the bread with butter were served. 

The corn soup came almost immediately as well, right after serving our bread. The corn bits given in each bowl of cream soup was really generous, and there was no need to add any artificial ingredient to enhance the taste. It was smooth but slightly too sweet for us, we had to eat it together with the bread to balance the sweetness.

One thing worth mentioning is definitely the attention given by the students. Once we have finished each of our dishes, they will clear it for us within a minute.

We ordered one main each to try and the Roasted Herb Brined Chicken with Sweet & Sour Sauce came first. To be honest, we didn’t have high expectation of the taste when we first saw it as the chicken thigh looked very pale and dry. However, the first mouth really surprised us! The chicken was tender and very well marinated! Somehow, the taste was very similar to the chicken at Poulet and we really like it a lot!

Next came was the Fried Fish Fillet with Sambal Mayonnaise. Similar to the chicken, it looked very dry from the outside but once you cut it up and have the first bite, we could taste the freshness and tenderness of the fish, with an extremely crispy crust outside. It went very well with their sambal mayonnaise, which offset the overall oily feeling we felt towards the end. We love this dish!

The dessert came last with a slight disappointment as we were having high hopes of seeing many people buying their cakes and bread over the counter. We felt that the cake had too much cream on it and it tasted slightly below average.

Overall, we had a good dining experience at the ART, with good service rendered and good food prepared by the students, and it’s reasonably priced. Please give these students your greatest support to instil them with more confidence, indirectly creating a more inclusive society as a whole.

Nadim's Delights Burger Banjir - with Cheese overwhelming!

• Operating Days: Daily
• Operating Time: 11 AM to 3 PM & 5 PM to 11 PM
• Address: 508 Jurong West ST 52, S 640508
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Thinking of having a lot (we mean A LOT) of cheese sauce overflowing your meal? Calling all Cheese lovers -  Nadim's Delights is a place you can try if you are in the west area.

Nadim's Delights is a halal western food stall located inside a coffee shop at Blk 508 Jurong West Street 52. We were here for the highly raved Burger Banjir. Just as the name Burger Banjir, which is translated as “Flooded Burger”, you can expect cheese flooding on your plate when it is served.

The waiting time at this stall may take more than 30 minutes. It may not be ideal for those who are looking for a quick bite during lunch or dinner hours.

Burger Banjir came with double chicken patties that were lightly breaded with melted cheese in between them. The burger was then drenched in savoury cheese sauce when served. 

The set came with fries and baked beans. 

They have recently changed the French fries from standard-cut into crinkle-cut, which is a good change in our opinion. The cheese sauce is not too salty and light, which goes very well with the French fries.

Most people will usually hands-on with the burger, but you can definitely not use your hands to eat the Burger Banjir unless you want to get your hands with cheese all over. It is recommended to eat your burger with a knife and fork.

We suppose it was the overload of cheese sauce that helped the burger to keep its shape; the meat patty inside the burger did not fall apart when we sliced it, unlike most other burgers. Other than the meat patties and cheese, Coleslaw was used instead of the usual lettuce underneath the bun. At first, we were expecting the bun to be soggy since it was served soaking in cheese sauce. Surprisingly, the burger is able to hold its shape as well as we slice it through with just plastic knife. The meat patty they use here is similar to the patty seen in Ramly burger, and not the usual crispy patty in most chicken burger. We prefer the patty to be more crispy as we felt that a more deep-fried patty would add more flavour to the overall taste. 

Nadim's Delights' Burger Banjir is a must try for all cheese lovers if you are heading to the west. However, it is highly recommended to go with an empty stomach or you can share the set with a friend as it may be too rich for some.

Rasa Sayang Western Food - Changed owner, changed quality?

Operating Hours: 11.30 AM - 12.30 AM

Operating Days: Daily

Address: 711 Ang Mo Kio Avenue 8, S 560711

I know this stall for years. in fact, it was one of the western stalls that makes me think differently about Hawker centre's western food industry. They are always being mentioned when asked about western food in Singapore. This western stall was one of the most popular stalls in the hawker centre due to its quality, generous portions and affordable prices. But the original owner has moved out of this stall. So how is their quality now? Let's find out...

Previously there were uncles and aunties mending the stall with a few cooks inside. It's always a long queue but the serving was rather fast. 
I went back and the staff there were all young adults. Ordered my usual Chicken Cutlet here.

Now they no longer bring the food to you, you were given the buzzer and wait for it to vibrate and you collect it from the stall by yourself. I need to wait longer now even though there are not many people queuing.

 The smell was the difference and the taste is no longer the same. 

Compared to the chicken cutlet previously, there was a significant drop in the size and it was quite thin. The bread was not crispy and the fries were hard. It's not the same anymore, totally different. 

I honestly won't consider coming back again. You can always increase the price, but you do not change the quantity while decreasing the quality.

Wow Wow West - Western Food really worth mentioning, Generous portion!

Operating Hours: 10.30 AM - 7.30 PM

Operating Days: Closed on Tuesdays and Sundays

Address: ABC Brickworks Market & Food Centre, #01-133, 6 Jalan Bukit Merah

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I have been visiting Wow Wow West since years ago and I must say, their quality has not dropped at all. So as a blogger, it's about time to feature them! When I tried visiting them weeks before, it's either their western food gets sold out before I reached, or they have yet to start their operation. 
A warning to you, make sure you are really starving when you visit, their portion can be quite huge!

Curious about why people queue for this? 

For those who have visited them before will know they would usually deliver the food to your table. But they don't do that now. Probably due to the good business, they have since changed to a self-service system. After you have placed your order and make payment, you will be given a number. Just wait around the stall for your number to be called to collect your food. The average waiting time is about 20 minutes.

The food served to us really covered up the whole plate. We ordered their chicken chop and fish n chips. At $7 each, we were given a generous portion of food on both plates. The sides, consisting of fries, coleslaw, and baked beans were generous too! The coleslaw was fantastic. I don’t usually like coleslaw, but I finished this without realizing it. It is a very generous portion that tastes slightly sweeter, unlike other similar stalls. The fries were, however, slightly over-fried as they were hard on the outside. 

Here's their signature big piece of chicken chop. The Chicken chop had bits of black pepper flavor. 

The chicken is fried such that the skin layer is crispy, while the meat is still tender.

The fish and chips portion was huge!!! Every plate of the chicken cutlet or fish n chips will be paired with their mayonnaise sauce, which was actually not to my liking. Their sauce was a little too sour which tasted like a mixture of lemon with orange. I prefer to eat the fish with chili sauce.

The fish was fried to a crisp golden-brown on the outside, but still soft and tender on the inside. Honestly, I, an adult male could not finish this whole plate by myself.

Added a Chicken Cheese Sausage for $2. It tasted like a normal chicken cheese sausage, a bit towards the saltier side.

There is no doubt that the food here is good but I think what really attracts the crowd is the generous portion given. For the price that you are paying, I guess that it's pretty worth it.

Holy Grill Authentic Western Cuisine - Generous Side dishes at Old Airport Road

• Operating Hours: 11.30 AM - 9 PM
• Operating Days: Daily
• Address: Old Airport Road Food Centre, 51 Old Airport Road, #01-27, S 390051

Having thoughts of Western food here, but there are quite a few Western Food stalls in Old Airport Road Food Centre, and I had Western Barbeque in this food centre before, and one that caught my attention this time was Holy Grill Authentic Western Cuisine from its brightly coloured signboard.

The meal was $6.50 and it was pretty good value for money.

You can also pick your own side dishes. There are both fresh and hot selections like pasta salad, potato salad, baked potato, mashed potato, corn, rice, fries etc.

Quite a few reviews displayed on at their stall.

I had a grilled chicken chop that came with 2 sides, I chose baked beans and french fries. Enough to fill a grown adult stomach. The fries was an excellent choice, it was quite crispy. 

The grilled chicken chop comes with a satisfactory portion that is worth the price. Grilled and charred, the meat was tender and fleshy.

The chicken chop was a bit burnt at the bottom giving it a slightly overcooked taste. But the gravy was really good and it covers up the slightly burnt chicken chop taste.

Although pricier than its Hawker counterparts, you get a huge piece of chicken and pretty generous portions of sides. Holy Grill certainly has an outstanding grilled chicken chop. I have yet to try their other dishes, which I will return for. It was a very good dinner.

M2 Cafe - Disneyland Mickey and friends Restaurant Theme in Johor Bahru!

• Operating Hours: 2 PM - 1 AM (Last Order @ 11.45 PM)
• Operating Days: Closed on Mondays
• Address: 7-01, Jalan Austin Heights 8/3, 81100, Johor Bahru

Good news for the Mickey Mouse of Disney fans out there, finally, there is a Mickey Mouse themed cafe in Johor Bahru.

M2 stands for Disney famous cartoon character - Mickey Mouse and M2 cafe has a theme based on it. 

I'm sure kids will love it and adults will enjoy reconnecting with our favorite childhood cartoon. It situated nearby the Austin Heights water theme park. So why not give it a go while you’re at there.
Now you may not see where is the shop, the cafe is located on 2nd floor, so look out for the door with a Big M word to proceed.

They do open it till 1 AM so for those who are nearby, you can have supper with Mickey and friends!

Their entrance was locked so you will need to wait a minute for the staff to click their auto gate for entrance. 

So once we were in, we were welcomed with lots of Disney themed decorations! The cafe can definitely satisfy Mickey lovers as the wall are decorated with Mickey wall art. 

The cafe offers main courses, desserts, and coffee. 
Even the menu, cakes and drink cups are also in line with the theme.

"The store started in January of the year 2015, which the cafe is based on black, red, and white color plus hand-drawn wall art with DIY decorations. The store owner hopes to provide their customer with a comfortable and warm environment for their meal. This cafe is definitely for friends and family, business talks, or couple for their dates."
They stated that their cafe does provide board games, but I do not see them anywhere. Maybe need to ask them for it.

If you have a big group of people coming, they will provide you with these seats.

They sell souvenir like Mickey mug but I feel it's quite expensive. A Mickey mug cost 80 RM.

 They provide wifi and a clean toilet!

I am very impressed with their hand-carved world map of every Disneyland in the world, it shows where is each Disneyland theme park is and their current time. Very interesting!

Our first item came - Apple juice. The item tasted much like any fruit juice stall anywhere with added syrup to sweeten it. But their drink stand is cute!

Next is Ice Blended Chocolate! This cup really too cute! Tastewise is like a normal cocoa powdered drink, just that it was not fully blended, there was quite a lot of ice not totally crushed yet.

 I am attracted by the decoration of the place. However, the food has always been my priority. After a good wait of 10 minutes, here came the salted egg chicken chop, which they stated it's their newest invention and their signature dish!

Their chicken chop looks dry but when you cut it up, lots of the juice flew out and onto our clothing!

The chicken was tender, very juicy! What really makes it nicer is the salted egg sauce given!
The sauce is good that makes me feel delighted but if without the sauce, I will feel that that chicken chop is just a normal chicken thigh meat with satay taste like seasoning. The salted egg chicken chop was something I loved it immediately after trying for the first time. The owner gave just the right amount of salted egg and the sauce was also deliciously creamy.

The last item - Bittersweet tiramisu with a Mickey Mouse twist.

The Coffee Tiramisu came with a scoop of vanilla ice-cream and a slice of tiramisu cake. The vanilla ice-cream was yummy, it melts in my mouth. It is slightly milky and you can still taste bits of vanilla beans in the ice-cream. As for the cake itself, it was served cold. I believe it was frozen before being served. The spongy cake was moist with creamy mascarpone and espresso. What I do not like is the coffee taste was too heavy at the bottom. It was drenched with coffee. This would be perfect if the last layer was taken out.  

While the place is designed in Mickey and friends theme, the food is above average. Try the chicken chop that comes with the salted egg sauce.

Nice cafe with nice environment. Food tastes good with reasonable price. Worth to give it a try. If you are looking for a place to hang out with your friends or family, this would be a great place to enjoy food and their decorations. If you love Disney productions cartoons characters, you wouldn’t want to miss this place. It is seriously too cute to be missed!