Review of Royz et vous

I first read about Royz et vous on the Straits Times article titled "New halal cafes" (not the most exciting title if you ask me but what do I know? My review of Royz et vous is just titled review of Royz et vous. ) and was immediately drawn to this place. French - inspired bistro? Ummm, yes please. Also, it's at Bali lane? That's super convenient and if they turn out to be full or anything, at least we can find another halal place nearby to eat at. (Although that would never happen since B and I are too kiasu to go to a restaurant/ cafe without reservations.) In addition, they're near the Pita Factory so I can get breakfast for the next day and so can you~ That's a review for another day.

Back to Royz et vous! When B and I first arrived at the place, the first thing that we both noted was that the place was a little hot. There was an air conditioner but the place did not have any proper doors. We are Singaporeans so we need our air-con!!! The seats were quite cramped. Also, for a french-inspired bistro, the decor was mediocre.

We both settled down and ordered. I got the smoked duck and B got the beef sandwich. We also got a side of buffalo wings to share. As I am no match for spicy food, I requested that half of the wings be covered in sauce that is milder.

My smoked duck breast came with roasted potatoes and a salad covered with sesame dressing. There was a small plastic container on the plate which held this amazing Thai coriander sauce. It was so yummy that I dipped everything into the sauce. The duck, the potatoes, the vegetables and even the side of wings that already had another sauce on it. EVERYTHING TASTED GOOD WITH THE SAUCE and that duck was already pretty darn yummy on its own.

Next to my AMAZING DUCK BREAST, B's beef sandwich paled in comparison. Just kidding. B thought that though the bread was soft, the sandwich was hard to cut through. There was also too much mayo for my liking.

The wings came later than our mains perhaps because of the hassle of having to prepare 2 different types of wings but honestly, we could not really tell the difference. They were okay and rather forgettable especially compared to the AMAZING DUCK BREAST. The sauce on the wings was a little sour and I did not really enjoy that. B did like his spicy version of the wings so perhaps it might be better to go with the suggested version.  I wouldn't order these wings again but that's okay because there are other sides to try when I return to Royz et vous again. (:

Royz et vous
17 Bali Lane
Sun - Thurs and PH: 11am to 10pm
Fri, Sat and eves of PH: 11am to 11pm

Review of vegetarian goodness at Teng Bespoke at Sunshine Plaza

I chanced upon Teng Bespoke when I saw it on a list of must try vegetarian places in Singapore. Teng Bespoke immediately called out to me because B and I love japanese food. Also, more interestingly, they have VEGETARIAN SASHIMI! When I saw it, all I could think was "WHOA, I wonder how it would taste like". I mean we all have had our fair share of mock meat and have an idea of how it tastes like but mock raw fish??! A totally novel concept to me!

With excitement, B and I made our way there on a Friday night to try out the vegetarian goodness at Sunshine Plaza. Vegetarians should be quite familiar with the area since they have quite a few vegetarian stores like Herbivore there.

To be frank, I didn't go in with the expectation to be satisfied at the end of the meal because I NEED meat for every meal. I always tell B that if something doesn't have meat, it's just a snack. (When B has food like mee siam, i'll tell him to get proper food since that is CLEARLY just a snack.) I just thought that the food was something interesting to try.

B and I reached the restaurant around 6 plus and it was still not really crowded. It gradually filled up and was at about 80% occupancy after half an hour.

We browsed through the menu and there were so many things which we wanted to try! We eventually decided on the sashimi, soba and tempura maki.

The sashimi certainly looked the part! When it came, we marvelled at how much it resembled the real thing. However, the similarities ended once we picked up the sashimi. It was firmer than what normal sashimi would be like. It had the consistency of jelly and tasted a little like fishcake.

Another thing we noted was that all 3 types of fish tasted the same so it was unnecessary to get the trio. Both B and I didn't really enjoy this dish but we both agreed that it was an interesting experience and that it is a must try if you are there for the first time!

I love soba so this was a must order since we were at a Japanese restaurant. The noodles came sufficiently chilled. I hate it when my soba doesn't come to me already cold so this dish did not fail me on that aspect.

The soba tasted fine. I liked that there were sesame seeds on the noodles. It enhanced the taste of the noodles.

Finally,  my favourite dish of the evening! Tempura maki!!! It looks unassuming but I swear that it really does taste like tempura maki. This is really a dish that is worth trying!

Go for the interesting looking sashimi, stay for the yummy tempura maki. (:

Teng Bespoke Japanese Vegetarian Dining
Sunshine Plaza
91 Bencoolen Street #01-50

Review: Brunch at Bravery

Have been wanting to go to Bravery to try their food but I guess I was just too lazy to walk over. It's close enough that I don't have a bus to take me there but it's also too far to walk in Singapore's heat. Besides Jalan Besar is one of those places which you go only for cafe hopping (and watching football?) so there is not much to do after eating. While walking over, I noticed that they are going to open a new burger king outlet near lavender MRT! YIPEEEEE! New lunch/ dinner options are always welcome!

I digress. Back to talking about The Bravery.  I have actually walked past it before I knew what it was. There was no signboard and the door didn't even look like a door. Haha.

Picture from The Bravery. (Sorry, we don't take photos of the places we eat at. We just stare at the menu, stare at each other then eat.)

See right! When I walked past the place for the first time, I couldn't tell which was the door because I thought they were all just multicoloured full length windows.  In any case, the door is the gold one. This is so that others don't foolishly stare at the door like me.

The place had a really nice, chill vibe going on. Also, because we were there at around 10.30 am on a Saturday, the place was not too crowded. There were only like 4 or 5 other customers in the place.

First thing we noticed when we looked at the menu was that their selection was quite little. Normally, when I look at a menu, I can't decide what to have because there's too much to choose from but this was not the case. B decided to have the Brave Bagedeil while I decided to have the raunchy eggs.

Brave Bagedil: Poached eggs with turkey bacon and avocado with corned beef hash.

Our $17 Bagedil. You know how people complain about how overpriced brunch is because the ingredients are super cheap? I see the complaint super vividly in this dish considering how cheap bagedils normally are.

The portion was very small considering the price. The turkey bacon was also over fried. It totally lost the meat like texture and seemed more like a cracker. Some people like that but we were not really fans of that.

It was an interesting dish though. The flavour was really spot on and though the avocado seemed a little out of place when we read the menu, it added a nice texture to the dish.

Raunchy eggs: 2 fried eggs with spicy beans with anchovies, parmesan and shredded cabbage on tortilla.

This cost us $14. Yes, yes. I should have already realised how overpriced it was when reading the menu but still, seeing is realising.

It tasted... meh. It was just fried eggs on tortilla. I also couldn't taste the anchovies in the beans. There was nothing particularly enjoyable in the dish. I was just eating for the sake of eating, you know what I mean?

While the food was mediocre and pricey, both B and I felt that there was a possibility that we might return. We saw this girl sitting alone with her laptop, planning a trip. Perhaps we might return, order a couple of drinks and just drink, talk and even plan trips. It's a nice place to just sit down and chat.

The Bravery
66 Horne Road Singapore 209073
Weekdays: 9am to 7pm
Weekends: 8am to 8pm
Closed on Tuesdays, except public holidays

Review of FIX @ Home team NS Jom Clubhouse

Feels strange to only write about the yummy food at FIX now since I've already been there with B like 5 times over the past few months. B and I frequently have our cheat day dates at FIX since it is reasonably close to work. Both B and I work at the Caldecott area. No, we have not seen Zoe Tay.

We just went there again last Friday.  Initially, I wanted to go try out The Lab
because of the review on the alternative food blog (http://thealternativefoodblog.wordpress.com) but we couldn't get reservations. I guess the girls from the alternative food blog really sold the place and the food must be fantastic! Can't wait to go there eventually!

Anyway, we decided to go to FIX mainly because I saw that they have churros on their menu now! We were pretty psyched about it since there aren't many good churros places and our last churros experience at Spanish Doughnuts wasn't the greatest. In fact, I heard that they have already closed down.

Had the brunch set which is only available on Fridays,  Saturdays and Sundays. Really love the brioche that is both crisp and soft. The turkey meat was tender and flavourful.  The scrambled eggs were also sufficiently runny. And well,  the vegetables were vegetables. Hahahaha. What do people say to describe vegetables anyway? The vegetables were incredibly fresh? *shrugs*

B had the turkey ham and cheese naan.  It is the same turkey meat from the brunch set. The poached egg with the cheese was lovely. Frankly, very little can go wrong with ham, cheese and egg. The perfect little trio.

The naan came with a small cup of nachos on the side. It was alright, nothing special. I would have liked more cheese on the nachos but since I didn't expect the nachos, it was already a bonus to me. Haha.

Had the soy drumlets to share. Normally,  I don't enjoy drumlets that are covered in batter before frying but this tasted good. It was a tad greasy but it's a cheat day~ 

Finally,  the reason why we went to FIX! Churros!!! They came piping hot and dusted lightly with cinnamon sugar! I would have liked more cinnamon sugar though. Also, another gripe I have is that the chocolate sauce is a little thin. Overall, it was really enjoyable. Mmmmm. 

The meal cost us less than $40. A nice place for date night! (: Don't hesitate any more, get your fix at FIX.

Okay, maybe hesitate a little. It is a little inaccessible by public transport but on the bright side, you can walk to work up an appetite/ walk off the sinful food.

FIX Café
31 Ah Hood Road #01-06
Home Team NS - JOM Clubhouse
Singapore 329979
Opens daily from 9.30am to 10.30pm