Dall' Italia Pastabar, Dublin, Ireland

Address:
4 Merchants Arch, Temple Bar, Dublin 2, Ireland

Opening times:
Monday to Thursday from 10am to 9pm
Friday from 10am to 10pm
Saturday from 12pm to 10pm
Sunday from 12pm to 9pm

Website:
http://www.dallitaliapastabar.com/

Our honest review:
Temple bar is the probably the heart of Dublin. It is a small stall between the main square in Temple bar and to the Liffey river, and often people just miss it. It is run by a pasta chef who makes his pasta fresh everyday.

Handmade fresh pasta daily

Cooking before your eyes

Fresh handmade spinach tagliatelle with mushroom and pesto sauce

Fresh handmade spinach tagliatelle with mushroom and pesto sauce

I went around 12pm and there wasn't a queue. The waiting time is probably about 10-15 minutes as they will cook it on the spot for you and for you to see. I really love how the pasta were really fresh. You can immediately identify that this pasta is not one of those dried ones.

There were many different types of sauces and fresh pastas and even toppings. So you can basically customize your own pasta to your liking. You can find their options on the website. I had a hard time deciding between all of them but ended up going for the spinach tagliatelle with pesto sauce and mushroom toppings.

The pesto sauce went perfectly with the spinach tagliatelle. It had a fresh blend of herbs together. The pasta was also cooked to perfection and it was not soggy at all. Though I would preferred a slightly more seasoned pasta, this was pretty good. It also had quite a large residue of oil at the end which kind of creep me out due to my oil-phobia.

Price: It cost 7.50euros which isn't too pricey for fresh pasta. t was rather reasonable as the portions was pretty big too. He took about 3 bunches of pasta.

It is a simple and fast meal to go, especially for students. Would have this over any other Italian restaurants in Dublin. This is obviously authentic Italian pasta. I heard the carbonara was pretty good too! Definitely will try more and review it, so stay tune!

Boufe Boutique Cafe, Singapore

Address:
308 Tanglin Road, Phoenix Park, #01-01, Singapore 247974

Opening times:
Closed on Mondays
Tuesday to Fridays from 8am to 10pm
Saturday & Sunday from 10am to 10pm (All day brunch)

Website: http://www.boufesg.com/

Our honest review:

So I came back here the second time wanting to try the other food on the menu. The first review can be found here: http://foodtripling.blogspot.sg/2015/08/boufe-boutique-cafe-singapore.html. I came on a Friday afternoon at 12 noon where there was not many customers at the cafe and thus the food came pretty quickly, approximately 10mins. This time, I ordered the smoked salmon croissant and eggs benedicts. 

Main interior of the cafe

Eggs benedicts & Scrambled eggs croissant

Scrambled egg croissant

Eggs benedicts

As before, the eggs done in Boufé are really good. The scrambled eggs were really good - creamy texture on point, while the poached eggs were poached perfectly that when I dissect the egg, the runny yolk just flows out so nicely onto the brioche and ham. This shows the consistency of the quality of food being served in the café. The hollandaise sauce was a little interesting as they've added cheese inside to make the creamy texture of the sauce. However, I felt that the cheese was a little too much that it made the sauce a little more sticky than usual. Also, the cheese taste as a little too overpowering although you can still taste the creamy egg yolk and vinegar taste inside.

Signature Boufe Cake

Inside of the signature boufe cake <3

Recently, the café just introduced one of their new signature boufe cake. It was seriously mind blowing. The texture of the cake was dense yet smooth, with a surprise of crunchiness from the hazelnut at the bottom. The bittersweet taste of the chocolate together with the acidity and sourish taste of the mango passion fruit just blended so well together. The portion of the cake was just right that I wasn't trying to force myself to finish the cake because it was getting too 'jelat' (overwhelming till you can't eat it anymore).

Instagram-able food in the cafe

Price: Overall, the bill came up to $50 for 2 mains, one cake and a drink. The portions were really big and we ended with a really good dessert that made me feel that it was all worth it. Consistency of the scrambled eggs is really there and honestly, I would recommend any dish that serve eggs, and also the new signature boufe cake. Definitely a place I would come to chill on a weekday afternoon because you can have some peace and quiet with a really nice surrounding. 

Yam Mee Teochew Fishball Mee, Singapore

Address:
#01-35, Kovan Hougang Market and Food Centre, 209 Hougang Street 21, Singapore 530209

Opening times:
Everyday from 7am to 3pm

Website: -

Our honest opinions:
It is probably a 5 minutes or less walk from Kovan MRT. During peak hours, especially on weekends mornings, it will be pretty hard to find a seat in this hawker centre. Queue may be pretty long, however it is good to know that they have 2 persons working simultaneously to move the queue pretty fast.

Meepok noodles BCM

BCM noodles with Teo Chew dumplings

The noodles have really good bounce to it. Its texture is cook to perfection. The vingar taste, which is a must-have in Teochew noodles, is there without being overpowering though you can hardly see the sauce. Their special vegetarian fishball was were really really juicy and soft. Probably the best I had so far. The mushrooms were sliced thickly and braised so well. It was soft, tender and really juicy. The mushrooms were really awesome, the best! The minced meat could have been softer, but it is overly chewy. The fishballs and meatballs were rather average. It was really spicy despite asking for little chilli, but it was still good.

We also ordered a side bowl of Teochew dumplings which were just average and had some glass noodles in them too.

Price: $3.50 per bowl of noodles and $4 for the bowl of Teochew dumplings. Rather decent pricing considering how Singapore is going through inflation over the past few years.