Food For Thought, Botanical Gardens

After the Chinese Orchestra Outdoor Rhapsody at the Botanical Gardens, we headed to Food For Thought (which turned out to be quite a walk from the stage). We've always wanted to try this place ever since they were by Bugis so thought why not!

 There's quite a big seating area with a kids playground outside too. A nice spot to relax at after traipsing around in the Gardens.

 Self serviced style here, so you place orders by the counter but food gets delivered to your table.

 They had quite a selection of pastas, burgers and other mains and desserts as well, but we just wanted something light so we opted for two burgers and a set to share.

{ Grilled Portobello ($8) }

w/ Pineapple Sage Vinaigrette

 Didn't feel like having meat so I opted for the portobello (the meatiest of all mushrooms!?). Gotta say I wasn't very impressed. It wasn't very sizeable and for $8 I was kind of expecting a little bit more portobello action.

 I could taste the pineapple but just barely. Could not taste much sage, and yes the portobello was tiny!

{ Slow Roasted Pulled Pork ($8) }

w/ Homemade BBQ Sauce

 Have to say that tomato looked like a candied apple when it arrived, a 30%-of-a-tomato slice slathered in caramelized onions and BBQ sauce sat atop a pile of pulled pork. Nothing too great I felt - the BBQ sauce was nice, the pork was salty and a bit dry and tough, and the bun was strange (consistency felt closer to white bread than burger bun). $5 to make a set with a bottled drink and fries. Fries were chunky cut, not bad, with liberal volumes of mustard.

Didn't have good experience with their burgers, but it seems like their other mains or the other branch at Queen Street do pretty well!

Food For Thought

Singapore Botanic Gardens

Cluny Road Entrance (Basement)

Main website : http://www.foodforthought.com.sg/fft/
HGW Link (77% recommended at time of posting) : http://www.hungrygowhere.com/singapore/Food_For_Thought__Botanic_Gardens_/
Rating (for burgers) : 

Two Blur Guys, 1 Tras Link (Orchid Hotel)

 Passed by this place a fair bit while it was still under renovation, and we made it a point to definitely try it out once they were open. Lo and behold while we were walking back to the MRT after Pho Stop, place was finally open! Couldn't help but be distracted by the brownies and pies on display, and helpful blur guy Max even gave us a run through of what constitutes a Lamington. We kinda made him a soft promise that we'll be back, so we were. Unfortunately Max didn't seem to be around when we did.

Now, what can a fellow burger enthusiast say to another? A good quality beef burger just about defines your burger joint, and please, do wow me with your quirky burger selection as well! That's why I simply love this spot over here, which I would definitely go on a regular basis if it weren't so (dang) far away.

So we spotted some interesting burgers (smoked salmon and avocado, yum!), pies and what not, and since  wasn't too hungry we just settled on a single prime beef hamburger to share.

{ Prime Beef Burger w/Gruyere Cheese and Truffle Mayo ($12.50) } 

Now that wooden plate does a good job of hiding all that oil and juice, but first impression was still - it was way too oily. Maybe it's good ol' beef juice - maybe - but to my fingers it seemed like oil. So anyway, I cut it in half, and while spilling more beef juice, got a nice look at the slightly pink, medium-done prime beef patty. Beef patty seemed like it was falling apart, but it didn't - probably hand packed from minced beef, promising!

Taste wise was honestly, pretty great in my book! Guess the supreme juiciness / oiliness turned off   a little, but I quite loved it, and I felt the portion ookkkk for the price (considering the location, and that De Burg did charge me $15.50 for that lamb burger). And kudos - that truffle mayo did stand out rather succintly. Salad was a little lacking, and the chips, suspiciously Lays.



But what does a fellow restaurant goer say to another? Guess it would be that I have to dine comfortably, and this place was far from comfortable. Cramped, dark, round tables placed randomly with inadequate spacing, and the unfortunate post-work drinking crowd in the corner made so much noise I could hardly hear my mastication. Perhaps there was too much display space, but I felt more organized seating and better lighting was definitely in order.

We left without trying the brownies, lamingtons or coffee, but we would be back - perhaps!

Two Blur Guys

Orchid Hotel, 1 Tras Link

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Rating (out of 4) : 

Empire State Burger, Causeway Point

 Civilization! I needed some real nosh so we decided to meet up near my place for some simple but proper food. We wanted to check out Hot Tomato next door for a while now (cheap steak but is it edible?) but due to the long queue we opted for this instead.

 (Photo below was taken after we'd left - guess we managed to beat the queue here!)

 The one at Iluma has been open since quite a while ago, and I've always lamented that there actually really isn't a burger joint at the Empire State Building itself. Regardless the menu seems alright and I really just need a greasy burger.

The menu just struck me as offensive being that there's a tall building, and a monkey in a plane. Not so much unlike a certain event in Manhattan a while ago (monkey and all).

 We deliberated for a little bit and settled for a pizza, burger and a long overdue root beer float ($8)! The float was actually about a pint so it's not too bad value.

{ Pepperoni Pizza ($12.90) }

For pepperoni lovers, this crispy crust pizza is topped with lots of pepperoni, shredded mozzarella, cheddar cheese and served with tomato sauce

 While nowhere near 'authentic', this pizza brought us back to younger-childhood-Pizza-Hut years. Hate to admit this but we actually enjoyed this! The thick dough topped with oily cheesy pepperoni - it's literally so bad that it's good. Lashings of tabasco sauce made this all the more delish. This pizza can actually be shared between 3-4 people - for the both of us the motherload of carbs got a bit iffy after our 3rd square.


 I dare say I prefer this over Modesto's given the price.

{ House Burger ($12.90) }

Freshly grilled beef patty served with our special sauce on a soft oatmeal bun, filled with lots of melted cheese on a bed of baby greens, sliced tomatoes, onions and pickles

 Wasn't spectacular but wasn't bad as well - it was a good ol' beef burger with a fresh minced beef patty (unlike some others). The 'special' sauce tastes suspiciously like mustard. The oatmeal bun was great as well, and the burger wasn't too soggy and held together well.

It's an affordable place with decent western food if you're not too fussed about quality - but definitely no where close to anything you can actually get in the vicinity of the Empire State Building. Good place to eat at Causeway Point though I wouldn't queue more than 5 minutes for this.

They do have a signature Empire State Burger which is like $30, which can feed about 4 average Singaporeans, 2 hungry males or 1 average American.

Empire State Burger
#02-10/K10 Causeway Point

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Main website : http://www.empirestate.com.sg/
HGW Link (100% recommended ??? at time of posting) : http://www.hungrygowhere.com/singapore/Empire_State__Causeway_Point_/
Rating (out of 4) : 

Kraze Burgers, Liang Court

 Apparently all the kraze (hah!) in Korea and as my colleague attests to it it's pretty good there, we couldn't resist a $15 for $30 voucher.


 Made a reservation and came by Liang Court 715pm on a Thursday to find it completely empty. Just a few tables visibly reserved undoubtedly to redeem their vouchers.

 Something not quite right about a 1980s american comic chick promoting korean style healthy burgers (and hey, you've spelt kraze backwards you fools). Burgers seemed a major ripoff at about $10-$16 each (with NO side dishes ... not even a salad or drink. Wtf?), they did sell chilli fries and wedges seperately at about $4 - $8 a plate, and at least the $3.50 glass of ice lemon tea was semi decent.

{ Garlic Idaho ($8) }

Sauteed rare-cut Potato Fries with Garlic and Butter, over sweet spicy sauce,

cream mayonnaise and mango dressing

 The garlic fries were the only thing my cousin remembered from this place, so we didn't take a chance and ordered it in case it turned out to be the one thing palatable. Honestly we were pleasantly surprised - the potatoes were of surprising good quality and sauteed just right but not too oily, along with generous amounts of chopped garlic that went really well! The sauce was quite the winner too - a mix of what seemed like tabasco, mango sauce and mayo, it was sweet, fruity and really spicy all at once, really great for dipping.

But wow. Were the burgers such a major ripoff.

{ K.G Burger ($14) }

Represents Kraze Gold Medal Burger (Bulgogi Burger). A taste you have never experienced. Korean-Style Barbequed Beef Patty added with a unique Bulgogi Sauce along with Mushrooms on a Whole Wheat Bun [sic]

 Strange presentation was one - overly tall and came cut down the middle, if you ever removed the wooden fork the crown bun will just slip off the lettuce, and since it wasn't very wide it doesn't really hold together ... anyway. It came with a little side dish of (no offence) pinoy-style fruit salad. Right ... moving on ...

The Kraze Gold Medal burger, a taste you have never experienced (wow!). Well yes you can't experience a taste that doesn't exist can you - the burger was bland. I didn't get the slightest hint of bulgogi sauce and the beef patty was heavily emulsified (healthy burger ay?).

{ K.B++ ($14) }

Added Bacon and Fried Eggs to our famous K.B Original Burger, K.B++ will give you more appetite from Richness of Flavors [sic]

 My signature K.B burger came with yellowed lettuce (albeit a good portion), a fried egg and bacon over the same emulsified beef patty, which gave it [richness of flavours]. Was also rather bland even with the mystery kraze sauce.

 The cut through the beef patty shows how flat and smooth it - maybe I've been spoilt with freshly made patties but patties like this emulsified beyond human comprehension are just a big no-no when you're (1) not quite a fast food chain (2) claiming to be selling healthy food. I mean, I get it that it's 'healthy', but if it's healthy means bland and chemically processed then why am I paying $14?

 Personally I felt the burgers were nothing to write home about. I can see how it is angled as being 'healthy', but 'healthy' to me translates to more than just having slightly bigger portions of fresh veg (did you know that lettuce has close to no fibre? they are often in plates to fill the space and add colour) - it also means using wholesome ingredients, so the patty kind of turned me off. For the bucks that leave your pocket you'd think there would be at least some fresh ground patty of some description. The flavours were also not very pronounced and having to constantly dab it in mustard/chilli/tomato sauce just isn't that inspiring.

Well I guess this is a shining example of 'never know until you try' - so although we got the chance to sample the food here, we sure aren't Kraze about the burgers!

 The bill came up to be $46 with two burgers, garlic fries and a drink. We lamented we could have bought 5 double mushroom swiss burger set meals at Burger King and still have change.

Kraze Burgers

177 River Valley Road

#01-09/10 Liang Court

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HGW Link (17% at MBS at time of writing) : http://www.hungrygowhere.com/singapore/Kraze_Burger__Marina_Bay_Sands_/
Rating (out of 4) :