Ratana Thai Seafood Restaurant

It was New Year's eve and we reckon that most places would be crowded so we decided to head to some "outskirt" place for lunch. Since we were travelling along Upper Serangoon Road, we decided to check out if there is anything interesting to eat there. Found that some shops were closed because it has past lunch hour.

We settled down for lunch at Ratana Thai Seafood Restaurant

27 Teck Chye Terrace S545729

Tel : 6285 9092 / 9766 5737

Ordered a Tom Yam Chicken Soup. Had moderated the level of spiciness and sourness.

This Garlic fish looks interesting and I was rather suprised that it came with nice presentation... I am not sure what fish it was since it was almost fully covered by the garlic and onion garnishes. The entire fish was deep-fried and every part was very crispy, which also means if you like to taste the tenderness of the fish meat, you will be disappointed.

The hotplate tofu was a little disappointing as it somehow lack 'character'... it only seemed like a plate of rojak with everything tasting alike.

Garlic-fried seasonal veg... it was just normal.

Thai Lemon Juice. Besides the sour taste, there is also a light stint of saltiness. Maybe it is the characteristics of Thai Lemon Juice.

Generally, it was a very normal meal for a normal day on 31 Dec 2007.

Olio @ Holland V

There is a new Olio Cafe, located at Holland V. The place used to be Gelare, the ice cream parlour.

There was a good choice of food but I opted for something not too heavy - Olio Gourmet Pie with Red Curry Chicken ($12.90). I'd had imagined the curry to be the traditional red curry but it turned out to be "fusion" curry. Just imagine that it is something with a stronger spice taste and little coconut milk or perhaps none at all.

I was a little disappointed.... the puff pastry was the saving grace.

Fortunately, we ordered some desserts, which were yummy and nice in presentation. The Olio style brownie ($7.50) came in a chocolate hot plate, just like the gravy in hot plate tofu. The brownie itself has a level of vanilla gelato in the centre.

Another saving grace for this meal was the tiramisu ($6.80). It tasted rather milky, which I like. Am not bothered that it has very coffee taste :P

My conclusion would be to always choose something that is recommended by the chef, at least at Olio Cafe.