[Review] Envy Coffee @ one-north

Envy Coffee is well-hidden among the buildings around one-north! It is so conveniently located near my school and also where I work; I have been wanting to visit this cafe since last semester, but I haven't gotten the time to cos last semester's workload was just CRAZY - this itself is another long story. Also, they are closed on weekends so I don't get to visit them when I work.

I actually visited them twice! For the first time, my cousin and I were down for their prawn paste sambal chicken burger but they were out of it. :( Instead, we got their smoked duck miso pasta and cajun chicken burger, which were the next most popular items.

This cajun chicken burger [$13.90] was better than their signature prawn paste sambal chicken burger[$13.90], which I had during my second visit, imo. If I'm not mistaken, all of their burgers come with charcoal buns and sides of salad and waffle fries. 

My cousin had smoked duck miso pasta[$12.90], and we both agreed that the smoked duck was good! The miso was rather faint and I can't actually point out the miso flavour. The pasta also comes cream-based, so some might find it too heavy, or too jelat, after a while. However, the whole thing came well together and it's definitely something I will have the next time.

Envy Coffee also has their own version of creamy white cold brew[$6.50]! 

I don't remember them having a lot of dessert options - just a few choices of cakes and ice cream sandwiches[$6.00]. They have about 3-4 flavours for the ice cream sandwiches, and I got the green tea one.

We also got their lemon mayo baked waffle fries[$8.90]. (top left)

Very nice latte art but my photo sucks lol. We were sitting directly underneath the lamp so there was shadow. 

This is the prawn paste sambal chicken burger Envy Coffee is famous for! The menu indicates that this is one of their spiciest dishes, but it was just ok. I didn't quite like it cos some parts of the chicken were slightly burnt and there was this bitter and burnt taste.

On a side note, I saw that they lack proper cooking equipment and they heated up the charcoal buns in an oven, so I guess most of their food are prepared beforehand, and warmed up in their oven when there are orders. That got me slightly disappointed, but for the food I can close both my eyes to that hahahahaha.

Also, they have WIFI. Definitely a good place to have coffee and chill; just note that it may get crowded during lunch hours since it is located among office buildings and the cafe does not have a lot of tables.

Here is their location:
1 Fusionopolis Link, #01-04, Nexus @ one-north, Singapore 138542
www.envycoffee.com

Monday to Friday: 7:30am to 6:00pm (Closed on weekends and PHs) 

This cafe is quite hidden but Google Maps will help you get there, or at least it worked for me! If you need wifi for Google Maps, stop by Fusionopolis cos there is Wireless@SG there. 

[Review] Sakura International Buffet, Clementi Woods Park

Ok you are seeing this because quite a few friends have been asking me to start writing about the food I eat, since I always take pictures of them - in short, asking me to start a food blog so here it is! Even if this does not end up becoming a food blog, it serves me as a documentation of all the food I have eaten so I will not forget them cos they are so precious. :')

But school is starting in two days, so I hope I have the motivation to keep this going on top of my other commitments.

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Sakura International Buffet was my favourite place for a buffet when I was back in secondary school. They started out as a really value-for-money buffet place, and I remember my first time dining at Sakura was at their Science Center outlet, which is now closed. It was a treat from Auntie Elma, one of my church's members, and IT WAS SO SATISFYING, and ever since I have been bugging my parents to bring me back there.

However, Sakura's standards have dropped over the years, so much so that the only time I see my friends objecting so strongly to anything is when I suggest that we eat at Sakura lol. Also, they raised the buffet prices (yes, with their standards deteriorating) so now I can no longer say that they are value-for-money, which was the reason why I used to like them.

Nonetheless, I got my way this time and we had dinner at Sakura's Clementi Woods Park outlet! We initially stopped at their doorstep (literally) and thought twice about going in because we headed down without checking out the buffet rates and saw that dinner was $42.80 nett - not exactly very affordable lol. But we went in anyway.

The first two sections I always look at at a buffet are the Japanese food and desserts section! I have to have the assurance that they serve my salmon sashimi and interesting desserts.

Ok I was assured because not only do they serve my salmon sashimi, they also have grilled salmon mentaiko sushi for me! Mentaiko salmon and salmon sashimi are the best!!

While I must say they do have quite a variety of mentaiko sushis, like squid and octopus and *I can't remember what else*, their selection of sushis is actually quite limited. No raw salmon sushi, enough said.

Egg tarts! They weren't bad but I think they needed more filling cos, as you can see, the filling sinks in.

I actually looked forward to bird nest egg tarts because I read it somewhere that Sakura now serves them. Apparently it is only at their Yio Chu Kang outlet, so never set expectations too high in life, friends.

Roast beef, which was so tough and cold that I chucked them one side after two bites.

This is everything for seafood on ice. These prawns and mussels weren't the freshest, but neither were they stale. At $42.80, I think we diners deserve more than just these two choices. 

The front two are Argentina red prawns, which weren't too special either. Shouldn't have taken two lol.

This picture isn't very clear, but top right is actually their current promotional dish, seafood in a bucket. These buckets of seafood aren't part of the buffet line. The waiters will come to you and ask if you want a bucket and they will bring it to you; I think if you want more buckets of seafood after the first one, you will have to call for the waiters instead.

Seafood in a bucket sounds like a big thing, but I feel it is actually nothing much lol. Everything you see in my picture above is really everything in one bucket - two prawns, two mussels, two pieces of lobsters, and a lot of random objects like lemon wedges, carrots, and a whole potato.

I duno what's the potato doing in there lol.

They have Hiroshima oyster omelette, as they call it. However, I didn't find it exceptional. Maybe "Hiroshima oyster" is just a name to make it sound impressive, or maybe the oysters really came from Hiroshima and that's about it. 

I was excited to see rainbow cakes at the desserts section at first, since rainbow cakes are usually expensive outside and I can now eat them to my heart's content at one price.

BUT THEY DON'T DO RAINBOW CAKES RIGHT.

The whole thing was mushy and it was really nothing like the way we know cakes. I stopped after one slice (I initially thought I was going to go for half of the whole cake lol) cos it wasn't worth my time eating it hahahaha!

On this dessert plate, only the ice cream and the strawberry layered cake were ok. The red coloured cupcake was just bad, and I finished it only because it was just one mouthful and I didn't want to spit it out. 

Hahahaha ok I know this lump of thing looks dubious in here, it is chocolate lava cake with Haagen Dazs ice cream. 

Perhaps the server didn't microwave the cake sufficiently, nothing was oozing out of the chocolate lava cake. Also, I saw that the tub of ice cream was finishing, so my scoop actually came forcefully by digging the ends and corners of the tub. If your tub of ice cream at home is finishing, don't dig the ends and corners ok, cos your ice cream will come out tasting funny and oddly chewy, if you know what I am saying.

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In all, the only dishes I was happiest with were the salmon sashimi and grilled salmon mentaiko sushi, and everything else was just meh. At $42.80 nett per person, our total billed amounted to $171.20 and yes my friends I agree that we could have put the money to way better use elsewhere. Paiseh hahahaha!

But I say, it's ok cos life is a learning journey and NOW WE KNOW where NOT to go lololol.

If you still insist:

Sakura International Buffet
93A, Clementi Road, Clementi Woods Park, Singapore 129781
Tel: 6474 8197

Lunch: 12:00pm to 3:00pm (Monday to Friday)
Brunch: 11:30am to 3:30pm (Saturdays, Sundays, Eve of PH, PH)
Dinner: 6:00pm to 10:00pm (Monday to Thursday)
Dinner: 5:30pm to 10:00pm (Friday to Sunday, Eve of PH, PH)

They also have other outlets in these areas: Admiralty Park, Downtown East, SAFRA Jurong Club, SAFRA Tampines, Yio Chu Kang Stadium.

Buffet prices and addresses of above locations here at their official website: http://www.sakuraintbuffet.com.sg