S heard of this IKEA crawfish party from his colleague and insisted we had to get tickets. So we managed to book a table for the 8pm slot on Friday. Tickets were going at $25 apiece, but if you are a IKEA member (which we weren't), you could get a $10 IKEA voucher. Little did we know that registering for the membership was free -- this meal could have been $15 only la.

Our first serving! After that we went back for one more plate of salty crawfish because S liked peeling it. After that we realised we missed out on the dill mayo for the crawfish!? Maybe it wouldn't have tasted so horrible if we had that sauce.. Apparently the Tampines outlet had chilli crab style crawfish also.

The eponymous gimbap looks pretty on the plate. Taste-wise, it was quite authentic: the beef bulgogi was tender and the pickles were fragrant. S isn't a huge fan of this though -- he claims it tastes 'plasticky'.

Next up was the Doenjangmari soup noodles. Basically, the stock was made from fermented beanpaste and was quite spicy. Besides the noodles (which were very similar to ban mian), there were just a couple of mushrooms and zucchini. Not particularly satisfying.

To go, we had a buckwheat tea, the safest of the tea options on the menu. If you are feeling adventurous, you can go for the more exotic names: omija, esel, doraji etc.

Spizza Mercato is located at the newly opened Capitol Piazza. With weekday lunch and dinner sets offering good value, its no surprise that Spizza is almost always packed. We dropped by for the dinner set for 2, whereby at $29.90 (Mon-Thu only), we had a choice of 2 drinks, 2 appetizers, and 1 pizza (should be the 12 inch one). S was dying to try the parma ham, which left us with limited choice - we went for the Isabella -- tomato, mozzarella, parama ham, rucola salad and parmesan cheese.

We decided to go for 1 soup and 1 salad. Our soup was a tasty and rustic cream of wild mushroom soup. This picture doesn't do it justice, but the portion was actually quite huge (enough for 2). On the side was some lightly toasted bread.

Our salad was the classic cesare salad -- chicken breast, crispy croutons, crisp lettuce and shaved parmesan cheese! It was very filling and by the time we were done, there was hardly any space left for the pizza.

Last but not least, the pizza came with tons of rocket veges! We were shocked by the size of it as this meal could probably feed 3 (We initially wanted to dabao half the pizza back). Sher didnt really like the rocket salad. Other than that, the saltiness of the paper-thin parma ham contrasted well with the freshly baked pizza.

While Spizza is a great place to chill out on a weekday night, they also offer lunch sets ($12 for pasta or pizza) that might appeal to the office crowd looking for a special treat. We might be back to try the pasta!

Spizza Mercato

Address: Capitol Piazza, 13 Stamford Road, #B2-52

Opening Hours:11:30-14:30, 17:30-22:00, Mon-Thu; 11:00-22:00, Fri-Sun

Damage: from $18 per pax

The menu is quite extensive. Lots of vegetables and side dishes to complement your bak kut teh.

Between the spare ribs ($8) and the pork ribs ($7), we recommend the spare ribs because it tends to be more tender (and fattier). If you want more meat and less bones though, go for the drier pork ribs. The soup comes hot and peppery, but somewhat lacking in robustness. Also, for such a premium price, the serving is on the small side.

A meal at Yahua Rou Gu Cha doesn't come cheap. Discounting the side dishes, the Bak Kut Teh alone is $8 dollars, and you only get 3 miserable pieces of meat. Be sure to drink your moneys worth of soup -- its refillable.

S had the spicy crab broth ramen ($14.90) -- strong taste, more oil, hard noodles. Sounds like a horrid combination. The wait staff warned that the strong taste would be more salty, but he went ahead anyway. The spicy crab ramen also came with the rich broth, but with an added serving of spicy minced pork which gave the soup more body. The hard noodles didn't taste all that different from the normal noodles. Both were springy and had some bite to them.

Kani King is worth a first try. The broth is rich and unique, however, it didn't grow on us. We wished there was some crab meat ($$$) to make the dish more luxurious. We'll probably be heading down to the Lobster King outlet next. It's supposed to be even richer and we can't wait to try (:

Nestled between the many eateries and restaurants on Purvis Street, Yet Con has stood the testament of time. Apparently, the restaurant has been open for more than 70+ years. Everything about it screams old school: the fading sign board, glass cabinet where the chicken rests, the bare-bones interior and the rosewood counter where an old man, presumably the boss, mans the cash register.

When eating chicken rice, most of us would agree that what really makes or breaks the dish is the chili. Yet Con's chili was on the watery side and we had to carefully drain most of the liquid away. Same procedure with the ginger. By Sher's (much improved) standards, the chili had no kick.

The chicken itself we suspected it wasn't boiled and dunked immediately in ice water, unlike other shops. While there was no springy, gelatinous texture to the chicken, we could really taste the chicken flavor and it was quite tender for breast meat. We were also served a huge bowl of chicken soup which had lots of parsley and crisp cabbage floating in it.

Nothing beats a hot bowl of peppery Bak Kut Teh on a cold, rainy day. Old Street Bak Kut Teh is a modern take on the traditional Teochew dish. Over at Old Street, you have a fancy iPad ordering system, a dry rendition of Bak Kut Teh and a wide array of dips and sauces.

Don't get me started on the condiments. Apart from the typical dark sauce and chili padi, they also have a chicken-rice-esque chili sauce, raw minced garlic (yummy) and a peanut sauce (yummier). Trust me you'll be spoiled for choice over at Old Street.

To compliment our Bak Kut Teh, we ordered some incredibly expensive braised peanuts ($3.30). Next time, we'll bring our own can of peanuts ($0.70 from Fairprice) ...