Lunch @ Food Republic Vivocity... Again

MuHu~!

It's the worldwide release of the highly anticipated blockbuster remake Transformers today~! Guess what? I've reviewed the 2k Digital version of it this morning at GV Vivocity~! MuHu~! As much as I love to provide opinions and do up a review for this film, I shall not share more to avoid providing spoilers for those of you intending to catch it. All I can reveal is that Michael Bay stayed true to his style of cinematography, I find certain scenes in the movie similar to those of his previous works such as The Island. Oh yes! Do catch the digital format of this film to indulge your senses in the best offerings from this movie with such heavy spectacular special effects, highly recommended! We shall have a discussion after y'all have seen it alright?

Right after the movie, My Mom and I craved for lunch at Food Republic yet again. It's said to consist of 30 food stalls, including 5 'mini-restaurants', that were specially handpicked for their famous recognition after reviews by several of our local food critics. After some 'reconnaissance' of the various stalls, my Mom went for the Laksa while I stuck with the common boring choice of minced pork noodles. We topped up our lunch with some dim-sum as well~!

Food Republic Vivocity is located at the 3rd Level of the shopping mall

My bak-chor mee from a stall @ $4.00

My Mom's laksa from Depot Rd Zhen Shen Mei stall @ $6.90

Har-Gow bought from those traditional dim-sum trolley at $3.50

Siew-Mai with fish roe on top bought from trolley too @ $3.00

Dai-Zhi (scallops) from Bao Today stall @ $4.00

Ordered 2 cups of coffee from Toastbox mini-restaurant @ $1.30 each

A traditional Chinese bride's sedan found within the food court as a decoration item~!

Joining the Simpsons for an after-meal TV session in the living room (MuHu~!)

My bak-chor mee was bought from the stall next to the Depot Rd Zhen Shen Mei Laksa stall, I seriously couldn't recall the stall name as they didn't give me a receipt like the other stalls did. It was the usual to me, mee-gia with minced pork, pig liver, one meat ball, one fried wanton, mushrooms and a piece of wang-di cai at $4.00. I thought it was pretty alright, but nothing I couldn't find in other stalls. Perhaps amongst all the elite stalls' presence, it was considered slightly on the dull and common level under strong comparison with the items offered by other prestigious stalls.

The laksa my Mom ordered was a killer! When the lady at the stall asked for $6.90 in return for the laksa, I admit that I swallowed a huge gulp of saliva down hard in shock and stared at her dumbfounded for a few seconds before I regained my senses to pay her with the cash in hand. She even asked me if I would like to add abalone slices to my laksa, I gracefully refused her offer and pondered how much more would I have to pay for that! I helped my Mom carry back the pot of laksa and commented that it had better taste good as it didn't come cheap. Yes! The laksa came in a black pot as seen in the photo above. It's a first for my Mom to enjoy laksa in a large pot. I've seen the staff adding all the ingredients into the pot and placing it over a flamed stove for a short stew. It's different from the traditional Katong laksa style of preparing the dish whereby you just keep pouring and emptying the hot gravy into a ceramic bowl full of noodles and ingredients over several times before serving it in full gravy. Let me tell you, it's definitely money-worth~! The gravy was sooooo bagus~! It's thick with coconut milk and smelt fragrant and tasted so flavourful in the mouth. The prawn was also fresh and juicy. Upon eating it, my Mom found out the serving's actually rather generous. She couldn't finish it, thus I gladly finished it up for her~! MuHu~! This comes highly recommended by me~!

The two baskets of har-gow and siew-mai were great too. Both contained large servings of prawns, and I personally preferred the siew-mai as there's fish roe on top of it. Siew-mai cost $3.00 while har-gow was $3.50. They're both purchased from a dim-sum mei who's pushing a traditional dim-sum trolley around the food mall. So if you guys want to add on for a better meal and feel lazy to walk out to buy dim-sum, wait for the dim-sum trolley to come~!

As I was craving for the dai-zhi from Bao Today stall, I went to pick a basket up after I ordered two coffees from the Toastbox 'mini-restaurant'. Let's begin with the dai-zhi. It's like a har-gow with a piece of scallop on top of it, and it would cost you $4.00. The scallop's juicy and sweet, and improved the taste of the whole piece when chewed on together. So in a bite, you're eating prawns and scallops. It's good to pamper yourself once in a while you know? Well, the coffee was alright. $1.30 per cup. I found the reception lady at the Toastbox register counter special, I guessed it was the way she shouted out the order to the other staff who're preparing it. Perhaps if any of you happen to order there in future, do take note to see for yourself?

Here's my conclusive opinion for the above:

Bak-chor Mee

Taste: * * * 1/2

Value: * * * 1/2 ($4.00 a bowl)

Total: * * * * * * * (7/10)

Depot Rd Zhen Shen Mei Laksa (Nice~!)

Taste: * * * * 1/2

Value: * * * * ($6.90 for an exceptional laksa in generous serving~!)

Total: * * * * * * * * 1/2 (8.5/10)

Har-gow

Taste: * * * 3/4

Value: * * * 1/2 ($3.50 for 3 in a basket)

Total: * * * * * * * 1/4 (7.25/10)

Siew-mai with Fish-roe Topping

Taste: * * * *

Value: * * *3/4 ($3.00 for 3 in a basket)

Total: * * * * * * * 3/4 (7.75/10)

Bao Today Dai-Zhi

Taste: * * * * (Scallop & prawn in a mouthful!)

Value: * * * * ($4.00 for 3 in a basket)

Total: * * * * * * * * (8/10)

Toastbox Coffee

Taste: * * * 3/4

Value: * * * 1/4 ($1.30 a cup)

Total: * * * * * * * (7/10)

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Nice~! = Must try!!! Highly Recommended!!!

Please note that the above opinion of review belongs to mine solely and do not represent similar results for others.

I shall be posting again.

Chenkuieh~!