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The Refinery (Lunch)
The demographic of Jalan Besar is starting to get younger, and it's certainly not from the new generation of fans trying to support the local soccer team. With more hipster cafes such as Chye Seng Huat Hardware and AEIOU opening up, people from all ages are making their way to the area now. The Refinery epitomizes a modern lifestyle cafe, on top of serving fusion Japanese rice bowls for lunch, Yakitori sticks for dinner and brunch on weekends, there's ample work spaces for designers to meet and collaborate.
located in the midst of an auto-car mechanic workshop area, The Refinery is fitted out in a utilitarian styled design, complete with long tables, rentable work-spaces on upper floors, high ceilings and a Japanese themed caricature mural in the backdrop. we went on a weekday lunch where the menu is focused on fusion Japanese rice bowls, although booze, juices and sodas are also readily available. a somewhat different offering from your typical cafe. 
We tried their Teriyaki Chicken Don rice bowl which was pretty much good comfort food. from the tenderness of the marinated chicken thigh in Teriyaki sauce, to the quality of the rice, to the egg and tofu, it was one of the better ones we've tasted. we had Yoshinoya for lunch today just to remind ourselves, and the contrast was really distinctive. 
one notable highlight was the Onsen Tamago or lava-egg that is served with their rice meals. the yolk is watery and yet holds its place until you attack it. the flavour soaks into the rice and the sauce making it really pleasurable to eat. their signature dish above is called the Refinery Bowl, which is made up of braised pulled pork, egg, pickled ginger and shittake mushrooms. the meat is shredded into thin slices and blended well with the condiments. there's a noodle version called Spicy Mee, complete with sambal chilli, but we heard some reviews suggest that certain dishes are best kept to the heartland hawkers. 
the experience comes together with dessert, so we ordered some waffles called the Kopi Addict Waffle. perhaps we didn't read the menu too carefully, because we were surprised that the coffee-based waffle, with butterscotch ice-cream and coffee-infused syrup, also came with streaks of bacon on top of the waffles! i guess we didn't know how to appreciate savory bacon served onto a dessert, and that was a real downer to an otherwise good dessert. In all, this was a very cosy and comfort-food based dining experience and we'd look forward to come back to try their Yakitori dinner and chill-out bar concept on another evening. 
The Refinery 115 King George's Ave Singapore 208561 Opening Hours Tuesdays to Thursdays: 12 pm to 3 pm; 6 pm to 12 am Fridays & Saturdays: 12 pm to 3 pm; 6 pm to 1 am Saturday & Sunday (brunch): 11 am to 4 pm (closed on Mondays) Purveyors of the Good Life.. HK Eats - Tin Lung Heen
as we prepare for the Lunar New Year festive mood, we decided to do a little throwback to our recent visit to Hong Kong's Ritz Carlton Hotel for some amazing dim sum. Located on the 102 storey of the hotel, Tin Lung Heen boasts a breathtaking view of Kowloon's harbour and a delectable spread of dim sum and ala carte dishes. This work of Chef Paul Lau and his team has also earned the restaurant 2 Michelin stars in 2013.
visiting the restaurant during the winter, we kinda liked how they kept our tea warm by the window. the views are awesome, albeit with abit of fog on the day that we visited and the decor of the place was totally Instagram worthy. if you were to query the staff on which dishes earned them the Michelin awards, they will be quick to tell you that it was awarded for the overall dining experience and that probably includes the impeccable service quality that greeted us the moment we arrived. 
at the staff's recommendation, we ordered some of the restaurant's signature dishes from the ala carte menu, before proceeding to review the dim sum selections. This steamed crab claw with egg white in Hua Tiao sauce is indeed very special. the selection on crab has an abundant portion of flesh, and the egg white with the sauce creates this savoury taste which partners the dish very well. we also went on to find out that the dim sum dishes were also prepared with quality ingredients. 
We heard about Tin Lung Heen specialising in char siew prepared out of Spanish Iberian pork, so we ordered a serving of the steamed rice rolls with Iberian pork and mushrooms. the char siew is very tender and juicy even for Hong Kong standards, allowing each piece of the rice-rolls to be a very easy chew. in the same vein as the cheong fun, we ordered some Phoenix Claws or chicken feet in conpoy with supreme sauce. unlike many other dim sum places, this chicken feet is so well steamed that they can be cleanly licked off the bones. The sauce gives it a unique flavour unlike the sweet and spicy version that's more typical in Hong Kong. 
special mention to this dish of deep fried frog leg with chilli and sauce, we don't see this very often back home and it really tasted like very good, soft fried chicken. it wasn't too spicy, and the sprinkles of diced fried garlic made it very flavourful and not too over-powering after a couple of pieces. maybe we could say it was.. finger licking good. In all, the visit to Tin Lung Heen was a good experience and an eye-opener. if you're visiting Hong Kong and would like to go for some dim sum indulgence, this is certainly the restaurant to visit. 
Tin Lung Heen Level 102, International Commerce Ctr 1 Austin Road West Kowloon, Hong Kong Opening Hours Lunch: 12 pm to 2.30 pm (Mondays to Fridays) 11.30 am to 3 pm (Weekends and Public Holidays) Dinner: 6 pm to 10.30 pm (daily) Authentically Cantonese in a refined atmosphere |
..ThE lEgEnD..
Last Movie: Ad Astra
Golden Village, Singpost Centre 
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