The Hungry Bunny

Lunchtime in the CBD is sometimes quite a costly affair, especially if you're on a budget. But if you look hard enough, there are pockets of affordable and relatively cheap eateries. A caveat though, most of these places are non-air-conditioned, so be prepared to sweat a little (here's where you take off your tie, loosen your top button a little, or make sure you're wearing something breezy and light). Shenton House, a 1970's constructed building, is filled with cheap eateries. The ground floor facing Shenton Way is lined with open-air eateries, ranging from Indian Muslim food, to Indian vegetarian food and Chinese economic rice. If you really can't bear the heat, the air-conditioned second floor is also packed with eateries, you get your choice of chicken rice, Chinese herbal soups, and Malay or Chinese mixed rice. I've most recently gotten  addicted to the Indian food at the first shop unit at the ground floor of Shenton House. The food's good (most of...

CC,  Beeps and I stoleaway for a pampering lunch at Pontini . It's one of those tranquil places that constantly flies under the radar with its unassuming vibe. It seems that only people in-the-know would patronize this restaurant. Of all of the times I've dined here, I've never had to make a reservation, for  lunch or dinner. It's just that "hidden". While the meat and fish dishes aren't particularly standout, the pasta and pizza courses are more than decent, generous in portion and priced reasonably fair. In light of the fact that Pontini is more fine-dining than smart casual, the price range is more than affordable. I also like the service here, unintrusive but observant, polite and efficient. We had a Pontini Pizza ($18) with parma ham, mushroom, artichokes, to share. This was huge! and ridiculously cheap for its size and quality. I'm not a fan of artichokes, so I got them to put the artichokes only on one side of the piz...

Many would naturally associate Royal Selangor with their fabulous pewter wares, so it's truly surprising to discover that they've recently set up a wine cellar cum restaurant, Vintry at Royal Selangor , adjacent to their school of hard knocks showroom at Clarke Quay. CC and I brought our intern there to take advantage of the Clarke Quay $15 set lunch promotion that's been going on forever. I suppose it's because Clarke Quay on a weekday afternoon is like a ghost town, compared to its bustling atmosphere on weekend nights. Without this ridiculously cheap set lunch, the restaurants would probably have a much higher turnover due to a lack of a weekday lunch business. As a further enticement, parking is free during the weekday lunch hours of 12 noon to 3 pm, excluding public hols of course. The menu's decidedly fusion, simple straightforward western cuisine with an Asian twist. The food is generally pedestrian but generous in portion size, especially in view of the ...

We met up with my youngest brother and his girlfriend over the weekend for our monthly meet-up at Paragon. Although we don't live under the same roof, we try to keep in touch by making it a point to meet up at least once a month. It's all about effort. Since my mom passed on early, I've stepped in as a surrogate mother of sorts to my younger brothers. And while our relationship has evolved from being that of a surrogate mother to that of a buddy-like older sister, I do want to remain a relevant ( and important ) part of my brothers' lives. So, we make the effort to meet up regularly and share in our lives. Of course, it helps loads that the Hubs gets along fabulously with my brothers so meeting up with them is always a hoot and a half. Paragon over the weekend, as with any other mall in Singapore, is unbelieveably crowded, (our little island really is suffering from the effects of overcrowding stemming from a poorly thought-out immigration policy). Despit...

Hide Yamamoto , a fine-dining Japanese restaurant at Marina Bay Sands, has garnered quite a bit of attention since it opened to much fanfare in the fall of 2010. Since it passed my "must-last-more-than-1-year" test for new restaurants, it's been on my to-try list for a while. It was truly surprising to find it very sparse when we popped in for lunch over the weekend. We were the only ones present at the sushi counter! Ah well, good for us then, I much prefer a quiet, peaceful restaurant devoid of diners than a chatter-filled full-house one. Although the restaurant's namesake is French and Italian-trained, and although none of Hide Yamamoto's other 4 restaurants in Japan serve Japanese food, he's surprisingly chosen to open his first Japanese restaurant here in Singapore. You may, like me, hold the mistaken pre-conceived notion, that despite his pedigree, the Japanese cuisine at his eponymous restaurant wouldn't be that great, but boy were we bowled over ...

I'd been craving mac & cheese all week. We'd actually tried going to Seah Street Deli (coz they have one of the heartiest mac and cheeses in town) on Monday but it was closed, so it was only at the end of the work week that we managed to satiate my craving. You know, that's one thing I don't quite understand about Raffles Hotel. Seah Street Deli, like most of the in-house restaurants at Raffles Hotel, is closed on Mondays and Tuesdays. Save for the Steakhouse, Courtyard, Royal China and Tiffin Room, the remaining 10 other restaurants all take turns being closed for lunch and/or dinner on Sundays, Mondays and/or Tuesdays! I'd assume that, being a hotel of such caliber and history, most of their in-house restaurants would be open all week, instead of the other way around. It's like how Pontini at Grand Copthorne Waterfront is closed on Sundays, and Saturday afternoons. Seriously, what's that about? Also, Raffles Hotel restaurants now apparently ...