Nefertiti Restaurant & Cafe

No we're not here to give you a history lesson about Ancient Egypt (although it's pretty interesting) but we are here to fill you in (and fill you up) about the great food that can be found at Nefertiti Restaurant. And in case you were wondering, Nefertiti was an Egyptian Queen :)

So this restaurant is in the heart of one of our favourite makan areas - Arab Street.
In fact, it's been there for quite awhile and has been serving up some pretty awesome food!

They specialize in Egyptian and Mediterranean food so let's run through what we had.

Nefertiti Mixed Mezza Platter ($19.50)

The problem with us is that we love to eat and that means as many types of food as we can. So we normally end up trying any sort of platter there might be and if anything is extra special, we'd probably order up and extra serving of it LOL

The Nefertiti Mixed Mezza Platter is a great place to start here. Gives us a good chance to sample some of the flavours offered up at Nefertiti and gets our tastebuds in tune for the main course to come. So let's run down what we have in this platter shall we? Let's go clockwise!

Vine Leaves

These are actual Vine Leaves and they are stuffed with some rice which has been seasoned.
Most people will tell you that the leaves are a little bitter but it's not that bad. In fact, if you take a bite, you'll get more of a tart and sourish taste which is excellent to get your tastebuds going!

Mirza Gasemi

Mirza Gasemi is actually eggplant with some tomatoes, garlic and some other spices to make up this delicious concoction. When we have eggplant it's normally Baba Ganoush so this was a welcome surprise!

Hummus

Here's something pretty standard and in fact one of our faves ever. We could go through a whole tub of Hummus no jokes I tell you.

Chickpea puree with Tahini (Sesame Seed Puree), Garlic, Lemon juice and Olive Oil is a sure winner in our books! If you want a bigger serving, try the Hummus Bil Laham ($12.00) which also comes with lamb!!

Hummus Bngar

This is actually Hummus (Chickpea and Sesame Seed puree) with some beetroot added in.
That's what gives it a bright pinkish/purplish hue. This also gives it a little bit more of a sharp edge but still delicious nonetheless. Scoop it all up with the pita bread that comes along!

By the way, in that picture (and a few others too!) is another item on the platter- Falafel!
Those little cutlets are made up of chickpea, onions, garlic and some other goodies before being deep fried!

Moutabel

This is also an eggplant based dish. Kinda like the Mirza Gasemi but without so many spices we guess. This one has Tahini and lemon juice added in instead for a milder flavour.

Labneh

Fattoush

Labneh is actually strained yoghurt with a hint of mint and garlic. I didn't really get the mint nor the garlic but yoghurt is always welcome on my plate. Yoghurt and Arab/Middle Eastern food always goes together am I right?

The Fattoush is salad more than anything else. Lettuce, tomatoes, cucumber with some tasty dressing plus some toasty pita bits makes for a great salad!

Are you with us so far? That was just the appetizer platter mind you. Let's start with the mains!

Mix Grill Platter ($33.00)

If you're a meat eater like us, then this is the one for you!
We're talking about a whole lot of meat to chomp down on and definitely fill you up!!

You get a nice serving of this super fragrant rice which goes so well with the meat platter. Top it off with some light onion and lettuce salad and it's a winner!

And a special mention for the condiments! That's no ordinary sambal and mayonaise!
Try it and you will see why we say it's really special!

So besides the rice, you are definitely gonna enjoy the meat on offer too.
You've got Kofat Lamb, Kofta Chicken, Shish Taouk (Chicken) and Shish Kebab (Beef) and boy oh boy were the all good!

The Koftas were superb I tell you. Even if I were not a meat-lover, I'd still tell you to try this because it's that good! Tasty and seasoned really well. And the meat was still so moist and not at all dry like some place where I've had Kofta before.

There's also a piece of lamb chop for you to dig into. Cooked to perfection. Just cut into it when you order and you'll see what we mean. If you love Lamb Chops then you should get the Lamb Chops dish (coming up in awhile)

But to me personally the winner on this platter were the kebabs and specifically the Shish Kebab which is the beef kebab. The first bite I took of the Shish Kebab and I literally went "Wow". We all know how tough and dry beef can get if it's not cooked properly and it's so easy to overcook especially when you grill it.

Executive Chef Amr Elgohary comes all the way from Egypt with over a decade of experience so it's little wonder that the food is so good!

Lamb Chops ($22.00)

As we have mentioned, the Lamb Chops are superb!
If one small chop on the platter is not enough then you should go for the full monty and satisfy your meat cravings. Plenty of lamb here!

You can also choose from BBQ, Black Pepper or Brown Sauce but as you can see from the picture, we went without any of that and the Lamb Chops were still excellent. Truly the mark of a good dish!
I guess this is a combination of a good chef plus quality ingredients!

But one thing that surprised us is that the menu had more than just your typical Egyptian / Middle Eastern fare. You can find other cuisines with dishes like Fish and Chips, Fajitas and even Pizzas and Pastas on the menu!

Executive Chef Amr Elgohary explained that they wanted to give diners the option to have some alternatives just in case but they still make the dishes really well! But if you wanna stick to the theme, then you also have other dishes like Wraps, Kebabs, Mandi Rice, Assorted Grilled Meats and even desserts like Baklava.

Turkish Coffee ($5.50)

Or you could just wash down your meal with a Turkish Coffee.
This is Espresso-style by the way so expect it to be really strong!!

Adam's Verdict:
Nefertiti Mixed Mezza Platter 4/5 -- Mix Grill Platter 4.5/5

Maryah's Verdict:
Nefertiti Mixed Mezza Platter 3.5/5 -- Mix Grill Platter 3.5/5 -- Lamb Chops 3.5/5

Azlan's Verdict:
Nefertiti Mixed Mezza Platter 4/5 -- Mix Grill Platter 4/5

In the end, I know you might say that there are plenty of makan places in the Arab Street area that serve the same type of food and yeah that's true but I think it's the small details that make the difference.

If you have not yet tried Nefertiti Restaurant, then have a go and you'll see what we mean.

Nefertiti Restaurant & Cafe

No 47 Arab Street

www.nefertiti.com.sg
www.facebook.com/nefertiti.restaurant
Tel: 6294 1135

Operating Hours:
12.00pm til 11.30pm Monday til Thursday
12.00pm til 2.00am Fridays and Saturdays
12.00pm til 11.30pm  Sundays

Toasties

As promised, here we are with our first review of Toasties!
We received 3 tip-offs within 12 hours and I actually went down that very evening but it was sooooo packo plus they had apparently run out of bread so I figured we'd come back another time.

The one thing we heard was that Toasties was the new 'Halal Subway'. To be honest we were not really expecting much because we had heard this claim a few times before with other makan places so we figured we'd better check it out before we get too excited.

So tell us if any of this sounds familiar to you okay :)

So when you get in the queue at Toasties, you have to first of all choose your order.
You can actually choose between bread, Cheese Oven Baked Rice, Salad, Wrap or even Pizza!
This was definitely looking promising!

Next step is to choose your bread.
They have Crunchy, Honey Oats, Oregano Parmesan and Premium. In case you were wondering, YES THEY MAKE THEIR OWN BREAD! 

And of course you have to choose if you want a 6-inch or a Footlong.

And then of course, you have to choose your filling.

They divide their menu into different categories for easy selection and pricing.

Choose from the Premium (Italian Trio, Chicken Bacon or Beef Pastrami), the Classic (Egg Mayo, Tuna Mayo, Turkey Ham or Garden Delight) or Special (Smoked Chicken Breast, Grilled Chicken, Grilled Beef or Beef Ham).

And of course you can choose what veggies you would like to have as well.

And lo and behold they toast up your sandwich for you and after you choose your veggies, choose from a variety of sauces to zest up your sandwich!

I'd say that so far things look promising but how was the food?

Italian Trio aka 'The Manwich' ($6.90)

So the Italian Trio is made up of Beef Salami, Beef Pepperoni and Beef Bacon (or least that's what I gather from my expert analysis lol).

Somehow (as you can see from the picture above) we were left feeling a little bit underwhelmed.
When something is dubbed 'The Manwich', I have the impression that it's such a massive or at least a massively packed sandwich that it's really gonna be a mouthful. But in this case, it seems like it's really really lacking in meat leh...

And just to let you know I'm not complaining as a guy who is a big eater... This was actually ordered by my Darling Wife and even she was left feeling like she could do with a bit more before she gets full...

Anyways, just for the record, she chose the Crunchy bread which has a nice crisp on the outside once it was toasted. The meat was not bad other than the fact that there was too little of it. Beef Bacon was a bit tough but I guess that's pretty normal.

Sauces she chose were the Honey Mustard and the Mayo. Oh, and they'd run out of onions.

Grilled Beef ($6.40)

I had actually decided to go for the Beef Pastrami but they told me they'd run out. Pfffttt...
So I decided to go with the Grilled Beef because we all know I'm 'The Meat Guy' right?

Well, it turns out that the 'Grilled Beef' was actually a burger patty. I'm not sure if it was a Ramly Burger patty or not but I have to say it was seasoned really well. Just the meat on its own was pretty tasty. I went with just the Honey Mustard which gave a nice tang.

I went with the Oregano Parmesan bread which I normally quite like but this was a little strong on the Oregano seasoning. I didn't get a chance to ask them if they baked their own bread because the queue was super long by the time we were done with out food but I think overall the bread we had was actually quite nice.

And I'm not sure if it was because I removed the juicy veggies like tomatoes but I found my sandwich to be a bit dry. A little hard to swallow after awhile without a gulp of drink even though there was sauce in the sandwich.

You actually have the option of making your meal a set with either Nachos or Cheesy Sausages plus a drink for an additional $2.90. They also have soups like Clam Chowder or Mushroom oup for $2.90 as well. That means you should prepare to fork out at least $10 or more when you go for the works.

Anyways, if you wanna add more meat or double meat or more cheese, there's always that option but of course please be prepared to top-up accordingly.

Adam's Verdict:
Grilled Beef 3.5/5 -- Italian Trio 2/5

Maryah's Verdict:
Italian Trio 3/5

Well, if the aim was to give the people a 'Halal Subway' then I think this is definitely the closest you'll get to it so far here in Singapore. Prices are bit on the high side but what can I say. And I guess maybe because they just opened so they have a few teething issues here and there (e.g. running out of bread, ingredients etc) but I'm sure they'll pick up in time.

Definitely plan on heading down again and hopefully this time we can get what we intended.
But it's really great that they make their own bread! Nice and fresh!

And if the good people at Toasties are reading this somehow, a little feedback if you don't mind.
Get a Facebook page or Instagram or something cos you guys could be huge. In the meantime, hope this review helps spread the word for you.

Salam Readers,

When The Halal Food Blog first visited Toasties, we spoke directly to the management and was informed that they had submitted their application for Halal certification and was pending approval.

Toasties Management has now clarified their stance and the situation still remains that Toasties is still pending approval for Halal certification. We do not know what name the application will be submitted under.

The Halal Food Blog Team acted based on information provided by the Toasties management which was deemed accurate at the time of posting. We apologize for any confusion this has caused and look forward to updating when the certificate from MUIS has been issued to Toasties.

Thank you.

Adam Shah
The Halal Food Blog

***UPDATE***
TOASTIES HAS BEEN CERTIFIED HALAL BY MUIS AS OF NOVEMBER 2014

Toasties

Blk 201D Tampines Street 21 #01-1171


Operating Hours:
8am til Midnight Daily

Fara's Restaurant - Malacca Lok Lok Steamboat Buffet

Oh you guys won't believe how long we have waited to make our way down to try this.
And finally, the time has come! Here's the Malacca Lok Lok Steamboat Buffet at FRC!

So some of you are probably going "Errr... what's Lok Lok?"
Well, it's basically kinda like a steamboat/hot pot where you get to dunk and cook food in soup/gravy and boy oh boy it can get really fun and filling!

It's really popular in Malaysia (especially Malacca like duh). But you'd be surprised how difficult it is to find a Halal one even across the Causeway! When my Darling Wife and I visited Malacca awhile back, we found out we would have to travel about half an hour by cab just to reach the nearest Halal Lok Lok joint there. Hmmm.....

Well, we don't have to go so far now because we can get it without having to chop passport or pay expensive toll charges LOL

So the Lok Lok Steamboat Buffet is available only on weekends at Fara's Restaurant in Sentosa.
Before you start commenting stuff like "Aiyah all the way to Sentosa??", let us remind you that you probably can't get this anywhere else as close by. Anyways after you see the picture maybe you will see why it's worth it to make your way down.

As you can see, it's a Kampong-style thing going on at Costa Sands (Imbiah Walk) and you'll be eating literally in nature so you really get into the atmosphere. Al Fresco dining!!1

When you get there, the first thing you need to do is choose your soup/gravy favours and you have 4 to choose from... Satay, Laksa, Tom Yum and Chicken.

Satay and Tom Yum

Laksa and Satay

So we tried the ones that we figured we'd like the best.

The Satay is the one traditionally associated with Lok Lok Steamboat so that was a must. We could see why this was the staple at all Lok Lok places. There's just something about dunking food on sticks into Satay gravy that rocks! The gravy was tasty and the right consistency too! I was a bit worried that it would be too thick but not at all! You can even drink it as a soup!

The Laksa was pretty nice too! A great flavour that actually makes you wish you were having actual Laksa LOL but you're having Lok Lok Steamboat okay so don't get carried away.

As usual, we are somehow firm followers of Tom Yum and the Tom Yum soup here was super. Most people will probably choose Tom Yum too and it's little wonder why with a great tasting soup here at FRC. And the more and more you dunk stuff in, the tastier it becomes!!

So what exactly are we dunking?

Prawns

Fish Balls

Hot Dogs and Spicy Fish Cakes

Fish

Assorted Crab Meat

Sotong

Otah

Cocktail Sausages

Beef

Something for the kids!

Don't feel bad about eating the little faces LOL we've seen some variations like Star shapes and the lot but the kids are definitely going to love it! Something fun for them to enjoy!

There's also other stuff we didn't get to photograph because we were too busy stuffing our faces.
Chicken meat and Quail eggs are good examples. I think Quail eggs already we can whack 200.

And don't worry, there's other stuff too not just protein!

Assorted Mushrooms

Assorted Tofu

Assorted Veggies

I know that Veggie Bouquet looks too pretty to eat but you gotta have at least 2 servings of vegetables a day so please don't feel bad and eat your veggies!

They also have some stuff that you don't have to dunk or cook in the soup by the way. These are foods already prepared so just pick it up and eat it.

Mee Goreng

Nasi Goreng

Most of the time when we see Mee Goreng and the sort at a buffet, it's just a filler and not really that good but the Mee Goreng here was excellent! Kept going back for more when I should have been concentrating my efforts on the Lok Lok Steamboat! LOL

They've also got other cooked food (best part - it's fried!) for you to chomp down on. you could eat them as is with some sauce or you could even dunk them for a bit in the Lok Lok Steamboat!

And speaking of sauces....

They have 3 special dipping sauces for you and they keep in the style of the Asian spicy flavours we all know and love so much. But please pardon the picture quality... shaky hands cos too hungry!!

Right on top you have a Chili Kicap kind of concoction which had a bit of tang to it and was definitely on the spicy side! In the middle was a special mix of Sambal Belachan for all you Belachan lovers. Last but not least was a Sambal Tumis.

So how exactly does it go besides choosing which foods you wanna dunk into the Lok Lok Steamboat anyways?

So you remember we chose our stock right at the top right?
Choose between Satay, Laksa, Tom Yum and Chicken stock! And don't forget - You can choose up to 2 because they have a double steamboat thing going on.

Next, you  put your food in, let it simmer up a little bit and you dig in!

Looks good right? Tastes great too!
It's a simple idea and it's fuss free eating! Just choose, dunk and then devour! And it's really fun too! I'm sure you all agree it's always a bit more fun when you're cooking your food at the table and getting to eat it fresh and piping hot!

And if the pictures are not enough to entice you...

 
That's surely got to get your appetite running right!!!

After after a whole evening of stuffing your self with so much yummy food, if you still have space, then tuck in to some of the desserts they have there!

Even the drinks are served old-school style!!

I'm guessing that all the food you see above (both for the Lok Lok Steamboat and assorted food/desserts) are probably on a rotational basis. That means you might have a few different items depending on the weekend you visit but what's important to note is that the food will always be fresh and you'll always have a choice of which of the 4 Lok Lok Steamboat soup bases you'd like to enjoy!

Even if you drop by on a weekday or the weekend afternoons, they have an ala carte menu which you can enjoy in the air-con section of the restaurant! Spoilt for choice!

Prices are:
Adult - $29.90+

Child - $14.90+

Sentosa might be a bit of trip from the mainland but hey it's still better than traveling across the causeway am I right? Go early in the day and make a day trip to Sentosa with the family. And in the evening, make your way to FRC and enjoy some Lok Lok Steamboat to reward yourselves! If you're lucky, can catch the weekend fireworks display too!

And who knows, if we are lucky enough, they might open one on the mainland too!
Let's show our support and enjoy some Lok Lok!

Fara's Restaurant and Catering

30 Imbiah Walk 
Costa Sands Resort
Sentosa

Tel: 6274 9963
www.farasrestaurant.com
www.facebook.com/frcdining

Operating Hours:
8am til 11pm Daily

Lok Lok Steamboat only available on
Saturdays and Sundays 6pm til 10pm