"The grilled seafood comes with lobster, sea bass, squid and prawns." No, it doesn't come with lobster. That's not lobster, that's a large prawn... I would think a fancy restaurant should be able to tell a slipper lobster from a real lobster 😓

Hiked out here for the coffee. My sleep schedule is upside down so having coffee at night is my new normal. The place is located in an oddly-designed building whose architect's guiding principle seems to be ensuring you can't get to where you want to go. Enter at your own risk. Fortunately, November 8 can be accessed directly from the street, provided you are lucky enough to stumble upon that entrance. Good thing I have plenty of practice locating things using GPS, thanks to geocaching. The barista was super nice and tried to brew us a small cup of Panama Esmeralda Geisha from some leftover beans, which only stoked my desire to have a full cup soon. The coffee was pretty good, sticking to my own rule of thumb -- V60 for citrusy varieties and affogato for dark chocolaty varieties -- yum yum. The waffle was very enjoyable, crisp and light and perfectly complemented by the creamy ice cream. Gone in minutes 😋

Meh. Over-hyped. Enjoyed the waffle at November 8 much more.

At approximately 10:30pm on a Saturday, there were 19 people ahead of me in the 1-2 person queue. My fellow makan fiends consider Swee Choon a utilitarian joint -- open late for those with insanely high metabolic rates and need full meal at midnight (otherwise known as my dear housemates). Thanks to Burpple though, I managed to craft an order that hit the spot for my late dinner. The fried mee sua cake is well-executed: crispy outside and familiar inside. The chicken in spicy bean paste sauce was sweeter than I've had it at other places but the chicken pieces were surprisingly firm and succulent. Prawn paste wrapped in bean curd and swimming in oyster sauce was average, but consider that it's almost impossible to go wrong with that combo. The wantons in oriental sauce were horrible though -- the skin was soggy and the meat tasted "dead". I complained to the friend on whose suggestion I was there that night, to which he very apologetically and empathetically agreed that under no circumstances are wantons to be ordered there. Too late 😤

"One of the perks of eating alone at an odd hour is that I can dispense with table manners." That is, until I looked up and noticed the line of drivers stopped at the light staring at the whole chicken thigh in my mouth. Oops, sorry... Back to the food. The chicken thigh was juicy but taste definitely enhanced by the accompanying sauce. Without the sauce, I would say the salt baked chicken (and the complimentary chicken broth) in the basement food court of Parkway Parade is tastier. Ever since I first saw the words "salt baked chicken", it's been a disappointing journey as chicken ends up too dry and not salty enough. Disclaimer: I eat salt. Yes, on its own as a snack. Sea salt, rock salt, flavored salt -- heck, even table salt. So take this review with a pinch of salt 😂 I am not sorry for the lame pun.

Squid ink pudding was rich, creamy and smooth, and the sea urchin added a little fresh taste of the sea

Ngo hiong flavors overpowered any taste of foie gras -- did not turn out to be the marriage of tastes and textures I was hoping for