I had a pretty fun day out yesterday with my neighbors and their little toddler. We had lunch and dinner at kid-friendly F&B establishments, namely, Ju Shin Jung at Guillemard Road and Tvoila Cafe in Somerset. It’s quite an experience heading out with friends who bring a little one along with them, especially one that’s approaching the ‘terrible twos’ phase in his development. Uh-oh! You’ll eventually be able to find that indescribable ‘calm zone’ while the kiddo is screaming at the top of his lungs in an MRT train cabin. Sometimes I see parents totally oblivious to their wailing offspring, and wonder if they are slightly deaf, and now I realize I can access that special ‘zone’ too (!) in which I can calmly ponder the odds of locating and downloading an application that can measure the volume of the kid’s screams. Haha!
Anyhow… as you can see in the picture above, we had quite a spread, in terms of side dishes at Ju Shin Jung. The Korean restaurant is a short 8-minute walk from Mountbatten MRT station (exit A). And it has an incredible ball pit:
There are about 3 tables closest to the ball pit and parents can eat their food while watching their children play. I used to LOVE ball pits as a kid and though interest has diminished somewhat, I DID head in with the kiddo yesterday. Hahaha!
As for the food, well, I’m still a bigger fan of Japanese cuisine. I’d ordered the set lunch at Ju Shin Jung and asked for the one with saba fish. It came fried almost to a crisp. Not very much meat left. Thankfully, there were those side dishes. I loved the pumpkin mash, bean sprouts, seaweed and kimchi.
However, the start and end of our meal at this restaurant was rather hilarious. The very first thing that the server brought to our table was this small platter with 4 round objects in it. Also, we were given two tumblers – one containing cold tea, and the other, iced water.
These round white things look like tablets of some sort, no? But my neighbors told me to add some water and see what happens. So I did. And like in science experiments, they shot up to about the length of my thumb… and revealed themselves to be… wet towels. LOL! Don’t eat these, folks! (Though I’m sure some people will) Muahahah!
And at the end of the meal, the waitress brought over bowls of this pinkish liquid, along with some orange slices. I had no issues with the orange, but I viewed these bowls suspiciously. Handwash? Guava juice? What is this?!
Turns out it’s actually vinegar of some sort. Which you can consume as “dessert”, or so the waitress said. Nah. I gave it a miss anyway.
Ju Shin Jung is great for families with kids, lunch with colleagues, and anyone who doesn’t mind affordable set lunches (e.g. S$10.90 / S$12.90) in a place with a decent-sized ball pit for the children to expend their (seemingly unlimited amounts of) energy.
Ju Shin Jung is located at 102 Guillemard Road.
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Our plans to spend a leisurely afternoon at the swimming pool were dashed when the kiddo accidentally tipped his float forwards and got a taste of pool water. There was no convincing him to get back into the pool again. He was one determined toddler. And it was the end of our fun afternoon at the pool. LOL. So we headed to yet another kid-friendly venue: Tvoila Cafe at Orchard Central’s basement.
Orchard Central is really quite deserted on weekdays. We had this entire play area to ourselves. And the cafe only had one other customer – a schoolgirl (wearing her school uniform) enjoying some tea.
My neighbors ordered a waffle – which came with fruit, and not ice cream, and a chocolate topping. We were a little taken aback at the presentation. As you can see, some areas of the waffle appeared less cooked than others…
I drizzled the chocolate sauce on top of the waffle and it looks less sad. LOL.
If you’re ordering the waffle, go ahead and pay for ice cream along with it (I think it’ll cost an additional S$3.50 or so). If not, you might not really enjoy the waffle + fruit combination. The kiwi was super sour, but I have no complaints regarding the avocado.
I ordered the pizza – chose toppings of tuna and capsicum – which came with lots of cheese. THIS is worth ordering.😀
My pizza set cost S$12.80 and comes with a hot / iced tea (served in a free mug).
The drinks at the cafe come in mugs which you can take home. Cold drinks will be served in the transparent PLASTIC mug (which looks like a mason jar made from glass, actually) and hot drinks in the tumbler.
As I’d ordered a hot drink, I later wondered if it was actually safe to have hot water in this (free) plastic tumbler. Also, I asked my pals if they thought the cafe would have washed these mugs before serving our drinks in them, since they are likely brand new from the manufacturer they ordered them from. My pal’s wise reply: Don’t think so much; just drink.
If it’s any consolation, the organic teas served here are brewed using mineral water.
Tvoila Cafe is located at B1-15 to 19 of Orchard Central. Tel: 69666606.
