Where to go for cheap and good pasta

A friend of ours, Regina, recommended to us this place at Liang Court called Saizeriya. We wanted to blog about this earlier, but we couldn't find the photos till now.

First of all, where's Liang Court? It's not a place that we've visited before, so we had to find a way to get there. Fortunately, Mr Budget has a direct bus to the place, which is along River Valley Road, at Clarke Quay, just beside the Singapore River.

Our first impression of the building was a reminder of a shopping mall we visited during our holiday in Bangkok earlier this year. That shopping mall was called... The Mall. Liang Court reminded us of it, because its architecture is really old-school.

Even the building interior is old-school. We remember there is an exit to a carpark inside the building, and the walls are covered with the little brown square tiles from the 1980s. It's a nostalgic building, and our parents speak fondly of it... they probably used to go there for their dates!

Today Liang Court looks like any other shopping mall, except emptier. We're told that this place gets really crowded on weekends, especially with families. Lots of parents bring their kids here. Maybe for that nostalgic feeling. The impression we got on walking around the first level was, "Here got cheap food meh???" But yes, there is, as we are about to share with you.

Regardless of whether you're coming to Saizeriya on a weekday or a weekend, be prepared to queue. The queue is not normally that long, at least not on a weekday night, but of course the larger the group, the longer the wait.

Once inside, don't expect to have a romantic date. Save it for later, because Saizeriya is a really noisy place. Most of the time, you have to shout to make yourself heard, which is something Mr Budget really dislikes. But don't worry, the food more than makes up for that.

Saizeriya is a Japanese-Italian budget restaurant. This means that you're going to get some strange combinations. But the prices at this place are quite unlike other restaurants. Pizzas here cost somewhere between $7-9. We haven't tried these yet, so we shall not comment on it. Friends who like six escargot find the $5.58 price a steal.

Steaks (actually patties) come at $8. They come with a fried egg, a few potato wedges, and some veggies. But where else can you get a scrumptious rib-steak for $13.38? Yes, the prices are weird.

The Hamburg steak and pork, priced at $7.98 is mucho yummy too! We shared this and we shared a pasta. We don't have a photo of the Hamburg steak and pork, but we have one of the Hamburg steak:

Hamburg steak


Ms Budget ordered a seafood chowder soup ($2.98), which wasn't very nice, but the grilled spicy sausages, five of them, which came with four potato wedges (haha!) were pretty good. If you're feeling thirsty, there's a free-flow drink bar at $2.58, but we thought that was not worth it - how much were we going to drink anyway? So we had plain water which was free.

Our main course was pasta, which is usually about $10-13 at other restaurants. Saizeriya gives you pasta at about $5-7, which is about food court price. The difference is, the pasta here is absolutely yummy!

We had the spaghetii 'tarako' sauce with pollack roe, which was $5.68, and oh so yummy! Another time, Mr Budget had the spaghetti carbonara, which he frequently uses as a taste test to measure the standard of pasta at a restaurant. This dish, which cost him $7.18, passed with flying colours.

Spaghetti carbonara

Like all restaurants, there's GST and service charge, and a really great dinner for us amounted to... $19.60. The portions were just nice. Though they look small at first glance, the meals here are pretty filling, and you don't find yourself overstuffed.

As mentioned above, Liang Court is located at Clarke Quay, so a romantic walk alongside the Singapore River is in store for you when you leave the place. You'd probably have to walk it if you're heading for the NEL anyway.

Saizeriya is located at:
Liang Court, #02-22

Because it's crowded, what you can do is to call 6337 9001 for reservation. It's open from 11.00am-10.00pm daily.

Next week, we tell you how to have a meal for two at Cafe Cartel for $10.

An afternoon in Chinatown + Tiong Bahru Hainanese Boneless Chicken Rice

Recently, we have been challenged by our church community magazine to plan a date for $10 or less. Not to show off, but Ms Budget said that was too easy because we go for such dates rather frequently; we enjoy them!

Case in point: Last week we went for two such dates (and apologies for not updating this blog last week!)

On Sunday, we went to Chinatown. Now Chinatown is a fascinating place, if you haven't been there before or in a long time. Sure, Chinese New Year is a great time to visit Chinatown to soak up the atmosphere, but the place is knee-deep in culture and other oddities on any other day of the year too!

Chinatown itself is well-known for finding great bargains and cheap food. But here at our Budget Couple blog, we look for more than great savings; we also look for good deals, especially when it comes to food. A friend said that the cheapest food anywhere in Singapore is still hawker centre, but not every hawker centre with cheap food serves good food.

Over in Chinatown, we went to a place recommended by Ms Budget's colleague, and we're going to share it with you now.

Along Smith Street, off New Bridge Road, directly opposite Chinatown Complex, you will find a row of shop houses. At one of these shop houses there is a branch of the famous Tiong Bahru Hainanese Boneless Chicken Rice.

The address is: 56 Smith Street.

What's so good about this? For one thing, it's only $2 per plate. Of course the shop also sells other dishes, such as oyster sauce vegetables, chicken feet, etc, but all these come at $3 or more. You want a good deal? Stick to the standard plate of chicken rice.

What's more, ordering the $2 plate of chicken rice gives you a medium-sized bowl of soup that comes free, together with a Mentos breath mint. This is to counter the smell of garlic which will inevitably emanate from you after chowing down your chicken rice with dark soya sauce and mashed garlic.

But! We don't recommend their drinks. Save it for a $3 coconut that you can both share. Unfortunately, we forgot the address of the place...

We won't tell you where else in Chinatown to go, because everywhere is great fun just walking around and seeing everything that is there. Instead, we'll show you just some of what we came across:

Here, two uncles are selling photocopies (and some originals) of personalities and photographs of Singapore in the 1950s.

Two old ladies chatting as they display their metal jewellery for sale.

A man examines a piece of jewellery... perhaps to buy for his wife?


An older uncle trying to sell a middle-aged uncle some trinkets.

Speaking of trinkets, there are tons of stuff there. What caught Mr Budget's attention were some old coins and dollar notes. There were the old S$1 coins - the silverish ones, not the gold ones we have now, and dollar notes having the same serial numbers or special numbers that people might want to buy. But why would we pay $3 for a coin marked $1, and that is no longer in use?

Hence, look around, but you don't have to buy anything. You will want to, though. What you will definitely need is a cap or sunshade, and carry around a bottle of water, because the heat these days is a real scorcher.

At the end of the afternoon, after much walking around, we recommend hopping onto the North East Line, and taking the train a couple of stops to Dhoby Ghaut for... you guessed it! A foot massage at TT Quick Massage!

Next week: Another $10 date, this time in a relatively secluded place!

Fried Chicken Buffet @ Dallas Chicken & Ribs

One weekday when the both of us had some free time, we took the opportunity to try out something we had heard of some time ago. Over in Chinatown, there is a place called Dallas Chicken & Ribs which has a fried chicken buffet for $10 from 3.00pm-6.00pm, presumably because it's slow at this time of day.

As we stepped inside the nearly empty restaurant, we were greeted pleasantly by one of the staff. Looking around, we noticed a framed kalimah in the corner, revealing Dallas' to be owned by a Muslim. The 'kalimah' literally means 'the phrase' and is central to the belief of Muslims. 'The phrase' is: There is no god but Allah, Muhammad is Allah's Messenger. So do expect Halal food when you come here.

The menu looks like a fast-food restaurant, only much cheaper. But what we came for was the fried chicken buffet which serves chicken thigh, breast, wing, nuggets, and fries. The fries are the thick kind, not the skinny ones you find in McDonald's. Each customer also gets one free drink (use sparingly) and one rolo or burger which can contain chicken or fish. We stayed away from this because bread takes up space. Incidentally, the chicken rolo is nothing but pieces of chicken wrapped in a roti prata.

Buffet customers need to take note that you may not get what you order, because the buffet is subject to availability. Hence, we didn't get the chicken wings we ordered, but we could order anything else. We settled for 5 chicken breasts, 1 thighs, 3 drumsticks, 6 nuggets, and 2 packets of fries. Granted the fries are potato and hence not really worth the space, they're pretty yummy and we figured we needed a break from all that chicken.

If the oil is too much for you (it's deep-fried chicken after all), try going for the chicken breast as it doesn't absorb so much oil. All in all, this meal will be healthier than a KFC meal as the chicken served doesn't contain so much fat, and the portions served aren't dripping with oil. But it's only going to be as healthy as any deep-fried chicken meal.

Order as much as you want. If you have time, just sit there until 6.00pm when you can make your last order. Personally we find that we do get gelak after a while. Gelak is a Malay word meaning... er... there's no English equivalent. Nevermind, just get over to Dallas Chicken & Ribs, order a buffet, and eat fried chicken until you can't stand the thought of eating any more fried food. That's gelak.

Dallas Chicken & Ribs is located at 12 Upper Cross Street. It's at the row of shophouses diagonally across the junction from China Square Central, and directly opposite Hong Lim Complex. It's open from 11.00am to 8.00pm but the buffet is available only on weekdays from 3.00pm-6.00pm.

The best day to go on is Friday because, as my Catholic friends always like to say, "Meat tastes best on a Friday."

Closing time deals at Jasons Market Place

Last week, we were in the City Hall area at about 9pm looking for a late dinner. We decided to pop by Chippy only to find that they were closing for the night, so we wandered into Jasons Market Place in the basement of Raffles City. Jasons is a gourmet supermarket, so we weren't really looking for anything budget... which is what makes this experience such a delightful one.

As we passed the salesman in the section that was selling roasted meat, he called out to us, "50% off!" So we thought, "Why not?" We live for good deals.

We pointed to a honey-glazed chicken steak (usually $4.00) and a bratwurst sausage (usually $1.80). Instead of getting a piece each, the salesman stuff two chicken steaks into a paper bag and charged us $2.00. He did the same for the sausages, charging us 90 cents for two.

That's how a good deal turned into a great deal! $2.90 for two chicken steaks and two bratwurst sausages! Yum!

Most supermarkets that sell cooked food tend to try to sell off their stock near closing time. It's a great time to go for The Supermarket Date. Some bakeries such as Delifrance also practise this, offering deals such as 20% off, or 3 buns for $2.00. It's a great time to pick up something to eat... which also makes you think: what do other bakeries do with their food that they cannot sell off in a day? Do they sell it to you the next day?

The Chippy Date

Located in the basement of Raffles City is a British-style fish and chips take-away stall called Chippy. You can find it directly opposite Donut Factory which was once famous for its one-hour long queues. It looks like this:

The Chippy Date is one of the first dates we went on when we started dating. We'd buy a pack of B.B.F. - beer batter fish and chips and, drinks in hand, take a walk to nearby SMU. If it is in the evening, there's a spot next to the pool of water that makes for a pleasant date.

We'd sit there munching away on our yummy fish and chips, or if the mood suits us, a fried sausage and mashed potato, with dessert being a deep fried Mars bar. Gotta give it a try! We actually went on The Chippy Date so often that we got sick of the food after a while and skipped it for several months.

Though it's located next to a busy road, it's relatively peaceful, and there's no need to shout to make yourself heard, unlike other cost-friendly places in the city.

Good for a first date, or anytime you want to talk. We'd sit there until the sky got dark or until we want to go home.

This certainly ranks quite high in our list of budget dates.

Chippy is located at Raffles City, #B1-58. There is another Chippy's outlet at the basement of Far East Plaza, but that doesn't count as The Chippy Date because it doesn't include the walk to SMU.

Menu items ranged from $4-5 each with drinks at $1.50. Normally we'd pop into the nearby Guardian pharmacy to pick up a cheaper drink before we head out. It used to be cheaper. Three years ago, the prices were $3-4. Oh well, cost of living keeps rising in the world's 5th wealthiest country. That's why we have this blog.

Here are the main items on the menu:

1. The Original Cheese Sausage with Mash Potato - $4.00

2. Crispy Calamari (15 Rings) - $4.80

3. Cheesy Curry Chicken (150 grams) with Cheese Sauce - $4.20

4. Beer Batter Style Fish (10 pieces) with Battered Fries - $4.80
(must try! with salt and vinegar)

5. Fried Mars Bar (4 pieces) with Ice Cream - $3.50