Wertheim Village, Frankfurt…you’ll find offers to make you salivate

There are many deals to be had for the serious bargain hunter who is willing to venture an hour outside the city limits and commit themselves to a designer clothing fiesta at discount store prices. Wertheim Village is an adventure for anyone who has champagne taste on a beer budget, or can’t bear to buy anything at full price.

This sprawling Franconian style outdoor shopping center boasts over 110 brands and popular stores such as WMF, Zwilling J.A. Henckels, The Body Shop, Lindt, Calvin Klein and Geox. Bargains on upscale merchandise as bags by Kate Spade and Coach to fashion by Hugo Boss to Polo Ralph Lauren. The downside is that searching for bargains works up an appetite, however, there are not that many places to eat here.  Like all other shopping malls in Frankfurt, the outlet is closed on Sundays. With regards to getting there, if you choose the “express option” you will be taken in a luxury coach in central Frankfurt to Wertheim Village and simply meet back up with your host at the prearranged time to return to Frankfurt.

Take a trip to Wertheim Village and you’ll find offers to make you salivate. This is the true truth as I say it as it is…

 

Zenzero, Kuala Lumpur…had high hopes for this place, however, food was uneven

Had high hopes for this place, however, food was uneven….just okay, and brings the pleasure of eating down.

It doesn’t matter if your date is your spouse of 25 years and co-parent of your five kids, the beloved you’re wanting to propose to, or just somebody you just met at a bar, the small and cosy Zenzero is the sort of restaurant that is a lovely date restaurant and a place to sit and watch the chef assemble his pasta. No matter how beautiful the room, there is something indescribably melancholy about an empty restaurant – and on this Tuesday dinnertime, Zenzero was so devoid of other diners, all I can do is not to weep into my capacious linen napkin.

Disappointing. Just distinctly average, not overly impressed. Service was good, so there was a silver lining. This is the true truth as I say it as it is…

Bornga, Singapore…restaurant was not on top form

Like all others korean barbecue restaurant, Bornga has similar ambience when you enter the restaurant. You can smell all meats burnt in charcoal grills. If only eating there wasn’t so knackering. Gosh but there’s a lot of admin with Korean food. Everything has to be dredged or dipped and rolled and dipped again. Fiddle here. Turn there. Flip this

The Dawaeji gohchuujang bbq (spicy pork fire-grilled) was hard and dry.  We also had the Woo samgyup (thinly sliced beef brisket dressed with born-ga’s special sauce). Marbled with connective tissue and fat, it’s damn difficult to cook brisket so that it’s tender yet moist and flavoursome. I swear blind by the superior Yangnyum dwaeji galbi (chewy pork ribs marinated with special house sauce to create an enhanced taste). Once you order other dishes — especially barbecue — you risk being inundated with so many plates you won’t be able to pay the haemul pajeon (pancake made from scallions n a variety of seafood) the attention it deserves

The busy restaurant took its toll on the staff, who weren’t as efficient as some other such restaurant we’ve been. Bornga wasn’t on top form, but it certainly still draws a crowd. This is the true truth as I say it as it is…

 

Hiong Hiong Char Kway Teow @ Batu Lanchang Food Complex, Penang…shadow char kway teow

Whip me with a wet noodle, if you must. I suppose I deserve some kind of penance for the following confessions: It looks OK, and tastes OK, but it’s shadow char kway teow.  It really isn’t the same char kway teow from Lorong Selamat or MacAlister Roundabout.  It’s a shadow of that char kway teow. In a word, it was LOUSY.

The good stir-fried flat rice noodles, popularly called char kway teow, usually has a robust flavour, smoky aroma and is low in oil. The cockles and prawns are well-fried but not rubbery, and the thick noodles pack bounce and spring. The one at Hiong Hiong is none of the above. Not good. There is an extreme lack of flavour.

I’m pretty sure I won’t ever be going back.  There are plenty of better locations for solid mediocre and above average char kway teow in Penang. This is the true truth as I say it as it is…

Avengers S.T.A.T.I.O.N., New York City….doesn’t deliver enough bang for the buck

At this Avengers S.T.A.T.I.O.N. (Scientific Training and Tactical Intelligence Operative Network), we went through an “Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.” recruitment simulation and given an ID card and then led to a debriefing room.  We were then taken right into SHIELD and the Avengers HQ with supposedly what is meant to be interactive displays devoted to Captain America, The Hulk, Iron Man and Thor, with all kinds of computer screens and places where you can test your grip against Captain America, see Iron Man’s armour.

The Captain America room was first, in which you could take a number of physical tests showing the difference between what Captain America could do and what you could do. In The Hulk room. witness the neurological effects of Bruce Banner’s transformation into the Hulk. The Thor room boasts a hologram representation of his hammer and is filled with Asgardian memorabilia like Loki’s helmet and scepter and the obligatory Chitauri costume. The Iron Man display, is the most polished of the lot, but even this feels somewhat barebones because of how few artifacts they have for a rather oversized room. The animatronic hand (which was broken down when I was there) and the motion detector showing technology similar to video-game technology we already have,  wasn’t as fulfilling as it could have been.

At $30 a pop, this exhibit doesn’t deliver enough bang for the buck. Avengers S.T.A.T.I.O.N. may be a co-production of Marvel and NASA, but it is not as revolutionary as one might expect. IT certainly won’t convert anyone who finds superhero movies immature. This is the true truth as I say it as it is…