What's up, hype-hunters!
So vending machines are super popular in places like Japan
where you have vending machines for basically everything like...
dirty panties.
But...
in Singapore, not so much.
We're here at Chef-in-Box Vendcafe,
it's a newly opened cafe that sells
all its food from vending machines!
I don't know if the food's gonna taste good but
you better be worth the hype because I'm freaking starving,
let's go check it out!
So first impressions is that the drinks that they have
are not the same as the drinks you get in normal vending machines.
All this stuff is like...
what is it, is it alcohol?
I guess you have a bit of local and Korean flavour.
Oh that's so cheap!
A Coke is 60 cents,
is it a smaller size?
No, it's big size!
Are they making a profit on this place?
And the best part of this whole thing is...
it is cashless!
Now apparently you can use
Apple Pay, Android Pay and
and all sorts of new whiz-mos
to pay.
It's crazy.
Roz: It's so convenient. Jem: I know.
We're living in the future.
You see, it says...
"Smart Nation".
So we have a lot of options here,
Hainanese chicken rice,
there's fried carrot cake,
black pepper beef with rice.
And what's this drink?
Roz: Cheng tng. Jem: Cheng teng!
Say it again?
Damn!
Don't laugh at me.
So we're at the second food vending machine
and it's slightly different because
you don't get to see the food.
Everything is on this computer screen
and you just take your pick.
The difference between this machine and the last one
is that that one is the 30 seconds machine
it dispenses the food in 30 seconds and then you have to go and microwave your own food,
and this one you have a choice of getting it hot or cold
and if you want it hot you have to wait 3 minutes
if you want it cold it comes out in 5 seconds and then you can take it home and eat.
The last machine over here are snacks!
This actually looks really great.
A lot of stuff that I haven't seen before.
So I think the concept of this place is mainly grab and go because it's not a huge place.
But they do have one standing table for you to
Jem: kind of eat your food if you want to. Roz: This is where we would dine.
You can have cutler.
How cute is this packaging?
You've got condiments
with lots of chilli sauce.
Dessert spoon.
And plastic bags!
So if you want to just get it and go
Yah, it's for you to pack your bags.
I'm really really hungry so let's order some food!
So we're just gonna go with the carrot cake.
Oh, oh it's happening, it's happening!
Wow!
Collect here.
Wow we are...
Just kidding.
So the carrot cake took 30 seconds to come out,
this is what the machine does
and it's cold so we have to heat it up
in the microwave!
Oh so usually you'll help everyone to heat it up and all that?
The staff here help you with
microwaving your food
and then we saw some elderly who, you know,
are trying to figure out how to use technology and stuff and they help them order the food.
Thank you!
Thank you.
Roz: It's nice and hot. Jem: Smells good!
Smells really good!
So I'm super excited about this machine because it looks
so futuristic.
So we are going to go for the Seafood Paella.
Hot.
Confirm and deliver.
Waiting for credit?
Oh!
Oh there's a little countdown!
This is terrible.
This always makes me frustrated, it's like
ah my god
it's only exciting when you reach
5 seconds, 4 seconds
but this is excruciating.
5...
It's like slowing down.
No it's not!
1...
Please be ready!
That was anti-climactic.
That was an additional
3 seconds.
Oh it's really hot.
Oh, thank you!
Next up, we're gonna have claypot chicken rice.
It's relatively easy to use the machine.
We ordered our food without any fuss.
We didn't have any trouble with it
so it's pretty easy to use, no brainer.
We're gonna go for something a little bit Western now.
Alaskan Pollock with Toscana Sauce.
I don't know what that is.
We're gonna start off with the one that we bought first
which is the fried carrot cake.
So it looks like a legit carrot cake
but it's a bit sweet,
I can taste a lot of sugar in it.
I don't think if I go to a vending machine
I would go for carrot cake because
I feel like that's the kind of thing that would be the best
right hot out of the...
frying pan?
Not super keen on this.
It's not super good.
Next up we have the seafood paella and this is what I'm excite about!
I think looks-wise it looks pretty good.
The rice is a tiny bit dry but
it's so flavourful!
I agree.
I didn't think it was dry at all!
Gonna try the fish...
I tried the salmon, it was good.
The fish is...
tender, moist,
it's not hard or dry.
The fish is good.
I think this is a good dish.
I would so order this again.
$5...I think that's a pretty good deal.
A really good choice if you're coming here to order from the vending machine.
This dish is the Alaskan pollock with toscana sauce and mixed vegetables.
The veggie's a little bit soft
but it's okay I prefer it...
soft than...
undercooked.
The sauce is not bad.
A little tangy, salty...
and just the right amount of creaminess.
I like it.
Fish is okay.
Jem: It's not like... Roz: It's not bad,
but I mean...
I don't know, somehow I just had high expectations.
'Cause of the paella right?
Yah. But I keep forgetting that it's only 5 bucks.
At the end of the day it's microwave food,
it's 5 bucks,
it comes out in 109 seconds...
pretty good!
I am still half-half.
For 5 bucks, if you are passing by this area
you could also pass by maybe one of the food courts nearby and
get a freshly cooked fish and vegetables.
For this one, I don't know if I would choose it over
takeaway from a food court.
So this is the claypot chicken rice.
And I have to say it looks the most unappetising out of all 4 dishes.
Looks so dry, so boring.
But you know they say never judge a book by its cover right?
So maybe it'll taste really good, who knows?
Let's try!
Okay, I don't have high hopes for this.
Okay, I'm gonna try the rice first.
I think it's okay!
Oh my gosh!
Roz: That was a surprise. Jem: I know!
Wow!
See, you never judge a book by its cover!
Roz: I'm so shocked! Jem: I'm so pleasantly surprised.
It was, like, light
and fragrant.
Quite flavourful,
rice has absorbed all the flavour.
That's the part that shocks me.
Even though it looked like that,
it does taste like claypot rice.
If you did a blind taste test,
I think you'd be able to tell, "Oh! Claypot rice."
Jem: And we were both pretty impressing I think. Roz: Yah, I was shocked, that's for sure.
Jem: Shall we try the liao (ingredients)? Roz: Yes.
I'm gonna try the very dehydrated-looking mushroom.
Mushroom's very flavourful.
It was actually quite...
moist!
The top looked like it's a little bit dry and hard
because I think that part gets exposed to the heat the most in the microwave,
but the inside is so tender and it's like...
juicy...
right?
Oh my gosh, I think we have found the unsung hero.
and I was gonna say
I think the portion is pretty generous.
No I wouldn't say it's generous,
I think it's a good amount for you to feel satisfied after the meal.
Who would've thought!
So on hindsight,
when I tried the carrot cake,
I was thinking, "Okay vending machine food...
can't have high expectations."
So I was trying to be kind and I went, "Okay it's not that bad"
but after trying all 4 dishes
I have to say...
Roz: the carrot cake... Jem: It was that bad.
was horrible.
But overall I think we're really impressed.
I can really see this going places 'cause right now it's like
everywhere is facing a manpower crunch.
Places like on campuses
or busy workplaces
I could see this really taking off!
It's so useful, and it's like great!
But it feels so cold, like...
no human interaction...
Didn't you watch Wall-E? This is the future.
Didn't you watch Wall-E? Didn't you see he was sad at the end?
Wow...
Oh...
Roz: Yeah she missed the whole point. Jem: Oh...
It's a simple idea...
it's not a lot of selections
but it's just good enough for people to have variety.
Okay, so in sum,
the price is pretty reasonable I would say
like food court price?
The drinks are definitely cheaper
than what you can get at 7-11.
Yah so I think unanimously we think that this place is...
worth the hype!
Alright we've filled our tummies and that's all we have for you today!
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We'll see you next time, bye!