Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Tung Lok Signatures @ Changi City Point

For those living in the east, the Tung Lok Signatures at Changi City Point is one of the better restaurants located in this latest shopping mall in the East.

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The restaurant is located on the 1st floor, right above the concourse.

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Those who have sharp eyes would have noticed that a few Orang Utan are left hanging in the restaurants. We are not sure why, but I think it's rather unique.

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Appetizer is the Crispy Mini Roasted Pork (S$10) - Tung Lok's version is pretty good. Crunchy skin on top of the juicy pork meat.

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Another appetizer we had was the Deep Fried Egg Plant with Pork Floss (S$8).

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We were delighted with the presentation of our Daily Boiled Soup - Pumpkin Soup (S$14 for a pot). The soup was actually being "cooked" directly on a plate. Created quite an entrance.

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Their pumpkin soup was one of the best double boiled soup I have tried at Tung Lok. There is creaminess due to the pumpkin, and sweetness from both the pumpkin as well as the pork.

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Another dish we had was the Duck Meat Foie Gras (S$12.80), which is an "all-duck" dish.

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We like the Bamboo Clams (S$12.80)

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Traditional Style Steam Live Giant Su Mei Fish (S$128). It's quite expensive considering the price of most items here. However, you get what you pay for. And the Su Mei fish is indeed very fresh. And since it is deboned, what you get is 100% fish meat.

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Rice (S$1 per person)

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I really like the Crispy Pork Knuckle (S$28). Skin is crispy, not too much oil, and the meat is tender and juicy. Dunk the crispy skin into this black vinegar sauce for extra taste.

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Sesame Balls with Salted Egg Yolk (S$4.50) with complimentary desserts. The desserts were not too "heavy". Fans of salted egg yolk would enjoy this Cantonese dessert.

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We also ordered 3 different version of their mini chilled desserts: (From left) Chilled Mango Pudding (S$5), Purple Rice with Coconut Ice-Cream (S$6), Chilled Herbal Jelly (S$5)

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And as always, the friendly service staffs brought out their signature test tube fruit juice after desserts.


Tung Lok Signatures
5 Changi Business Park Central 1,
#01-26/27
Changi City Point

Sunday, February 26, 2012

COVA Pasticceria @ Paragon

Sunday heralds the end of the precious weekend, but it also is the day where most people like to sit back and relax over breakfast.

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Not much restaurants and eateries were opened in the early morning at Paragon, but Cova, a world famous pastry cafe from Milan, was one of the few along Orchard Road that was opened in the morning. We were ushered to a quiet spot and ordered a cup of coffee to start the day.

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Had this assortment of breads. They were warmed slightly in the oven, and an assortment of spreads such as their Cova jams were available to go with the toasts.

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Also had a glass of carrot juice to wash down the pastries.

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Their breakfast set which includes sunny side eggs, bacon and veal sausages.

Would recommend coming to Cova for a quiet breakfast if you are in Orchard area.


COVA Pasticceria
290 Orchard Road,
#01-20A
Paragon Shopping Centre

Thursday, February 16, 2012

Antoinette @ Penhas Road

It's our first visit to Antoinette. Took some time to find where their main outlet was - It's actually behind Citylights condo located next to Lavander MRT.

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The decor inside Antoinette is quite a contrast to the surroundings. It's located in a shophouse, and the shops outside are mainly small repair shops. Personally, I find the decor quite pleasing to the eyes. It's bright, unlike other French restaurants which tends to look rather dim.

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A word on the service here: After returning home, I read quite a few comments on HungryGoWhere. And they all had the same complaints: Service. We ourselves encountered bad services here too. Save for this friendly Filipino waitress, the service from the rest were rather terrible. Especially for one local Singaporean guy who literally "threw" our food on our small table when there were no more space left on our table. I hope Antoinette will retrain their service staffs as the food and dessert is of good standards. Pity about the service though.

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This was taken at around 2pm on a Sunday afternoon. As you can see, it's full house. And only the outlet at Penhas Road allows reservation, and it's strongly recommended.

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I like how iced water is served in these glass wares.

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Ordered a salad: Salade Antoinette - Crab Meat, Boiled Egg, Yuzu Dressing, Tomato, Pine Nuts, Toasted Brioche and Mixed Greens (S$14.50). The salad had a citrus and tangy flavour, and the vegetables were fresh and crisp.

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This 24 Hours Baguette with Serrano Ham, Emmental Cheese & French Butter (S$14) was suppose to be their signature, but I didn't think the Baguette, which had been allowed to be ferment for 24 hours, was really that exceptionally good. Rather average.

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On the other hand, this Club Honey Baked Ham (S$15) - Pain de Mie toast, honey baked ham, omelette, mayonnaise, tomato, potato chips, fresh lettuce and petit salad with house dressing, which used your typical white bread, tasted much better. Perhaps due to the fillings.

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As it was tea time, we selected 3 types of tea - Lapsang Souchong Imperial (S$9), The'de Porcelaine Rose (S$9) and Ange de I'himalaya (S$8). We enjoyed the light taste of the tea, as they went well with our food and later on, our desserts.

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Savoury Crepe Concorde (S$18.50) - Roasted Chicken with Bacon and Creamy Morel Mushroom Sauce served on the side. On first look, this looked like a salad dish, but it's actually quite substantial. The mushroom sauce went well with the succulent roast chicken.

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The last mains we had was the Ballotine de Poulet a' la Grandmere (S$26) which means Grandmother's style styffed chicken leg - Roasted Chicken Leg roulade a'la chasseur with pomme puree and seasonal vegetables. We are always wary of ordering chicken as it may turn out to be too dry for our liking, but the poultry dishes here are pretty good, and they were all tender + juicy.

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Finally, it's time for desserts, and this is what this restaurant is famous for. The first was their signature Antoinette (S$9).

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The ball on top contains a special raspberry sauce, and it went well with the earl grey cake. A point to note is that the cakes here are not overly sweet.

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Violette (S$8.50) - A very floral cake with a violette cake base + cream and raspberry jam.

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Religieuse of Caramel with fleur de sel (S$8) - I always like the combination of salt + caramel. However, the version here is a bit too dry.

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Saint Honore L'amour (S$8.50). Not sure if this qualifies as a cake, because it is made up of a few mini choux pastry. On top we have rose cream and an edible rose petal with little "water droplets". The pastry again was a bit dry, but fortunately the rose cream balanced the dryness.

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We "tarpao" Macaron (S$30 for 12 pieces) back home. If you are a macaron fan, I think you will like those sold here.

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Final word on Antoinette is that they must improve their services. It's really such a pity that they invested so much on their food and decor, but not on their services.


Antoinette
30 Penhas Road