Sparkling or Still

Tong Le Private Dining @ OUE Tower

2012-01-22T21:30:00.002+08:00

After a cool S$4.5 million renovation, the rotating restaurant along Singapore's Marina Bay waterfront has reopened to the public.

Tung Lok, one of the more well-known Chinese restaurant group in Singapore, has opened it's first ever premium Chinese restaurant in the tower - Tong Le Private Dining.

What's special about this restaurant is that it has invited Shinji Kanesaka, who operates the reknowned sushi restaurant in Raffles Hotel, to open a "restaurant-in-a-restaurant" here. So diners can order anything they want from both Tong Le and Shinji.

The view here offers one of the richest perspective of the bay. As the restaurant rotates one round every 2 hours, sometimes you will see other office workers hard at work, and sometimes people doing Yoga across the street at Ocean Financial Tower. But most of the time, the view is the beautiful Marina Bay waterfront. The restaurant offers set meals and limited number of ala-carte dishes. We went through the list and selected the Treasure Set (S$380++ per person)

You will feel like an Emperor when the service staff brings out the Imperial Four Combination Platter. Those who watch Chinese historical dramas will remember that the Emperor always eat from plates which are higher than normal. Her, we have (clockwise from left) Radish with XO Sauce, Seasoned Chiku Chips, Crispy Fried Fish with Spicy Sauce, and Deep Fried Century Egg with Cucumbers and Vinegar.

We were served this complimentary mocktail (made with Honeydew and Cherries) by our friendly manager when we were earlier waiting for them to clear a table for us. Turn out that the "manager" is actually the COO of Tung Lok Group, and he was there to make sure everything went smoothly.

From Shinji - Premium Nigiri Sushi (9 pieces) - S$130. Well, the sushi was good, and the seafood were very fresh.

Next up is the Braised Superlative Shark's Fin 干烧大鲍翅 served with Yunan Ham. No salt was added and the savoury taste came from premium Yunan Ham. The top grade shark's fin was really crunchy and had a yummy texture.

The fins were served with a stock cooked with Yunan Ham with no salt added.

At this point of our meal, our window rotated just above Shenton Way.

I really enjoyed the Quick-fried fillet of "Su Mei" with Fungus and Chives. The fish slices were fresh and were skillfully pan fried with chives.

To cleanse the palate, we were served the chef's homemade sorbet - It contained bits of lychee, lime and mint. And it was served in a special dry ice holder too.

Next up, we were served Braised KohYong Dried Abalone (15 Head) 许榕15头溏心干鲍 - Suppose to be the best abalone in the market now, the 15 head abalone had an intense taste to every bite. It was very tender when I sliced the abalone into small pieces.

Torbreck boutique wine from South Australia

Another well-liked dish at our table was the Pan-fried Kagoshima Wagyu with Fleur de Sel. the beef had great marbling and a caramelized outer crust. Served with Pinot Noir from Central Otago, New Zealand.

The final dish before our dessert - Sea Urchin Rice with Fatty Tuna and Japanese Leek. the seafood were all sourced from Japan, and when you mix everything together, you get this rich seafood delicacy. For the rice, there is a perfect ratio of the rice with the vinegar. The freshly grated wasabi also lends a good kick to my nostril

Dessert was equally extravagant - Bird's Nest served with Homemade Cream of Almond, Pumpkin and Double-boiled Ginseng with Dried Longan. My favourite "dipping sauce" for the bird's nest is the Pumpkin.

Ended our meal on a sweet note with the 2010 M. Chapoutier moscato dessert wine (S$78 for half bottle)

Do note that if you are coming here, reservations is a must as they do not accept walk-in customers. And during the first 15 days of the Lunar New Year, a special menu will be served. After that, the menu changes every 2 days.

Tong Le Private Dining
OUE Tower, Level 4 & 5
60 Collyer Quay
TEL: 6634 3233

Azur @ Crowne Plaza Hotel

2012-01-17T14:30:00.000+08:00

Most people would have know that our airport has quite a number of restaurants and eateries catering for the general public, but not many know about the restaurants within the airport hotel.

The Crowne Plaza Hotel in the airport houses a few restaurants, and one of its biggest one which serves daily buffet is Azur. Besides buffet, Azur also serves ala carte orders.

Iced water is available here for all diners.

Had a bowl of Cream of Tomato Soup (S$12). It's served pipping hot, but it's a bit acidic and sourish. Hence those who are used to the sweeter version of tomato soup might not be used to this version.

Together with the soup, a bread basket is also served. One of their more interesting bread is the one with olives.

When dining at hotel cafes in Singapore, I usually like to order Nasi Goreng Istimewa (S$18). Hotels usually serve pretty good Nasi Goreng, and the fried rice will always come with a few sticks of satay, achar, prawn crackers and sunny side egg. I find the standard of fried rice here to be pretty good.

Another surprise hit was their Wanton Noodles (S$18). It's done Hong Kong + Malaysian style without the Singaporean ketchup base. The noodles was cooked to perfection.

Ended our dinner with Apple & Banana Strudel (S$14).

Azur
75 Airport Boulevard,
2nd Floor
Crowne Plaza Hotel
(Next to Changi Airport T3)

Tung Lok Signatures @ Changi City Point (Part 1)

2012-01-11T17:40:00.000+08:00

With the opening of Changi City Point, workers working in Changi Business Park now has even more F&B choices.

Tung Lok Signatures, which serves most of Tung Lok's well known dishes, has opened a restaurant in the new shopping mall.

Not every Chinese restaurant in Singapore offers goose, so when we saw that Tung Lok Signatures is offering Roasted Goose (S$35), we decided to try a portion. The skin of the roasted goose was crispy and not too oily. But there was not much meat inside as compared to roast duck.

To accompany our white rice, we ordered this Stewed Fish (S$16.80 per person). We like how the fish is stewed till it absorbs most of the gravy.

Another seafood dish we ordered was the Baked Prawn Steak with White wine and herbs on momotaro tomato (S$10.80 per person). The sweetness of both the prawn and momotaro tomato was brought out by the white wine sauce. Worth a try if you like prawns.

Whether or not a Century Egg (S$8.00) is good or not usually depends on how good the "yolk" is. If the yolk remains creamy while the egg "white" is cooked, then it is said that it is a good century egg.

Last but not least, a big order of Braised Fresh Shark's Fins with Ham in spicy pigeon stock served in hot stone pot (S$45 per person). The soup was served pipping hot to us, and we like the intense pigeon stock and the texture of the shark's fins.

Ended the meal with a complimentary serving of Tung Lok's fresh fruit juice served in test tubes.

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

Kenny Rogers Roasters @ Great World City

2012-01-08T15:30:00.000+08:00

A quick dinner at Kenny Rogers Roasters on Sunday night.

Kenny Rogers has been in Singapore since the 90s, and after almost 20 years, Singaporeans still regard Kenny Rogers as one of the better place for their roast chickens and corn muffins.

Their signature corn muffins is one of their best sides in the menu. Crisp on the outside while fluffy in the inside, there are bits of corns inside. Very addictive.

Ordered a IBC Root Beer to wash down all the meat that is coming right up.

One full roast chicken. The chicken was tender and quite big. The menu said that the chicken and ribs were enough for 2, but I think it is more suitable for 4 diners.

The 4 sides which came with the meal. The mashed potato was the best. The coleslaw had a stong spring onion taste which I did not like. Find the standards of the Macaroni & Cheese had gone down.

Ribs were tender and flavourful. And was pretty meaty too.

Kenny Rogers Roasters
1 Kim Seng Promenade,
#01-06
Great World City

House, Barracks and Camp @ Dempsey Road

2012-01-06T14:00:00.000+08:00

House at Dempsey is one of our favourite place to laze around during the weekends with their never ending brunch and laid back atmosphere.

We were there during the last week of December, and they still have these toy soldiers decos.

On their tables, there were adverts about their special Tau Sar Pau (Pow?), and 8 Days magazine even rated it as the best in Singapore. This warrants an order from us.

The Tau Sar Pao (S$2.50 each) is quite huge, almost like palm size. Upon further probing, we found out that their Tau Sar Pau is actually outsourced from another factory in Singapore! Anyone knows which one is it?

And indeed, it's one of the better ones we had for a long time. The skin was light and fluffy, while the tau sar filings were not too sweet.

They were having this promotion for Apple Cider (S$25 for 1 bottle). It was quite a large bottle, enough for 4 diners. The cider was crisp and refreshing, and especially welcome with fried food.

We ordered a variety of mains. First was the Moroccan Spiced Baby Chicken (S$25) - Half baby chicken marinated with Moroccan spices with tomato-berry chutney, with yam crisps, sauteed fennel and baby bok choy. The chicken meat was tender, but what we really like are the yam crisps. It's much better than your run of the mill french fries.

A must order at House is their signature Old Fashioned American Sliders (S$23) - Pair of mini burgers served with sweet potato fries and truffle fries. I upgraded the truffle fries (S$2 more) to a larger portion. Somehow, the quality of the truffle fries went down since my previous visit. But at least the sweet potato fries were still good. The mini burgers were good on its own, and I requested for the basic tomato onion toppings.

Beside the "ang mor" version of their sliders, House also introduced our Asian version: Asian Sliders (S$22) - It's our very own Kong Ba Pau (Steam buns with braised pork). The pork was tender, but had too much spices. And we find the braised pork a bit too oily.

Skinny Pizza, which is also run by them, offers their pizza here too. The Ahi Taki Pizza (S$27) - Pizza with sauteed tuna chunks with pistachio, avocado and herb-roasted tomatoes, has one of the juciest tuna chunks. Unlike the usual dry and flaky tuna we are used to, theirs is made from fresh tuna. The crust is very crispy, almost like soda crackers.

Ended our brunch with a Warm Strawberry Shortcake (S$9.50 per piece) with Vanilla Bean Sauce, which is another of their signature.

House, Barracks and Camp
8D Dempsey Road,
#01-01 to 06
Tanglin Village

Noble House @ UIC Building

2011-12-30T14:00:00.000+08:00

After many years operating from UIC Building, Noble House has officially closed to make way for a brand new building.

We were there a few days before its official closure. The decor of Noble House is rather unique, and after its closure, only Paramount at East Coast will spot a similar design.

We each had a Crispy Deep Fried Lobster with Chilled Fruits (S$28 per person). The lobster was crispy due to the batter.

We like the soups in Tung Lok restaurants. Their Double Boiled Soup with Chicken & Fungus (S$38 for 1 pot) tasted good and did not have any "herbal" tastes which some may not like.

After serving the 1st bowl of soup, the service staff will usually "fish out" the ingredients in the soup. Here, we have a whole chicken thigh+drumstick and the fungus mushrooms used to brew the soup.

Next up, Steam Fish Slices With Tofu, Black Fungus & Brinjal (S$12 per person). Fish was fresh and tasted sweet.

The final dish was my favourite - Stir Fried Aloe Vera Noodles with Scallops (S$8.80 per person). According to the restaurant, this Aloe Vera noodles (texture is almost similar to a hybrid of mee pok and kway teow) is really made of aloe vera. The noodles is quickly cooked in hot water, and then mixed with a spicy seafood sauce.

Before desserts were served, we had their signature fruit juices served in test tubes.

Dessert consisted of the ever popular Herbal Jelly with Mango Pudding (S$10)

And a special dessert of Coconut Dessert with Tangyuan (S$16).

So it's goodbye to Noble House at UIC Building.

Noble House
5 Shenton Way
#06-13
UIC Building

Santi @ Marina Bay Sands

2011-12-28T16:40:00.000+08:00

Unknown to many people, Santi over at Marina Bay Sands has launched a Sunday brunch at a pocket friendly price.

Available between 12pm to 2pm every Sunday, it serves some of the well known dishes available in this restaurants. Started our brunch with a bottle of sparkling San Pellegrino (S$15 for 750ml)

Having Sunday Brunch (S$88 per person) at Santi during daytime is quite an experience. As most of the celebrity restaurants are opened only in the evening, so it's quite unique to admire the day time view of Marina Bay Sands from the restaurant.

Started our brunch with Roederer Brut (S$36 per glass) and Roederer Rose (S$42 per glass) .

I like how they served the sparkling wine on a wine tasting table.

Bread sticks were served with the sparkling wine.

The breads were a bit cold since it was left on the table. But the cold bread was redeemed by the wonderful olive oil that was served together with creamy French butter. The olive oil had a nutty and full taste, and was excellent with the breads.

We had a complimentary amuse bouche of Tomato Gazpacho plus a tuna appetizer. The tomato gazpacho was cold and tangy, and it "opened" our appetite for more delicious food to come.

The first appetizer was Calamari "a la plancha" amb romesco sauce and leeks. It's basically calamari cooked on a metal plate, and is a popular Spanish way of cooking calamari meat. The leeks are battered dipped and fried till crisp.

The Scrambled eggs with asparagus, eggplants and chorizo was an instant hit. The creaminess of the eggs with all the ingredients.

The salt and paprika powder containers.

Next was the Traditional mushroom rice with prawns. The prawns still retained the crunch, and the rice had absorbed the mushroom flavours.

Traditional Cannelloni Catalan style with Bechamel sauce, which is cannelloni pasta cooked with traditional French white sauce. Lot's of different ingredients and flavours.

Midway through our brunch, we ordered the Emilio Lustau East India Sherry – Jerez – Xérès – Sherry, Spain (S$25 per glass)

The main course. A popular selection here is the Catalan fish stew with Iranian Saffron. The fish was really tender after being stewed for hours. The gravy had a very nice and beautiful aroma.

Smoked chicken with potato and cabbage cake. Although the chicken was tender and juicy, but I find it paled in comparison to the fish stew.

Desserts were finally served. First was the Apple tart with caramel and cinnamon ice-cream.

I prefered the 2nd dessert of Roasted pineapple with coconut and mango. The pineapple was very sweet after being roasted as the sugar inside had caramelized.

Petit Fours was also served as we ordered tea after our brunch. I was surprised (in a good way) that Santi had used Oreo cookies as the main ingredient for one of their petit fours.

The Black Nectar Tea (S$12) was served in a very classic Narumi cup, saucer and plate. Also had Espresso (S$8) too.

Overall, a very value-for-money Brunch at one of Marina Bay Sands' celebrity chef restaurant. Although Chef Santi has left this world, but his chef has managed to maintain the excellent standard of the late chef.

Santi
10 Bayfront Avenue,
#L2-03,
Casino Level 2,
Marina Bay Sands

Old Hong Kong Legend @ Raffles City Shopping Centre

2011-12-23T14:00:00.003+08:00

When I saw the name "Old Hong Kong Legends", the 1st thing that came to my mind was that is this another HK Cafe kind of place serving Instant Noodles + Luncheon Meat or Pork Chop Rice?

Apparently, it's from this Old Hong Kong group of HK cafe, but this particular one at Raffles City serves totally different food.

In fact, there is nothing "Hong Kong Cafe-ish" about this place. Decor is like a Chinese restaurant, food too, and so are the prices.

The restaurant doesn't serves braised peanuts or candied walnuts as appetizer, but a Korean kimchi (S$0.80) instead.

Started our dinner with this cold appetizer: Black Fungus with Vinegar (S$8.80) - It's basically crunchy black fungus marinated with vinegar, coriander and spring onions, served cold.

We also enjoyed the Double-Boiled Sakura Chicken Soup with Snow Lotus (S$28). However, it's quite pricey as S$28 is only enough for 1 diner. In other restaurants, a S$50 portion can feed 4 diners comfortably.

One of their signature appetizer is the Chinese Yam Paste 山药 with Blueberry Sauce (S$9.80 for plate of 3). We think that this is a unique dish from Old Hong Kong Legends, and that "whipped cream" is actually a thick Chinese yam paste. To counter the creamy and dense yam, blueberry sauce is used to balance it. Of course, the crunchy and juicy watermelon base also helps too. Worth a try if you have never tried before.

Seeing that the Triple Delights roasted Peking Duck (S$20 for half) is available for a special price, we decided to order one.

However, we were quite disappointed with it. The skin was not as crunchy as the better ones served at Imperial Treasures at MBS and Paragon. The wrapper was too thick and dry.

We also had the normal staples like this Peach Sweet And Sour Pork (S$13) - Quite good.

But the star dish for the night was this Stir Fried Fresh Milk with Scallop and Crab Roe (S$24). It was creamy, milky and the sweetness of the seafood was brough out by the milk. It was served on a bed of deep fried vermicelli.

Another of their most popular dish is the Flaming Kurobuta Pork with Special Sauce (S$26). Beware as the waiter will "light up" the dish on your table. But after all the drama, this dish tastes and looks like your ordinary black pepper pork.

Didn't ask them to stir fry the duck meat with noodles, so we had them as a meat dish. The meat was quite tender, but lacks flavour.

Old Hong Kong Legend
252 North Bridge Road,
#02-18
Raffles City Shopping Centre

CUT @ The Shoppes @ Marina Bay Sands

2011-12-21T16:00:00.000+08:00

It's been almost a year since we last visited Cut over at Marina Bay Sands. A steak restaurant by famed chef Wolfgang Puck, many diners in Singapore now ranks Cut as among the best steak restaurant in Singapore.

Nothing has changed since the last time we were here, except that it has gotten more crowded over the months. Hence, reservation is essential to get a dinner table.

It's pretty dim inside the restaurants. Diners need a few minutes to get used to the dimmed lights after coming in from the brightly lit shopping streets in Marina Bay Sands. We were ushered to the back end of the restaurant, where it is much quieter and has beautiful mirrors and wine cabinets on its walls.

We were served 3 kinds of breads before our orders came. First, were these little pastry breads with some meat fillings inside. Next were the bread baskets. I love the one with cheese. But pity they were all served cold.

We were also served cheese sticks. Unfortunately, they were removed before we had the chance to try them. Ordered a bottle of Voss Sparkling (S$18).

2 of us shared an appetizer salad of Prosciutto, Goat Cheese and Roasted Pear (S$32). The roasted pear and prosciutto was a good combination. And cheese lovers would surely like their goat cheese with the salad.

Before all steaks are served at Cut, the service staff will bring out 5 condiments to go with your steak, such as sea salt and mustard.

One of the steam we had was the Angus Kobe Style Beef from Snake River Farm, Idaho (S$195 for 230g New York Sirloin) with Black Truffle shavings (S$18) and Armagnac & Green Peppercorn sauce (S$5). The truffle they had wasn't the best we had before, but it went well with the steak. And talking about the steak, the Kobe angus was one of the best steak served here in this restaurant. And we agreed the flavour and marbling of the beef is well worth the price.

For our sides, we shared the Soft Polenta with Parmesan (S$18) and Brussel Sprouts with Smoked Bacons and Onions (S$18). The polenta with parmesan resembles mashed potato, but it is actually made of cornmeal, hence the texture was creamy and thick. The service staff also strongly recommended us to select the brussel sprouts with bacon. I find the brussel sprouts rather good after cooking it in the bacon fat.

Another steak we had was the USDA Prime, Illinois Corn Fed, Aged 21 Days (S$98 for 395g Rib Eye Steak). Comes with House Made Steak Sauce (S$5). Done medium rare, the meat was juicy and tender.

Ended our dinner with a glass of sherry (S$27)

As it was a birthday celebration, the staff presented us with a lovely birthday dessert made of homemade ice-cream.

Before we left, we also ordered a cocktail to try out. The "She So.... Honey!" consisted of Old Raj Gin, Ume Shu Extra Shiso, Japanese Cucumber, Honey, and it's definitely for the sweet tooth. Price of this is about S$25

CUT
10 Bayfront Ave,
#B1-71
The Shoppes @ Marina Bay Sands

Paradise Inn @ Marina Bay Link Mall

2011-12-19T12:00:00.000+08:00

A quick lunch over at Paradise Inn at the "weekend-quiet" Marina Bay Link Mall on a late Saturday afternoon.

Braised peanuts

After all the news reports about the famous 清明上河图, I now know that the plates used at Paradise Inn actually features a similar design from the painting.

Braised brinjal and minced pork cooked in claypot.

Double Boiled Old Cucumber Soup (serves 4) - Paradise Inn is one place which serves value for money double boiled soup. And their soups are always consistent.

Pork Ribs King - One of the most popular pork dish in Singapore, where the pork chops are first deep fried and then coated with a layer of sweet and sour caramel sauce. Paradise Inn was quite generous with the pork chops and the meat was tender enough for us.

Plain white rice to go with all the dishes.

Our must order at Paradise Inn: Stir Fried Chicken with Caramel Ginger. I am someone who doesn't like ginger, so it's quite amazing I actually enjoy the ginger taste in this dish very much. Perhaps it wasn't raw ginger, but caramelized ginger used to flavour the fried chicken chunks. Pity they used wings instead of drumstick chunks.

Paradise Inn
8A Marina Boulevard,
#B2-20
Marina Bay Link Mall

Angus Steak House @ Ngee Ann City

2011-12-14T14:00:00.000+08:00

Angus Steak House has been operating in Takashimaya since it started operation more than 10 years ago. It has underwent a renovation a few years back, and now has a white and clean decor.

The window seats are the best for admiring the beautiful Christmas lights along Orchard Road. Here, the restaurant serves free iced water to all diners.

Given the quality and price of food, it's strange why Angus Steak House is usually half filled when neighbouring Tonkichi and Crystal Jade have long queues outside.

Diners who order any main course can opt for a value-for-money Set Lunch Top Up (S$6), which consists of a soup, salad and dessert. The set lunch is available on weekends as well. We were first served the bread, which was nicely warmed and had a nice fluffy interior.

The soup for the set lunch was mushroom soup. Pity it was served lukewarm.

We saw the Beef Soup (S$9.50) on the menu. But when it was served to us, we had a surprise - The beef soup was actually a "Korean" style beef soup. The soup stock reminded me of those Korean spicy soup. But they were rather generous with the tender beef chunks. Think there were 4 large chunks in the soup.

The Escargot (S$14) was pretty good, but the garlic overpowered the flesh.

The salad from the set lunch came in quite a big portion, enough for 2 to share.

For our mains, we ordered the Risotto Seabass with Lemon Sauce (S$22). The risotto had a cheesy creamy texture as it was baked with lot's of cheese. Seabass was tender and fresh.

Since this is a steak house, how could we leave here without a taste of their steak? Therefore, we had a main of Tenderloin Steak 250g (S$49.50). At 250g, it was of substantial size. The beef was done medium, and it came as it should be. Slightly cooked on the outside and a bit raw in the inside. Beef was rather tender, and had most of the flavours preserved within the meat. But the slice of lime and butter did not go well with the beef.

Even though this chococlate cake was part of the S$6 set lunch top up, but the quality was very good. A good ending to a value for money set lunch in Orchard Road.

Angus Steak House
391 Orchard Road,
#04-25
Ngee Ann City

Saboten @ Changi Airport Terminal 1

2011-12-11T12:00:00.000+08:00

Those who have been to East Asia will be familiar with Saboten, a Japanese chain shop that sells everything related to Tonkatsu. Originating from Shinjuku and with 450 shops in Japan and branches in Hong Kong and Taiwan, it landed in Singapore slightly more than 1 year ago at Changi Airport Terminal 1 and PARCO Marina Bay.

The concept is similar to our Tonkichi restaurants (run by Pokka Food). You order your choice of mains (either Tonkichi crispy pork cutlet or crispy seafood or chicken). The cabbage, miso soup and Japanese rice are all free flow as long as you can finish them.

It's located just 1 floor above T1's Departure level, and from here you can see the hustle and bustle of the airport.

Personally, I find that their cabbage is much better than the ones at Tonkichi. Here, the cabbage are really cold and crisp. Sometimes, I get slightly soggy cabbages from Tonkichi. And we have 2 choices of dressings for the cabbage too: Sesame dressing and Citrus soya dressing.

The Tenderloin Katsu Set (S$22) is one of their best seller, and it's not difficult to see why. The meat is tender and not dry while the crispy crust was not oily at all.

Rice was of good quality too.

We also had the Tenderloin Katsu Curry Set (S$19). It was a very generous serving of curry for that amount of rice. Of course, you could ask for more rice to accompany all that Japanese curry sauce. The pork cutlet was also equally good.

There is something I don't like about the restaurant here, and that is their speed of service. The food took almost 30 minutes to arrive. Perhaps for passengers who are rushing for flights, it may be advisable to give this restaurant a miss. Otherwise, a good choice for a meal.

Saboten
80 Airport Boulevard,
#031-004
Departure Check-in Hall
Level 3,
Changi Airport Terminal 1

Jia Wei @ Grand Mercure Roxy Hotel

2011-12-09T15:40:00.000+08:00

I first know about Jia Wei through reading other people's food blogs. From my memory, I remembered a lot of good things were mentioned about their Dim Sum.

So this afternoon, we are here to try out their Dim Sum before visiting 112 Katong mall. Ordered the Chinese Tea (S$6 for 2 people).

We were served Candied Walnuts (S$3). Even though they are located in the mid range Mercure Hotel, but the plates they used were still a respectable Narumi plate.

We ordered the Baked Mini Egg Tarts (S$4.20 for 3) last but it came before everything. We were very pleased with how buttery the crust were. The eggs were smooth and not too sweet, and it was still warm as it just came out fresh from the oven.

The same could not be said about their Steamed Prawn Dumplings (S$4.80 for 4). The skin on the Haw Gow were too thick, but they were generous with the prawns.

The service staff recommended to us the Jia Wei Boiling Super Sharks Fins Soup (S$56 for 1 serving). It was a big boiling pot, and I think it should be shared among 2 diners. Taste okay, but pity that the sharks fins used here is not of the best quality.

We also ordered the Old Cucumber Soup (S$12 for Soup of the Day). Find it quite ordinary, and given the price I don't think I will be ordering their Soup of the Day anytime soon.

The Siew Mai (S$4.80 for 4) was quite good. Chunks of pork and shrimps without too much flour.

The service staff also tried to push the Steam Xiao Long Bao (S$4.80 for 3) to us. We listened to her and it was a good choice. The Xiao Long Bao here was much better than those at Ding Tai Fung.

Another of their signatures is the Deef Fried Beancurd Skin with Pork and Crab Meat (S$4.20). Jia Wei's version was chokeful of ingredients. Crispy on the outside and juicy in the inside.

The Lor Mai Gai (S$4 for 2 small servings) are really tiny. Found some dried scallops inside the rice. Pretty good, but wished they were bigger.

Jia Wei
50 East Coast Road,
2F
Grand Mercure Roxy Hotel

Fat Cow @ Camden Medical Centre

2011-12-06T15:00:00.000+08:00

On a rainy Saturday night, we decided to avoid the maddening crowds in Orchard Road and opted for a less crowded place for dinner. Fat Cow, located at the ground floor of Camden Medical Centre (near to Tanglin Mall), is just the place for us.

We opted for the Lauquen Sparkling Water bottled in Patagonia, Argentina. The water was soft and tasted clean.

Fat Cow is a high end "beef" restaurant. Opened by the people behind Kinki and Marmalade Pantry, diners here first choose their choice of beef (Japan VS Australia), the choice of cooking they want for their beef, and then some appetizers while the beef is being prepared. Fat Cow also offers seafood for those who cannot take beef.

After some recommendations by the chef, we decided on both the Japanese Beef (Shabu Shabu) and Australian Beef (Grilled). The chef showed us the Australian Beef Grade MS A8+ (S$104 for 200g) before grilling it, and it's from Stockyard Ranch. The chef told us this Australian half-blood wagyu had a balanced marbling and strong beef taste.

Started our proper dinner with the appetizer of Tai Carpaccio (S$55) - Thinly sliced snapper with white truffles and shio konbu. We really enjoyed this appetizer, and everything from the snapper, truffles and the konbu salt had a nice texture and even better taste in the mouth. It's pricey, but worth every cent.

The Heart of Palm salad (S$18) was nice, but bordered around being pretty much ordinary. Crisp Japanese onions, shaved heart of palm and Mizuna.

I was surprised by the next appetizer Zucchini Blossom Tempura (S$38) - It's basicaly tempura zucchini blossoms stuffed with Hokkaido scallops and Kegani. What surprised me was that when i bite into the crispy outer tempura crust, what awaits me was this burst of yummy juices and stocks inside the zucchini. It must have came from the scallops and crab meat.

We were not very impressed with this Alaskan King Crab (S$60 for 200g). It's fresh, but we had better ones before at Waku Ghin.

Abalone & Kyuri (S$28) - Braised Abalone with golden grain whole miso. We like how they played with the texture here. The fresh and tender abalone with crisp cucumber sticks and the very intense golden miso.

The Yuzu Grilled Unagi & Kyurri Gelee (S$29) - Charcoal-grilled freshwater eel with shaved cucumber gelee, had a slightly spicy taste.

After all these appetizers, you would have thought that it was the end. But the best is yet to come. Presenting the 1st main course - Australian Wagyu beef which has been charcoal grilled. During the Edo period, beef is grilled with Binchotan (Japanese white charcoal) that creates a pure heat with a distinctive smoky and flavourful charred crust. The end product is a juicy medium steak which is very tender and had a nice crisp outer crust.

Comes with garlic fried rice, Japanese cabbage salad with crispy shallots, citrus soya sauce and ginger soya sauce.

For our Japanese beef, we opted for the Shabu Shabu style where the beef is quickly immersed in a delicate simmering broth which retains all the natural flavours.

The beef we selected was the Japanese Beef Grade A5 (S$114 for 120g) - From Kagoshima Prefecture, this beef has won many awards for its intense marbling and sweetness + tenderness.

The Shabu Shabu came with a serving of fresh vegetables which we could cook outselves.

After a few seconds, the beef was cooked. The marbling was excellent and the entire beef slice had a nice buttery aroma. Beef lovers must come and try this A5 grade beef cooked by Shabu Shabu style.

After our Shabu Shabu, the chef brought the stock back to the kitchen and made us this Shabu Shabu Porridge made with Shabu Shabu stock. As the stock has been cooked with the beef and vegetables, it was full of sweetness and flavours.

After our dinner, we decided to skip desserts and opted for a cocktail at the cocktail bar. The bar had lot's of unique cocktails which was new to us.

Kyoho Sour (S$25) had a refreshing floral taste to it.

and their signature Hot Buttered Ume (S$25). What was unique is that a piece of butter will be added into the warm cup of Ume + rum mixture. Cover the lid for a few minutes and then savour the rich buttery taste with the warm ume rum drink. It's strange but works well.

Fat Cow
1 Orchard Boulevard,
#01-01
Camden Medical Centre

Loola's by Awfully Chocolate @ Esplanade Mall

2011-11-30T16:00:00.000+08:00

Loola at Esplanade is less than a month's old, but it's already packing the crowd. Managed by Awfully Chocolate, the name "Loola" actually resembles the name of the baby daughter of the lady boss of Awfully Chocolate.

Loola is located on the same floor as My Humble House, and it's easy to spot the entrance due to its white facade.

The decor is simple with white chairs and wooden tables. The restaurant has a nice viewing spot where you can see the "lotus" flower of the Marina Bay Sands.

We ordered a variety of food to try out since it's our first visit. The Waldorf (S$13) - a salad consisting of baked apples, walnuts crumble, fresh celery, dried cranberries, creamy dressing, was crunchy and refreshing. They also added some fresh diced green apples for added crunch too.

Free ice water for all diners. Service was excellent as they will keep coming over to ask how was the food and if everything is ok.

There were 2 soups on the menu. The first was the Creamy Tomato Bacon Soup (S$9) - Tomato and Carrot soup with crispy bacon. The soup didn't come pippin' hot, so we requested them to heat it up again. Taste was good.

Their second soup is not your usual kind of soup, but a local Salted Vegetable Duck Soup (S$9) - or more commonly known as Kiam Chai Arg. What sets this version aparts from the "homemade" version is the addition of Egg emulsion in the soup, which creates an almost creamy texture. The soup also had chunks of Confit of Duck, where the duck skin had a crisp texture.

A surprise hit from Loola was this Marrow & Toast (S$15) - Grilled bone marrow, toast, balsamic reduction, capsicum pesto. I didn't know how this bone marrow dish ended up here in this cafe, but it's sinfully good. Eat the marrow with the crispy toast. Creamy and intense.

Another beef dish we had was the hearty Stewed Oxtail (S$28) - Oxtail, tomatoes, celery, carrots and bread. The oxtail had lot's of chunks of meat, and they were tenderised after being stewed for hours in the vegetable stock.

We love roast pork. And Loola's Pan Seared Braised Pork Belly (S$28) hits the right spot. The honey pork belly had a crusty skin, yet the pork remained juicy. Served with a side of crispy lotus roots chips, plus the very English bubble & squeak, which literally is a pan fried potato pancake made from roasted vegetables.

As if it's still not enough, a 3rd animal joined out dining table - The Spatchcock (S$36 for 2 diners) - It's a juicy whole pan roasted chicken carved at our table but the service staff. The chicken had minimal seasonings, and they provided some citrus salt and rosemary salt to go along with the roast.

The roast chicken also came with sides of String Beans in anchovy reduction, and caramelized baby onions (my fav).

We like Loola for the good food and service, and will make an attempt to try out their desserts next time when we are here.

Loola's by Awfully Chocolate
8 Raffles Avenue,
#02-14
Esplanade Mall

Sque @ Central Clarke Quay

2011-11-28T16:00:00.000+08:00

Back in September, the very enterprising Emmanuel Stroobant opened a new concept restaurant at the ground floor of Central mall facing the Clarke Quay river. Sque (Pronounced as Skew), combines an alehouse together with a rotisserie. Sounds weird? But the concept actually works.

There are 2 sections here: An alfresco outdoor area with quite a number of seats, and a smaller air-con indoor area which is much smaller (hence reservations is required during peak hours for indoor seating).

The selection of beer here is astonishing. Comparable to Brussels Sprouts (which is also by Belgium born Emmanuel Stroobant too). We were recommended the Schneider Weisse Tap 7 (S$11.50 for a 1-for-1 half pint) - Hefeweizen beer from Germany. Fresh, light and crisp. Perfect for fried and roast food.

A look at the open concept kitchen.

Another wonderful restaurant which serves free iced water.

We ordered the starter of Salt & Pepper Prawns (S$18) - The King Prawns were flashed fried in a light tempura batter which has been slightly spiced, and the sauce to go along is Citrus Spicy Dipping. The prawns were definitely fresh and sweet, and the batter was not oily. Most important of all is that it went well with the fresh beer. Yummy!

On the other hand, the Creamy Chicken & Mushroom Soup (S$14) was a bit too heavy - the soup had Wild Mushrooms, Chicken, Truffle Essence and Toast.

The roasts here have a Middle Eastern + Indian flavour to the food. Our first mains was the Roast Chicken (S$24 for half) with Sque's spiced rub, served with salad and roasted potatoes. The chicken meat was very tender and juicy, even the chicken breast! We think it was one of the best roast chicken we had for a long time. But we had a difficult time finishing the roasted potato sides. Think they were undercooked.

The Lamb Sque'r (S$32)- Lamb skewers marinated with cumin, coriander seed, paprika, garlic and lemon confit, also had a strong Middle East flavour to it. Served with salad and roasted potatoes. Top marks for the tender and juicy lamb, but minus marks for the undercooked roasted potatoes.

After the disappointing roasted potato sides, we were relieved that the Fries with Truffle Mayonnaise (S$8) fared much better. The fries were freshly fried (whole potatoes with skin). Crisp on outside, and starchy in the inside. The Truffle Mayo also went well with the fries.

A nice place for gatherings or a weekend brunch along the Clarke Quay river.

Sque
6 Eu Tong Sen Street,
#01-70
The Central @ Clarke Quay

Zaffiro Italian Cuisine @ Asia Square Tower 1

2011-11-24T15:00:00.000+08:00

The Marina Bay area has recently seen many new developments, and many new offices are popping up every few months. The latest is Asia Square.

Asia Square consists of 2 main towers. The 1st tower opened this year and tower 2 will open in 2013 and will house the Westin Hotel in its upper floors.

We are here tonight for dinner at a brand new Italian restaurant - Zaffiro. The name "Zaffiro" means sapphire in Italian, and the chef here is Giuliano Dacasto, who has worked in quite a few top Italian restaurants in Europe and in Singapore.

We started our dinner with the San Pellergrino Sparkling Water (S$8 for 800ml).

According to The Business Times, Chef Giuliano Dacasto has worked in one-star Il Convivio Troiani in Rome, two-star Michelin Ristorante Bracali in Massa Maritima and the three-star Michelin Ristorante La Calandra in Padova. In 2009, he moved to Singapore and has worked in il Lido, then Forlino and most recently at L'Angolo. And this also explained why every single dish we had tonight were delicious.

We were first served this complimentary starter by the chef.

And this basket of bread. This basket of focaccia bread must be one of the best breads served in Italian restaurants. The crust is crunchy and the bread itself is soft and slightly salty with a few drops of olive oil. They offered us another basket of breads, but we decided not to be greedy and concentrate on our main dishes.

As there were only 2 soups on their menu, we ordered both of them. The first was this Chilled San Marzano Tomato Soup (S$18) with a Burrata (mozzarella and cream) heart and dry olives. Unlike most chilled tomato soup which is either too sour or too acidic, the version here suits us perfectly. The combination of the Burrata with tomato was excellent.

Top marks for the Chestnut Creme (S$18) with wild rosemary aroma and Amarone wine reduction. The soup had generous slices of white truffles, and it tasted slightly nutty but sweet.

The service staff recommended us this off-menu item: Roasted Greenland Scallops (S$28). The scallops from Greenland (between Arctic & Atlantic Ocean) were grilled with butter, and tasted sweet without any fishy aftertaste. Below the scallops were 3 salsify vegetable. It's a root based vegetable and tasted almost like a hybrid of carrot and potato.

We shared 3 mains. First, the Mushroom Potato Gnocchi with Parmigiano Fondout and Autumn Truffle (S$30). It's truffle season and Zaffiro was very generous with their truffles. The Gnocchi was cooked with some blueberries, and had a slightly citrus taste to it, which reduced the "heaviness" of this dish. All their pasta dishes were handmade fresh from their kitchen, and that explains the "QQness" of the Gnocchi.

We also enjoyed the Veal Shank Ravioli with Savoy Cabbage and Truffle (S$32) very much. Once again, lot's of truffle slices, and each Ravioli was stuffed fully with tender veal shank.

Our 3rd mains was this Spanish Roasted Suckling Pig with Pearl Onions and potatoes. Even though we were very full by now, but we still managed to clear the plates. The suckling pig had a very crispy skin and we were surprised at how juicy and tender the pork was. The mashed potato by the side had a maple syrup taste to it. We like this dish very much.

To digest all these heavy food, we ordered a digestif wine - Jagermeister (S$14 per glass). This German digestif may not be everybody's cup of tea (or wine), but after sipping it, you will feel your chest slowly warm up, and the warm feelings go down all the way into your stomach.

Dessert was the Black Tea and Bergamot Vanilla Creme Brulee with Raspberry Sorbet (S$16). Once again, the chef has done a good job of making sure that the burnt crust on top of the creme brulee was not too thick and too crusty. The creme brulee had a nice black tea taste to it. Alternating between the creme brulee and the slightly tangy raspberry sorbet create the most balanced taste.

We thought it was the end, but the staff brought us complimentary petit four. Out of all, we enjoyed the coffee mashmallow the best.

In conclusion, Zaffiro is an Italian restaurant which serves great Italian food with excellent service. Highly recommended.

Zaffiro Italian Cuisine
8 Marina View,
#01-01
Asia Square Tower 1

The Loaf @ Pavilion KL, Kuala Lumpur

2011-11-17T16:00:00.000+08:00

A few years ago, former Malaysian Prime Minister Dr Mahthir decided to team up with a Japanese businessman to bring in the concept of Japanese bakery to Malaysia. The first shop opened in Langkawi, and was quite a success. Since then, a few more branches have opened in Selangor, and the 2nd one was located in Pavilion Kuala Lumpur.

Lunch at Pavilion proves to be a speedy affair. We were in and out within 30 minutes, and it's not bad considering it's a restaurant cum cafe.

I was also quite impressed with the service staffs. Although they were young, but there were eager to serve its customers.

There was nothing Japanese about the menu, so I had the Southern Cajun Chicken (RM22) - Crispy chicken drumpstick marinated with cajun spices and oriental bulb mix. Initally, I was worried that the fried chicken patty would be too dry, but when I bite into the burger, it was moist and juicy.

The basement of The Loaf is the bakery shop. Here, it competes with Breadtalk within the same complex, as well as Sun Moulin located at Lot 10 which is just a stone's throw away. I didn't have a chance to try the breads at The Loaf, so could not give my comments about standards here.

The Loaf
Lot 3.13.00,
Level 3 & 4
Pavilion KL,
168 Jalan Bukit Bintang,
55100 Kuala Lumour

Tai Hing @ Changi Airport Terminal 2

2011-11-15T16:00:00.002+08:00

Back at Ting Hing over at Changi Airport Terminal 2 for a quick breakfast before boarding the plane.

There are always ample seats here, so it's never a problem for me finding a seat before my flight.

Ordered the set breakfast, which came with my choice of drink. I had the Hong Kong Iced Milk Tea. The presentation was rather unique because the milk tea was placed in a bowl of ice, hence the milk tea will not be diluted when the ice melts.

A bowl of CQYD noodles (I presume it's the sesame oil flavour), with 2 pieces of luncheon meat with ham, omelette, and vegetable. What you see is what you get. I was glad they didn't overcook the instant noodles, as it is still springy when served to me.

Together with the breakfast set is a side ordering of Dim Sum, and I selected har kow. The skin was not too thick, but the fillings were rather small.

Tai Hing
60 Airport Boulevard,
Departure/Transit Lounge,
Changi Airport Terminal 2

Czzar @ Great World City

2011-11-13T11:00:00.000+08:00

It's been a long time since we went back to Czzar for dinner.

Everything is still the same, including their plates and cups.

The Homemade Tofu (S$12.80) came sizzling hot in a hot plate. A bit different from what you get from normal tze char stalls, as the squarish tofu is made in-house with egg white and soya milk. The result is silky soft tofu with an intense egg taste to it.

A bowl of steam white rice (S$1) to go with our dishes.

When we are here, we will always order their double boiled soup of the day (S$6 for small portion). The small portion is enough for 4 bowls of soup. Tonight's soup is lotus stem with pork. It's flavourful and given the price, we have no complains.

Ended our dinner with the last dish - Sweet & Sour Pork (S$9.80). I can never get tired of eating these sweet and sour dishes. It helps to "open" your appetite and adds some nutritious fruits and vegetables into your diet.

CZ'ZAR
Great World City #01-371
Kim Seng Promenade

Hummerstons @ Robertson Walk

2011-11-04T14:00:00.000+08:00

We enjoyed our previous dinner here so much that last weekend, we are back at Hummerstons to try out their brunch.

Their brunch spreads from morning till 4pm on Saturdays and Sundays. As it was drizzling, there were not too many customers and most prefer to sit in the outdoors. For us, it's always indoors.

Diners can choose to sit at the proper dining section, or laze around on their sofa chairs. They also have a bar counter at one side of the restaurant.

The main reason why we were here was to try the Hummerstons Pancakes (S$14) - Grandma's recipe. Their pancakes have been selected by 8 Days as the best pancakes in Singapore. And I can concur to that title. The pancakes were huge and they had a wonderful buttermilk taste to it. They used to serve the pancakes with unpeeled kiwi fruits, but has changed to a more user-friendly berries.

Hummerstons' Pancakes come with real maple syrup, whipped butter, & fruit compote. I think we are so used to the thick maple syrup that we were not used to seeing real maple syrup so watery. But this is what pure maple syrup tastes like. Out of these 3 condiments, my favourite was the whipped butter.

From the appetizer menu, we selected the Poutine in The Hangover style (S$13). Poutine is actually Homestyle handcut US potatoes , and we chose a gravy combination of pork & garlic sausage, oak smoked cheddar, mozzarella, jus & poached egg. The fries were really good and full of potato goodness. However, the "sauce" was pretty ordinary and a tad too salty.

Soup of the day - Pumpkin Soup (S$9)

Ordered their special main course of the day - Iberico Pork & Scallop (S$18), which is Iberico Pork & Chorizo Stuffing Mushrooms, Pan-Seared Scallops, Crispy Wanton & Romesco. Although it tasted ok, but I find there is nothing special with this dish. Portions were a little small too for this dish.

Desserts here was good. The Orange & Thyme Creme Brulee (S$11) - Thyme-infused with fresh orange segments, blended creamy custard & caramelized sugar topping, was a good balance between the creamy custard with the tangy orange bits.

Hummerstons
11 Unity Street,
#02-14
Robertson Walk

Tai Hing @ Changi Airport Terminal 2

2011-10-31T14:00:00.000+08:00

Those who have been to Hong Kong would have heard about Tai Hing Roast restaurants. A few months ago, Tai Hing opened its first Singapore branch. Unfortunately, it is located inside the transit area of Changi Airport Terminal 2.

A few weeks ago, I had the chance to use Terminal 2, and made it a point to visit Tai Hing at the airport.

Was there at around 3pm, so it was off-peak hours and there was really not much diners.

Tai Hing serves dim sum, roast meats and the ordinary HK cafe dishes. For me, I ordered a double platter of roasted suckling pig with char siew. I was surprised at how crispy the suckling pig was. It was not oily as I had expected, and the skin was crispy. The char siew paled in comparison. Next time, shall order just the suckling pig.

The double platter with noodles costs about S$15. Service was a bit slow, so if you are rushing for a flight, you might want to give it a miss.

Tai Hing
60 Airport Boulevard,
Departure/Transit Lounge,
Changi Airport Terminal 2

The Bank Bar + Bistro @ One Shenton

2011-10-28T14:00:00.000+08:00

Those who are working in Shenton Way would have seen this bar and bistro right at the ground floor of One Shenton, a new office + residential tower opposite of SGX.

The interiors reminded us of Raffles Hotel more than an British bank. The owner must have spent lot's of efforts and money to create the beautiful chandeliers and wooden cabinets.

The Bank Bar is located just opposite of Lau Pa Sat, and parking is available at One Shenton.

Started off our dinner with a bottle of Magners Irish Cider Original (S$17). This cider is crisp and has a very faint sweetness.

We love how they decorated the bar with huge portraits of the currency used during the straits settlement era.

The had a one page menu, and we ordered those that were the specialties of The Bank. Our first main was the New Yorker Pizza (S$18.90) with tomato, mozzarella, salami, pepperoni, italian spicy sausage, capsicum, onion. All pizzas are handmade and made-to-order. The crust was light and not as thick as those in pizza hut. Toppings were of good quality.

We also like the Roasted Tomato Soup (S$11.90) with squids and kidney beans. The tomato soup had a creamy tomato taste to it, and we could also taste that the tomatoes were roasted before being reduced into a soup stock. Squid rings and kidney beans were added for texture.

Another of their specialty is the Beef Bourguignon (S$24.90) with potato mouseline, kenya beans and carrots. It's quite a treat to enjoy such good beef bourguignon in a bar and bistro at such a price. The beef chunks were stewed till tender, but still retains the chunkiness.

Food and drinks are served till 1 a.m. from Sundays to Thursdays, and 2 a.m. on Fridays to Saturdays. They are opened at 11a.m. everyday including weekends.

While paying for our dinner, we were surprised that this bar does not charge service charge. Service was good and so was the food.

The Bank Bar + Bistro
1 Shenton Way,
#01-01
One Shenton

Oversea Restaurant @ Shaw Towers

2011-10-25T14:00:00.000+08:00

Another repeat visit to Oversea last week. This time, it was for a birthday celebration.

As with all visits, a must order is their Char Siew (S$20). It's expensive for a small portion, but I find it well worth the money. The outer layer is caramelized with a thick layer of sugar.

Prawns with Beancurd (S$28) - The gravy had a "prawn soup" taste to it.

This Braised Pork with Salted Fish in Claypot (S$16) goes well with white rice, although it's very unhealthy (fatty pork plus salted fish).

The Oversea Special Fried Rice (S$12) received mixed review. For myself, I like the dual texture (fluffy + crispy rice). But some may not like this version.

Kampung Chicken with Chinese Wine in Claypot (S$18) - Didn't really enjoy this dish, because the chicken chunks did not absorb the Chinese wine. Was quite dry.

Black Hokkien Fried Udon (S$23 for medium) - For those who missed authentic KL Hokkien Mee, this is the closest version you can find in Singapore.

The restaurant presented us complimentary servings of this Coconut Dessert (Complimentary). It's actually coconut milk pudding with chunks of coconut flesh inside.

Oversea Restaurant
100 Beach Road,
#01-27
Shaw Leisure Gallery,
Shaw Towers

Hummerstons @ Robertson Walk

2011-10-21T14:00:00.002+08:00

I think of most of us have been to the first floor of Robertson Walk, where most of the restaurants are located. However, a new restaurant opened a few months ago on the 2nd floor, at a corner facing TCC.

The restaurant, Hummerstons, is located just below the "clock tower" at the 2nd floor.

When we stepped inside Hummerstons, we were reminded how similar the decor is to PS Cafe. The food on the menu is also very much "PS Cafe-ish", although they were different. One thing we liked about this place is that it is very spacious and had a very relaxed atmosphere to it. Tables were large and chairs were comfy. Great for gatherings or just to chill out.

After ordering our food, our cutlery came in this cute red "pails". I did some research and found out that the chef here was formerly the head chef from PS Cafe, and that explains the "PS Cafe-ish". Thumbs up for complimentary iced water, and service was excellent. Very prompt and discreet.

We shared the Caramelized Onions Soup (S$14) - Beef and sherry broth with melted mozzarella & grated parmesan. It came warm, but we wanted it to be even warmer. So we sent the soup back and they made it boiling hot. The soup was tasty and also had a nice "beefy" taste to it.

They had a long list of salads, and the Miso Roasted Vegetable Salad (S$22) did not disapoint. It cotained miso roasted seasonal vegetables, short grain brown rice, toasted cashew, mixed greens, chilli-roasted garlic & honey vinaigrette. I enjoyed the salad very much, and portion was good as a main.

They have special off-menus item every day, which you can see on the blackboard in the restaurant.

We also ordered this Country Roasted Chicken (S$27) - Herb rubbed roasted chicken, caramelized onions, capers, olives, carrots, buttery corn mashed potatoes and home gravy. I was surprised at how juicy and tender the breast meat was. The mashed potatoes were creamy and buttery.

Ended our meal with the Blackforest Gateau (S$11) - Chocolate sponge with layers of chocolate mousse, chantilly cream & Kirsch liquor marinated sour cherries. The layers of choco mousse was thick and not overly sweet.

We read from 8 Days that their pancakes were highly recommended, and is served on weekends till 5pm. Think we will be making a trip back soon!

Hummerstons
11 Unity Street,
#02-14
Robertson Walk

Il Cielo @ Hilton Singapore

2011-10-19T15:30:00.000+08:00

Last week, famous Italian caviar brand Calvisius held a 1 week Caviar festival over at Hilton's Il Cielo. Calvisius is famous for its high quality farmed caviar, and according to news reports this helps to ensure sustainable fishing and collection of caviar. We are not experts on caviar, so we decided to come here not only to enjoy, but also to learn more about this delicacy.

We arrived at Il Cielo during the final night of the caviar festival. It was quite empty when we arrived, but at around 8:30pm most tables were filled. About half of the diners were here for the caviar.

We started our caviar feast with a glass of Louis Roederer Prosseco (S$19 per glass).

This was recommended by Calvisius - Caviar Degistation Menu (S$296 for 2 pax) - 4 different tins of 10g caviar, with fresh blinis, vodka scrambled eggs, potatoes, angel hair, lobster, fine raw ombrina, cristal bay prawns crudo and rissotto oysters cooked in champagne

The Calvisius White Sturgeon Caviar (10g tin), in our humble opinion, is the best of all 4 caviar in terms of the taste and texture. The caviar came from the fish Acipenser Transmontanus, and this larger size caviar has a deep sea taste to it.

The second was the Calvisius Oscietra Royal Caviar (10g tin). Oscietra caviar is obtained from the fish Acipenser Gueldenstaedtii. The fish nearly went extinct some years back, but then after careful breeding the fish has now thrived in caviar farms all over the world. This "Royal" caviar has a nutty taste to it.

As the name suggests, the Original Siberian Caviar (10g tin) originated from a Siberian fish Acipenser Baerii from Siberia. There were some historic records that the Russian aristocrats who fled to Europe during the revolution tried to bring over some of this Siberian fish to Europe because they were prized for their caviar. The taste of this caviar is said to be crisp and light.

Finally, the Calvisius Oscietra Classic Caviar (10g tin) has a more intense taste as compared to the "Royal" selection.

Il Cielo has done a good job on the sides. Our favourite are the vodka scrambled eggs, and this Angel Hair with Black Truffles. Although we were suppose to put caviar on them, but they were good enough to eat it on its own.

After the caviar, we were served this Lemon Juice Beverage to cleanse the palate

We ordered the Il Cielo Tuscany Style Tomato Soup with Alaskan Crab (S$18). When it came, there was a transparent cup inside the soup bowl. The service staff will lift the cup up and all the crunchy crab meat will "drop" into the soup.

Find the crab meat fresh and sweet.

Of course, we had to order our favourite Pizza Bosco (S$42) - Porcini, home cured Italian sausage and truffles. Now sure why, but this pizza didn't taste as good as the first time when we were there. We didn't like the overly burnt crust. But the fillings were good.

It's quite warm here in Il Cielo because of its poolside location. Smart casual is recommended here.

Il Cielo
Level 24,
Hilton Singapore
581 Orchard Road

Yan Ting @ St Regis

2011-10-13T16:00:00.000+08:00

St Regis has always been the top spot for Sunday brunch at its various restaurants such as Brasserie Les Saveurs. Another excellent restaurant which provides brunch at this hotel is its Cantonese restaurant Yan Ting, which is located above Les Saveurs.

The main dining hall of Yan Ting is actually not very big as compared to other restaurants. About half of is space is VIP rooms. So do remember to make a booking if you want to brunch here.

The 2 of us had the Weekend Brunch (S$98++) with free flow of featured wine, draft beer and juices (Orange, Lime and Pink Guava). As there were only 2 diners, we have asked them to serve just 2 of each item.

The shark's fins soup is a "single-order" item. We must really commend Yan Ting for the excellent version of Braised Shark's Fins with Crab Roe and Meat. The chicken stock was really good, and they were very generous with the shark's fins and crab roe. I think just this bowl alone would have costs more than S$20?

Another "single-order" item was half a serving of lobster. Here, diners can choose 3 ways to cook their half lobster. The first style we selected was the Wok-Baked Lobster with Garlic and Butter. The garlic was fried till crisp in melted butter, and it was really fragrant. And not forgetting the fresh and sweet lobster meat.

The other style we had was the Gratinated Lobster with Cheese and Bacon. Initially I was worried that the cheese and bacon will overpower the lobster meat, but fortunately the cheese was not too strong tasting, and it actually complimented the texture and taste of the lobster.

I like Yan Ting's version of Char Siew Pastry. The pastry crust was very buttery and not dry at all. Char Siew fillings were acceptable.

It was also a delight to munch on these mini pan fried carrot cakes. We believed Yan Ting chose top grades chinese waxed sausages as they were fragrant without the "stale oil" smell.

We also had some steamed dim sum such as this Yin Yang Vegetable adn Prawn Dumplings.

And the Siew Mai, which was big, juicy and crunchy.

I am always a fan of this classic Cantonese dish - Sweet and Sour Pork with Tri-Colour Peppers and Pineapple. It's so common and simple that chefs don't usually bother about making a good version. Am glad that the chef at Yan Ting think otherwise. The pork was still crunchy even though it was glazed, and the inner pork meat was still juicy and moist.

Unfortunately, the same could not be said about the Cantonese Roast Pork. When it came, we were disappointed with the colour of the skin. The meat was dry and too salty.

Our taste buds were revived again with this Stir Fried Prawns with XO Sauce. Yan Ting's XO sauce must be one of the best XO sauce in Singapore. It's not overly spicy, and diners can still taste the dried seafood in the sauce. I wanted to order another portion of this, but decided not to because more dishes were to come.

This is our 2nd round of fruit juices. Would recommend diners to skip their Lime juice which is too sour.

Another excellent pork dish was this Pork Ribs in Orange-Cointreau Glaze. The pork was tender and juicy, and every single piece had a golden orange glaze.

We saw this interesting dish on the menu - Baked Duck Drumstick with Honey and Orange Sauce. Regretted ordering this because the duck meat was too dry.

I was searching for egg tarts and could not find it on the menu. Then I flipped to the dessert menu and found them there. These yummy tarts came pipping hot fresh from the oven.

Their Steam Live Soon Hock with Preserved Radish was also very fresh and sweet. Some may not like their preserved radish, but I find it acceptable.

By now, we are so full that we nearly had no space for desserts. So we decided to share just one Gui Lin Herbal Jelly with Honey.

Yan Ting
29 Tanglin Road
The St. Regis

Oversea Restaurant @ Shaw Towers

2011-10-11T15:00:00.000+08:00

Over the past few months, I have read a few reviews about Oversea Restaurants. Like most restaurants, reviews have been mixed. Some say that the food here is not as good as expected, while others say it is on par with its main HQ in Malaysia.

Oversea does not serves Tim Sum during lunch time, so be prepared to pay "dinner" price when coming here for lunch.

Our lunch started with their in-house Pickles (S$2). It's marinated black fungus with some vegetables.

When we called to reserve seats, the first thing the service staff asked over the phone is whether we want to pre-order their BBQ Pork Char Siew (S$20 for small) because it is selling out fast. Like any other Singaporeans, we quickly reserve a portion. But when we reached there, we saw many many Char Siew hanging at the roast meat corner. Nevertheless, Oversea's Char Siew is one of the best in Singapore. It's done KL style without the artificial red food colouring. The Char Siew has a caramelized crust and the pork is very tender and juicy. It's expensive, but worth the price.

We also ordered the Chicken Soup with Scallops (S$8.80 per person). This non-herbal clear soup was good with lot's of ingredients inside.

Initially, we didn't want to order white rice. But when we saw this pipping hot Braised Pork with Salted Fish in Claypot (S$16) brought to our table, we could not resist ordering rice to go with this. Lot's of tender pork braised with their special black sauce. Although the dish says there is salted fish, but in the end we only found a few pieces in the claypot. Still, it was yummy.

Also had a serving of the Stir Fried String Bean Macadamia Nut (S$9.80). The taste of this veegtable dish is similar to the fillings inside a Yam Ring dish.

We saw a table being served this black noodles dish when we first entered the restaurant. And we knew we had to order one. The K.L. Black Hokkien Udon (S$15 for small), was one of the most authentic KL black hokkien noodles you can find in Singapore. As this is a Malaysian restaurant, you can be sure that this is as authentic as what you can find in their Malaysia branch. However, as they could not find similar yellow noodles in Singapore, udon was used to replaced the KL noodles. To me, Oversea managed to retain the taste and "wok hei" of the black KL noodles. Worth a try if you miss this dish from KL.

Ended lunch with this Fruit Jelly Almonds Seeds (S$5)

and Sea Coconut with Longan (S$3.80)

We are usually here for lunch, hence we do not know what the crowd is like during dinner time. However, it is always better to call and book before coming here as Chinese restaurants in the CBD area tends to be crowded during dinner time.

Oversea Restaurant
100 Beach Road,
#01-27
Shaw Leisure Gallery,
Shaw Towers

Prive Restaurant @ Marina at Keppel Bay

2011-10-07T16:00:00.001+08:00

It's been a while since we dined at Prive. I think the location there is a problem as there is virtually nothing much to see and do at Marina Keppel Bay. But still, we made the effort to return here for dinner one night.

Prive is divided into a few sections, and tonight we are going to the restaurant section.

The crowd was not as big as we thought on a Saturday evening. Still quite a few empty tables here and there.

We were first served a variety of breads from their Prive bakery.

This is followed by an Organic Mushroom Soup (S$13) garnished with white truffle oil, mascarpone & Parmesan Crisp

As we are having lot's of red meat later, we thought that we should balance it with the House Salad (S$8) with micro herbs, olives, oven toasted tomatoes, walnuts & French Vinaigrette.

For our main course, we had the Ribeye Steak (S$68), USDA Prime Angus 340g with vegetables. The steak was cooked to a nice medium, as we had instructed them.

The other steak we had was this 280g Bone-in Kurobuta Pork (S$48) from Snake River Farm USA. The meat was served with apple, apple brine and spices, and it was juicy and not as dry as we thought.

For non-beef eaters, Prive also serves other meat dishes such as this Braised French Duck Leg (S$28) with Pearl Barley Risotto, Blood Orange Segments & Spiced Duck Jus.

There were quite a few dessert selections from their menu. We could not make up our mind and so we ordered the Dessert Platter (S$32 for 2). This 6 mini dessert selection came with Lemon Meringue Tart, Lychee Granite, Profiterole, Apple Strudel, Sticky Date Pudding, Chocolate Cake and Vanilla Bean Ice-Cream

Prive Restaurant
2 Keppel Bay Vista,
Ground Floor
Marina at Keppel Bay

Feng Shui Inn (Global Gourmet Kitchen - Chef Lai Yau Tim) @ Resorts World Sentosa

2011-10-05T14:00:00.000+08:00

Those who have been to Hong Kong might have heard of Tim's Kitchen, which has been awarded Michelin stars for both its restaurants in Hong Kong and Macau. This week, 2 Michelin stars Chef Lai Yau Tim from Tim’s Kitchen in Hong Kong, Macau and Shanghai has been invited by Resorts World Sentosa to cook for diners here. We have never been to their restaurants in North Asia, so decided to drop in for a visit this week.

The chef is here from 30 September to 9 October 2011. As it is now autumn in Hong Kong, the menu is mostly dishes meant for this season.

For those who has never been to Feng Shui Inn, you have to go to Crockfords Tower at RWS. Follow the signs and take the lift to the lower level (where the Casino VIP entrance is). The restaurant is not in the casino area, so diners need not pay the levy to eat there.

Feng Shui Inn has specially crafted a few special set meals and ala carte items by Chef Lai. We decided to order the 福兴财旺套餐 Thriving Prosperity Set - S$138 per person (minimum of 2 persons)

Our first dish was this 龙飞凤舞 Flight of the Dragon and Phoenix - Combination of Fish Maw braised to a delicate tenderness with Shredded Chicken in a thick superior sauce. We were disappointed because the soup was not served pipping hot. Moreover, the soup is a bit too salty for our taste bud. But there were lot's of ingredients inside.

Fortunately, the next few dishes fared much much better. The 良辰美景 Melody of Appetizers - Deep-fried Crispy Shredded Oyster Mushrooms with Hong Kong Dried Shrimps, Chilled Goose Meat Rolls, Frog Legs with Chef's own special recipe, was one of the better and unique appetizers we have tasted in Singapore. Special mention for the Crispy Shredded mushrooms with HK dried shrimps. The dried shrimps were very fragrant. I also like the goose meat rolls which had a smokey taste to it.

田园春梦 Fields of Dream - Stir-fried hand-picked Fresh Garden Greens, is actually just a plate of plain vegetables. Nothing special to it.

We were equally pleased with the 年年有余 Fortune Follows - Gently sliced steamed "East Star Grouper with Superior Soya Sauce and Spring Onions. Fish meat was firm but sweet, and very fresh. I think steam fish can never go wrong when cooked by an experienced HK chef.

Equally good was this 凤舞齐天 Dance of the Phoenix - Roasted Crispy "Golden" Chicken with Chef's own special seasoning. The skin is crisp and almost "oil-less", and the meat is tasty and tender.

One of the best dish for the day was the 美如冠玉 Jade Crown's Charm - Delightfully Steamed Whole Sri Lanka Crab Claw with Winter Melon. Everyone knows that crab meat is at its sweetest after Mid Autumn Festival, and the Sri Lanka crab claw, which has been deshelled, is very meaty and sweet. The piece of winter melon complimented the crab claw.

The 牛气冲天 Heavenly Charge - Wok-tossed Rice with Minced Beef, Onions & Shallots, is very different from Yang Chow Fried Rice. I would say that this is best described the taste as nearer to fried glutinous rice than fried rice.

When the 祥龙吐珠 Dragon's Pearl of Fortune was presented to us, we thought it was scallops. It was after tasting it that we found out that the "scallop" was actually stir fried Crystal King Prawn. The chef has painstakingly removed the red "skin" from the prawn. The prawn was very fresh and the whole dish was extremely tasty.

Now, the final dish we had was this much talked about 一枝独秀 Perfect Elegance - Braised Pomelo Skin with Prawn Roe. This was suppose to be Chef Lai's signature special. The Pomelo Skin, which is usually thrown away, is braised and cooked with Prawn Roe. I think this dish, may not be popular in Singapore. The first is that the prawn roe sauce had a very "Prawny" smell to it. The second is that the Pomelo Skin, which has been braised till tender, was still pretty tasteless. I am not sure why this is his signature dish, because I prefer Chef Lai's other dishes.

Ended our meal with the 金风玉露 Autumn Dew - Steamed Almond Cream with Egg White and Red Dates Cake. I find the Almond Cream quite ordinary, but the Red Dates Cake was delicious.

Overall verdict is that for Chef Lai's set menu, there are some hits and misses. But still, I will return here again because the service at Feng Shui Inn is one of the better ones we have enjoyed at a Chinese restaurant in Singapore. Full marks for their service.

Feng Shui Inn
8 Sentosa Gateway,
Basement 1-M
Crockfords Tower,
Resorts World Sentosa

PorterHouse @ Killiney Road

2011-10-02T11:00:00.012+08:00

When we 1st saw this signboard PH along Killiney Road, we thought the shop name was called "Public Holiday". But upon closer inspection, PH actually means Porter House here. And those who had been to New York would know that PorterHouse is a famous steak restaurant in New York. However, the PorterHouse here in Singapore is not related to that in New York.

In fact, the chef is from Argentina, and this is billed as a South American steak house. We heard that PorterHouse is also related to Ministry of Steak over at Maju Avenue.

The complimentary bread is cold. We don't like cold bread, and didn't finish these few pieces of bread.

The Soup of the Day - Mushroom Soup (S$10) was full of mushroom flavours. And the presentation was beautiful. However, they could go easy on the olive oil.

We moved straight to the main course - steaks. The Ribeye - Australia Natural Grass Fed 250g (S$32) was tender and flavourful. Although it was the cheapest steak at S$32, but quality was not compromised. It's definitely much better than the 2 famous chains of steak house in Singapore. But still not as good as Cut over at MBS.

We also had the Tenderloin - USDA Black Angus Grain Fed 200g (S$59). Although the size is smaller, but t's a pricier cut because it's of a higher grade and quality.

Our beef was cooked to medium, which was what we requested. The juice of the beef made the cut juicy.

All steaks come with a side and sauce. We had Silky Mash Potatoes and Home Made French Fries. Strongly recommend their French Fries. It was 100% home made and it remained crisp after 15 minutes under the cold air con. The mashed potatoes were also good too. The 2 sauces we had were the highly recommended Chimichurri Sauce and PorterHouse MooMoo Sauce. There was a difference of opinion. Some prefer the Chimichurri Sauce, which is made from chopped garlic, parsley, chilli and other vegetables and mixed with oil + vinegar, as the tangy taste complimented the steaks. Others will prefer the MooMoo Sauce which is a red wine beef reduction.

PorterHouse
111 & 113 Killiney Road

Stacked Dim Sum Bar @ Robertson Quay

2011-09-30T14:00:00.000+08:00

When I saw the words "Dim Sum Bar", I wonder what is that? A bar selling dim sum? Does dim sum goes well with beer? Eating dim sum while watching live sports on TV?

We are here to find out tonight. Located next to Red House Seafood along Robertson Quay at The Quayside, Stacked is opened by the daughter of Red House's owner.

Stacked sells not only ordinary beer, but also unique Asian beer such as this North Taiwan Honeydew Beer (S$9.00) and North Taiwan Lychee Beer (S$9.00). It's nothing new to merge fruits and beer together, but the sweet and fruity Taiwan beer was one of the best fruit beers we had in years. We especially like the Lychee version which matches perfectly with the crisp light beer.

This is not your ordinary Dim Sum restaurant, but more of a bar. So it's more suitable for friends and colleagues rather than families and children.

Our first round of Dim Sum consisted of several classics and new items. Clockwise from top: Steamed Haw Kau (S$6.90), Steam Creamy Custard Pau (S$5.90), Steam Chilli Pau (S$8.90), Steamed Siew Mai (S$6.90), Peking Duck Dumplings (S$8.90). The Dim Sum are pretty decent, but I would say a bit pricey as compared to other places.

To be on the safe side, our advise is to order those which consists of seafood. Such as this Chilli Crab Pau. We had the steam version and the pau skin was light. Initially, I thought there was too little chilli crab inside, but after eating it, I think the proportion was just right. And the filling is real 100% authentic chilli crab sauce + real crab meat, and not fake crab sticks.

Free flow of condiments at each table, such as the classic dim sum chilli sauce, vinegar, soya sauce etc.

We had the XO Carrot Cake (S$8.50). Although good, I thought that it could have been better. Nevertheless, it was a good carbo filler.

If you are still wondering why this place is called Stacked, it's because of these unique square shaped dim sum containers. Many diners had fun stacking them up.

The Mango Sago Pomelo (S$7.90), which was suppose to be our dessert, came quickly.

Another of their specialty is the Black Sauce Pork Belly Buns (S$9.50). The meat is 30% fats and 70% tender pork. Diners can sandwich these braised pork within the steamed lotus buns which come together with the pork. Very flavourful and tasty.

As mentioned, Stacked does very good seafood dishes, as they are all prepared from the same kitchen in Red House. The Mildly Spicy Salted Egg Squid (S$12) was crispy and addictive.

A dish which uses "Ang Mor" ingredients in an Asian way is the English Cumberland Sausage Dumplings (S$8.90). These pork sausages are mashed and stuffed inside wanton skins before deep fried.

I didn't really like the Szechuan Fish Dumpling (S$8.50), which was too oily for me.

Stacked is one of the most innovative bar and the dim sum here is actually quite good and on par with some of the Cantonese restaurants in Singapore. As portions are small, the bill also adds up quickly.

Stacked Dim Sum Bar
60 Robertson Quay,
#01-13
The Quayside

Shabu Shabu Gen @ Shaw Centre

2011-09-28T11:00:00.007+08:00

Since 2009, Les Amis has bought almost all the available shop space at Scotts Road behind Shaw Centre and International Building. Here, we have fine dining, bistro, and also an authentic shabu shabu Japanese restaurant.

The restaurant had a unique entrance. Shabu Shabu Gen serves only A4 and A5 quality Japanese marbled beef, and even its copper soup pots are imported from Japan.

Hence, you know that every Shabu Shabu meal here is the real deal. But we have also heard good comments about their pork shabu shabu, hence today we are here to try their pork version of the shabu shabu.

We started off our meal with a series of appetizer (S$3 each), where the first was this fresh salad.

It was followed by this tender and fatty Buta Kakuni which translates to braised fatty pork.

Shabu Shabu also serves a wonderful Foie Gras. It was a delight to see how this French ingredient is presented in a Japanese way.

On first look, this looks like sharks' fins. But it's actually Mozuku Su (S$12) - This is a very appetizing Mozuku seaweed with a vinegar dressing. The seaweed is crunchy and has a tangy taste to it.

We also ordered another dish called Beef Sashimi (S$38), where the top grade raw beef is dipped in the egg and spring onion before eaten.

And here comes the Pork Loin Shabu Shabu (S$85 for 2) along with this authentic real copper pot for cooking the pork. We saw UOB's Wee Ee Chong there as well, and you can see him in the photograph above.

The pork shabu shabu came with different toppings to go along, such as freshly chopped spring onions.

There was also a variety of dipping sauce to dip the wonderful pork which includes the Goma (sesame sauce, Yuzu (citrus) sauce and ponzu (Vinegar soya) sauce.

Although the quantity was little, however the quality of the pork made up for it. This is Black pork which came from Kagoshima, Japan. The pork was very tender and almost melt in your mouth, yet you can still taste the pork.

After finishing the pork, the service staff added a pot full of fresh vegetables.

Noodles were also added to make this shabu shabu meal a complete meal. You can just imagine how sweet the soup was after cooking both the pork and vegetables inside.

We were given complimentary Japanese Desserts after our pork shabu shabu meal.

And separately, we ordered the Kuzukiri (S$7 each) too to end our meal on a sweet note.

We had an enjoyable Shabu Shabu here and would definitely return again.

Shabu Shabu Gen
1 Scotts Road,
#02-13
Shaw Centre

Ootoya @ Clementi Mall

2011-09-25T11:00:00.000+08:00

It used to be difficult to eat at Ootoya because there is only 1 outlet in Singapore, and the queue is never ending. Then, they opened another outlet at Suntec. Within a few months, the 3rd branch at Clementi Mall started operation.

Ootoya serves pretty good quality Japanese food, and you can get a meal within S$20. Service varies branch to branch, and also depending on the crowd size. I was at their Clementi Mall outlet on a weekday afternoon, and their customers here are mostly families and Japanese housewives who have just finished their shopping at Holland Village.

Ootoya serves free iced water. In fact, I notice that most Japanese restaurants here will offer free tap water when diners are seated without even asking.

Had the Oyakojyu Set (S$15.50) - Grilled chicken with egg on rice. The set came with appetizer (a chicken + vegetable stew), salad, miso soup and roasted seaweed.

Portion was big and the chicken had this aromatic BBQ taste to it. Would recommend this dish if this is your first time here, and you want to avoid fried food (which Ootoya is also famous for).

Ootoya
3155 Commonwealth Ave West,
#03-53
The Clementi Mall

Roadhouse @ Dempsey Road

2011-09-23T14:00:00.000+08:00

Dempsey has seen many restaurants come and go, the most recent addition being Roadhouse, which belongs to the Prive group of restaurants. Roadhouse serves mainly hearty American food, and burgers are their specialty.

The whole environment is a very laid back US atmosphere. It's noisy and you can hear the cluttering of the metal knives against their plates. Certainly not a place you want to be if you want a quiet meal.

It's an american style eatery, but we are having beer from elsehwere. First is the arch rival of US - China's Tsingtao beer. Next is Belgium's Stella Artois. Both are light and crisp beer, which went well with all the oily and fried stuffs we are having.

Free ice water is served here too.

Our mains actually came before our starters. The Bacon Marinated Burger (S$26) was just sufficient for a guy's appetite. 200g Josper-grilled Wagyu patty, homemade buns, melted gorgonzola, streaky bacon, caramelized onions, aioli & sauteed mushrooms. Served with fries and coleslaw. Wouldn't say that this was the best burger in Singapore, but it's pretty decent.

Our favourite dish of the day - Shrimp in a Blanket (S$18) - Jumbo shrimps wrapped in maple roasted bacon served with roasted tomates & jalapeno salsa. Just look at how shiny the bacon and prawns were. And it tasted really good. Anything with bacon tastes good.

Equally good was the Tomato Braised Ox Tongue (S$24) with summer vegetables and potatoes. Portion was ok and the dish was hearthy enough for 2 as a starter. Ox tongue was tender, and the vegetables were tender soft.

I found the Wet & Wild Mushroom Soup (S$10) rather ordinary.

The Business Times rated their BBQ Kurobuta Baby Back Ribs (S$26 for half rack) with crispy Cajun onion rings & Roadhouse special BBQ sauce as very plump and tender. And that is how I felt after trying it. But the ribs were not as meaty as I had hope that it would be. Extra points for their crisp onion rings. Next time, I will order a separate portion of their onion rings.

The whole place fills up very quickly during peak hours, so it is advisable to call to make a reservation before coming down. And for those who are not familiar with this area, they are behind Jumbo Seafood.

Roadhouse
13 Dempsey Road,
#01-07

Grandma's Restaurant @ Orchard Parade Hotel

2011-09-21T11:00:00.000+08:00

Those who have been to Kuala Lumpur will know this famous Malaysian food chain of restaurant called Madam Kwan, which serves excellent Nasi Lemak and other Malaysian dishes from all the different races.

According to sources, the former chef of Madam Kwan has packed his bag and came to Singapore to open a similar concept restaurant, named Grandma's. Although they are famous for their Nasi Lemak, we decided to try something different today.

We love how generous they are in giving us not 1, but 2 bottles of tap water. It's a drink all you can feast! If only all restaurants can learn from them.

I like the thick gravy from the Claypot Tofu (S$8.90), especially when mixed with white rice. The tofu was not the usual circular egg tofu, but a softer silken square tofu which has been fried and stewed with seafood and meat.

White Rice (S$1.50 per person)

Special recommendation for their Beef Rendang (S$9.90). The rendang is not too spicy, and my tongue tells me that there are lot's of spices in this dish. The beef was really tender and not too dry.

Had this Dumpling Soup (S$10.90). There were only a few dumplings inside the soup, and so we won't recommend ordering this.

We like the Chendol (S$3.90) and Bubur Cha Cha (S$3.90), all served cold. Though the chendol was good, but the red bean was of inferior quality. My opinion is that so far, the Penang Cafe opposite of Novena Church serves the best version of Malaysian chendol.

Grandma's Restaurant
1 Tanglin Road,
#01-13
Orchard Parade Hotel

Brasserie Les Saveurs @ The St. Regis Singapore

2011-09-19T15:00:00.001+08:00

One of our favourite thing to do on a lazy Sunday morning is just to sit back, and have a long brunch over breakfast and lunch. So far, the quality of the Sunday Brunch at St Regis Singapore has been ranked on of the tops here in our blog.

We like the concept of having a full buffet spread together with some hors d'oeuvres which the service staffs will bring out to each table from time to time. Diners will also get to select a main course during the buffet, which is specially cooked by their chef.

Here we have 3 different varieties of raw oysters, prawns, crabs, etc

The oysters were fresh and sweet.

Plus more trays of meat

They also had local favourites like achar. As you can see, I love to eat chilled prawns, and Les Saveurs offered a wide variety of chilled prawns done in different styles.

Some of the hors d'oeuvres that was served to us throughout the buffet brunch.

there were several choices of main courses for the brunch. the first choice was this juicy and sweet scallops.

the beef main course was easily one of the best in Singapore. The meat is tender and bursting with flavours.

3 different sauces to go with the beef.

Time for desserts. Their range of desserts is mind boggling!

They did a wonderful version of our favourite macaron. We also like their chocolate cakes and tarts.

They even have a mobile dessert station where the chef moves this station from table to table to make this strawberry dessert next to you.

Overall, we had a wonderful time here at Les Saveurs. Great food and service.

Brasserie Les Saveurs
29 Tanglin Road,
The St. Regis Singapore

Ramen Champion @ Iluma Bugis

2011-09-16T14:00:00.004+08:00

Ramen Champion is a new ramen concept "food court" in Singapore. The whole concept is that 6 famous and authentic ramen shops in Japan are invited by a Japanese operator to open their shop within this ramen food court. Diners can eat from any of the stalls, and at the end of the meal diners will vote for their favourite ramen shop. The whole thing last for one year till June 2012, and the winner will be able to set up an overseas branch here in Singapore with the help of the operator.

The first Ramen Champion actually started in Bangkok. Singapore is the 2nd place with such a concept. Before coming, I did some research and found out that the most popular and longest queue ramen shop in Japan is actually Tetsu.

The craze of eating Tsukemen ramen began a few years back in Japan. The Japanese slowly began to appreciate how flavourful and delicious such ramen is. The noodles is QQ and you dip the noodles in a ultra rich stock. The process is similar to eating cold soba, but the flavour and taste is totally different.

The ordering process is simple and similar to how you will order in Marche. When you enter Ramen Champion, the staff will hand you a card. Hand the card to the stall owner when ordering.

After ordering from the stall, they will give you an electronic buzzer. When your noodles is ready, the buzzer will light up, vibrate and make a buzzing sound. Bring the buzzer to the counter to pick up your food. After finishing your food, go to the main cashier and give the card to the cashier for payment.

The number one ramen in Tetsu is the Very Rich Paitan Tsukemen (S$11) from Tetsu which originated from Tokyo. The concentrated dipping soup stock is made from both pork and chicken. Soup had toppings of Char Siew (1 piece), Bamboo Shoots and Leeks. They have another even richer version made from Seafood, Pork and Chicken.

And I can say that this Tsukemen is THE BEST ramen I have ever tried. It's different from the hot soup + noodles kind of ramen we are all familiar with. The texture of the noodles here is chewey. Although the noodles is served cold, but when dipped in the hot broth, it's very very tasty. And the thick rich stock suits me well. It's not for drinking, but strictly for dipping only.

I also ordered the Big Fried Chicken (S$3) and Gyoza (S$5 for 4 pieces) - All from Ikkousha which originated from Hakata. I like the fried chicken and will certainly order it from Ikkousha again, but not sure about their Gyoza.

This is my first time having Sapporo Beer (S$7.50 for 334ml) with ramen, and it went very well. The hot and cold combination works. We also ordered Ice Coffee (S$3.80).

It was after reading this ramen blog http://ramenwalker.blogspot.com/2011/07/tsukemen-tetsu-tetsu-ramen-champion.html that I found out that halfway through, you can actually request for a hot stone from the stall. The guy will bring it to your table and throw it into the soup to make it bubbly hot again. And after finishing the noodles, you can dilute the rich stock with Dashi Stock from their counter, and drink the diluated but very flavourful soup. Shall do it the next time I am there again!

The Juicy Yaki Gyoza (S$6.90 for 6) from Tetsu is delicious. The gyoza is first steam, and then seared and pan fried for a while. The base of the Gyoza is crisp and the top is moist and juicy.

The last ramen we had was the Negitama Ramen (S$11) which is a black shoyu ramen from the shop Menya Iroha from Tokyo. Personally, I didn't find anything special about this shoyu ramen. Perhaps I was too excited over the ramen from Tetsu, that this Negitama ramen paled in comparison. If there is something nice about this ramen, it will be the char siew. The other toppings are the egg, seaweed, leeks and bamboo shoots.

I will definitely be back for Tetsu again.

Ramen Champion
201 Victoria Street,
#04-08/09
Iluma @ Bugis

Hansang Korean Charcoal Barbecue @ Holland Village

2011-09-14T11:00:00.000+08:00

We are in Holland Village on a warm late afternoon, and was searching for something nice for lunch when we chance upon Hansang Korean Charcoal Barbecue restaurant which is very near to the Holland Village food centre.

Even though it was way past the lunch time hours, but the restaurant was still opened for business. In fact, they were all smiles when we walked in.

We had their special Mogua (quince) Tea (S$2.10), which is a Korean specialty tea.

Ordered the BBQ Set for 2 (S$88), which included a selection of pork and chicken to be BBQ by the staff over the gas stove. Just like every Korean restuarant, we were served a wide selection of Korean appetizers. Free refills if you finish any of the appetizers. They were delicious.

The pork was laid out over the gas BBQ to be roasted. Some raw vegetables were also added to ad some crunch. I love how beautiful the pork was while being grilled.

After the pork, the chicken was cooked for us on the grill.

The grilled pork were juicy and flavourful.

We also ordered the Ginseng Chicken Soup (S$18 for half pot). It's not bad, with the wholesome ginseng taste and tender chicken meat.

Personally, I prefer the Beef Stew Soup which came with the set. It came with chunks of beef, fresh vegetables and a spicy soup base. It's a healthy and hearty soup stew.

Ended the meal with the complimentary tea, watermelon shaped like a heart. and some Korean mochi cakes.

If you are in Holland Village and looking for Korean food, Hansang is a pretty safe choice.

Hansang Korean Charcoal Barbecue
20 Lorong Mambong,
Holland Village

Cafe Oriental @ The Amara Hotel

2011-09-11T11:00:00.000+08:00

While the entire Amara shopping complex is now under renovation, but the eateries in the Amara hotel remain opened. We discovered this small Cafe Oriental section inside The Amara which is like a hotel lounge serving local fares.

The entire decor is like a kopitiam. Retro looking.

As it was tea time, we only ordered some light snacks. The Kueh Pie Tee (S$5.50) had generous fillings and the "cups" were crisp despite the wet fillings.

Their signature dessert is the Durian Chendol (S$4.90). The durian is "freshly" extracted and placed in a small tub. Sweet and creamy.

Durian haters can go for the Chocolate Ice-Cream Ice Kacang (S$4.90). I was looking for an original ice kacang as I don't really like mixing ice-creams in local desserts. Still, their version was acceptable and especially welcoming on a warm and humid afternoon.

Cafe Oriental
165 Tanjong Pagar Road,
1 floor
The Amara Hotel

Pavilion Restaurant @ Craig Place

2011-09-09T15:00:00.000+08:00

We are back at Pavilion Restaurant again. No relations to the Paradise group, and this is a stand alone Chinese restaurant located in the heart of the Duxton Hill area. And what's better is that they are opened for Yum Cha on both Satudays and Sundays.

I think not many people know they are opened as they are located inside a rather dead area in Craig Place. Started off our yum cha with Tie Guan Ying tea (S$5 for 2 person)

We ordered a tasting porting of the Braised Abalone (3 head) in Truffle Sauce (S$58) as they combined both things we love. The abalone was smooth and soft. Unfortunately, we could not taste much of the truffle in the sauce.

The Fried Prawn Dumplings (S$4.50), our first dim sum item, was crisp on the outside and had a generous amount of prawns inside.

We also enjoyed the Steamed Shao Mai with Fish Roe (S$4.50), which had real crunchy chunks of prawns.

We love our soups, and Pavilion's version of their Double Boiled Herbal Soup (S$12) had a strong chinese herbs taste which we like. After one sip and you know it is full of nutriton.

A unique item here is the Pan-Seared Scallops in Lemongrass (S$10). It's something different from the scallop + bacon match. The lemongrass taste did infuse into the sweet scallops.

Another special item was the Fried Fish Noodles with Eggplant (S$8). The sauce is slightly spicy, and from my understanding the noodles was made with a fish + flour mixture.

Ended our Dim Sum lunch with desserts like Avocado Puree with Vanilla Ice-Cream (S$6)

and our favourite Mini Egg Tarts (S$4.80). The egg tarts were of good quality.

We saw this Chilled Red Beans with Coconut Ice-Cream (S$8) on the menu. Find it rather ordinary as this dessert is now found in many Chinese restaurants in Singapore. But still, quality was acceptable.

Would recommend this restaurant as the dim sum is good and there is no need to call and reserve on weekends. Good for those who wants to have dim sum in a relax environment.

Pavilion Restaurant
20 Craig Road,
#01-02
Craig Place

Sling Conceptual Dining @ Ann Siang Hill

2011-09-07T12:00:00.000+08:00

Those who frequent Club Street will know about SHOTS, which is a cafe set up by photo enthusiasts. Not too long ago, they have opened a proper restaurant upstairs which looks like a swimming pool.

The wall is decorated with cool blue mosaic, and the entire set up is quite cosy and sits maybe around 20 diners.

When we were there, there did not have any ala carte menus yet. So we settled for the value for money Set Lunches (S$40 each for PH+ or PH-). Very interesting for them to split their set lunches into alkaline and acidic.

The service staff recommended us the Santa Vittoria Italian Sparkling Water (S$8). It's a refreshing soft water which went well with our lunch.

First was the appetizer: Fetta Cheese with Baby Spinach, Cherry Tomatoes and Orange Dressing. The salad is crisp and had a tangy taste to it. Very appetizing.

Another appetizer from the other set lunch was the Marinated Salmon Salad with Pesto Sauce. It's good, but the salmon was rather ordinary.

We enjoyed our 2 mains. First being the Oven Roasted Barramundi with Seasoned Vegetables, Gratin Potato and Olive Cream Sauce. The Barramundi fish was good, but perhaps it was not suitable for such a creamy dish. A softer and smoother fish would be a better match.

On the other hand, the Thai Spices Chicken with Seasoned Vegetables, sauteed potatoes and Green Curry Sauce. It tasted like a dry version of green curry chicken, and I prefer this over the fish.

They ran out of their set meal dessert, so we had a replacement Tiramisu instead. This turned out to be an excellent decision because tiramisu is a specialty of Shots Cafe downstairs. I would rate their Tiramisu to be one of the top 5 in Singapore. Creamy and full of flavours.

Sling is one of the rare quiet place for lunch in the crowded CBD area. And they are also opened on Saturday for both lunch and dinner.

Sling Conceptual Dining
8A Ann Siang Hill

TOKYO 2011: Dashichazuke EN @ Narita Airport Terminal 1

2011-09-04T20:25:00.000+08:00

Even at the last moment before leaving Tokyo, we were still hunting for yummy food and the location now has shifted to Narita Airport Terminal 1.

Narita Airport Terminal 1 is where our plane Singapore Airlines will take off. As our plane is departing at 8pm and it will be one more hour before they serve dinner onboard at 9pm, we decided to have an early dinner before checking-in.

Do note that most of their restaurants and food outlets at Narita Terminal 1 are BEFORE the immigration gates, so if you want to have a meal before boarding, you should first eat at their airport restaurants before passing through the immigration gates.

Iced water is served to all diners. The Dashichazuke is similar to our local Teochew Porridge, where stock are added to rice. But the stock in Japan is made by simmering bonito flakes with konbu, and has a light fragrant taste to it.

We ordered the Narita exclusive Unagi Set (1000 yen) which comes with the main Unagi + rice, 2 side dishes and Japanese pickles. Inside the unagi rice course are seaweeds, sesame and fried egg.

The stock is served in a tea pot. The actual way of eating is to scoop a little rice and the meat (unagi) into a small bowl, and pour just enough stock into the small bowl. However, we decided to pour some into the big bowl for photography purpose.

We also ordered the Deep Fried Shrimps, Shellfish and Fish Cake set (750 yen).

The stock is delicious when mixed with the rice and seafood.

Over the past 9 days we had both new and traditional cuisines from Tokyo, and this is a reflection of what Japan is. Embracing the new while respecting old traditions.

Our culinary Tokyo trip brought us many surprises and yummy treats, Although Tokyo is darker than usual during night time, but it did not deter us from fully enjoying our 9 days in Tokyo.

Dashichazuke EN
Narita Airport Terminal 1,
Central Bldg,
4th Floor
http://www.dashichazuke-en.com/index.shtml

TOKYO 2011: Chez Matsuo (Traiteur), Sabou Oiwake, Takano Fruit Parlor @ Shinjuku

2011-09-01T15:30:00.000+08:00

Tokyo is a city where you get to enjoy a variety of cuisines at almost every place. Here are 2 places we had some light meals in Tokyo.

The first was at the basement of Takashimaya Times Square at Shinjuku. This place is really a Disneyland for anyone who likes to explore supermarkets and their eateries. Singapore shops should learn a few tips from them on how to display their food at their glass cabinets.

We settled for Chez Matsuo's little shop at Takashimaya's basement. Chez Matsuo has a range of different restaurants serving French food with Japanese ingredients. Their main restaurant in Tokyo was awareded 1 Michelin star, and they have several smaller cafes and eateries all over Japan.

This small shop sells frozen freeze-packs of their stews. But for those who want something light, they have a small corner with seats for 6 diners.

Diners are first treated to their marinated summer vegetable salad and a piece of bread.

The bread came in handy to mop up the sauces from the Chicken with curry spices. The curry here is more Indian than Japanese, and the chicken meat was very tender and flavourful.

Another main dish we had was this Hamburger with Mushroom Sauce (893 yen), made from premium beef and creamy mushroom and champagne sauce. Again, the meat was very tender and flavourful.

We also ordered a bowl of Vegetable soup to wash our food down.

Across the street at the Shinjuku subway station, there is a branch of the very popular Sabou Oiwake, which serves some of the best traditional Japanese desserts and sweet snacks.

As it was a humid and warm summer, we ordered the Green Tea Shaved Ice with Red Beans (1,100 yen). The ice was shaved till very fine (unlike the shaved ice in our ice-kachang), and the red beans were of excellent quality. They were also evry generous with the portion. At 1,100 yen, it was expensive, but still worth every single cent.

We also ordered the Traditional Mochi Dessert set (1,100 yen each). There were so much to eat in this set. Surprisingly, our favourite dessert was the one which was savoury - chewey mochi balls with a thick savoury soya sauce. It was warm and we had one scoop of the warm mochi and one scoop of the sweet ice-cream. Would strongly recommend their special dessert set.

Across Sabou Oiwake was this dessert fruit shop called Takano Fruit Parlor.

We bought a Peach Momo Swiss Roll (1,365 yen). The swiss roll cake was light and fluffy, but they were quite stingy with the peach slices as there were too little of the fruit and too much of the whipped cream.

Chez Matsuo (Traiteur)
Takashimaya Times Square
B1,
5-24-2 Sendagaya,
Shinjuku-ku,
Tokyo
http://www.chez-matsuo.co.jp/

Sabou Oiwake
Metro Shokudo-gai
Shinjuku Subway Building
B1,
1-1-2 Nishi-Shinjuku
Shinjuku-ku,
Tokyo
http://www.oiwakedango.co.jp/

Takano Fruit Parlour
Metro Shokudo-gai
Shinjuku Subway Building
B1,
1-1-2 Nishi-Shinjuku
Shinjuku-ku,
Tokyo
http://takano.jp/index.html

TOKYO 2011: Sushi Say, Sushi Zanmai & Shouro Tamagoyaki @ Tsukiji Fish Market

2011-08-30T19:26:00.000+08:00

Almost everyone who goes to Tokyo will make it a point to have early breakfast and brunch at Tsukiji Fish Market 築地市場. But actually, many of their sashimi and sushi shops are opened well into the later afternoons and some even operate 24 hours, so there is actually no need to wake up at 5am to experience Tsukiji. For this post, we shall recommend some of the food shops we ate in Tsukiji outer market for lunch at around 12 noon.

We saw some beautiful fresh wasabi roots in Tsukiji.

This is not only a place for seafood, but for other vegetables and fruits too. Tsukiji started off as a Uogashi (riverside fish market) in the Edo period near the Nihonbashi Bridge. After many years, the Tokyo Government modernised the market and Tsukiji was born in 1935. It has an area of about 220,000 square metres.

Everyday, about 4,000 tons of fish and vegetables are traded here in Tsukiji.

Many people will make a dash for "Sushi Dai" when the come to Tsukiji. It's the Tsukiji's most famous sushi restaurant within the inner market. But when we went there, the queue is amazingly long. As time is limited, we already had a backup sushi restaurant which also received rave reviews. It's Sushi Say, located in the outer market.

There is no queue here. And they have 2 shops in Tsukiji, one is their original shop, and the other is their newer outlet. Both are along the same row and occupies the opposite end. We visited the original shop, which looks very new to me. We ordered using their English menu, and within seconds the chef was busily moulding our sushi infront of us.

We ordered a lot of sushi: Japanese Shrimp (530 yen each), Giant Clam (530 yen each), Boiled Snow Crab (420 yen each), Squid (270 yen each)

Plus this amazing Sardine Sushi (210 yen each). Everything was very fresh, sweet and if I may say, very affordable. We did order a few more sushi, but I guess the chef must have forgotten. The next time I am in Japan, I will visit their other branches as they have a few shops all over Tokyo and Japan. Everything is just perfect.

The next sushi shop we visited was Sushi Zanmai. Again, this is a chain sushi restaurant. In fact, they have even more branches than Sushi Say. You can recognise the shop in Tsukiji by their very innovative signboard.

When we flipped the menu, what struck us was this Crab Miso Soup (500 yen). Unfortunately, the taste was just so so. And the flesh in the crab was really little and dry. This is a letdown.

Fortunately, the sashimi fared better. We ordered the Assorted Sashimi Set 河岸盛 (2980 yen for 2 person) with Salmon Roe, Fatty Tuna. Prawns, Sardines, etc. Top marks for the salmon roe and prawns, but the rest were not as good as those in Sushi Say.

We also had more sushi. From right to left: Broiled Fatty Tuna sushi (398 yen each), Sea Urchin Roe sushi (398 yen each), Herring Roe on Kepl sushi (248 yen each), Surf Clam sushi (198 yen each), Scallop sushi (128 yen each)

Again, although it was good, but Sushi Say's sushi were of better quality. Next time, we will stick to Sushi Say.

Before we left, we were recommended to try this Tamagoyaki shop located opposite of Sushi Say's original shop. There were so many kinds of Tamagoyaki on sale here, and for people like us who just want to taste a bit, you can get their small piece which is vacuum sealed for freshness.

We had the original Shouro Tamagoyaki (240 yen for small). Wow, this is the best Tamagoyaki I have ever tasted. The texture is both firm and creamy. Would recommend visitors here to have this as their dessert. A must try in Tsukiji.

Sushi Say 寿司清
東京都中央区築地 4-13-9
Tsukiji 4-13-9
(Located at Tsukiji outer market)
http://www.tsukijisushisay.co.jp/

Sushi Zanmai すしざんまい
東京都中央区築地 4-10-2
Tsukiji 4-10-2
(Located at Tsukiji outer market)
http://www.kiyomura.co.jp/

Shouro Tamagoyaki 松露玉子焼
東京都中央区築地 4-13-13
Tsukiji 4-13-13
(Located at Tsukiji outer market)
http://www.shouro.co.jp/

TOKYO 2011: Manchinro Honten @ Yokohama

2011-08-25T17:30:00.001+08:00

During our visit to Tokyo, we made a 1 hour train ride to Yokohama, one of Japan's famous port town. The train had a few "touristy" stops in Yokohama, and we alighted at the last station, which was Chinatown in Yokohama.

The Chinatown in Yokohama is one of the largest and the best in Japan, selling the famous Yokohama Chinatown Pork Buns (there are many shops selling this here), and also Chinese restaurants along the streets.

We selected Manchinro Honten, which is the grandest looking Chinese restaurant here in Chinatown at Yokohama. There are just too many Chinese restaurants here, so do take a stroll along the main street to find out which one suits your budget and taste.

Manchinro at Yokohama was started in 1893, and its main restaurant was burned down in a big fire. The rebuilt restaurant opened in 2002 and the restaurant poured in millions of dollars to rebuild it into an "imperial palace" environment.

Staffs here speaks Japanese, but they have a few Chinese staff here too. As it was lunch time, there were some set lunches available. We ordered the 2,500 yen per person set lunch, which turned out to be a good choice.

Quite a selection of sauces were provided on each table. Their most popular sauce was the Fragrant Spicy Crispy chilli which was similar to our Crystal Jade chilli sauce. It is so popular that they actually sell bottles of them at their shop next door.

The first dish was this Ootori Appetizer. It reminds us of this Chinese cold dish of pork with jelly.

The Beef thick soup with tomato was pretty good. Athough it's not the usual clear double boiled soup we are more familar, but this works well.

The Japanese loves their shrimps and prawns. So it is no surprise that the Wok-fried shrimps was nicely done with fresh shrimps which is both sweet and crunchy.

Instead of ordering seperate dim sums, Manchinro Honten offers 2 of their most popular dim sum in their lunch sets: Colourful Dim Sum (Pork Siew Mai and Leek Har Gow). The Siew Mai and Har Kow are not the usual Cantonese style ones, and more like our Singapore style of Siew Mai which are much bigger.

I think this Stewed chicken with pumpkin is a good comfort dish. The Japanese pumpkin is very sweet and not too mushy. And matches well with the boneless chicken chunks.

The night before, I was watching a Japanese TV program and they were showing stir fried prawns with spicy Sichuan sauce. So here is Manchinro's version of the Stir Fried Prawns with Sichuan spicy sauce (3,200 yen for 6 prawns). I was quite surprise to find that the Sichuan spicy sauce was actually very similar to our Chilli crab sauce. Almost 95% similar.

The lunch ended with the Fried Rice topped with pork and ducks sauce. I am not sure what the duck sauce was, but their chunks of roasted pork was good.

Dessert was this cute Almond Bean Curd with bayberry sauce. It is basically almond tofu with a slightly sour berry sauce.

I would also recommend their inhouse Special Manchinro Oolong Tea. I am no tea expert, but I believe their tea leaves were of an excellent grade.

On a separate note, we saw this restaurant at Yokohama of this very famous chef. Fans of Iron Chef Japan should know who this chef is.

Manchinro Honten
153, Yamashita-cho,
Naka-ku,
Yokohama-shi,
Kanagawa-ken,
231-0023
http://english.manchinro.com/

TOKYO 2011: L'Atelier de Joel Robuchon @ Roppongi Hills

2011-08-23T16:30:00.001+08:00

L'Atelier is such a well known restaurant that people from US to Europe and Asia has heard about this casual bar table dining restaurant. The concept is so well received by many people, that it can be replicated at almost all major urban cities in the world.

We arrived at their outlet in Roppongi Hills outlet slightly before 7pm. It was still quite empty at that time, but soon the restaurant was full.

The service staff serving us told us he had actually worked at Keppel Bay previously, before returning to Japan. So I guess there is some kind of "Singapore" connection between us.

The bar counter dining setting is all too familiar to us, and if you have been to the Singapore's one, you will find the layout very familiar. In fact, it's the same in all the L'Atelier around the world.

So both of us ordered the Menu B (Amuse, Appetizer, Soup, Dish, Dessert, Coffee or Tea served with Petit Four) at 8,800 yen.

First came this bread basket. Sad to say the breads here were not as good as those found in Singapore. Then I remembered that the former Japanese bread pastry chef was being transferred to Singapore. Perhaps that was the reason?

Our Amuse Bouche.

Our dinner began with one of their signature appetizer: Espuma of a green asparagus and chanterelle royal style, with jelly of iberico ham. We were delighted with the green asparagus cream which was refreshing and had a base of diced chanterelle mushrooms and iberico ham jelly.

The Baked Hokkaido scallops was really sweet and juicy. Not much flavourings was added, hence we could taste the sweet Hokkaido scallops. As it was an off-menu item, it's best to ask the service staff what other off-menu appetizers they offer for the day.

I thought that the Lettuce cream soup served on hot onion custard flavoured with nutmeg would be something of a mild flavoured soup, but I was wrong. The restaurant managed to extract all the intense flavours of the lettuce into the soup, and added onio custard and a little bit of nutmeg to enhance the flavours.

The Chilled tomato gaspacho with extra virgin olive oil and basil was altogether another different style of soup. Served chilled and slightly tangy, it was great during the warm summer.

Ordered the local mineral water - Fuji Mineral Water (800 yen). We thought it came from Mt Fuji, but was told the water was "near" Mr Fuji.

Japan is known for their fresh seafood. Their seafood mains did not disappoint. The Savory sauteed Golden threadfin-bream served with crustacean sauce was what we had expected - Fresh and sweet fish with a layer of crisp skin and a delicious seafood stock beneath it.

We were equally delighted with the other mains we had - Preserved cheek of beef with grilled vegetables and condiment of cucumber and the mustard of Orleans. The beef was incredibly tender and had this slight Japanese hint of flavour inside. The presentation was visually pleasing too.

Dessert is something we enjoy very much at L'Atelier. The first dessert served was this Dark Chocolate Ganache served with cocoa sherbet and Oreo biscuit powder. The reason why we ordered this was we wanted something down to earth and not too fanciful. Hence the familiar chocolate dessert with the reassuring Oreo bits. No complaints about the chocolate because it's top grade chocolate and cocoa sherbet.

The next one was something more fanciful - Campari marinated fig and sherbet served with a cream cheese delicate mousse. Campari is pretty bitter, but was balanced out by the sweet fig and sherbet. The sweetness was further enhanced through the cheese mousse.

Ended our yummy dinner with Coffee and tea plus the now-familiar Petit Four.

So although there is a L'Atelier de Joel Robuchon located right in our Lion City, I would recommend our readers to pay them a visit the next time you are in Tokyo. It's a familiar yet different experience when you dine at a L'Atelier in another city.

L'Atelier de Joel Robuchon
Roppongi 6-10-2,
Roppongi Hills
Hillside 220

TOKYO 2011: Izuei Honten @ Ueno

2011-08-20T14:30:00.001+08:00

It's not easy to find Izuei Honten. But we are determined to find it. After all, it's not everyday that you read so much about one particular Unagi restaurant in blogs and travel guides and how good the unagi is and what a long history it has.

There are enough instructions and history on internet about Izuei Honten, but a quick summary is that it has been around since the mid-Edo period and that makes it about 150 years old, if not older. They have a few branch but the main one is at Ueno, and their flagship shop here is only 10 minutes walk from the Ueno JR station.

I have read so much about having to queue up and ask for table and wait for 20 minutes. But the weird thing is when I arrived, we were whisked away into the restaurant's own private lift to upstairs (probably 3rd or 4th floor) into their private room. The aunty waitress will speak lot's of Japanese. If you don't know, don't worry. Just tell her you want an "English menu", and she will bring you one.

Everything on the menu has unagi on it, and it depends on how much unagi you want. For diners who want variety, I suggest you order this Shinobazu Bento.

As you can see, the Shinobazu Bento (4,200 yen) comes with 1.5 pieces of fatty unagi and rice below, plus sashimi and some little bento items. Everything was delicious. More on the unagi later.

For those who wants nothing but the real deal, and you want an "up-sized" version, please order the Prince Box.

This, is the real deal. The Prince Box (4,725) is actually a double portion bento. But first, the unagi here is absolutely wonderful. The flesh is sweet, smooth and very tasty with the charred taste. Rice is fluffy and even the small bones in the unagi is a joy to eat.

The Prince Box actually has layers. So you get 4 huge pieces of unagi, plus 2 layers of Japanese rice. Please be warned that you should be very hungry before ordering this. Even for big eaters like me, it took a lot of skills to finish the entire double layer bento.

Izuei Honten
2-12-22 Ueno,
Taito-ku,
Tokyo,
Japan

TOKYO 2011: Bvlgari il Cafe @ Gyre

2011-08-18T15:30:00.001+08:00

After shopping in Harajuku, Shibuya and then Omotesando. our legs were really tired and we were in need of drinks and snacks.

Starring right above us is the Bvlgari il Cafe in the glitzy Omotesando which has become the new Ginza in Tokyo. The Bvlgari il Cafe is located just above their flagship shop here.

There are 2 sections, one sells chocolates and the other is a full cafe.

Ice water is provided free of charge to all customers, and it is refilled promptly.

This cafe is always crowded with people who stays here for at least one hour or more, so waiting is necessary. But it's worth the wait just to experience the Bvlgari experience if you have not tried any of their resorts or hotels.

The breads are presented in special Bvlgari boxes which looks like jewellery boxes.

This was our Soup of the Day - Pumpkin Soup (800 yen)

The staff was attentive and asked if we wanted to share our mains. They then helped us to split the mains into 2 portions. Excelent service even without us asking. Our first main was then Spaghettini with tomato sauce, goat cheese and orange peel (1,600 yen). The combination is a bit weird, but works well.

The other was this Homemade Tagliatelle pasta with zucchini puree and squid (1,700 yen). Seafood was fresh and no complaints.

More bread was brought out throughout our meal.

Dessert was the main attraction here at Bvlgari iL Cafe. We ordered the BVLGARI chocolate sundae (1,500 yen), which had a beautiful Bvlgari chocolate ribbon and chocolate ice cream. Very refreshing on a warm summer evening.

The Peach carpaccio with basil and peach sherbet (1,300 yen) which is available in the summer, is equally refreshing.

To top it off, we also had a Bvlgari cocktail BLV (2,000 yen)

What came as a rest pitstop became our light dinner.

It's quite an experience to enjoy the Bvlgari experience here in its cafe at Tokyo, and we will recommend you to visit this cafe the next time you travel to Tokyo. And BTW, they have 2 Bvlgari cafes in Japan, the other located in their Bvlgari building in Ginza.

Bvlgari il Cafe Omotesando
Gyre 2F
5-10-1
Jingumae,
Shibuya-ku, Tokyo

TOKYO 2011: La Table de Joel Robuchon @ Yebisu Garden Place

2011-08-16T16:05:00.000+08:00

Since we have already tried all of Joel Robuchon's restaurant in Singapore, we want to try one of his other restaurant which did not operate in Singapore. So we decided to go for the 2 Michelin stars La Table de Joel Robuchon.

The restaurant, together with Joel Robuchon fine dining are all housed in this reconstructed French château in Ebisu. Summer flowers bloom while we were there.

La Table is basically another French restaurant of Joel Robuchon, but with Spanish and Italian influences. As it was out first time there, we did not know what to order. So, we went with both the Discovery Menu (5,250 yen) and Menu D'ete (10,000 yen)

We ordered still water to go with our lunch.

Our lunch started off with 2 different Amuse-Bouches.

Each set lunch came with its own exclusive amuse bouche.

A common complain I have is that the breads served at most high end French restaurants in Tokyo are not warmed. I wonder why?

Deep fried soft shell crab served with spicy guacamole and a crustacean oil - Joel Robuchon always does excellent seafood dishes. This appetizer contains my favourite soft shell crab and the creamy and spicy guacamole complimented the crab.

What better to welcome summer than this Seasonal Tomatoes Salad with shallots and flavoured with sumac spice. These colourful tomatoes were picked at the peak of summer.

More breads from the bakery.

One of our favourite dish - Half cooked egg accompanied with autumn mushrooms and a light cappuccino. There is something satisfying and heartwarming about half cooked eggs.

And this is my first time having this Sazae shellfish in a risotto with sauteed spinach. Risotto was cooked till perfect and it has soaked up the juices from the Sazae shellfish.

Of the entire lunch, these 2 meat dishes were the highlight. First was the Rack of lamb cooked with a fresh herbs salad and mashed potatoes. The lamb was cooked till just right with sufficient tenderness.

The Roasted Challans duck served with braised endive and an orange reduction was equally stunning as the duck meat was very juicy and tender. And it was full of flavours too.

For the more expensive set lunch, a Pre-dessert was included. Not sure why it was called pre-dessert, as the portion was as big as an actual one. Here, we have a pre-dessert made from chocolate and cocoa with pistachio crumbs.

A very Japanese dessert - Fresh melon salad and sherbet served with a lemon jelly and a mascarpone cream. The melon was grown in Japan and it was juicy and sweet.

We love peaches, especially the Japanese ones. The white peach compote and jelly served with a verbena ice-cream was a unique pech dessert we have never tried before.

The yummy lunch ended with Coffee or Tea plus complimentary Petit Four.

La Table also has an outdoor area, but perhaps it is more suitable for spring or fall. The summer heat is just too warm for lunch here in the outdoors.

La Table de Joel Robuchon
Meguro-ku,
Mita 1-13-1,
Yebisu Garden Place
Tokyo, Japan

TOKYO 2011: 山路 Kamakura Yamaji @ Kamakura

2011-08-14T15:30:00.001+08:00

One of the national treasures in Japan is the Kamakura Daibutsu. Located in the ancient city of Kamakura which was previously the 4th largest city in the world back in the year 1250, and was one of the ancient capital of Japan.

There are many beautiful temples in Kamakura region, and this 13 meters tall bronze statue is one of the must-see temple here in Kamaura which is about an hour's train ride from Tokyo.

It was a humid and warm afternoon in Kamakura and everyone was decked out in T shirts and shorts. We found a rather peaceful soba restaurant called Kamakura Yamaji 山路 along the main shopping street of Kamakura, and decided to have lunch here. There are quite a few soba restaurants here in Kamakura, and it is to my understanding that there is even a one Michelin star soba restaurant further down from the main city.

There is a narrow walkway from the front door to the restaurant, and the owners cleverly redecorated it into a Japanese garden. This reminded me of the garden walkway at our White Rabbit restaurant in Singapore.

It was full house here during a weekday lunchtime. We were the only foreigners here with 99% of the customers native Japanese. But still, we managed to get an authentic tatami table and seat at one of the quiet corners.

Kamakura Yamaji prides herself of excellent soba made in the house. And they have a large soba making viewing gallery where fresh sobas are churned out everyday.

The warm weather warrents ice cold Japanese beer.

Our first soba was this Cold Soba with Duck Broth (1,890 yen). The broth must have been cooked with lot's of ducks, because it has a robust taste and aroma to it. Excellent match for the cold soba. Pieces of duck meat were also sliced into the dipping soup.

On the other hand, we didn't really like the Cold Soba with Yam Paste (1,575 yen). Perhaps the sticky yam paste was not as good a dipping sauce as it was with the warm duck broth.

At the end of the meal, the service staff brought out this soup which was the water used to cook the soba. Although there is virtually no taste to it, but it was refreshing to drink it with what is leftover of the duck broth.

山路 Kamakura Yamaji
神奈川県　
鎌倉市　
雪ノ下　
1-7-3
http://kamakurayamaji.fc2web.com/

TOKYO 2011: Beige Alain Ducasse Tokyo @ Ginza Chanel Building

2011-08-12T16:30:00.000+08:00

Singapore is fortunate to have quite a few Michelin Stars chefs opening restaurants here, but one top chef which has not grace our shore is Alain Ducasse. Since we are in Tokyo, we decided to reserve a table at the one Michelin star restaurant Beige.

Beige is a unique restaurant, not only for its excellent food, but that the Tokyo branch is a collaboration between Alain Ducasse and Chanel. Hence, it is housed on the top floor of the Chanel Building in the glitzy Ginza.

Upon arrival at the restaurant, you will walk pass a dimmed corridor until the beautiful skyline of Ginza reveals at the end of the walkway.

In the special "Chanel" lift, the buttons are all in Chanel logo with Beige having a special top button above all.

The touch by Chanel is all over the restaurants. From the fabric adorning the chairs to the designs of the restaurant.

We placed 2 orders for the Set Lunch (8,000 yen) which consisted of 3 dishes from Appetizers and Main Courses, plus dessert and coffee or tea.

A cute frog sculpture with a crystal decorated each dining table.

The water glasses had a red hue at the bottom, so when water is poured the red also appears on the surface.

We were first served some complimentary cheese puffs (which wasn't really the best we had tasted).

Our first dish was the cold Amuse Bouche which cooled us down during the warm Tokyo summer months.

The unsalted French butter was served on a "floating" crystal rock. Bread was cold, and I am guessing that restaurants in Japan usually serves cold breads to diners.

The first appetizer was the Veal Hock and Chanterel Mushrooms in a delicate jelly. The jelly was savoury and light, and complimented the emat and mushrooms.

The other appetizer - Cold Ratatouille, shoulder of Rabbit stuffed with herbs, turned out to be a delicious surpirse dish. Initally, we didn't expect much from a cold ratatouille dish. But the rabbit shoulder was really juicy and tender, without the overpowering gamey taste.

Red mullert fillet "a la plancha", seasonal vegetables "a la grecque" - We were surprised at how shiny and beautiful the red fish skin was, as it was cooked la plancha, meaning grilled on a metal plate. Vegetables cooked with vinegar or lemon and olive oil are referred to as cooked under "a la grecque". Bottomline is the fish is fresh, and the vegetables flavourful.

Pave of Suzuki baked, chard cooked with the cooking juice - The Suzuki fish baked in an oven was still juicy and sweet.

We selected 2 different mains from our set lunch. First was the Duck on a spit, green beans sauteed with shallots, rotie of giblet. The duck meat was juicy and tender after being cooked in a savoury sauce. We believe it was cooked using the Sous-vide method. The vegetables were 100% grown in Japan.

The other meat course was the Fondant Veal breast, golden potatoes and tomato fondue with marjoram. The veal was incredibly tender. A fork would have sufficed to sliced the tender meat.

Desserts are served. Here, we have one of their highly recommended dessert - the Savarin, with a choice of Armagnac brandy and light whipped cream. The service staff first took out this big Savarin cake with whipped cream. The Savarin cake originated from France and here in Japan, the texture is almost like sponge cake.

2 different brandies were given to us for drizzling over the cake. One was a 30 years brandy, and the other was a 50 years brandy. Of course we chose the 50 years one. It was amazing when mixed with the cake and whipped cream.

The Carre Chanel chocolate-praline, hazelnut ice-cream, was the other dessert we had from the set lunch.

After desserts, we were served these superb Macarons from the kitchen.

Tea and coffee in Chanel ware were also served to us.

And finally, a complimentary Petit Four in the likes of the legendary "Chanel" chocolate. The one chocolate everyone wants would be the one with the Chanel logo. But to be frank, the chocolate was pretty average.

As if we were not full by now, 2 Madeleines were brought out from the kitchen as a after-petit four snack.

So will we return again to Beige the next time we are in Tokyo? The answer is a resounding YES. And we are keeping our fingers crossed that Alain Ducasse will be setting up a branch here in Yours Singapore.

Beige Alain Ducasse Tokyo
Ginza Chanel Building
10th floor,
3-5-3 Ginza Chuo-ku,
Tokyo

TOKYO 2011: Katsukura @ Takashimaya Times Square

2011-08-10T15:00:00.000+08:00

After an 8 hours flight, we finally arrived in Tokyo. Home to the most Michellin stars restaurants in the world. Our hotel is right smack in the middle of the ever busy Shinjuku district in Tokyo. Travelling is extremely convenient from JR (Japan Rail) Shinjuku.

It has been a few months since the tsunami-earthquake-nuclear disaster in Japan. Although the crisis is still not over for Japan, but life has almost resume to normal in Tokyo. JR trains are running, malls are opened, restaurants are serving. The only difference is that there is an ongoing power saving campaign going on in Tokyo, and sometimes it may get a bit too warm (or dark) in the summer months.

We didn't want to go too far out on our first day, so decided to stick to Takashimaya Times Square in Shinjuku for our early lunch. One of the best food streets with all the bentos and beautiful cookies and crackers are located at the basement of Takashimaya. On the upper floors, there are many restaurants to choose from.

We settled for Katsukura. Initially, we didn't know how well known (and well blogged) this restaurant was until we got back to Singapore. Apparently, this is one of the premium Tonkatsu restaurant in Japan, similar to how Tonkichi is in Singapore.

We were famished. So we ordered quite a lot of food from the menu. By the way, they have an English menu, but you have to ask for it.

We were served cups of refreshing rice tea.

Our appetizer was this cold tofu with miso jelly. Really cooling to have such a cold appetizer during the hot summer months.

We saw the Simmered Square Cut Pork (610 yen) and immediately we knew we had to order it. Generous cubes of tender fatty pork that has been simmered in Japanese soya sauce for hours. The meat is flavourful and tender. I love the sauce so much that I drizzled all of them over my rice.

My order of the Standard Katsu-Zen Set which comes with a fillet cutlet and Prawns (1,980 yen). Each order came with barley rice, miso soup and pickled vegetables. The pork is of high quality and Katsukura prides at how their pigs are reared and grown in Japan. They also use raw bread crumbs that becomes extra crispy after frying. The crisp and cold cabbage went well with their Citron dressing.

Worth mentioning is their special miso soup which came with the set. The miso soup is full of miso and pork flavours. I asked for refills of the soup because it was so good.

The barley rice was suppose to be special, but unfortunately I could not taste anything special about the rice.

We also had this Toen Pork Sirloin Cutlet set (2,700 yen for 170g). The pork is said to be of high quality cross bred pork. Indeed, the pork is tender, juicy and flavourful with a layer of fats. But next time, we will stick to ordering just the standard katsu set, which is more value for money.

(100 yen = S$1.50)

Katsukura
Takashimaya Times Square
14th floor,
5-24-2 Sendagaya, Shibuya-ku,
Tokyo

Buyan @ Duxton Hill

2011-07-15T15:00:00.003+08:00

Russian food has never crossed our radar before until this particular restaurant Buyan kept appearing in the news for winning the bid for the world's oldest shipwrecked champagne found in the Baltic Sea - a Veuve Clicquot (1841). The price? S$53,000

So we just have to come here to see what kind of restarant is Buyan. And we were quite surprised to see that Buyan is a dual concept restaurant: On the 1st floor is the bar and small bistro, while on the 2nd floor...

... is the fine dining area with one of Singapore's most beautiful ceiling mural painted by a local artist.

Veen Velvet (S$8 per bottle) water. Well, this is not a Russian mineral water, but from Finland.

The most unique thing here is that there is no menu, but just and iPad. The menu is actually downloaded on the iPad, and when you click on the item, you get a photograph of how the dishes look like.

We were served some bread and butter balls.

Our amuse bouche.

The first appetizer was the Traditionally served Karat Caviar (S$60) - Caviar with Blinis, Onions, Quail Egg, Sour Cream and Lime. The caviar is of top quality, and we loved the presentation of the caviar.

I think I added too much of the eggs and chives!

The Borscht soup (S$16) wasn't up to our standards. It was not served as pipping hot as we had hoped for. And the soup doesn't has

I also didn't like the Ukha soup (S$16), which is a fish soup. Tasted too bland, and was not as warm as we had hoped for.

Fortunately, the other dishes were better. The Half Moon Trio (S$50) - Smoked Halibut, Sturgeon, Salmon filled with Dill Spinach, was a refreshing appetizer where we were able to taste the freshness of the fish.

We had 2 mains. The first was the Slow cooked beef stroganoff (S$50) - Cooked in its Isigny Cream Sauce with Sauteed Chanterelle Mushroom. It was a bit too rich for us, but the texture and taste was good.

The other mains we had was the Sturgeon Romanov (S$40) - Pan Seared with Creme Fraiche and Karat Caviar. I like this better as the fish and cream went well and complimented one another. Plus a touch of luxury in the form of some caviar.

After our mains, we requested to be seated downstairs at the bar where the environment is more relaxed. They had many beers, and we ordered the Newton Apple Beer (S$10 per bottle) and Buyan Beer (S$15 for half pint). The Apple Beer was crisp and light with a tinge of apple taste, while the Buyan Beer is a house specialty.

We love the desserts at Buyan! First up was the Honey Cake (S$10 per slice). I like anything with honey, and this rich and soft cake had a deep honey taste to it.

The Baked Apple (S$8) was even better. It's an entire breaded apple baked in an oven.

Open up the baked apple and the inside is filled with Lingonberry Compote. One of my favourite apple dessert in Singapore.

We had a wonderful time here and the service was top notch. For those on a tight budget, I would recommend having your dinner at the bar area, where the prices are more comfortable for your wallet. Plus the food is great too.

Buyan
9/10 Duxton Hill

Gordon Grill @ Goodwood Park Hotel

2011-07-13T11:00:00.002+08:00

The thought of eating roasted reindeer may not go down well with some, especially those who believed that Rudolf is somewhere up there in the north pole.

Recently, Gordon Grill at Goodwood Park Hotel held a New Finnish Cuisine Promotion by Guest Chef Kim Palhus.

Started off with a special amuse bouche from the chef.

Plus freshly baked Finnish breads.

1 glass of Chateau De Malleret 2004 (S$17.50 per glass)

As recommended, I got the special 4 courses Set Lunch (S$58) which features some of the their signature dishes at a special price.

The appetizert was this healthy Beetroot and vegetable salad "rosolli" with mustard seeds, red onion jam and foam of pickled cucumber broth.

Another appetizer in the set was this Cold smoked pike tartar with salmon trout roe, Grandma's cucumber salad and "shore sand" .

The main course was Reindeer roast with barley-wild mushroom "porridge" parsnip puree and beer sauce. The Lapland reindeer is from the northern Scandinavian Peninsula. This is what everyone came here for. Reindeer tastes a bit like venison, but with a more gamey taste.

I also ordered the Karelian Stew separately - Medallions of beef, lamb and pork served with parsnip puree and deep-fried shredded carrot. I thought this would be an interesting dish as it was featured in some media reports, but turned out that that I didn't enjoy this as much as the dishes in the set lunch.

What a name for a dessert. This dessert is called Poor Knights, which is a traditional Finnish dessert made of fried cardamom coffee bread. Cardamom is used quite extensively during baking in Nordic countries.

Ended my lunch with a decaf coffee with brown sugar.

And some Petit Fours from Finland.

Gordon Grill
22 Scotts Road
Ground Floor
Goodwood Park Hotel

Hua Ting @ Orchard Hotel

2011-07-06T19:38:00.000+08:00

Hua Ting is one of the most talked about Chinese restaurant in Singapore due to its history and quality of Chinese food. In particularly, Cantonese food.

Located at the slightly aging Orchard Hotel, after all these years Hua Ting still stayed put at this quiet corner of Orchard Road when many already moved to newer and better locations.

We were there on a weekday night, just days before the Dumpling Festival. As there was a promotional UOB Chef's Creation Dinner Menu (S$128 for 2 persons), we decided to stick to that to save us from the trouble of choosing from the menu.

The ice water is served in a glass which is "locked" in a metal handle. Mine was kind of wobbly.

This appetizers (S$3.80) reminded me of a vegetarian dish. A bit salty for me.

I am not a fan of these small deep fried fish. However, Hua Ting's Deep Fried Hong Kong yellow flower fish glazed with salt and pepper changed my view. Although it is still difficult to eat such a small fish with small bones (I still don't like to swallow these small bones), however the fish meat was smooth and sweet. Seasoning was kept to a minimum so that diners can enjoy the fresh taste of the fish.

It was Dumpling Festival. We tried Hua Ting's version of the Hong Kong Rice Dumpling (S$14.80). It was HUGE.

The texture of the rice and pork was good, and there were some conpoy, mushrooms, chestnuts and duck egg yolk. However, I don't enjoy the yellow beans. There is just too much of it. Prefer the ordinary Hokkien Pork Dumplings.

A bowl of Braised Shark's Fins with Crab Meat added some extra value to our set dinner. But there is nothing unique about the shark's fins soup here. Taste almost identical to those served at Chinese weddings.

I enjoyed this unique Stewed Lamb Shank with Chinese Parsley. It's quite refreshing to see this in a Chinese restaurant. The meat was really tender and really flavourful. But for those who detest the gamey taste, you may have some discomfort with their lamb shank. However, it is no problem for me. I wolfed down the entire lamb shank in record time.

A well sauteed fresh lily buds with wild mushrooms and seasonal greens dish.

We are quite full now due to finishing the rice dumpling earlier. However, I still managed to finish my Egg fried rice with fresh shrimps as it was delicious.

Ended our UOB set meal with Chilled Hawthorn berries jelly with aloe vera and fresh fruits. Not too sweet and was a refreshing end to our heavy dinner.

Hua Ting
442 Orchard Road,
Orchard Hotel

Novus Restaurant & Bar @ National Museum of Singapore

2011-06-28T15:00:00.000+08:00

We have always wanted to try out Novus at the beautiful National Museum of Singapore, and on one weekend evening, we made reservations to come down here for a quick dinner before our movie.

As it was housed inside the museum, we thought that the whole place would be very classic looking. But we were surprised at how modern the decor was inside the restaurant. A long bar counter separates the restaurant and the bar.

A look at the exterior of the National Musuem of Singapore at night.

A lovely basket of warm breads were served to us. I like the soft butter sprinkled with pine nuts, adding some crunch to the creamy butter texture.

Iced water is served here to all diners.

Started off this vegetable amuse bouche which had a crunchy toast at the bottom.

Our first appetizer was this White Asparagus Tempura (S$22 Entree) with sauce gribiche & new potatoes. This is the first time I tried a tempura white asparagus, and it was excellent. The white asparagus is crunchy and juicy, plus the tempura outer crust is light and crisp.

An interesting feature here is that before each dish was served, the service staff will put a small tag on the table with the name of the dish and some interesting facts about the ingredients used. Looks like a museum display to me.

Next was Foie Gras Chaud (S$28) - Pan-seared foie gras, white asparagus, pear and PX vinegar reduction. I like the minature toasts used.

The Duck Tea (S$16), made of Duck consomme, quail egg, trumpet & brown enoki mushroom, smoked duck breast, black truffle salsa, was suppose to be one of the signature dish here. However, we find the broth not flavourful enough. Quite a letdown.

Wanted to eat some pork, so ordered the main course Berkshire Pork Meets White Asaparagus & Iberico Ham (S$46) - Roast Berkshire Pork Tenderloin, Iberico ham-wrapped white asparagus, porcini mushrooms, sauce Bearnaise and shallot sauce. Unfortunately, the pork was kind of dry. But the taste was good.

After the dry pork, we were skeptical about the Organic Chicken & Truffle (S$38) - Chicken breast stuffed with truffle salsa, white asparagus, root vegetables, crisp parsley. Since it was made of breast meat, we thought it will be dry. Surprisingly, the meat was moist and tender.

The chicken came with a large pot of potato truffle gratin.

We were rushing for movies, so had to skip desserts. However, all diners here get to take home a cute cupcake each. It was packed in a beautiful paper box with a metal handle.

Novus Restaurant & Bar
93 Stamford Road,
#01-02
National Museum of Singapore

Graze @ 38 Martin Road

2011-06-23T18:08:00.000+08:00

Martin No. 38 is turning out to be one F&B hotspot in Singapore. Although all 3 (Graze, Kha and Provisions) are all under one company, but the standards have been consistently good.

Over 2 seperate visits to Graze, the different variety of dishes I ordered were fairly good and service was warm too.

On a weekday afternoon, went to Graze for lunch. As you can see, it is quite empty. A contrast to the overwhelming crowd during weekend afternoons.

Started my lunch with the Saffron butternut & cilantro soup, herb garlic toast ($13). The soup was served pipping hot. Just what I needed.

For my mains, ordered a Grilled striploin (200g grass-fed beef), thick chips, dressed seasonal leaves, hearty tomato salsa ($29). This is my first time having their steak, so I was quite surprised at how tasty the steak was. It's cooked till medium rare, which was what I have requested.

Lunch dessert was this unique Chocolate pot, clotted cream, chocolate sauce ($10). A must have for all choco lovers.

As there was still time, ordered the signature Graze De Mocha $5.50 to end my lunch.

On another occassion, I managed to get a table in the evening on a weekday.

As it was still early in the evening, the crowd had not come. But soon, the restaurant was crowded as the sky got darker.

A nice shot of the homely interior of Graze, which will put most diners at ease. It's a great place for friends gatherings.

As usual, I had a bowl of soup - Organic tomato gazpacho, deep fried haloumi ($15). Tomatoes is one of my favourite vegetable (or fruit as some would say). Not too acidic for me.

I know some carnivore friends here do not like the mentioning of the word "salad". However, the Pear & frisee salad, gorgonzola, candied walnuts, balsamic vinaigrette ($18) is a great salad for "beginners". The texture is crisp, and it's sweet tasting, together with cheese and nuts.

Mains for me was the Pan roasted barramundi, orange & beet salad, green chili almond mayo ($32). Very happy to note that the fish was not too dry. A very "summery" dish.

I was very impressed with my dessert - Strawberry & honeycomb ice cream, Swiss chocolate sauce, hokey pokey ($14) . The slightly sourish and acidic strawberries are complimented by the sweet and creamy honeycomb ice-cream.

Graze
38 Martin Road

Kha @ 38 Martin Road

2011-06-21T16:08:00.000+08:00

38 Martin Road, which is a short walk from Killiney Road, has recently transformed into a new F&B plus wellness hotspot. Located in this 2 stories building are 2 restaurants Graze and Kha, a European provision ship named Provisions, plus a high-end gym at the top floor.

We came here on a Saturday afternoon. Initially we wanted to lunch at Graze, but it was full and we were told we had to wait for 20 minutes before a table is available. So we decided to pop by next door at Kha, which is totally empty. Weird.

The first thing that strikes you when you enter the restaurant is this huge poster of a stamp featuring Thailand's most beloved King Bhumibol. Kha is not a new restaurant. It is opened by the owner of Graze, and was formerly located at Hortpark.

The menu looks interesting as it is "printed" in the form of an old Thai newspaper.

Iced water is served here. In fact, they mixed some lemongrass inside the bottles, but we could not taste much.

A must order dish for me at almost all Thai restaurants is their Thai curries, be it red or gree. Today, we ordered the Chicken Green Curry (S$27). It's flavourful and cooked with boneless thigh meat, apple, pea eggplant and coconut flesh. However, the best version is still the Thai Green Curry from Thai Thai.

Thai Fish Cakes (S$17) with Kaffir lime and cucumber relish.

Phad Thai (S$16) _ Stir Fried rice noodles with banana blossom salad, poached prawns and prawns. Kha's version of Phad Thai was not as oily as other phad thai I have tried before. Good wok hei.

If you order White rice (S$4 per person), the service staff will come around with a huge basket to scoop rice onto your plate. And it's free flow.

We also ordered 4 bowls of Tom Yum Goong (S$18 per person). The soup is quite spicy, but chokeful of seafood and Thai spices. Portion is good for 1 big or 2 small eaters.

Kha's Steamed Sea Bass (S$26) was a steal at this price. Fish meat was reasonably fresh, and laced with Thai spices. Those who cannot take spicy food might want to alert them to remove the chilli padi.

We did not know which dessert to order, so ended up ordering the Dessert Trio (S$22). 3 mini version of their most popular Thai desserts. The one that left an impression was the pumpkin dessert. Creamy pumpkin paste, which taste almost like ice-cream, was added into a slice of real pumpkin.

A nice and quiet place to have Thai food in Singapore. Next up, a review of Graze which is just next door to Kha.

Kha
38 Martin Road

Bistro Soori @ Teck Lim Road

2011-06-19T10:00:00.001+08:00

We came to Bistro Soori because we heard that Jimmy Chok is the chef here, but when we arrived, we were told that Chef Chok has already left the restaurant. Quite disappointed, but still we decided to try out the dishes served by their new chef Ashton Hall from Bali.

Valet parking is available, so no problems with the crowded roads within the Bukit Pasoh shophouses area.

Iced water is served here to al diners.

There are 2 sections in Bistro Soori. One is the proper sit down area, the other is the counter top area. To fully enjoy the actions in the kitchen, I will recommend diners to sit at the counter top. The ventilation system is very good and you won't smell like your food after coming out of the restaurant.

The creamy and hearty Leek Soup (S$19) was filling. Our only complain was that the soup was not warm enough for us. Would have preferred to be pipping hot.

The combination of Scallops (S$22) pan fried with bacon is never wrong. Even the chef knows this too! No complaints about the scallops as they are fresh and sweet. It has some nice shreds of fruits to add some tropical taste to it.

Our Grilled Lobster (S$48) was juicy and crunchy, and it was how a lobster should taste like. One thing about Bistro Soori is that their seafood are fresh.

We were quite surprised by how familiar the Braised Wagyu Short Ribs (S$44) tasted like. It reminded us of braised pork, just that the meat here is switched to beef. The beef was so tender that the moment your fork pierce through it, the meat immediately falls off onto the plate. We were told that the beef was braised since morning, and that explains why the beef was so tender.

It took a long time to come, but we nearly missed out on our appetizer - the Foie Gras stuffed in Sugar Pear (S$25) with Vanilla, White Balsamic, Pink Peppercorn. When it was served, we were wondering where is the foie gras. Then we discovered that we had to slice the pear and the foie gras was actually stuffed inside.

Dessert time. We were unsure how the Straberries with Balsamic Vinegar Chocolate Sauce (S$12) would turn out. Fortunately, the strawberries were not too sour, and the balsamic vinegar with choco actually complimented the berries well.

We both agree that the Apple Pie (S$14) was quite ordinary. Served with a scoop of vanilla bean ice-cream.

Bistro Soori
2 Teck Lim Road

Oversea Restaurant @ Shaw Towers

2011-06-16T16:00:00.005+08:00

The opening of Malaysian based Oversea Restaurant in Singapore has been greeted with much enthusiastic fans here. We have been told that it is necessary to book days in advance, and to pre-book the char siew too. Well, we did what we were told.

I am not an expert of Oversea Restaurant, and I have never visited their KL main shop before. But from what I know, many Singaporeans eat at Oversea in KL and the die die must try dish is their char siew.

Service here is mixed. Initally, one of the little boy who served us didn't really serve us much. Like this twin chilli dish placed on each table with tiny bits of Chilli Hae Bee and caramelized onions similar to those of BBQ stingray. Nobody told us whether we were suppose to eat it on its own or was meant to go with specific dishes. But then, towards the end of our meal, one very friendly Singaporean aunty took over the service and we felt that we were finally "served" by their staffs.

We came on a Saturday lunch time, and made reservations 1 week in advance. But when we came here, there are quite a few empty tables. We saw diners walking in without any reservations. So I think that reservations may not really be required after all. And, there were still many servings of char siew hanging outside the restaurant too.

Moving on to their food. The signature Barbequed Pork (Char Siew) and Roast Pork Platter (S$20 for small) was quite a small serving. But what they lack in quantity, they made it up in quality. The Char Siew was not your usual Singapore char siew. It's almost black due to no red colouring used. The outside is slightly charred and crisp, while the inside is meaty and porky. For the roast pork, although it's not the best I have tried, but it's still good enough.

Their soups were a letdown. This Chicken Soup with Scallops (S$8) taste pretty average.

Paid quite a premium for this Pumpkin with Shark's Fins Soup (S$38), but turns out the soup base was pretty bland. Totally not recommended.

The Crystal Prawns (S$27.50 for 250g) is fresh prawns seared with dark soya sauce till caramelized. Prawns were crunchy and sweet.

The best item for the day was actually their Dong Po Meat (S$30 per claypot). According to the waitress, this is a special item and is not offered everyday. The large chunk of pork was stewed for hours in a large claypot. When brought to the table, the pork was cut into smaller chunks, hence the juice of the meat was retained. The gravy was tasty, and pork was amazingly tasty with melt-in-you-mouth pork fats.

Taking a cue from how Peking ducks are served, these cucumbers drizzled with Maggie Seasoning help to add some crunch to the Dong Po Pork.

We love fried rice with good wok hei. A scan of their menu shows they have this premium Oversea Special Fried Rice (S$12). So how special was this as compared to the normal Yang Chow Fried Rice? This had bits of crispy rice added, plus diced pork (not char siew). Although slightly a bit more oily than usual, but I am guessing this was fried in pork lard. Very sinful and yummy.

Oversea Restaurant
100 Beach Road,
#01-27
Shaw Leisure Gallery,
Shaw Towers

Canele Patisserie Chocolateria @ Raffles City Shopping Centre

2011-06-14T16:00:00.000+08:00

After Raffles City basement completed its basement renovation a few months back, Canele has moved from next to the old Ben & Jerry's ice cream, to the current spot near the entrance of the escalator.

Felt like having some fresh fruit juice instead of the ordinary ice water or soda, so ordered the refreshing and cooling Watermelon, Apple and Cucumber juice (S$7.50)

One of our favourite dish at Canele is this Braised Beef in Red Wine (S$18.00), which we have ordered quite a few times. The description says it is a classic country-style braised beef in red wine served with homemade breads, and this description is 100% accurate. I like to soak up the thick gravy with their freshly baked bread.

Another popular dish is their baked rice, and we chose the Traditional Bolognaise Baked rice in casserole & poached egg with Parmesan cheese and a light creamy cheese sauce (S$16)

Canele is famous for its cakes and desserts. We had something sweet yet with a tinge of citrus taste, which is the Tart Citron (S$6.00) - Almond tart filled with lemon cream, torched Italian meringue and candied lemon peel.

And not forgetting one of my favourite cakes from Canele - Le Royale (S$7.00). It is made of Chocolate mousse 66% layered with hazelnut feullitine, almond success and chocolate genoise with rum.

Canele Patisserie Chocolateria
Raffles City Shopping Centre
252 North Bridge Road,
#B1-46/47

Joël Robuchon Restaurant @ Resorts World Sentosa

2011-06-11T20:00:00.000+08:00

It's well know that diners love to travel to eat, and quite a few have travelled across the globe to try out the different restaurants operating under 26 Michelin stars chef Joël Robuchon.

Now, anyone in Singapore or Southeast Asia who wants to have a taste of Michelin stars fine dining need not travel far. The 5 stars Joël Robuchon Restaurant, together with sister restaurant L'Atelier de Joël Robuchon, have both opened at Singapore's Resort World Sentosa.

The main dining hall has the iconic chandelier and a modern yet luxurious setting. The moment you step into here, you know that this is really the First Class experience of dining.

Previously, we reviewed L'Atelier de Joël Robuchon. Now, the Joël Robuchon Restaurant is a classier restaurant which is suitable for a special occassion such as birthdays, wedding anniversaries etc. Of course, this is also the place to come to simply enjoy fine dining.

As we made prior reservation, which is a must, we were ushered to a quieter section which is next to the main dining area. Everything on the table is simply beautiful and are the best of the best, such as the beautiful Baccarat crystal candle stand which is designed by Philippe Starck. Most of their cutlery are by Christofle. And of course being a new restaurant, everything is brand new here.

The table is decorated by beautiful sparkling crystals which shimmer under the lights. The service here is warm and friendly. And it's quite a surprise that the 5 stars Joël Robuchon Restaurant actually serves tap water, although we did order still water (Evian - S$9.00 per bottle) to go with our dinner.

Opened half a bottle of Paillard Rose champagne (S$125) to start off our dinner. Our dinner was 2 sets of 7 courses set dinner (S$290 per set). I find this 7 courses dinner extremely value for money, given that each diners get to enjoy 2 main courses. That makes it 4 different main course if both diners share their main courses together. Included in this 7 course dinner are the cheese cart, desserts, soup, appetizers, and of course the excellent breads.

The breads the breads. Joël Robuchon Restaurant serves some of the finest breads in Singapore. We thought the breads we had at L'Atelier de Joël Robuchon were the best. But then, when we sink our teeth into the breads here, we know the breads here are actually the best in Singapore. More on their breads later.

Our amuse bouche for the night was this crab and lobster topped with caviar and gold flakes. It was served in a beautiful dry ice bowl.

As promised, the review on their breads. The service staff will first bring the entire basket of bread to your table. He or she will explain what each bread is, and you get to choose any of them, as much as you want throughout the entire meal. But the unique thing is they will bring the breads back to the kitchen to warm them up before serving each and every time. Service is excellent too as the staff will ask you what type of butter you want to go with your breads.

Some of them had cheese, some had bacon, some had rosemary. There was this bread with saffron which both of us felt wasn't as nice as the others. Our favourite was one of them with anchovy fillings. Really savoury and sweet.

The first appetizer was the Le King Crabe - King Crab and asparagus blancmange, medley of season vegetables. Doesn't this reminds you of spring? Beautiful colours all arranged on the plate. The generous chunks of king crabs were some of the sweetest we ever had, together with tomatoes and other sweet tasting vegetables.

Another of our favourites was this La Langoustine - truffled langoustine ravioli with chopped cabbage. In local context, this is wantons stuffed with large prawns topped with black truffles. Extremely addicitve and bursting with flavours.

More breads for us. The bread with the rosemary leaf sticking out is our favourite rosemary bun.

If there is something we didn't enjoy at this restaurant, it is their soups. In fact, both of their soups offered in the set dinner was definitely not the best we had. For example, this Les Petits Pois - Light Green Pea velouta, refreshed with peppermint on a sweet onion cloud, was full of pea flavours. I am not sure if there are much green pea fans around. There was too much green pea flavours in the soup.

We also didn't enjoy the Le Soja - Soy, cappuccino germs on a royal flickering of Shimeji. I think we are not used to the combination of soy and mushrooms together in the soup. Perhaps it would be better if Joël Robuchon Restaurant can serve traditional french creamy soups when they change their menu for the next season.

Fortunately, the rest of the courses were of excellent quality. Our first main course, the Le Turbot - Cooked in a casserole with jus of artichokes, was a delight. The Turbot, a flatfish, is cooked in a casserole together with the juice of the artichoke. Very fresh tasting and sweet, and the flesh is firm and smooth in texture.

The 2nd seafood main course we had was the Le Black Cod - Black cod with a yuzu radish velvet puree. The cod fish is what you expect it taste like. Sweet, smooth and creamy. The tiny radish above were a bit too raw tasting, but it did went well with everything.

I think we had too much bread over the entire dinner. So during our 3rd round, we only had 2 varieties. Of course, my favourite rosemary bun made a second appearance.

The 3rd and 4th main courses were all meat and poultry dishes. The Le Canard - Duck and seared foie gras with cherries and fresh almonds, was one of the signature dish here. The "all duck" dish had duck liver on one hand, and juicy tender duck breast on the other side. The foie gras was creamy and rich, while the duck meat was tender which we suspect was prepared using sous vide method for long hours.

Although the duck was good, but the L'Agneau - Lamb roasted, caufs offal and spicy flavours semolina, was even better. It was one of the best roast lamb we had in a long time. The meat was moist and not dry.

Of course, we were each served a portion of the famous Joël Robuchon's mashed potato, whcih is creamy and buttery. I think it's actually the same with the one we had next door.

Here comes the cheese. The Les Fromages (Cheese), which is part of the set dinner, allows diners to choose any cheese he or she desires from the cheese trolley. If you are unsure, simply ask the service staff for recommendations on the wide selection of cheese from soft to hard textures, and mild to sharp taste. They will give their valuable advise to you.

We selected a few different cheese. It was accompanied by nuts, dried fruits, honey and other sweet stuffs to compliment the creamy cheese.

We also ordered a glass of port - 10 years Taylor (S$20 per glass). It went well with the cheese.

We are already very very full at this point, but were more than happy to finish of the final course - desserts! Of all the different kinds of desserts, we adore French desserts the most. The Le Mikado - Orizaba chocolate, flower of salt crumble, coffee dome, was full of milky chocolate where the sweetness was brought out by the salt.

The other dessert we tried was this very beautiful Le Parfume des lles - Smooth passionfruit, rum granite, light coconut foam. It had a dramatic entrance due to the dry ice below it. Full of the flowery fragrant of passionfruit, this is definitely something you want to order after a heavy meal.

Ended our dinner wth a pot of TWG's Vanilla Bourbon Tea, which is our current favourite tea. Also ordered a pot of Earl Grey too.

PS Cafe @ The Paragon

2011-06-01T16:00:00.002+08:00

What started as just a spin off of its retail shop Project Shop Brothers has now become one of the main money makers for the company. PS Cafe, where the PS means Project Shop, is now one of Singapore's top lifestyle cafe serving cakes, main meals and desserts in some of the hottest and coolest spots in Singapore.

We had a late Sunday dinner at one of their first few locations - Paragon. I noticed that the jugs of ice water had some vegetables and herbs in it, but we wondered how much of the vegetables "taste" will be infused in the ice-water.

Our main course - PS Turkey Cranberry (S$21) - Toasted bread with smoked turkey, grilled cheese, bacon, mayo, cranberry jam, served with Flinders mixed salad & cranberry pumpkin seed pesto. I would say that the bread was a bit dry for me. Fortunately, the jam and sauces helped balance out the "dryness".

A rather hearty portion of the Truffled Portobello Mushroom Soup (S$14) with watercress and truffle oil. We wished that they would serve the soup pipping hot instead of the lukewarm version we were given.

The other main course we had was the Bangers & Cauliflower Pea Mash (S$23) - Char grilled pork sausages & cauliflower pea mash with red wine gravy, apple cranberry chutney, honey balsamic tomatoes & flinders mixed salad. I thought I will not like the cauliflower mashed because I am no fan of this vege. But PS Cafe had done a good job of making this mashed smooth and buttery without the "raw" taste of the cauliflower.

Next comes our favourite part of the meal - desserts! First up was their famous Flourless Orange cake with vanilla ice-cream (S$14.90). It was dense, moist and I like the shreds of orange peels.

But the best was this Steam Ginger Pudding with Vanilla Ice-cream (S$12.90). It was something different from the famous pudding from Marmalade Pantry. The aroma from the ginger and the creamy moist pudding plus the vanilla ice-cream complimented each other well.

PS Cafe
290 Orchard Road,
#03-41/44
The Paragon

L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon @ Resorts World Sentosa

2011-05-29T10:00:00.001+08:00

After months of waiting, the world's most-decorated Michelin star (24 to be exact) - Chef Joël Robuchon, has finally landed in Singapore. And he has opened not one, but two of his signature restaurant. One is fine dining, and the other is a more casual restaurant.

Both are located side by side at Hotel Michael. Their entrance is next to the Lake of Dreams in Resorts World Sentosa. As it is always full every night (they don't serve lunch for the time being), it is highly recommended you book about 1 week in advance.

Diners here consists of 50% tourists from western countries, and another 50% from Asia including locals. This just show how powerful the branding of the name "Joël Robuchon" is. In fact, a German tourist couple who have just returned from L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon in Paris was here at the Singapore outpost again to enjoy the experience. Diners sit around the kitchen bar which is decorated in the red and black colours, and don't be surprised when the diner next to you start to talk with you about your experiences here, because diners are encouraged to chat with their newly made friends throughout the night.

There is both ala carte and the signature Discovery Menu - S$250. Would recommend first timers to order the Discovery Menu as you get to taste their signature dishes without having to eat the full portion.

The meal started promptly with the Amuse Bouche - Foie Gras Custard with red Porto wine and Parmesan Foam. It's creamy and smooth.

The bread basket was truly the largest bread basket I have ever been served. It's given to every single diner for both ala carte and set meals. I read that these breads were specially baked by their in-house baker chef Yoshihiko Tauchi, who combines the best of Japanese baking technique on these French breads. Do ask for butter as they do not usually serve them together with the bread.

King Crab on Thin Layers of Turnip with Sweet and Sour Sauce - The king crab was really sweet and the sweet sour sauce added a "tropical" taste to it.

The Green Asparagus Skewer with quail egg done sunny side up and morels was done quite creatively where the asparagus was skewered and topped with a sunny side quail egg with the egg yolk still runny. I like the mushrooms by the side too which had hints of truffles.

Foie Gras lover will enjoy the huge piece of seared duck Foie Gras with a citrus gratin. The tangy citrus gratin helped to balance out the rich foie gras.

We really like the Daikon veloute flavoured with citrus oil. According to our friendly and chatty service staff, no cream and butter and flour were added to make the soup creamy. Everything was thickened with the goodness of the Daikon. Again, the citrus oil complimented the thick and creamy soup.

Another skewered dish - Salmon's shot of belly with potato grenaille in "Gravlax" style. The salmon was fresh and sweet. Some spices were sprinkled to create an almost "caribbean" taste to it.

As we ordered 2 Discovery Sets, therefore we get to enjoy and share both the mains. First was the French-style hanger steak with fried shallots. The steak was really tender and juicy. Pity it came in a small portion. The hanger steak is actually the cut at the diaphragm of a steer, which is considered to be the most flavourful part of the cattle.

The other main course was this Foie Gras filled free-range quail with mashed potatoes. Now this was equally outstanding. Foie Gras was stuffed in the quail, so that the quail remains juicy and flavourful during cooking.

We were both given 2 servings of the superbly creamy L'atelier's famous mashed potato . You can really taste the generous amount of French butter being mashed together with the potatoes.

Ordered an extra Calvados (S$24 per glass) 15 years extra vieux "extra old" to go with the red meats.

It's dessert time. First up is their beautiful red berries spiced coulis with Victoria pineapple sorbet. It has nice crunchy bits added to this dessert and will "fizz" inside your mouth. Not too sour but not too sweet too.

Chocolate lovers wil dig this roasted hazelnut dacquoise, creamy Caribbean chocolate. The dacquoise had layers of almond and hazelnut meringue plus chocolate whipped cream.

And the set came with tea (ordered TWG's Vanilla Bourbon Tea) escorted with a sweet. Had a light calming fragrant taste to it.

Before we left, saw Ong Beng Seng there eating too.

We really enjoyed ourselves here at L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon with the food, service and of course the interaction among diners.

And do look out for next week when we will review the Joël Robuchon Fine Dining located just next door.

L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon
Hotel Michael
Level 1,
8 Sentosa Gateway,
Resorts World Sentosa

Jade Palace Seafood @ Forum Shopping Mall

2011-05-26T16:00:00.000+08:00

Time for some Chinese food reviews, and today we went to Jade Palace Seafood (no relations to Crystal Jade) situated at Forum the shopping mall. Although quite a lot of diners know about this place, but this is actually our first visit.

Upon arrival, we were served Braised Peanuts (S$3) and Chrysanthemum Tea (S$4 for 2) .

First is the BBQ Kurobuta Pork Char Siew (S$12) . Isn't it gorgeous? This is done "Hong Kong" style without too much of the fake artificial red dye which we always see here in Singapore. The outer crust is roasted till crisp, and the inside is tender and juicy.

The soups were kind of a let down. It was not warm enough and flavours did not really get into the stock. We had the Daily Double Boiled Soup (Green and Red Carrots Pork Ribs Soup - S$8) and Homemade Australian Green Lip Abalone Soup with Chicken (S$18)

Another so-so dish was this Pan Fried Hokkaido Scallop with Spanish Ham (S$26) . The scallop could be fresher.

Now, the surprise dish of the night was this Steamed Minced Beef with Tangerine Peel (S$28). It looks simple, but trust us this is very good. The beef was beaten over and over again till it is tender, but without loosing too much of the original texture and flavour. Some tangerine peel was added to make the beef more tasty and less beefy. Would recommend this dish to anyone who dines here at Jade Palace Seafood.

The Stir Fried Fresh Garoupa Fillet with Shanghai Xiang Wu Sun 香乌笋 & Xue Cai 雪菜 (S$28) is one of their signature Shanghainese dish. The friendly aunty waitress told us quite a few diners come here just to eat the Xiang Wu Sun 香乌笋. But we are not fans of this special vegetable.

Ended our dinner with Chinese Herb Pudding (S$5.50) and Mango Pudding (S$4.50) . Some hits and misses, but there are a few more interesting dishes which we are keen to try during our next visit in the future.

Jade Palace Seafood
583 Orchard Road,
#B1-13
Forum The Shopping Mall

World Gourmet Summit 2011 - Tippling Club (Visit 3) @ Dempsey Road

2011-05-24T22:00:00.000+08:00

At the recently concluded World Gourmet Summit, Co-owners of Tippling Club's Chef Ryan Clift and Head Bartender Matthew Bax invited Australian chef Brent Savage to present a special menu for diners. Both Tippling Club and chef Brent Savage share a common thing - they enjoy producing Avant-garde dishes for diners which combines modern cuisine with scientific techniques to produce really delicious dishes.

The chef was personally checking and cooking almost all dishes for the night. Brent Savage is from Australia's Bentley Restaurant and Bar, and he was named Sydney Morning Herald's Chef of the Year 2005 and awarded 2 Chef hats from 2007-2011 in the Sydney Morning Herald Good Food Guide. Awarding a chef with "hats" by the SMH in Australia is almost similar to that of awarding a chef with "michelin" stars.

Everyone who dined in during that period will want to try out their 7 courses menu at S$230++ including wine pairing.

Dinner started with this Octopus with Black Olive & Cucumber. The octopus was fresh without being too "rubbery".

One of our favourite dish, the Ocean Trout with Ocean Trout Mousse & Fennel Pollen, was magnificently done. That white crispy thing you see is actually trout fish skin crackling, which was light, crisp and had a nice taste. The Ocean Trout Mousse was something exciting and new to us, and the cured roll has one of the freshest trout taste we had for a long time.

Sorry, but we don't like our vegetables. So the Beetroot with Sorrel, Horseradish & Broad Beans could be said as rather ordinary.

Roast pork is always a familiar dish for diners in Asia, and the Pork Belly with Wattle, Garlic Milk & Rhubarb. The cubes of pork belly is juicy and all had a crispy crackling skin. Yums.

The Roasted Duck Breast with Cuttlefish & Mushroom was even better. We understand that both the pork and duck dishes are exact replicas of what is offered at his restaurant in Australia. The black powder you see underneath the juicy roasted duck is actually mushrom powder. It's amazing how good the cuttlefish, duck and mushroom powder complimented each other.

Just want to add that the chef had a wonderful group of chefs and assistants from the Tippling Club helping him throughout the whole evening. Chef Alex is one of the young talent in the team that not only passionate in the cooking art, but also excellent in interacting with diners.

It's dessert time. And the first was the Caramelised Pineapple with Barley Cream & Beer Sorbet. How often do you have a sorbet made of beer, and I can tell you that the sorbet really taste like beer. It was "sweetened" with the caramelised pineapple and a rather faint barley cream.

A special off the menu dessert for diners - a dessert made wholly of chocolate. There is chocolate mousse, chocolate caramel crisps. Heaven for chocolate lovers.

Finally we ended our dinner with his signature Liquid Mandarin with Liquorice & Mandarin Ice-Cream. It was quite fun to break the chocolate "pipe" to see liquid mandarin flowing out from the chocolate.

During our dinner, Alex told us that Tippling Club will be shifting to Istana Park in the next few months, which is somewhere near to Giraffe. Seems like Tippling Club will see even more traffic flow after they move to the more accessible Istana Park in the near future.

Tippling Club
8D Dempsey Road