Julien Bompard @ Ascott Raffles Place

Another trip to Julien Bompard on a Sunday afternoon on 26 April. Julien Bompard now serves Gourmet Morning brunch (non-buffet) on Sat, Sun and Public Holidays from 1030am till 3pm.



Here is the menu, where you can choose a 3 or 4 course brunch.



For brunch, they have displayed the very cute cow milk jug on every table.



Here is Omelette with Cheese. Quite ordinary but the inside is still creamy and runny while the outer layer is fulled cooked. I love such omelette.




(amended) We ordered a S$95 French dessert wine Sauternes to go with the brunch.



Grilled strip-loin with vegetables and red wine sauce. Beef was juicy and tender, and the red wine sauce goes well with the strip-loin.



Beef burger with onion, cheese and bun. I still prefer the one at Barracks @ House.



Traditional Italian Tiramisu and Biscotti - Tiramisu is creamy, recommended.



Mega pancake with blueberry and Canadian maple syrup. Still don't know what is "mega" about it, but the pancake is quite tasty. Only complain is that it is now very warm when served.




Valrhona chocolate fondant with Coulis. Valrhona is one of the world's finest chocolate because they use the best raw materials. But of course, the chef using their chocolates has to be equally skilled to produce some great desserts with their chocolates. And this chocolate fondant never fails to satisfy any chocolate cravings one has.



Cute chocolates and sweet served after the meal.




Julien Bompard
2 Finlayson Green,
2nd Level Ascott Raffles Place,
Singapore 049247
TEL: 6509 0908

Tung Lok Classics @ Chinese Swimming Club

Tung Lok Classics is the latest line of restaurants from the Tung Lok group of restaurants, and Classics not only serve traditional home style Chinese and Cantonese cuisines, but is also introducing dishes from a various China provinces.



We visited the restaurant on 28 April on their opening day. The restaurant is quite big but looks a bit empty. There is large glass windows by the side of the restaurant which overlooks the swimming pool.



Appetizer was lobster meat done 3 styles, including crispy fried lobster meat served on lettuce and a cream baked lobster meat served on crispy nest. Lobster was fresh and I especially like the cream baked lobster.



Our 1st China dish was this Braised Fish Head with Lantern Chillis. The lantern chillis is not spicy and actuallu taste sweet after being braised for hours. The fish head was quite meaty, and the fish broth is pretty tasty too.



Another Shanghai dish - Shredded beancurd with prawns and Chinese ham - I think Singaporeans will not be used to this shredded beancurd dish. Not appetizing to me. Left this dish mostly untouched.




Crispy deep fried fish fillets and sotong chunks - The seafood retains its freshness even though the batter is crispy. Pretty good!



Braised pork in special soya sauce cooked with beancurd stips tied into knots. Pork is not too oily and goes well with white rice.




Chilled coconut ice-cream with Purple rice-puree served in young coconut.



Herbal Jelly in Cheng Teng.

Tung Lok Classics also serves Dim Sum lunch everyday during lunch time.



Tung Lok Classics
#03-00 Chinese Swimming Club
21 Amber Road
TEL: 6348 0188

Bedrock Bar & Grill @ Somerset Road

As mentioned in the previous entry, Bedrock is opened by the same people who operates the now defunct Whitebait and Oriole. Bedrock is a more refine dining outlet as compared to Oriole, and the restaurant uses dark coloured wood to decorate the entire place.



The entire environment feels like an American and Australian eatery. Tables are quite packed, so one would feel quite uncomfortable if the restaurant is packed. But the staffs are friendly and service was good.



While we were there, they had this New Zealand Tasting menu for lunch. At S$35 per person, it is quite affordable.



Bedrock serves every diner a complimentary flatbread with garlic and butter. The flatbread is baked right on the spot, so you can be assured of the freshness of the bread.

What is unique here, is that they roast the entire garlic, and serve the garlic as a whole. So when eating, simply scoop out the garlic clove from the garlic and spread it on the bread with some butter. Surprisingly, the taste of garlic is not as intense as I thought it would be.



The fresh oysters were off the set menu. The oysters were quite fresh, and I like the tangy dip accompanying the oysters.



This is the smoked Tomato Soup. As the name of the dish said, the tomato is "smoked" and thus the soup has a smoky taste to it.



Scallop Carpaccio - What is unique about this dish is that it is sprinkled with mussel powder. The powdery stuff on top of the scallop actually taste like mussels. Weird but delicious.



Roasted Kumara - What's a New Zealand tasting menu without some New Zealand Kikorangi cheese, which is actually a type of blue cheese. Mixed with Arugula leaves and Balsamic prunes with some crunchy nuts.



NZ Spring Lamb Rump with orangey ginger kumara mash and apricot chilli chutney. The Kuamara is actually Sweet Potato, and this explain the orange mash. Apricot Chilli Chutney is very unique, and I believe is unique to New Zealand? The Lamb rump is very tender and juicy too.



This Seafood in White Wine is another off the set menu dish. Jumbo shrimps and clams are simmered in a white wine sauce with vegetables. The shrimp is very crunchy and sweet. goes well with the white wine sauce.



New Zealand black angus striploin with asparagus and horopito hollandaise sauce. The Horopito is actually a Maori pepper and is a reknowned herb in New Zealand. The striploin is juicy and retains the texture of the striploin well.



Creamy freshly brewed coffee.



Poached pear tart served with ginger nut ice-cream. I believe New Zealanders lover ginger a lot in their dishes, as seen in this set menu.



The Pavlova is actually a New Zealand and Australia national dessert, and is basically a meringue dessert invented to honour a Russian dancer during her performance in New Zealand in the 1920s. Here it is served with passionfruit curd and lime sorbet. I find the Pavlova a bit too sweet, but it was balanced off by the slightly sour passionfruit and lime.

Overall, an enjoyable meal at a good price with good service.


Bedrock Bar & Grill
96 Somerset Road
#01-05 Pan Pacific Serviced Suites
Tel: 6238 0054

Oriole Cafe & Bar @ Somerset Road

Oriole @ Pan Pac Service Suites along Somerset Road is opened by the same people who brought you Whitebait & Kale @ Camden, which has seen closed down. Oriole also has a sister restaurant (higher end steak house) next to it in the same building.




The cafe is pretty dark, but it has a very relaxed mood and almost all diners here are below 30 years old, machiam like a hangout place for young adults.

The menu is pretty restricted, so diners don't get much choice here during meal times.



Hand cut fries with herbs, garlic and salt. This is too salty for my liking. Fries is quite soft, but is not crispy outside. More like stir-fried potato sticks.



This is braised beef pasta. The beef is very tender and absorbed the sauce well. However, after eating almost half of it, one tends to get a bit bored of the taste. Best if this is shared among friends.



Steak sandwich. This is good stuff. The beef is pan fried with capsicum and onions. However, the bread is a bit soggy.



Honey Crumble Affogato - There is a shot of Espresso added to the dessert of honeycomb crunch and Vanilla ice-cream. A unique dessert, only for those who likes the stick honeycomb.



I like the lobby of the Pan Pac Service Suites. Very classy. My next review will be on the steak restaurant opposite of Oriole.

Stay tuned!


Oriole Cafe & Bar
96 Somerset Road
#01-01
Pan Pacific Serviced Suites
Tel: 6238 8348

Ming Kee Live Seafood @ Macpherson Road

Was recommended to Ming Kee by a good friend. Had pass by this restaurant a few times, but never knew that it actually serves great seafood at affordable prices. Not too long ago, the famous food blogger Chubbyhubby blogged about this place. Soon, it became quite popular for its good tasting seafood dishes and attractive prices.



Crispy fish skin. My first experience with this dish was at Shatin Kitchen @ Geylang. I always wonder how the chef slice the skin, and fry it till so crispy. But the dipping sauce at Ming Kee is a bit too salty, so go easy on the sauce.



Yang Chow Fried Rice - great wok-hae. As you can see, each grains of rice is fried till they are seperate, and appears golden in colour with the egg yolk.



Garlic steam mussels. The mussels are extremely fresh, but the sauce is a bit too salty. I believe the sauce is same as the fish skin sauce. I think Ming Kee serves one of the best version of steam mussels with garlic.



Drunken prawns. We saw the waitress cooked the drunken live prawns in a hot pot next to us. The prawns is indeed very fresh, and the prawn stock is quite potent as it is brewed with chinese traditional herbs such as red dates and dang gui.



Finished off the meal with sweet and sour fish. Many restaurants usually use day old fish to cook this dish as they hope that the sauce will cover the "fishy" taste. However at Ming Kee, I am pleased to say that they use equally fresh fish for this dish. One of the better versions of sweet sour fish I have eaten.

Service is very good. But limited seating space in the air con area. So if you are coming here, it is best to reserve an indoor air con seat, especially with the current heatwave in Singapore.


Ming Kee Live Seafood
556 Macpherson Road
Tel: 6747 4075

Inagiku @ Fairmont Singapore

Inagiku first opened at Raffles City The Stamford in 1986 when the hotel opened, and now in 2009, the restaurant is still standing strong, situated in the same building but with a new hotel name (Fairmont to be exact) and brand new interiors.



Prices here are not cheap, so having a Feed @ Raffles card is a must for 50% discount. Selected the Chef Course of Teppanyaki delicacies. Price is S$250 per set.



Although the interior is quite dark, but it relaxes the mind and soul for a total enjoyment of the exquisite Japanese delicacies.



Also ordered the seasonal set which uses the season's best ingredients.




Light grilled tuna sashimi with vinegar - Initially was worried that the sweetness of the tuna will be lost when it is lightly grilled, however the tuna still retains its sweetness despite being lightly seared. The vinegar also helps to bring out the sweetness!



Walnut sauce marinated Japanese yam, wheat cake and Fatsia Sprouts - This may take some getting used to, and the portion is a bit too small. But the abalone shaped bowl was a nice touch.




Spring KATSUO Bonito Sushi, Leek, Ginger with Soy Jelly - the soy jelly was a special touch. Instead of dipping the sushi into soya sauce, the soya is already "jellified" and adds a new dimension and texture to the sushi.




Teppanyaki scallop with asparagus - the seafood here is surprisingly fresh and sweet. Scalloop was pan fried.




Snapper soup with, snapper egg, white leek and udo vegetables




Organic salad with whitebait - Was a bit disappointed with this. Whitebait is a bit too small. Would be better if they have Sakura prawns.



King prawn and cod - This is, one of the top 10 Japanese dish I have ever eaten in my entire life. Pieces of King prawn and cod fish is pan fried and covered in this creamy sauce (I believe is milk, mayo and egg). I could eat 10 plates of this dish! Topped with fish roe.




Light grilled sweefish, Toro, Arkshell, SEKI Mackerel with MYOUGA leaf - The Myouga leaf tasted like mint leaf, and the sashimi was quite fresh.



Australian tenderloin - lightly grilled to retain the meat's juice.



Garlic rice - The Japanese rice grains were fried till they are separate and full of garlic flavour.



Grilled Japanese oyster - a special mayo sauce was added on top of the juicy oyster, and grilled till the sauce turned slightly dry and fragrant.



Vegetables - Teppanyaki bean sprouts, carrits and mushrooms



Wagyu Beef Cheek Hotpot, Hokkaido potato, small onion, Bracken and Herb - The potatoes from Hokkaido is very tender and sweet. The beef broth is extremely sweet, after sucking in all the goodness from the wagyu beef. Served in a beautiful green pot.



Cold white noodle with Crispy sweet soy sauce, water shield, and fruit tomato - The "crispy" sweet soya sauce needed some getting used to.



Tempura of Prawn, baby abalone, sand whiting, corn, young bamboo shoot and butterbur - Inagiku is not exactly famous for its tempura food. The tempura here tasted average. Or perhaps we are already too full after all these dishes.



New harvested tea rice porridge with Clam muscle - Basically, you pour the stock into the rice to enjoy the porridge. A simple dish to end the long list of Japanese food.



Japanese Loquat, Musk Melon and Japanese cherry




Sherbet - The yellow sherbet is peach, while the top white sherbet is actually Longan sherbet.


Inagiku
80 Bras Basah Road
3F Fairmont Singapore
Tel: 6431 6156