Marmalade Pantry @ ION Orchard

Once again, back at Marmalade Pantry. It's been a long time since our return to the bistro / cafe.



Had a very quick and fast dinner here. Kudos to their policy of free flow ice water, even though they are a cafe bistro which sells coffee and drinks.



Spicy Tomato & Pinto Bean Soup with Jalapeno (S$9.00) - Soup is hearty but a bit spicy due to the chillis.



Truffled Field Mushroom Risotto (S$22) - Risotto is perfumed with black truffle bits, grains are al dente and cooked in a flavourful stock. Lot's of cheese and mushrooms accompanying the risotto.

In and out within 45 minutes. Fast service and of course, a hungry appetite.


Marmalade Pantry
2 Orchard Turn
#03-22
ION Orchard

Italiannies Pasta, Pizza & Vino @ TripleOne Somerset (Singapore Power Building)

When I heard that TGI Friday is the "sister" restaurant of Italiannies, a new Italian chain restaurant from Malaysia, my expectations of the food went down the hill. I have read enough bad reviews about TGI Friday to totally avoid the place even though long queues form outside the restaurant every night.

However, we learn from school that we should not judge a book by its cover, or rather not judge a restaurant by which restaurant it is related to. So here I am at Italiannies to give a try at its food.



The staff was very polite and courteous. A great start for our dinner. Once we were ushered to our seats, they immediately poured their olive oil and balsamic vinegar on a plate.



The whole restaurant has a rustic Italian feel to it. Unknown to many, this Italiannies originated in Malaysia and is a popular Italian chain across the Causeway.



Before coming here, I read reviews of how they actually rolled and baked their breads in house. Well, we saw it with our eyes. The chefs kneaded and baked the breads directly infront of us. Though there was nothing spectacular about the bread, I will give it 5 stars for their effort to actually bake the bread fresh.



There is a small counter next to the restaurant which sells just their freshly baked bread for takeaway customers. I am not sure how popular it was because nobody was there to buy their bread.



We had the appetizer of Fried Calamari - Hand-battered calamari fried till tender and served with marinara sauce. Wow, it was really really good. Unlike ordinary fried calamari whichi had either too thick batter or rubbery calamari meat, the calamari was tender and fresh, while the coating was crispy and not too thick. Some spices and cheese were also added to add extra ommph.

This is super addictive, and portion is big too. Highly recommended.



Marsala Mushroom Soup with button mushroom and Marsala wine. Find this quite ordinary la. Nothing special. Can taste the Marsala wine though.




Ordered the 12 inch Napoli Bianco Pizza - Meatballs, pepperoni and diced chicken on Alfredo sauce with melted Mozzarella cheese. It was big. Really big. Too much for 2 diners, and I think is just right for 3. If there is only 2 diner, it is better to share the 9 inch.



The crust is those thin crispy crust yet there is some chewey bite to the pastry. As you can see, they are very very generous with their ingredients. I don't really like pizzas with tomato base sauce, so this was a pleasant surprise with the creamy Alfredo sauce. And their cheese is of good quality.

I have nothing but praises for Italiannies. In fact, I was so impressed I returned 2 days later for another dinner. This time, shared the Carbonara pasta (dinner size). It was equally good too, but I prefer the pizza more. Will definitely make this my regular eating place. Price for 2 is less than S$50, including GST and service charge.

Something to note: Italiannies only serve free iced water when the restaurant is not full or too busy. This is because they have limited manpower and cannot go around refilling your water. So you may need to order a drink if they are too busy.


Italiannies Pasta, Pizza & Vino
#01-02,
TripleOne Somerset (Singapore Power Building)
111 Somerset Road

Sweet Spot @ Marina Bay Sands Hotel

Food lovers all over the island have been busy checking out the new restaurants over at Marina Bay Sands and also at Resorts World Sentosa.

Since April this year, SweetSpot, a hotel bakery from Marina Bay Sands, has received quite good reviews from dessert and pastry lovers. So it's about time we went down to check out the standards.



If this is your first time to Marina Bay Sands, Sweet Spot is situated on the Lobby level of the hotel portion of Marina Bay Sands. You will have to walk all the way from Tower 1 to Tower 3 as it is situated right at Tower 3.



The sweets and pastry items are all displayed neatly on the shelves.



The macarons here are said to be one of the best in Singapore. I still don't know whom they employed to make the macarons, but my taste buds tell me they are on par with those from France.

(EDIT: Read from this week's 8 Days that the pastry chef here is from Venezuela and has been making pastry items there for 20 years)



These tiny and cute Financiers displayed on the display as they are out of space.



A beautiful Strawberry tart.



And more cakes. To be fair, we didn't try their cake items on that day. But judging from the standards of their other items, we believe the cakes should be good.



Blueberry pastry with butter crossaint.



So Sparkling or Still had a sparkling mineral water and 2 freshly brewed coffee.



We had these Macarons: (Clockwise from top left) Rasberry with Dark Chocolate, Green Tea, Strawberry, Lemon, Hazelnut, Pistachio. All of them were good. Not overly sweet, and the macaron shells were crispy yet a bit chewy. My fav are the Hazelnut and Rasberry with Dark Chocolate. Find the Lemon one a bit too artificial in taste. At S$2.00 per macaron, they are also one of the more expensive macaron in Singapore.

The 3 Financiers we had (left to right) are the almond, rasberry and pistachio. They are tiny yet very delicate and tasty. Out of the 3, I love the one with the rasberry. (S$1.80 each)



Aren't these gorgeous? Juicy ripe blueberry pastry and in the background, an Apple. Even though the blueberry looks better, the apple was the one which tasted better. But both are actually quite good.



Do note they have NO seats, so expect to stand and lean on these designer stands inside the cafe.

If you are trying to hunt down some of the best pastry items, do come here and try their macarons. Oh yes, they also sell their in-house chocolates too.


Sweet Spot
10 Bayfront Avenue
Lobby Level,
Tower 3
Marina Bay Sands Hotel

Wah Lok Cantonese Restaurant @ Carlton Hotel

Met up The Baker in Me ~ Bake, Baking, Baked and another common friend for a Dim Sum lunch at Wah Lok Cantonese Restaurant.



While The Baker in Me ~ Bake, Baking, Baked has been here before, this is my first visit to Wah Lok for their Dim Sum. According to him, the Dim Sum here is pretty good. Being a Dim Sum lover, we decided on this restaurant for our lunch.




This is the Char Siew Polo Buns, a staple among many Dim Sum restaurants in Hong Kong and now in Singapore. If my memory serves me well, Crystal Jade was the one which popularises this Dim Sum here in Singapore. Here at Wah Lok, their version is crusty and buttery (crust). They were generous with the Char Siew fillings. A must order at Wah Lok.




Boring Steam Carrot Cake. This was really boring, as I have taste better versions before.




I totally detest coriander leaves. So having coriander inside our Chee Cheong Fun is a no no. The skin was soft, but too bad they had coriander inside.




Lor Mai Gai - Quite okay for me. Something I will usually order at Dim Sum restaurants. The usual ingredients inside like chicken, salted egg yolk, mushrooms and I think Lup Cheong.




A test of how good a Cantonese restaurant is will be their Roast Pork. Wah Lok's version is crackingly sinful. Judging from the roast pork, we are assuming that their other HK roast items are just as good.




Who can resist little transparent nuggets of crunchy crystal prawns? The skin here was not the best, a bit chewy for me. But coming to a Dim Sum restaurant and not ordering Har Kow is like going to Paris and not visiting the Eiffel Tower.



A rather ordinary Deep Fried Prawn Dumpling. At least the fillings were made of quality minced prawns and not a mash of flour + sotong paste.




Siew Mai, another must order in all Dim Sum restaurant. Version here not as good as the ones at Asia Grand and Cassia.



Egg Tarts - Quite ordinary.



Some beancurd wrap thing which is quite forgettable.



Had Mango Pomelo Sago (Cold) and Warm Almond Soup as dessert.

Overall, one of the better ones in town. But frankly, I prefer Asia Grand if in that area.


Wah Lok Cantonese Restaurant
76 Bras Basah Road
2F
Carlton Hotel

The Coffee Connoisseur @ The Pier Robertson

We love this quiet TCC over at Robertson. Service is good, quiet and food is nice.



Had a late lunch after gym around 3pm. It was a warm Saturday and TCC provided a cool respite from the sweltering afternoon heat.



I like their Smoked Salmon Avo-bayon. Generous amount of smoked salmon with avocado sauce. Simple and delicious.



Potato Wedges with Melted Cheese Dip - Cheese sauce is those industrial type (aka Cheese sauce from Cheese Fries in KFC). The wedges are actually good enought to eat on its own.


The Coffee Connoisseur
80 Mohamed Sultan Road
#01-02
The Pier @ Robertson

Lee Kui (Ah Hoi) Restaurant @ Mosque Street

From outside, Lee Kui (Ah Hoi) looks every bit like a seafood restaurant, especially the crab logo on their signboard. But it is actually a 100% old school Teochew restaurant. The phrase "old school" here means that there is no fusion food here, only the good old taste and cooking methods from the 1980s or earlier.



Even though it was a quiet Monday evening along Mosque Street at Chinatown, but the restaurant was already 70% packed when we arrived around 8pm.



I specially took a photo of their open fridge. Braised duck, braised sea cucumber and steam fish, all authentic Teochew delicacies. I cannot remember when I seen this display in any restaurant or eating place.



Since this is an "old school" restaurant, the decor, chairs and tables are all of old design too. They are new, just that the designs looks old and outdated.



Our first dish was the S$25 cold crab. Crab was small, but there was a lot of crab roe goodness inside. The flesh was sweet and fresh. I am not sure how they steam their crab, but everything was done perfectly.



Hae Cho, or prawn rolls. Can taste the crunchy prawns and pork inside the rolls. Really addictive.



Instead of rice, we ordered white porridge. Went well with the fried stuffs. Porridge was pipping hot and the rice bits were soft but not mushy.



Glutinous Rice wrapped in pig intestine. This may sound gross to some, but there is not bad smell and taste. I like how the sticky rice had a QQ wrapping due to the intestine. I find it really nice, especially with the fragrant shallot oil on top. This is something you will have a difficult time finding in Singapore.



This got to be one of the best Oyster Omelette. Big fresh juicy oysters which are added seperately onto the egg omelette. The egg was well fried. Great with their porridge.



Teochew Siew Mai (Suo Bee) - I find this so-so. Can taste fresh minced pork and prawns and none of those Khong Guan siew mai quality. But the taste was really average.



Ended the meal with Orh Nee (Mashed Taro). Like the sinful pork lard oil on top of the mashed taro. The pork lard oil made all the difference to the mashed taro!

Really traditional Teochew food with the home made taste to it. I find this Teochew restaurant having some Hokkien influences to it, but wil encourage you to go try and see if you like this old school Teochew restaurant.


Lee Kui (Ah Hoi) Restaurant
8/9/10 Mosque Street

10 Claymore @ Pan Pacific Orchard

We had a one-for-one weekday buffet at Pan Pacific Orchard after purchasing The Buffet Club. So we though we should go check out this buffet restaurant 10 Claymore. Pan Pacific Orchard is situated behind the seedy Orchard Towers (you know, the place where Barbarella of The Noose loves to hang out).

The selection here is very small. If you are very pampered by buffets in Mandarin Oriental or even the Pan Pacific Marina Bay hotel, you will definitely be very disappointed here.



Cold Soba - I like the presentation of the soba with the little jugs of soba dipping sauce buried in the crushed ice.



A simmering seafood dish of prawns and mussels.



Their very popular roast pork. The skin was very crunchy and meat was tender. Too bad it was really too fattening with a large portion of the cut full of fats.



A chef preparing freshly made tacos on the spot. Choose whatever condiments you want.



Lot's of fats around the sinful roast pork. But it was good.



Didn't touch the salad and appetizer bar. Didn't look attractive for me.



More make-your-own-salad from the counter



A very small cheese counter



And an equally small chilled seafood with smoked salmon, prawns, scallops, tiny lobsters (not ever sure if they can be considered as lobsters) and oysters (which had quite a fishy taste). The salmon was good.



When I eat buffet, I don't go for the mains first and then desserts. In between, I sneak some desserts among the mains.



These are the fruits and sweets which can be used in their chocolate fondue. I like the chocolate fondue, and I am assuming that they are good quality chocolates.



A shot of some of the cold seafood I had. The bread roll was cold and hard.



I like their Beef Rendang. Went well with the white rice. Beef was very tender and the rendang was flavourful.



The braised beef was also pretty good. Tender and juicy.



A shot of my mains. Usually I do not take white rice at buffets. But the dishes here really needed some white rice to balance off the meat dishes.



The macarons was not really good.



Decided to go for more mains. More braied beef and roast pork.



Ended with a bowl of the seafood dish.

Conclusion is we will definitely not come back here anymore. There are more misses then hits, and even with the 1 for 1 offer, I think there are other better buffets around.


10 @ Claymore
10 Claymore Road
2F
Pan Pacific Orchard