Au Jardin Les Amis @ Singapore Botanic Gardens

With the F1 race this weekend, many people will actually be avoiding the Esplanade-City Hall area due to the crowds (and cars) there.

A good place to go to this F1 weekend is actually the Botanical Gardens, which houses a few restaurants and bistros such as the Au Jardin restaurant from Les Amis.



The restaurant is located in the charming EJH Corner House near to the carpark of the Botanical Gardens.



Completed in the early 20th century, this colonial house was the residence to many Assistant Directors of the Botanical Gardens during the colonial era.

You will be welcomed at the front door and brought up to the 2nd floor of the house where the main restaurant is. Today we are having their Sunday Brunch (S$78++ per person), and is recommended that you reserve early for a seat next to the windows (don't worry, you will all be seated in air-con comfort).



At the centre of the hall is the buffet spread with lot's of minature appetizers. Even though this is a buffet, but the service staff still helps diners to choose and pick what they want.



There is a heated hot appetizer station at the side table too.



Always starts a brunch with a Soup of the Day (from the buffet) to warm your stomach before making your way down the buffet list.



Smoked Ham and bacon, Foie Gras terrine with hazelnut waffle, scallops cerviche.



Vegetable tart, Salmon Gravlax, Fricassee of asparagus with smoked bacon, Prawn with basil "en papillote", Farm mushrooms with parsley. The prawn with basil "en papillote" is one of my favourite here. Crispy and delicious. The vegetable tart was equally good too.



Parma ham with melon, more of my favourite Prawn with basil "en papillote" and Foie Gras terrine with hazelnut waffle, vegetable tart and Duck rillette. Au Jardin must have specially selected their rock melon as each piece was as sweet as it could get. The parma hamw as also of high quality. I am also equally impressed by the duck rillette too.



During the buffet, each diner has a choice of eggs done in a style they like. Here we have the Egg Cocotte served in Le Creuset mini iron pot.



And here, the Egg Benedict with muffin. I prefer the latter for the runny egg yolk which was absorbed by the muffin underneath.



Still could not get enough of the appetizer, so went for a final serving.



The mains for the brunch (Each diner allowed to choose only 1 main) which we had selected were this fish dish of Gunard, shaved artichoke, parmesan, balsamic and parsley oil.




I thoroughly enjoyed my Lobster with angel hair pasta, which was the 2nd main we shared.



By the time dessert was served, we were already very full. There were only 2 desserts to choose from: Pain perdu with vanilla ice cream



and the Seasonal fruits and berries with sorbet. I prefer the former as I am someone who likes chocolates and vanilla.



Ended the brunch with Les Mignardises which goes well with their...



Coffee and tea (included in the buffet).

One of the better Sunday brunch in Singapore, at a beautiful location.


Au Jardin Les Amis
1 Cluny Road
EJH Corner House,
Singapore Botanic Gardens

Shin Yeh @ Liang Court

Comfort food to most Taiwanese (and most Chinese) is a bowl of pipping hot porridge with some savoury side dishes.

And porridge cooked by the Chinese comes in many form. While we are more familiar with the sticky Cantonese porridge "chok" and the Teochew porridge (which is usually cooked rice boiled in fish stock), I prefer the Taiwanese sweet potato version which is in between that of Cantonese and Teochew. The rice grains are cooked till soft, yet they still retain their shape and texture.



Shin Yeh has been in Singapore for more than 1 year, and its success in Singapore lies in the fact that most of the dishes here are similar to Hokkien delicacies we are so used to have in Singapore.



Decor is typical of a Chinese restaurant, but none of the bright red colour deco.



A pot of tea to warm the stomach before our feasting begins. The pot is warmed above a tea light.



I don't like bitter gourd. But here, they made the bitter gourd appetizer less bitter. Slices of the vegetable is marinated in the exact same sauce as that of the Szechuan preserved vegetables. So while you taste the salty and sweet flavours, the bitterness of the bitter gourd still remains. Still, I don't like bitter gourd.



A bowl of Double boiled chicken and Bamboo Pith soup. The bamboo pith still retains its sponge like shape, yet it is tender and absorbs the flavours of the chicken stock.



The "star" of all Taiwanese porridge is the Sweet Potato porridge. The rice here is not Thai rice, but Taiwanese rice which is alost similar to that of Japanese pearl rice.



Crispy salad prawns with pineapple - I think I ordered a wrong dish to go with porridge. Salad cream and porridge just don't go well together. But credits must be given for this well executed dish. PRawns was crunchy adn crispy, and I like the creamy salad sauce with the pineapples.



It's a sin not to order the famous Pan-fried Pig's liver with Coriander when you come to Shin Yeh. I don't like to eat pig's liver, yet the version here is very tasty and I like the thin layer of caramel over the liver slices. Yum yum.



Now the Crispy Deep Fried Pork Knuckle is something you want to accompany your porridge. Crispy on the outside (even more crispy then Roast Pork) and tender but also oily in the inside, this deep fried dish is just the excellent dish to go with porridge.



Ended the emal with their famous "hand-beat" tofu dessert. Frankly speaking, I really don't see any difference with being "hand-beaten" or made in a machine soya beancurd.



And complimentary Taiwanese Muah Chee for all diners with finely grated peanuts.


Shin Yeh
177 River Valley Road
Liang Court Shopping Center, #02-19
Singapore 179030

Nando's @ Bugis Junction

Start of the work week, and thought would like to share an option for a quick lunch or dinner.



Had this chicken meal at Nando's recently. As everyone would have known now, Nando's opened at Bugis Junction and now Tanglin Mall. But the long queue has been putting me off. The queue is not so long now.

On every table there are 4 sauces - Tomato, Hot Peri Peri and 2 other milder Peri Peri sauces. The Hot Peri Peri is really hot, like our chilli padi.



Nando's is a Portuguese style roast chicken chain from South Africa. But I think I tried something similar while in Sydney - Oporto. Comparing both, I prefer Oporto in Sydney.



Ordered 2 drinks too. Forgot what they were.



Had the half chicken meal with their fries and coleslaw. Fries was uninspiring. Chicken was tender and the mild peri peri sauce was just right for Singaporean taste.

I don't see why people were so excited when Nando's opened in Singapore. Maybe the Nando's in other countries were better?


Nando's
200 Victoria Street
#01-85
Bugis Junction

Summer Pavilion @ Ritz-Carlton Millenia

It's hard to believe, but the Ritz Carlton has been opened in Singapore for almost 14 years since 1996. And the hotel's Summer Pavilion has been dishing out Cantonese favourites for many years.



Chef Fok Kai Yee has been helming the kitchen for quite a few years at Summer Pavilion. The food quality here is pretty consistent. Strangely, Summer Pavilion has seldom been recommended as one of the best Cantonese restaurant in Singapore.




At the doorway of the restaurant, you will be greeted by this gigantic 天九翅 sharks fins. 天九翅 is the highest grade of sharks fins among chefs. Of course, I doubt this piece will be used for cooking. Most likely it is just for decoration.



The restaurant is pretty much empty, except for a few diners. Business must be slow here in the evenings.



Appetizer was a plate of keropok. Nothing out of the ordinary, tasted like what you get from a packet.



The china has recently been changed from Narumi to another brand which is glitters.



Our special double boiled soup. Soup was nourishing and clear.



Pan Fried Beef Cubes with black pepper sauce. The beef was tender and not overly cooked. The chef managed to execute quite a good version of the popular sauteed beef dish for us.



Stir Fried Nai Bai Cai vegetable with garlic. Simple vegetable dish with the fragrance of fried garlic.



Mayo prawns with fruit salad. The prawns were huge and crunchy, but the chef was perhaps too liberal with the mayo sauce. We felt that there was too much mayo in this dish.



Overall, some hits and misses from Summer Pavilion. However, top marks for service and the ambience.


Summer Pavilion
7 Raffles Avenue
3/F
Ritz-Carlton Millenia

One Ninety @ Four Seasons Hotel

A long time ago when I heard of this place called One Ninety, I thought it was a new budget shop or eatery where everything, well is S$1.90!



Well, it's not. The reason is that the Four Seasons Hotel is situated at 190 (One Ninety) Orchard Road, and has faithfully served burgers, western cuisines and the ever popular weekend High Tea buffet for years.



It's quiet on a Saturday night. Actually late night because we were there around 8:30pm, well pass the official dinner time.



Before dinner, ordered a glass of G. Vignamaggio ($26 per glass) .



Bread was served almost immediately. The bread was warm and crispy, with creamy butter by the side.



Pata Negra Ham Bollota, Marinated Taggaische Olives and Fresh-Baked Herbs Pizza Bread (S$32) . Even though the ham was the main focus, but I really like the pizza bread. The bread, which had the texture of a freshly baked naan, was seasoned with some green herbs. Crispy on the outside yet chewy in the inside.



The Pata Negra Ham Bollota was carefully sliced into bite sized with topped with olives and nuts. Suppose to go with the bread, but it was good to eat it on its own.



Mains were the giant Kurobuta Pork Chop, Milanese-Style, San Marzano Tomato and Shallot Salad (S$39) . The pork chop was slightly too dry for my liking. And a bit oily too. You can still see the oil on the pork chop. As it was done Milanese style, there is this crunchy crumbs all over the pork which has been flattened.



A very appetizing looking San Marzano Tomato, which came with the pork chop.



The Wagyu Burger, Applewood Confit Tomatoes, Horseradish Mayonnaise and French Fries (S$39) fared much better. As mentioned, this is a place for burgers and sandwiches. The beef was juicy.



Overall, no surprises here in terms of food. Really quiet on a Saturday evening, so if you are in the Orchard area, do pop by to have a quiet meal here. Away from the maddening crowd.


One Ninety
190 Orchard Boulevard
GF Ground Floor
Four Seasons Hotel